From KristoferD: Baptism of Fire (66 points)

Hello again dear enjoyers of painting challenges and curiosities in miniature,

This is a special week because when you're reading this my Swedish force have most likely experienced their baptism of fire. I have managed to complete the last parts of a legal Swedish Field Task Force for By Fire and Sword. First up, the final officer stand.

The Swedish officers of the Deluge were a mix of noblemen and professionals. Many of them were both. The higher ranks would have had extensive experience from the Thirty Years War, including the king himself, Charles X Gustavus

The Swedish population of the 17th century was quite small compared to other regional powers. During the period of the Swedish Empire the constant wars became quite impopular among the nobility who were expected to send their sons to serve as officers. While some gained great success and riches, a lot of them undoubtedly lost their lives in foreign wars far from home. Thus put a strain on the not too numerous noble families back home. I believe this served to build an opinion on the homefront to further a more cautious foreign policy. After the humiliating defeat in the Great Northern War the doves of the "Caps" party, Mössorna, must have had a lot of good arguments against costly wars. Their hawkish opposition, the "Hats" or Hattarna seem to have had less influence given that the era is referred to as the Age of Liberty in Swedish history. Despite a few wars it was a mostly peaceful period with progress in civil rights and parliamentary reform. The Age of Liberty ended with a coup d'état led by the king Gustav III who was quite the character, in the literal sense, but we're over a century after the Deluge now so I'm getting off topic. Perhaps I'll cover the 18th century in the next challenge? We shall see.

Back to the heyday of the Swedish Empire. The final piece that was missing from my little collection is some dragoons.

17th century dragoons were mounted infantry. They were thus often equipped and organised as infantry, though these models are in fact wearing riding boots like the cavalry of their contemporaries. This is however historically correct to my understanding as the military fashion changed towards the latter part of the period.

Dragoons could and would be used in rough ground with the advantage of becoming less vulnerable to enemy cavalry. This is something I tried to incorporate in my basing to make them stand out a little extra on the table. However, I limited myself to some shrubs as I believe a lot of the campaigns in the Deluge were fought over open country.

Sorry about the lack of focus on the last picture. It's a challenge to not hold the camera too close to the miniatures. In any case, thanks for reading and following along. I hope to bring great news of victory next week.

As for the points:
12 * 4 = 48 points for the 15mm cavalry
9 * 2 = 18 points for the 15mm infantry
Coming to a total of 66 points. 

Kristofer, your 17th Century project keeps on flabbergasting me with it's steadfast quality and your inventiveness regarding sabot-bases. What a great idea to place the mounted- and dismounted figures on the same base but changing the front rank to show what formation they are in! Awesome stuff indeed!

 Cheers Sander  

 

From Curt - 17th Century Heroes for 'Devilry Afoot' (25 Points)

Hi All!

As a few of you know (or I'm sure can commiserate) I'm a little, um, 'diverse' in my hobby interests. Italian Wars to Forbidden Psalm, Napoleonics to Turnip28, WWII to Burrows & Badgers, I like to cast my net wide and far. The same goes for rules and ideas for games: my mind (and library) are bursting with them, often to the detriment of forgetting other, perhaps more important things.

So in this vein, one new set of rules that has piqued my interest lately is Nic Wright's 'Devilry Afoot'.

This is a very nice, compact set of gothic horror skirmish rules set in the much-troubled 17th century. Similar to 'Hametsu', I really like that it's cooperative and requires a very modest figure count. Each player typically has one Hero and perhaps one or two followers. In 'Devilry Afoot', players are set against classic horrors of the period such as witches, werewolves, vampires, etc. I've not rolled it out to our gaming group yet as I wanted to have a few heroes 'oven ready' for the guys to choose from - and so here we are.

The rule book itself is a wonderful 128 page hardback which contains the rules,  character/beastie profiles and about a dozen scenarios for players to have fun with. I believe these are self-published but I found my copy on Amazon (boo!) and a PDF version is available through DriveThruRPG. Highly recommended.

Here are the first five heroes (all 28mm) I've painted-up for 'Devilry Afoot'. Four of the five models are from Bloody Miniatures. Several worthy Challengers have already featured these figures in their excellent posts, and so here are my efforts.

A cavalry trooper cheering his mates on.

A calm squire, smoking his pipe and waiting with his blunderbuss.

I really enjoyed working on these figures as they have great character and just enough detail not to get you into trouble. I also appreciate that they are cast in metal which appeals to my small, lizard brain on these heady matters.

A soldier from the Continent prepared with his long arm.

A lightly wounded gentleman with his dragoon pistol at the ready.

One of the five figures originates from today's most excellent minion, Sander. Sarah and I met up with Sander and Arthur in Antwerp a year or so ago, and during lunch he gifted me this wonderful figure of a rat catcher that he thought I could make good use of. 

It was a very apropos gift, as rat catchers spark some nostalgia for me. I had just turned 20 when we received Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay at our game store in Winnipeg. At that time (I think around1986), I was very used to fantasy RPGs having the typical wizards, fighters, thieves, etc., but then WFRP introduced totally new characters such as Troll Slayers, Agitators and... Rat Catchers. Mind. Blown. I absolutely loved it, and my first character was a poxed rat catcher with a peg leg, hemp bag and a spade as a weapon. It was brilliant.

Of course, like a dullard, I threw out the figure's packaging before noting the sculptor/manufacture, so if anyone (Sander?) knows the provenance of this mini let me know in the comments. Anyway, its a terrific model with loads of detail (rats galore, as you can imagine) and I had a terrific time painting him up. He'll be a worthy character in our games such as 'Devilry Afoot'. Thank you again, Sander!

These five sturdy adventurers will give me 15 points and another squirrel!

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

Curt, we all have those enticing little side projects we love to do and this is one such project. As with all your projects this one is extremely well executed. Your painting and choice of colours are top notch, the basing really fits the secene. The rat catcher is from the same range of figures designed by the Owlhammer Mordheim group. I will check with them who the sculptor is. Monday I will post some figures of that range myself. 

Arthur and myself have really enjoyed our get together in Antwerp and would really love to do this again sometime.  

For now I am very curious as to where this project will take you, thanks for dropping in!     

Cheers Sander 

From Mike W: 28mm 17th Century Dutch, 15mm 8th Army, 40k Orks and more (320 Points)

This week's output has been hit by work and real life pressures eating away at my hobby time - so I can't present quite the same number of finished models, but I have tried to keep the variety going by doing another Studio visit and a test set of 15mm 8th Army Infantry.

Lady Sarah's Limo Fare - Female Survivor with a shotgun

First up again is a Female Survivor being used as a fare to use Lady Sarah's Limo to transport me to the Casting Coach. This figure carries a double barrelled shotgun and also sports a utility belt and wears a nice brown leather jacket and jeans.

Slightly different view

Sky Blue jeans with a blue ink wash applied for shading,
grey/white t-shirt and brown leather jacket and Stetson.

At the Casting Couch we stumble upon an errant dwarf who has been casting for '50 Shades of Grey' or some other film of a similar dubious nature. The producer has left him somewhat tied-up, awaiting his cinematic debut!

A very naughty Dwarf! Bubonic Brown ropes, barbarian flesh and
orange hair are the main colours used here!

I washed the rope with inks to give definition, then gave the hair a red ink
wash before dry-brushing yellow. Skin area got a Flesh wash.

Moving on to this week's main submission we have Regiment Slangenburg which was an Infantry Regiment of the Dutch line in 1675. The colonel we one Fredrik Johan van Baer, Heer van Slangenburg, the unit appears in a number of sources where it is variously described as having white or grey tunics, with crimson linings. One source describes them wearing red tunics, although this was a common practice or officers and NCOs at the time and another source describes the drummer in a crimson tunic with orange pants and socks.

A completed battalion of the Regiment Slangenburg, there are 28 figures, with Musketeers on 4 x 4 figure bases and the pike & command on 6 x  figure bases. The flags are temporary, sourced from Warflag.com

I have interpreted these sources as shown below - light grey tunics with red cuffs and linings, officers and drummer in crimson and all with orange trimmings. I have given the musketeers a few black hats to break-up the informality and they also have a variety of grey shades for socks.

The unit's right flank, most figures are North Star's 1672 range,
with a couple of others thrown in to make-up numbers and add variety.

I'm planning to use Flags of War's glorious 28mm flags on this unit but an admin 'cock-up' o my part means that the order has been delayed, so I am presenting them here now with temporary flags downloaded from the excellent WarFlag.com site.

The unit's left flank

It's been a while since I dis a unit of Late 17th Century figures for my collection and I'd forgotten how many buttons these little guys have on them, Musketeers averaged 20 buttons each and the Pike & command figures averaged 16 buttons each - in all, by my calculation, 536 buttons on this one unit!

A nice view of the command block and the 'make do' flags from Warflag.com

I have the pike and command figures based on 2 figure bases 20 x 40mm, so that I can create a ring of pikes around the command figures. The command figures are on 2 man bases so that I can swap out command figures and use the unit in a number of scenarios on different sides of the various conflicts of that time.

Another view of the pike block

These last two pictures are of the musketeers, what's nice about this period is that there are literally very few sources for uniform details, so you can quite rightly interpret what little info there is to fit your table-top version of reality!

Musketeer's business end! Note all the buttons....

Dutch troops tended to have larger, floppier hats than other nations, but this was not a hard and fast rule, they were also influenced by French military fashions. In the ranks of these musketeers you can see a mix of the hat and uniform types

The other Musketeer wing.

I have also been doing a mounted officer to go with this unit but time has beaten me this week, hopefully I'll stay focused and finish this guy next week.

Next up are this week's batch of 13 x Orks & 11 x Grechin, all painted in the same basic manner as all the others as I work towards completion of this army.

This week's batch

First up is a boss figure, armed with power Axe and a Hand Blasta, this is a plastic figure sourced as most of the others from eBay.

Warboss

This batch of figures contained some old metal figures, including repurposed Gorka Morka Ork figure armed with a Big Burna, I particularly liked the head with goggles on this figure. With him is a more modern Plastic Guy with a Big Burna and backpack full of tools.

Old metal figure on left, newer plastic figure to right

Quick view of their respective back packs!

As ever, there are a number of basic Boys with Choppas and Hand Blastas, I've added smoke to a few of the Boyz power weapons for extra effect.

Four Boyz

In this batch we have four Boyz with Heavy Blastas

And four more...

The last two Ork figures are both plastic and represent a guy with a Rocket launcher and another with a Heavy Blasta support weapon, for even more Dakka.

Final two Orks

Rear views showing their backpacks with additional Ammo supplies

Then we come on to the Grechin, who run the show in this army. There are three old metal figures plus eight plastic, more modern figures. I have done these without armbands, just to ring the changes, but the cool metal Boss figure has a Red Star back banner and some of the grenades have red stars painted on them.

Thirteen Grechin figures, including three old metal figures and three converted figures,
remainder are all standard plastics.

Three older metal figures. Central is the Grechin Boss withAK47 derivative and a pistol, as a leader the has the red hair of rank. Either site is a standard, metal Gretchin figure.

So I also did a bit of kit-bashing to make up three unique Gretchin figures. First I used an old Grot plastic figure and converted him to carry a looted Imperial Guard Burna. Next I took a plastic Snotling and removed his wooden club and replaced it with a looted Imperial Guard LasRifle, finally I took a classic GW fantasy goblin from the 1980s, replaced his head with a spare modern head, removed his spear and replaced it with a hand blaster, added a grenade and bullets to his belt.

Most of the looted equipment for this Ork army is sourced from my Imperial Guard spares box, giving a consistent look and feel - implying previous battles against the Imperial Guard.

These are all converted figures, looted Burna left,
looted LasRifle centre and a converted vintage goblin on right

Finally this week, we have a small test group of 15mm 8th Army figures, I obviously plan to do a few more of these in the coming weeks, as I eliminate a backlog of several (will maybe 4) Flames of War packs I found in the loft. 

5 test 8th Army infantrymen

Four Riflemen and a guy with an Anti-Tank Rifle. Basically I was experimenting with approaches on how to paint these and in hindsight I should have photographed each option. I undercoated the figures in White, Buff or light yellow before washing with either Agrax Earthshade or Skeleton Horde Contrast Paint.

And another view

Close-up of the guy with the Anti-Tank Rifle

Flesh was then added and details painted in for rifles and webbing etc before washing with a ligh tbrown shade to bring it all together.

Current Position, planning on heading to Fantasy Lot next week

POINTS

Lady Sarah Bonus                                     20 Points

Lady Sarah Fare                                          5 Points

Casting Couch Bonus                                20 Points

Casting Couch Figure                                  5 Points

28 x 28mm Dutch Foot @ 5 Pts ea          140 Points

24 x 40 Orks & Grechin @ 5 Pts ea        120 Points 

5 x 15mm 8th Army Infantry @2 Pts ea   10 Points

TOTAL                                                     320 Points

SIDE DUEL POINTS

+2 Squirrel Points (15mm 8th Army, 28mm 17th Century Dutch)

From TeemuL: Worry not, there is lot of finished miniatures and lots of variety, Mike! :) It seems that you are going strong towards your target, and beyond. Regiment Slangenburg looks great with all their buttons, the dwarf looks great with all his ropes, too. I hope he has a good career and doesn't run into that survivor with nice trousers. Well done again, more orks next week?

From SidneyR: Mousquetaires du Roi for Glorantha (Outer Ring) [65 points)

It’s taken me a while to arrive, but this is my first post in Challenge XII. After a December which was busy with family things, my painting plans have been delayed considerably by a dose of the Covid lurgy. But, at long last, here’s my first post.

I’ve chosen to land on Glorantha, the planet of heroes. And this submission is all about the heroes of the King’s Musketeers, the Mousquetaires du Roi - heroes of the books and films set in the world of Alexandre Dumas.

I’ve been working with a couple of friends during the second part of 2021 on a set of rules set in the historical Paris of 1622, which is inspired by Dumas’ novels.  And these figures from Brigade Games and Wargames Foundry, in 28mm, are perfect for many different games and sets of rules with that background.

The figures in the photos are not actually musketeers.  (The actual musketeers were almost all painted during the course of last Autumn).  So this selection of the Mousquetaires du Roi are very much the support players for the 'leading characters'. They're the ruffians, henchmen, veterans and sell-swords who, in our games, in the novels and sometimes in history, cluster around the nobles and gentlemen who fill the dramas which we are all so familiar with.

I converted a couple of figures with some extra green stuff, in particular for one of the prone figures to which I added a greenstuff bandolier of powder flasks and some additional flowing hair. The figures were painted with Vallejo Model Colours, and based on Warbases MDF bases.

I kept the bases very plain, as we we have been using our figures both in urban settings and also in rural environments.  I felt that having tufts of gorse and marsh-grass on the base might not look ideal for cadet musketeers guarding the Porte de Nelles in Paris.  And ruffians with broken bottles or disinterested city cats sleeping at their boots might not look ideal in the countryside of Champagne.

As for the points:

10 figures (2 prone) equates to 9 figures (half-points for prone figure), in 28mm.  So ...

9 x 28mm at @5 points = 45 points

Plus 20 points for "Glorantha" on the Outer Rim

Total = 65 points

A modest total, but every Challenge starts with a first step!

******* 

Welcome back Sidney! I know I speak for a great many in The Challenge who are so pleased to have you back with us for the painting madness once more. And as always, the top quality of your brushwork is extremely impressive, as is the warmth and interest you show in the background of your hobby work! A fine 65 points for you - looking forward to more!

Greg

From SidneyR: Soldiers of Fortune - the Regiment de Kinský, 1688 (125 points)

 

"Serve I the first, I shall not be repaid;

Serve I the second, I harvest but hate.

Tricked I will be, if I serve still another,

Serve I the fourth, my conscience will bother.

I know the hero whom we'd serve without pay;

The one who permits us to steal our own way"

A tavern song, sung in Bohemian, in "The Harvest Goose", Laarden, 1688*

*******

Among the various Challenge Chamber entries, I've been painting a German mercenary regiment for my late seventeenth century project centred around the fictional Free-Flemish City of Laarden.  I wanted a unit of German mercenaries who could easily take to the field on either side - Flemish, or French - and who knows, perhaps be of dubious loyalty to both, or either.

Casting the net to find for mercenary formations in the seventeenth century is not hard. There's a good choice of formations from the Thirty Years War, the Fronde, the Northern Wars and further to the East. I came across the name of Count Wilhelm Kinski, a colleague of Albrecht Wallenstein, the great Imperial military enterpriser and general in the Thirty Years War. Kinski - also spelled as Vilém Kinský or Vchynský - was a Bohemian soldier of fortune whose landed property passed to more reliable Hapsburg supporters after Wallenstein's murder in 1634.

I've also come across a reference to a regiment of Kinský serving in France in the Fronde in the 1650s, perhaps some distant relation. So, following a theme, I thought it was not unreasonable to place a regiment of the same name in late seventeenth century Flanders, as Bohemian "children of fortune" following the drum.

These 25mm figures are a bit of a mix.  I've used Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry for the soldiers.  The camp followers are from Midlam Miniatures and Colonel Bill's.  The cat and the dog (also following the drum, or the food) are from Warbases, and the barrels of beer and apples are from Hovels.  The basket of bread is from Irregular Miniatures (and has finally found a base after about 30 years in the spares box).

I really struggled with finding good standards for German regiments which did not feature an Imperial Hapsburg eagle.  Most of the German regiments in the Northern Wars between Denmark and Sweden seem to have adopted standards similar to one of the Northern belligerents, rather than something more personal to the colonel of the regiment.  

I did come across a couple of standards which featured a pair of duelling knights on horseback, and used that design for the centre-piece of the standards, which I painted myself.  

I tried to go for standards which looked sufficiently 'German', but which could also reasonably pass for use in either a French or Flemish army in the period.

As befits professional soldiers of fortune, I didn't bother with lots of green-stuff lace, feathers and ribbons.  Such affectations are not for true masters of their craft - we can leave that to the French cavalry, or maybe French-fashion following Flemish cavaliers (#forthcoming).  I thought that the beer barrels we possibly more in keeping with the mercenary lifestyle these 'gentlemen' would have enjoyed.

I fluffed up the bases a bit with tufts from WWS Scenics (which are very nice), and some static grass.  I tried to get the 3mm bases (from Warbases) to be as neutral as possible, so went for a burnt umber tone for the edging, instead of black.

Ah, I'd almost forgotten - the points.... so 25 figures (one being two characters) in 25mm would give me 125 points, which is nicely symmetrical. No points for any 'Chamber' of Challenge XI, though - Count Kinský's men are not the sort to be tied down to any single location, after all, dear Challengers!

And because it's Sunday, and for all the collectors out there, here's the Collectible Character Card for the "Enemies and Allies of Laarden, 1688: The Challenge XI Collection", for Count Kinský and his "children of fortune'.

If you see them in the Grote Markt, dear friends, just trust me. Walk the other way...

(*  I should mention that the chilling Bohemian song isn't mine.  They're from a Strasburg-published text from 1650, which I took from page 472 of Fritz Redlich's "The German Military Enterpriser and His Workforce" (1964).  Dr. Redlich's book has everything, and more, you'd ever want to know about seventeenth century mercenaries.)