From AdamC: Grand Old Ladies and their American Cousins (49 points).

 

First We have three Queen Elizabeth Class Battle ships in their World War II guise after modernization in the 30s.  

Queen Elizabeth, Warspite (nick named the Grand Old Lady) and Valiant.  All three had very active careers in Two World Wars.

Warspite is of course one the most active ships in world history with 15 battle honors in Two World Wars. The Museum ship that should have been government bureaucracy being the only enemy her "plot armor" couldn't overcome.  

Four Omaha-Class Cruisers these were built by the US after the Great War and were the first cruisers The USN had built in 10 years.  It was clear that the USN needed Ships to Scout for the Battle fleet and initially these ships were called "scout cruisers" (later they were classed as Light Cruisers) and included two air craft to help with this scouting. 

They had an odd combination of  6" guns with two mounted in twin-turrets, one fore and one aft as well as four more mounted older style sponsons on each broad side.  Almost as if the designers couldn't make up their minds so they did both.  Unlike Most other US cruisers the Omahas have torpedoes.  

Next up are four ships of one of my favorite classes The Brooklyn Class Light Cruisers.  These ships were developed as a response to the Mogami and share that classes original armament with fifteen 6" guns mounted in fife three gun turrets. 

These ships were light in name only being of similar size to existing US Heavy cruisers. They were built to be fast and pack a punch.  The guns of this class could fire 10 rounds per minute meaning one of these ships could absolutely drowned and enemy in 150 shells in sixty second! Small wounder they were nicked named the "machine gun cruisers."  They were good ships, with several serving in the 1980s in South America. (Again why didn't one of them become a museum ship?!) 

Finally we have 4 Bagley class destroyers and 4 Mahan class Destroyers both good 1930s American destroyers, which as I have described them elsewhere I will not discuss them now.  Most of these ships will see action at up coming convention (Mayhem and Huzzah)  here in New England this year, maybe I'll see some of you there.

If I have the points right it should be an additional 16point for the Destroyers (8 at 2 points each) and then 33 points for the larger ships (11 at 3 points each) for an additional 49 points.

I'm glad I was able to come back this year its been great fun and I am as always in awe of the quality and quantity of work one can see here. 

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Wonderful work Adam (and great mini-histories on these storied ships). The painting is crisp and clean, and I really like the clear basing. Well done and I look forward to having you with us the next time we hoist anchor. 

- Curt

AdamC: Ancient Egyptian cavalry 100 points

 We have some more Ancient Egyptians armed as more traditional light cavalry. Note they are on bottle caps as my friend will be mounting them to suit his game. 

These came from the same package as the archers interestingly they were unarmed (possibly a sling but I think it was supposed to be the reins)

So I cut the reins and right hand away from the legs they were attached to, pried the arms away, drilled a hole in the hand then add a wire as a spear/javelin. Finally I found some buckler type shields from my bits box.  With that unarmed scouts are now serviceable light cavalry. 

It was a lot of fiddly labor but well worth the effort.  I painted these up for my friend Arofan who does all my 3D printing and I was happy to do it as unofficial 'payback'.  There was a question about what dynasty my friend is doing, he referred to them as Saitic Egyptians (AKA the 26th Dynasty). They Liked to cosplay as Egyptians from the Good old days of the New and Old Kingdoms. 

There are ten 28mm mounted warriors here adding 100 points to my total.  This may be the last big submission of the challenge but I will probably have a couple of small entities (more 1/2400 ships if I can get some Brush time. 

Great unit of light cavalry Adam.  Love the blue details and headgear.  I hope that they serve your friend well.  Peterd

AdamC: shipwrecks (10 points)

 

These are 3D prints of sinking/wrecked ships

The largest is a big frigate or small ship of the line.

The others are possibly a 50 gunner or frigate but since they are mostly below the water they are quite flexible. 

I used toothpicks for broken masts and bowsprit... Estimates are hard for painting time but maybe two to three hours. 

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 These will make great wrecks along the coastline or along shoals in games.  They are pretty simple but effective and therefore I am going to grant them 10 points.

- Byron 

 

From AdamC: Ancient Egyptian Horse Archers (100 Points)

 These are Old Glory miniatures a friend asked me to paint.  As he has put his 3D Printer at my disposal I was happy to paint for him. 

As far as I know (and I have a good layman's knowledge) the Ancient Egyptians never used horse archers. These are for a later period  where Horse archers were becoming fairly common in the Ancient Near East. These later era Egyptians liked to Cosplay as New Kingdom Egyptians. 

If I where to use them I would consider them a sort of ancient dragoons.  Archers who would ride to the battlefield (keeping up with the chariots perhaps) then dismounting to fight. 

Historical or not they look cool.  That Egyptian headdress is iconic and looks goods they can be a pain to paint but its worth it. There at 10 mounted 25/28mm scale miniatures for another 100 points that should put me comfortably over my goal!  

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Sylvain: Another excellent set of miniatures from your painting space. You really nailed the Egyptian palette of colors, one look and you know what ancient nation you are dealing with. I'm glad that you were able to reach your points goal, that's what we are all aiming for. It has been an honor to be your minion; "à la prochaine". 

 

 

From AdamC: Riders of Rohan (60 Points)

 

Six Rohirrim from Games Workshop armed with a variety of weapons.

These two are horse archers something Tolkien never mentioned. They have "Good archers in their fashion" according to Legolas. 

Still Jackson had them use these in the movie so I guess it works.  Still its not a weapon set I ever imagined them using. 

These two are armed they way I wish all the riders were armed. The spear, javelin or lance is the weapon for a hose man.

I like that one is throwing and the other is using his as a lance (though I have repaired it twice so maybe not the best grip).

Finally we have two rides with secondary weapons.

We have an axe and a sword. Games Workshop miniature are frustrating, I always feel they should paint up better than they do. The issue may be me not them but I am always a bit disappointed with how they look when I came done. 

Still they are serviceable enough to use. Six mounted 25/28 miniatures which are 10 points each for another 60 to add to the pile.

 

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Sylvain: Ha, the charge of the Rohirrim! Such a great moment of cinema. Your miniatures brings back the magic of the screen just looking at them. Your choice of color is right on. I'm sure your next game with theses horsemen will be as epic as their movie counterparts. Bien joué! 

From AdamC: Coyotes (15 points)

A very small and unimpressive offering this week 

My friend Dave from Bloody Scotsman Games made these up as part of the wild animals for his various Devil in the Wilderness games. 

Having some scruffy looking animals is always handy for the table. 

You can see one is lacking a tail, I'm happy to use the guys who don't print out quote right.  They are 25mm scale so if we count them as 'infantry' they would be 5 points each for 15 points in total. 

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Sylvain: This might be a first: there is no label "coyote" in the index of the Painting Challenge.  A very interesting idea to add wildlife in the background. You did a great job at representing the fur on these miniatures. Extraordinaire!

 

From AdamC: Japanese Cruisers and American Destroyers (33 Points)

 Starting off with the "correct" Mogami Class Cruisers two and a half of them.

The Mogami class was the last of Japans prewar Heavy cruisers. Originally built with Fifteen 6.1-Inch guns(leading to the USN designing the Brooklyn class) they were upgraded to have ten 8-Inch guns (as was the IJN's plan all along. 

They had reasonable armor and were fast 37 knots combatants.

As with all Japanese Cruisers they carried a heavy torpedo armament: 12 mounted in 4 triple tube launchers. 

As previously explained I got two Mogami carriers so I converted one into a sinking ship maker to add some color to the table. A good wargamer doesn't let anything go to waist.

Four Porter Class Destroyers I named theses for the four that were built in the Four Rivers Shipyard where my grandfather worked during the Second World War. 

The Porter Class was the US response to the Japanese Fubuki class. They had a similar armament Six 5 inch guns on three turrets and a heavy torpedo(8 in two launches)armament.

The US intended to use them as squadron leaders but by World War II they simply served as destroyers along with the rest.

Four Mahan Class Destroyers(1934) the class of destroyers that followed the Porter Class. Smaller by 500 tons but only one gun lighter in armament. 

They also carried 12 torpedoes and twice as many depth charges as the Porters. With all that you're probably thinking I am about to comment on them being too much power in too little ship but actually they managed not to do that.  In part this was due to new lighter engineering plant  allow the tonnage to be used in other ways.

 They were stable and capable designs... or would have if technology has stayed still. These ships suffered as nothing could be added (Radar, improved AA guns etc) unless something else was taken away. So war progressed they shed a five inch mount, torpedo tubes etc. 

Four Sims Class Destroyers were a later design (1937) slightly larger than but initially with an armament identical to the Mahan class.  

The extra weight and size went to engines with a top speed 38.5 knots 

By 1941 they had shed a five inch mount for a pair of 40mm guns and added K guns for additional ASW capabilities. The USN would learn (eventually, See the Fletcher class) that it's a good idea to leave space (and weight) for future developments.  

So we have 12 US destroyers, 2 Japanese cruisers and a sinking Japanese cruiser. That should come out to 30 points. 

 

 

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Sylvain: I'm very biased about your tiny ships because I adore small scales. You did a fine paint job on these and I like your transparent bases. Your cruisers, even sinking, are worth 3 points each for a total of 33 points. I'm sure your games will be fun and furious. Fabuleux!

 

AdamC: Rock Formation (5 points)

 

I think I found these at a local event called Junk in the Trunk, they were extra prints that a 3D printer enthusiasts had.  Being a budget Wargamer I grabbled them.  

At first I thought they might work as islands but I think they are a little too narrow for that 

I suspect that they will dress the edge of the table or be used to raise terrain higher, they will find a use. 

They are about 3 inches high and 4 inches long.  I have a 25mm miniature here for scale.  I'd estimate my painting time as 45 minutes to an hour.  They are alternating layers of Black, Dark Gray, Black wash, Light Gray, Dark Gray... repeat. 

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What a great little find Adam.  Sure they are simple, and fast to paint up, but I can see them being used as islands, like you said, or as rock formations, or even simply to mark edges of table area.  If you wanted you could even add some flock as moss or some vine type growth to them to spice them up a little,  maybe not if you want to keep them usable for the most options, but still a possibility,

Seeing as they are super fast to paint up though, I am awarding 5 points, buts I feel that's still pretty good for the small amount of time needed to get them ready.

- Byron