From TimB: 28mm WWI Canadian Infantry & WWII German MG Crew (325)

From Tim:

8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Division, CEF

The 8th Infantry Brigade was part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force's 3rd Division in the Great War. It consisted of four battalions of "Mounted Rifles" which had been originally been raised in late 1914 as 8 regiments in two brigades. Upon their arrival overseas, however, it became immediately apparent that there would be no role for mounted rifles anytime soon and were thus "dismounted" and amalgamated into four regular infantry battalions. 

These are all to be part of my "Vimy Project" - a megalomaniacal dream to play the entire Canadian Corps' assault on the ridge on the 100th anniversary of the battle in 2017. So far I have done the terrain and miniature for the 4th Division (and the opposing Germans in their sector). This year I am doing the 3rd Division and terrain for it's section of the line (and the Germans opposite). Next year will be the 2nd Division and in 2016 I'll finish up the 1st Division - so I'll have the entire Corps (and terrain... and Germans...) ready for early 2017. 

The entire Fourth Division was made of miniatures I modelled, cast and (of course) painted myself. Later, I got the idea in my head that the rest of the Divisions I would do making up brigades from various different manufacturers. The 8th Brigade, here, is made up of models I picked up from Renegade  Miniatures a couple years back during one of their 5-4-4 sales. I also have miniatures for the 7th Brigade - which are all Great War Miniatures - and so far I have painted the 42nd (Royal Highlanders) Battalion. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the 9th Brigade...?

Above is the entire Brigade along with the Brigade Commander and headquarters signallers and the 8th Company, 3rd Canadian Machine-Gun Battalion and the 8th Trench Mortar Battery (the Commander, signallers and MG and Mortar Teams were painted previous to the Challenge, but are shown here for completeness!) 

First Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles - which my Great Uncle Bertram served with at Vimy Ridge!

Second Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles (I realized as I was putting these all awayI'd forgotten to put one of the guys from this unit into this picture - he's in the big picture above, but not here - just in case there's anyone paying WAY TOO MUCH attention and start's thinking "hey... there's only 14 in this picture...." I assure you there is 15 in the battalion!)

Fourth Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles

Fifth Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles

Finally, I'd had great plans to do two extras from Straw Dogs (because there's a running joke about that in Hot Fuzz) but that just didn't work out... so here's a a pair of last minute extras from Cross of Iron. 

The figures are, I think, from West Wind Productions. 

yeah... so last-minute there's still drying glue and terrible lighting... 

Extras may be lame... but really... what would you do with ANOTHER Steiner!?

Whoa! What a cracking entry Tim! This is a great project and I can't wait to see the entire tour-de-force set up and ready for the 2017 centenary. It will be a sight to see to be sure.

Also, thanks so much for the excellent MG42 crew. As you say, not everyone can be a star so it's great to get some extras to complete the cast.

The 8th Brigade and the German MG crew will give Tim 325 points, enough for him to meet his 2000 point target. A big congratulations Tim and thanks again!

From TimB: Shaolin Monks, Yakusa, Demons & Dwarves (70 points)

From Tim:

A few odds and bits and parts of things I didn't quite get done in time - most of these are parts of forces for A Fistful of Kung Fu that I'd hoped to get done by the end of the Challenge - in fact most of them I've been sitting on for over a week (or two, in some cases) thinking I WOULD finish the forces and be able to post them all together... but I'm just not going to be able to. First I switched gears to get the Jacobite Highlanders done for the Last Stand entry. Then I switched gears again to crank out a few units for another project for my final entry (coming up) because... well... they'd be easier to paint and I'm a fair bit off my challenge goal and I would actually like to get SOMEWHAT close to my challenge goal.

These are the Shaolin Monks from the North Star Miniatures "Martial Arts Heroes" set. There's another five dudes that need to be finished up in this force. 

This lot is from the North Star Miniatures "Yakusa" set - there's only two left to finish up... which one would think I totally could have gotten done... but the last two have bare body bits I feel compelled to cover with yakusa-style tattoos... and that would take a bit more work... 

This lot is from the North Star Miniatures "Demons" set - this is the Minor Demon "Bruiser" and some Human Demon worshiper "extras" - which I've painted like the Wing Kong from Big Trouble in Little China. 

Finally - nothing at all to do with A Fistful of Kung Fu - a pair of dwarves. The fella is from West Wind Productions Dwarf Wars line, and the lass is an old Citadel Minatures pre-slotta base era  miniature I picked up off ebay a while back. 

The backs of said dwarves to show off their tartan... because I apparently didn't paint ENOUGH tartan last week... 

Cool beans Tim! Those Yakusa are fabulous minis and the grimacing dwarf makes me laugh aloud. 

These figures will give Tim 70 points. Great work Tim but now I see the stonking entry of your's coming up... Eek!

From TimB: 28mm Medieval Warriors & Thug (35 points)

From Tim:

A few assorted Mediaeval Warriors I will use as fantasy humans in A Song of Blades and Heroes.

These halberdiers are painted in the livery of my old Brettonian Hero from my Warhammer days Philippe du Lapin. I’m not sure of the manufacturer of these as I got them in a trade. I originally thought they might be Old Glory (as they came in a bag of 30) but then seem… well… “too nice” to be Old Glory…

This foot knight is, I believe, from Wargames Foundry. It is yet another figure I’ve had for decades and have stripped and repainted.

 

A generic Mediaeval Thug from Mega Miniatures.

Haha, I like your diplomatic comment re: Old Glory. Yes, they can be a bit hit or miss in those big bags of lead... But as you say these are very nice indeed. (I really like those nasty bills they're wielding.)

These seven figures will give Tim 35 points. Now Tim, go dig up some more cool stuff from your lead pile! 

From TimB: 28mm Wood Elf War Dancers (60 points)

From Tim:

Here are a few old Wood Elf War Dancers from back when... well... back when I played Warhammer... (c1989). A couple may be ones I had back then that I stripped the original paint off a few years back, the rest I picked up off ebay a while ago... 

The whole warband. The plan is to use them as a Warband in Song of Blades and Heroes. Given the cost of regular Elves, this would be a pretty big warband! 

I like the wounded guy - he may not be a regular member of the warband, but instead be used in a campaign when I'm fielding a member that's been injured (and has reduced abilities) 

I was kind of torn as to whether I should go with muted tones - greens, greys and browns - like my other Wood Elves - or go with something a little more "flashier"? In the end I tried to hit somewhere in between - a bit of colour, but not TOO flashy... 

One of the guys looked just like a highlander in a great kilt with a claymore... so I couldn't resist doing a bit of tartan... 

Now I wish I'd done a bit more tartan on some of the others.  

Of course there wasn't a LOT of fabric on most to DO a tartan, so I went with stripes on a few - to give them a bit of patterning.  

The shields are crazy small, too, and dominated by the edging, so it was a bit difficult to come up with something to paint in those wee areas other than simple geometric shapes. 

I'm not so keen on these dudes with the big hair.... 

what is up with THAT!? I guess it was the 80s....

Yes, but back in the 80s these 'Flock of Seagulls' dudes got all the chicks...  

Great nostalgia trip Tim! I've never tried 'A Song of Blades and Heroes', what level a game is it aimed at? Tactical? Army level? I'm on the lookout for something different to use my fantasy stuff with.

These dozen elven war dancers will give Tim 60 points. Nice job Mr. B!

From TimB: 28mm Hobbitses (55 points)

From Tim:

And now for something completely different... 

I've been taken with the Song of Blades and Heroes rules lately and have been playing it with the kids a bit. I thought I'd finish up a few halflings I've had kicking around for a while to form up a warband of them. 

These lads, I'm pretty sure are from Games Workshop. I've probably had them... oh... a while and I'd pretty sure I had them painted before and a few years back stripped all the paint off to repaint... but then didn't get around to it until now... The tall square shield Is actually a spare I had left over from a batch of Foundry Picts I painted up a while back. 

I think these guys are also from Games Workshop - but I'm not 100% sure. I picked them up a few years back off ebay when we were playing a lot of Hordes of the Things. Actually I have another eight of these that are earmarked for a couple of stands of Halfling Shooters. 

Also Games Workshop...? Maybe...? I think I got them at the same time as the batch above. 

The fellow on the left is from Prince August/Mithril Miniatures, which I got in some trade. The other fellow is one of the oldest miniatures I have. I have no idea who manufactured it. I bought it back when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons in the mid-late 80s and as with some of the others above, stripped all the old paint off a few years back - all that awful testors enamel paint I used when I first started... 

I have a half dozen other halflings already painted I can add these to to make a fun little warband... 

Next I have a batch of old elves that have been sitting around for a while awaiting paint...

These are a cute bunch. I like the archer, who's having 'Second Lunch', chomping on a turkey leg and I like that you resurrected an old mini from your first days playing D&D. Very cool.

These Men of the Shire will give Tim 55 points. Time for tea and a pipe of Old Toby...

From TimB: 28mm Hong Kong Cops from 'Fistful of Kung Fu' (35 points)

From Tim:

This is the Cops figure set from the North Star Figures range for A Fistful of Kung Fu. I got the entire pre-order deal for my birthday and these were the quickest and easiest to get done.

The two "hero cops" some plain clothes detectives... 

Police Tactical Unit

Two "Rookie Cops" 

First: Happy Belated Birthday Mr. Tim! 

Nice score on these lads and you've done a cracking job on them. I really like the script on the bullet-proof vests and the sneakers on one of the plainclothes heroes. The poor 'blueshirts' have that particular expendable look about them, don't they...

These seven figures will give Tim 35 points. Looking forward to seeing the other 'warbands'!

From TimB: 28mm Assorted Sci-Fi Figures (30 points)

 From Tim:

Continuing on with the theme of "I'm sick of painting Samurai"... I finished off a few odd sci-fi-ish figures last night. 

A pair of Citadel Miniatures/Games Workshop Rogue Trader era Eldar. 

I have NO IDEA what make or manufacture this fellow is... I found him in a bargain bin a number of years back for $1 (or maybe it was $1 for a pack with two in it...? I can't remember...) anyway, I thought he looked kind of cool and figured I could use him as some sort of techno-whatever in some sort of sci-fi game or even a superhero (or supervillain!) with some sort of electro-techno powers.

Finally three Cobalt-1 figures from Black Hat Miniatures. I thought the middle fellow looked like he could be a Rogue Trader (or a senior advisor to a Rogue Trader) and so picked him up recently along with these two others. 

Very cool! Those early Eldar figures take me back and I quite like the black girl with the white bobbed hair and the portly Rogue Trader as well.

These half-dozen non-Samurai figures will give Tim 30 points. 

From TimB: 28mm Feudal Japanese Samurai and Ashigaru (80 points)

From Tim:

Dragon Clan Bushi Buntai

Here are 16 figures I've finished up for my Dragon Clan Bushi Buntai. This is the seventh buntai I've now completed and have to or three more that I hope to finish up in the next week or so... along with a bunch of terrain... battle boards... what was I thinking!? Oh I also have a bunch of Samurai and Ashigaru casualties that have no use in the game, really, but I'll be finishing them up as well (for the next Fortnightly Theme Bonus Round!) 

The Bushou and Hatamoto - both figures are from the old Alderac Entertainment Group Legends of the Five Rings: Clan War game.

Three Samurai - Also from AEG's L5R Clan War range

Ashigaru Spearmen from Old Glory

Ashigaru Archers - the one on the left is from Perry Miniatures, the rest are from Old Glory.

Ashigaru Gashira Bannerman - like the previous bannerman is an Ashigaru Spearman from Perry Miniatures that I made my own banner and pole for. 

Backside of the Bannerman. 

Wow, you've done seven of these groups during the Challenge? Excellent work Tim! I know you're now down to the crunch but I've seen you work under pressure so I'm sure you can pull it off. In regards to this group I quite like the green and yellow theme and your custom banner-bearer turned out wonderfully.

This Dragon Clan buntai will give Tim 82 points. Great job!

From TimB: 28mm Feudal Japanese Warrior Monks & Napoleonic French Artillery (110 points)

From Tim:

The Monks

These are for my second Sohei Buntai for Ronin. All the miniatures are from the Assault Group. I am currently putting together TEN 400 point buntai for a campaign/tournament I am hosting in JUST THREE WEEKS! This is a bit more than 400 points worth - I am still tweaking this force..

The Grand Master and his two Senior Sohei.

Four Sohei with naginata

Four Sohei with yumi (bow) though one has hair, which is annoying because I'm pretty sure all monks shaved their heads... When it first arrived I thought I might add a bit more of a cowl with green stuff to cover the offending hair... but I didn't... call it laziness.... or call it panic - because I still have three more buntai to finish in the next three weeks!

Some figures that I thought I might use as initiates. Again, some of them have hair.... maybe they're SO new to the order they haven't had a chance to shave their heads...? 

The Gunners
 This might be a bit of a shock to those that have followed my blog a while or have known me personally…
 French Napoleonic Line Artillery from Perry Miniatures....

I've been playing Neil Thomas' Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe and really enjoy it. I noticed he had a set of rules for the Napoleonic Wars, and figuring it would be about the same I picked up a copy. It being quite similar to the other rules I thought it might be fun to play and not a lot of stuff is required. I have half a British force already, so I thought I'd pick up enough stuff for a French force to oppose it.... and I happen to be ordering stuff from Perry Miniatures for the Ronin campaign... so I ordered this gun and crew....

I really know next to nothing about the Napoleonic era - and even less about the French. I find the myriad of different uniforms and combinations of equipment a bit dizzying at times... but after studying the sample on the Perry website, a few Napoleonic Line Artillery plates I was able to find on the web, and Curt's fabulous example - right here in the Analogue Hobbies Napoleonic Gallery! I sloshed some paint on these fellows and hoped for the best...

Hopefully the results and my cavalier and purely amateurish attitude won't offend any of the hardcore Grognards out there...

You've made such amazing progress on this feudal Japanese project Tim. I'm sure you'll get it done for your deadline. We'll definitely need pictures of the entire set-up as it will be very, very impressive.

I almost fell off my chair when I saw the Napoleonic gun team as I know how much you loath the idea of collecting Napoleonics. Great work! The green for the gun carriage can be tricky but your's looks terrific. Great job!

This collection of feudal Japanese and Napoleonic French will give Tim 110 points.