From StefanK: 28mm AWI British Infantry, Viking Bondi & Challenge Desperado (110)

From Stefan:

The 44th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised in 1741 and firstly bore the name of its founder Colonel James Long and was originally the 55th regiment of foot. After first employments during the Jacobite Risings of 1745 and the Flanders campaign in 1748 the regiment was renumbered as 44th Regiment of Foot, actually as part of a large reorganization of the British army. A few years later the regiment was brought into action during the French Indian War where it fought in important battles like the Battle of Carillon, the Braddock Expedition and the famous siege of Fort William Henry. Above all it served in the Battle at La Belle-Familie which the "Bloggers for Charity" want to restage this year at several events to create attention and rise funds for the charity projects "Help for Heroes" and "Men Matters".

For this excellent venture I agreed to paint a unit of redcoats which will represent this heroic regiment. It consists of twelve figures manufactured by AW Miniatures who is establishing a quickly growing 28mm range covering the FIW. Overall the miniatures are very nice. The casting quality is good at most parts although some thin details like the loading stick are damaged on several miniatures. The sculpting is crisp and clear and make it rather easy to distinguish the different parts and layers of the miniatures. Unfortunately a lot of the finer details (especially the lacing) are left out and must be painted on.

The faces are quite good but don't have the excellence and expression the top-notch manufacturers (Perry, Wargames Foundry, Front Rank et al.) usually provide.

As usual I used Vallejo Model Colours and Armypainter Quickshade to paint the figures. My main source for the uniforms was C. E. Franklin's "British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783". There I read that officers used to wear waistcoats in their regiment's facing colours. Therefore I decided to give them that individual blot of paint. This time I didn't base the figures because James and Andrew preferred to do that themselves.

Next is a unit of eight Viking Bondi for my SAGA warband. All eight figures are metal ones from Gripping Beast's SAGA range. Some of them look slightly old fashioned and stiff but altogether they are really good. 

As most SAGA miniatures I know so far these Bondi have open hands to glue the weapons in. Most of mine got spears this way. But I used steel wire spears rather then the leaden ones provided by Gripping Beast. Absolutely outstanding are their faces which make it easy to bring out some expression.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

And so it ends... As my last entry I proudly present: The Cowboy.

The miniature is from Wargames Foundry and actually his name is "Lonesome Dexter" from the "This town ain't big enough". But this time he shall represent one of the countless cowboys immortalized in Sam Peckinpah's movies. Curt asked for such an act of appreciation and I hope my humble work bestows honour to his concern.

This fellow was the first Wild West figure I ever painted. And it was great fun. It is well detailed and sculpting as well as casting are of top-notch quality as usual for Wargames Foundry. Once again I employed Vallejo's Model Colour range to paint it but skipped Quickshade this time because I didn't have the time to let it dry long enough. To give the miniature a little special 'something' I didn't only decorate the top of the base but the bottom as well.

Well then, Curt, this one's for you. Many thanks for organizing this year's painting challenge. It was great fun to participate and I enjoyed the company of all those excellent painters and modellers a lot. Additionally those three months let me learn a lot about my very own way of painting and pushed my skills forward. It was an honour to see my humble work presented alongside the pieces of art our fellow competitors submitted. For next winter I'll definitely reserve a time slot for the next painting challenge hoping to snatch a slot again. I hope you like this little sign of appreciation. 

Stefan, this is beautiful work, all of it.  I'm sure whoever receives your AWI figures from the 'Bloggers for Charity' event will be absolutely delighted with their 'score'.

Your bondi certainly look the business - I'm particularly taken with the colour detail on their jerkins and trousers. Beautiful.

Finally, I give my humble thank you for the wonderful cowboy figure you've painted as my Challenge 'levy' (or 'Curtgeld' as some have now called it). I really like his grey hair and his jersey chaps are an excellent choice (great pattern). Also, the Challenge banner on the bottom is pure class. Thanks again!

This wonderful assortment of miniatures will give Stefan 110 points, with a bit extra for the chaps! This will be enough for Stefan to exceed his Challenge target of 600 points. Congratulations on pushing through to the finish! 

It's been a pleasure Stefan, I'm delighted you could join us in this little bit of winter madness.

From AlanD: 28mm Dark Age Huns (100 points)

Alan sends in these awesome mounted Steppe warriors who will debut in his upcoming games of SAGA.

From Alan:

I'm flitting between a few different projects, as is my wont. This week, I have been mostly starting on a pile of unpainted Huns. These chaps have been making unruly noises in my lead mountain for a while, threatening some of the other figures and making unkind remarks about the Duchess, so it is time to get some paint on them. Appeasement? Perhaps.

I originally bought these Wargames Foundry figures for some rules I was working on for a version of SAGA set in the fourth and fifth centuries. Now I think they are also destined to act as Steppe Nomads in SAGA (some of those late Roman helmets were obviously treasured family heirlooms...), and might form the core of an army for Impetus.

I wanted to give them a beginning of winter feel, mainly to match up with my Pagan Rus figures. Having seen Curt's beautiful snow effects on his figures for the 1812 campaign, my snow looks very unconvincing. Then again, I live in Sydney, so what would I know?

Wonderful work Alan. I think all-horse Hunnic armies look so very cool on the tabletop. The natural earth tones of your Huns along with their mounts contrasts very nicely against the stark snowy terrain (even if it has a certain Hollywood fluff about it - as you say, you Sydneysiders can claim blissful ignorance regarding the artful nuances of ice & snow, lucky gits...). 

These 10 Steppe Nomads will give Alan 100 points. which places him within striking distance of his 500 point target. Great job! Paul and Alan - you best lash yourselves to the oars if you plan to catch up!

From AndrewS: 28mm Dark Age Skraeling Warband (200 points)

Andrew sends in this wonderful warband of Skraelings for us to gaze at in gobsmacked admiration.

From Andrew:

Here is the Skraeling limited edition warband box set from Gripping beast, these are all 28mm miniatures.

The force consists of 37 figures total: 1 group of 12 levy figures, 3 groups of 8 warriors and a Warlord. Overall painting these went well, I chose a simple method of defining the warrior groups by having three different coloured breech cloths and giving some a simple border to them. The war paint made each one within the group different as did the random allocation of shields. 

The shields proved to be a little troublesome as I had not thought to try them on the hands first, and after having painted them all they did not fit so I had to cut the backs out and re work the painting, again I wanted the shields to be more than just plain disks so took to stippling a variety of colours to represent buck skin and seal skin covers.

The Warlord was a complete joy to paint and a lot of fun, though I always like to give them an Impressive base as they form the centre piece of a war band, so I carved a piece of dense stryene and created a split level rock outcrop in which to mount him.

The whole force has been finished as if running through a flower meadow.

Wow, gorgeous stuff Andrew - very colourful fully realized. The extra work you put into the shields and groundwork has really paid off and the warlord looks suitably ferocious with his red warpaint and bone fetishes.

This very impressive warband will give Andrew a base of 185 points but I'm going tip it to 200 for the wonderful basework and shields. Bravo!

From KevinH: 28mm Viking Berserkers & Ronin #22 (42 points)

From Kevin:

My last couple of entries:

First, a 'three-view' pic of my Samurai/Ronin figure, by Steel Fist Miniatures. (See above)

This was a pretty interesting figure.  There's a Samurai Armour page on Facebook called "Samurai Store" and I found this pic:

...and since it had a similar "hood ornament" to the figure Curt had expressed an interest in, I thought I'd use it as a 'jumping off point' for painting my figure.

I only wish there had been a bit more of the "trousers/pantaloons" showing - I managed to get a good colour and pattern on the pants, and would like to have had it more visible!

Lastly, the four Foundry "Wolf-skin Berserkers" for my slowly growing Viking force for SAGA.

These guys were pretty straight-forward.  Although, being of part-Czech extraction, I decided to do one of the shields in the colours of the Czech armour 'roundels' from WWII!  Still need to add flock to these guys, but as it's just after Midnight here, it's time for my to make my final submission!

Thanks for inviting me to participate in the Challenge again this year, Curt. I hope you enjoy your Samurai!

Fabulous work Kevin! I love Ronin # 22. He looks like a '57 Buick with a sword and a bad attitude - that is a whole lot of awesome! Your Viking berserkers look suitably nasty, but in a good way and I like the Czech shield motif btw.

These bad lads will give Kevin 42 points. Great job and Thank You!

From RossM: 28mm Vikings for SAGA (66 points)

From Ross:

First up are 2 points worth of Vikings for SAGA. The figures are 28mm from Gripping Beast and have been great to paint. The warrior base are shown mostly saboted for Impetus, but on this occasion will also be used for SAGA. 

The Ulfhednar are going to be used for Berserkers in SAGA and were great to paint. Lots of character in these guys and they owe a lot to DeanM of the WAB Corner for inspiration.

Excellent work Ross. This is a suitably fierce lot and I especially like their groundwork and sheilds.

These two Viking units will give Ross 66 points. Well done!

From JohnM: 28mm Emirate of Sevilla Warband for SAGA (280 points)

From John:

Well here is my Army of the Emirate of Sevilla, a SAGA warband to repel Nico's Frankish infidels whether in Al-Andalus or the Holy Land. Aside from the Warlord, Abbad al-Isbili (Abbad I of Sevilla), who is mace armed, the جند الله (Soldiers of God) are all armed with javelins. 

The figures are from Musketeer Miniatures and Artisan Design. They are well sculpted, but horribly cast. The Artisan Design figures had the worst mold lines I have come across. Their Berber Javelinmen (they all look like one-eyed mullahs, have a look) and the Berber Light Cavalry horses were particularly bad. 

Not withstanding this as a group, I am quite happy with them and am pleased to have them off the painting table. 

The 5-point Warband is comprised of a Warlord, 1 unit of Syrian Heavy Cavalry Hearthguard, 1 unit of Armoured Andalusian Foot Hearthguard, 1 unit of Berber Blackguard Warriors, 1 unit of Berber Jinetes, and 1 unit of Berber Javelinmen Levy. 

The Andalusian Emirs who ruled the various taifa relied heavily on mercenaries, mostly from North Africa, but also Christian soldiers from Europe. 

We will definitely see my Flemish mercenaries in the employ of the Emirate of Sevilla but also maybe some Vikings. 

Beautiful work John! Your warlord stand is gorgeous and I love the bewildering variety of colourful shields and banners. Spendid stuff!

This warband of the Faithful will give John 280 points. Well done!

From TamsinP: 28mm Norman Warband (242 points)

Tamsin makes her bid for glory with this impressive submission of Dark Age Normans.

For my 12th entry, here are 44 28mm Norman knights on foot. These are from the Conquest Games plastic Norman Infantry set.

The the guys without armour or just with padded gambesons will be "Sergeants" (= Warriors in Saga).

The eagle-eyed and elephant-memoried amongst you may have spotted that the shield designs are the same as for the mounted knights I submitted a week or so ago. I figured that any knight called to serve his Lord would be expected to bring a couple of footmen along with him, so it seemed reasonable to do them with the same shield designs.

Wow, you sure have built up the steam now Tamsin. I remember at the beginning of the Challenge you thought that you'd be hard pressed to meet your original target, but here you are, not only past your original goal but sprinting past Ray! Well done! These fellows are great and I always like your shieldwork.

This formidable force of Normans will give Tamsin 242 points, with a few extra added for her work on the shields.