From RobertT: 6mm Swedish Cavalry (45 points)

This post is the reason why I joined this challenge.  My mate Steve and I started playing the Great Northern War using Beneath the Lily Banners supplement "Talon and Claw" with big battalions (72 figures) and big squadrons (12-14 figures).  Which is fine except that Steve says he "can't paint".  So I stepped in and painted both armies in exchange for a hardback copy of the rules.  We were having a grand old time with victories going back and forth, then Baccus released "new improved" Swedes with more dynamic poses and, without any notice, about 200 Swedish cavalry landed on my doormat.

 

Hopefully it is possible to see the size difference between the old sculpts at the front and the new ones at the back.

 

 

To give an idea of how long the new arrivals have been sitting staring at me, I had to brush the cobwebs off the undercoat before I could begin.  And then I decided to paint anything BUT these, adopting the same mindset of someone who leaves all their homework to the last possible minute before going back to school.  I even tidied my room before finally biting the bullet.  Here they are having almost completed the horses.  Once these are done I can get on with my own Saxons, Poles and Cossacks.

 

 

I have completed three squadrons of Swedish cavalry of 14 figures each.  They are based but not textured.  Steve has found some Vallejo texture gloop which he wants to try out, so I have painted the horse bases "generic wargame brown" and left them at that.  Hopefully 42 points is accurate for this state.

 

 

They are in a "typical" Swedish wedge shaped charge which looks right.  

I have a palsy in my right hand which can be quite vexing so I tend to use inks at this scale.  Various browns (Burnt Umber, Sepia and Antelope Brown) with different amount of thinners for the horses and thinned Prussian Blue for the uniforms.  Hence the white undercoat instead of the more traditional black.  To get the yellow facings to stand out, I had to do a quick dab of tan first.  At this scale I am not interested in painting every little detail and the uniform shade might not be 100% accurate.  But they look like Swedes on horses and I can tell which direction they are facing.

When I was painting my Ancient Spanish for Hannibal's army, I used contrast paints instead of ink to get a lot more variety and they came out really well.

To do the hat lace and the gold trim round the flags, I deployed my secret weapon.  Gel pens.  I cannot recommend them enough for this scale and 15mm too.  Store them on their side, not tip down or up as gravity does bad things to them.  I thought they deserved their own photo.

Final shots of today's unit charging one of my Russian battalions.  In this scale the massed ranks really look like a battalion, even though the footprint is the same as 12 15mm figures.

 

 

 

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Sylvain: 6mm is my favorite scale and your nicely done Swedish cavalry reinforces my addition to it. They are so tiny yet so easy to visually "read" as cavalry on the board, even at arms length. Your colors are vibrant and they really look in motion. I will add 3 points for the flags. It has been an honor to be your minion; "à la prochaine".

 

 

EdwardG: Better late than never. A few little chaps on horses - 6mm British Napoleonic Cavalry (54pts)

 Hej hej all,

Well, while there are still ~2wks to go, I can safely say, I hope I'll not go through a repeat of this challenge time again. These past weeks have been a perfect storm of work overload, a harsh winter, illnesses at home, and a general hobby slump. I know we all go through it, but hopefully it's now behind me!

I had plans, BIG plans, for this Challenge. Last summer, I'd realised I had a lot of 28mm minis for SAGA (and other game systems) in the lead/plastic pile, and I'd resolved to get them painted. All of them. In hindsight, this was probably my first erorr. As I have filled 5x 4L really useful boxes with built and prepared minis...and some on top that I couldn't squeeze in. So far I've hardly made a dent. 

Instead, when I found myself on another work trip, I began painting some of my 6mm backlog. These chaps are the 5th British Cavalry brigade from the Waterloo ORBAT. Three units of light cavalry, in hussar uniform. They've taken longer than they should have to paint, but now they're done!

The units are scaled to match the number of squadrons and the frontage each would present in normal formation. This gives a grand total of 54 cavalry figures, including the command and ADC. 

All of the minis are from Baccus and were a pleasure to paint. 

Points:

54 x 6mm Cavalry = 54pts

Hopefully I'm able to find some mojo to chip away at the 28mm mountain I've created. With 2 weeks remaining I doubt I'll make my target, but never say never! 

Take care all! 

Edward

Hoi Edward, these things happen! You are on your way now at the least and whatever Life throws your way these miniatures have been finished in a gorgeous paintjob! Having painted some Bacchus miniatures I can concur with your judgement they paint up a treat but it's your excellent paintwork that makes them really shine. We all experience the troubles of real life and a hobby slump now and again and so it is something we all sympathize with let's hope you can get a little dent in the 28mm mountain before Challenge's End and afterwards just plan the unfinished projects for next year!

Cheers Sander 

From MartijnN: The last post (The Inconstant, The Ambitious) (137 points)

Phew. Managed to get my 6mm cavalry and artillery done just in time. So here are my last figures for Challenge XV:

These are five bases for my Blucher French force. There is a brigade each of dragoons, cuirassiers and chasseurs a cheval, and a both a foot artillery and a horse artillery battery.

Horse artillery and foot artillery

A brigade of Chasseurs a Cheval

Cuirassiers and Dragoons

They are all Baccus miniatures.

There was one Circle of Hell left to visit, Treachery. I had a great idea to paint up a 6mm figure representing the Count De Bourmont, a French Géneral de Division commanding the 14th division, who deserted to the Allies on the morning of the 15th of June, 1815. However, I also had an idea for the first two Spheres of Paradise, so I had to get my priorities right. Having done enough Circles, Paradise was in reach!

So, for the Inconstant and The Ambitious, as must surely be a shock for anyone who followed me along during this Challenge, I have painted two Iain Lovecraft figures. Here is the wobbly old King, representing the Inconstant, and his just a little too eager son, the Crown Prince, representing the Ambitious:

As you can see, the old King likes his liquor a little too much, and his crown is tottering as a result. I will leave it up to you to decide if he is either eagerly reaching for or desperately rejecting the cup his son, who thinks he has been waiting for the Throne quite long enough, is offering him."Come on, dad, one more won't hurt, right?".

They are 3d printed figures. I really love these Lovecraft figures, they are so full of character. I will probably never find any use for them, but they are fun to paint!

And I also painted a log cabin. No points, just for show (and hopefully help persuade Curt to let terrain back in next Challenge 😉). It is a very bad photo, it is a lot more colourful in real life. Very simple paintjob, but I am pleased with it:

So I made it to Paradise in the end. Scoring is easy I guess:

66 6mm cavalry @1 = 66

7 6mm guns @1 = 7

28x 6mm foot @0.5= 14

2x 28mm foot @5= 10

2 Challenge locations = 40

For a total of 137 points. 

Thanks for looking. I'll leave the formal thanksgiving for the wrap-up post, but thank you all for the support and the encouraging comments. I am already looking forward to Challenge XVI!

Martijn 

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What a lovely last post Martijn! I particularly like your Napoleonic French Horse Artillery, but have to laugh and admire your Inconstant and Ambitious. You've been a great booster of Lovecraft's miniatures and these two are worthy additions to your collection. The cabin looks very nice and cozy. Who knows, perhaps my heart (or head) will soften to terrain for next year. :) 

Last but not least, thank you so very much for serving as our Friday Minion. Your comments and support were well received and I very much enjoyed your grand tour of brews and spirits that can be found in the Low Countries. I hope we can imbibe a few in a future visit (along with a rousing rematch of SAGA)!

- Curt

From MartijnN: More Saracens, entering Hell, and some pointless buildings (Limbo, Gluttony, Lust)(159 points)

I have worked some more on my Saracen starter for Saga. Gripping Beast metals again. First up is the warlord, a really nice figure:

Being utterly unimaginative, I painted him up per the box art. Next, I painted a small unit of four bowmen hearthguard:

That leaves me with just one unit of mounted bowmen warriors to paint. Should be possible ;-)

Then, it seems time to finally enter the Circles of Hell. Or else I might never reach my target!

First, Limbo. These 6mm French Napoleonic figures from Baccus have sat on my painting desk for ages. They are not difficult to paint, but that's maybe why I keep putting it off. Anyway, they are my perfect entry into Limbo:

They are based for Blücher, the Sam Mustafa ruleset for big battle Napoleonics.

Next circle is Gluttony. I painted this serving girl carrying a large tray laden with food and drink. A great meal for a glutton!

She is a 3D printed figure designed by Iain Lovecraft.

Cher was famously "born in the wagon of a travelling show, my mother would dance for the money they throw". Next up are two gipsy dancers, again 3D printed figures by Iain Lovecraft. I think these seductive ladies are a good entry for Lust.

Finally, another figure that languished on my painting desk for a long time. Alas, it is not very fitting for the next Circle, but I decided to paint him up anyway. Once again a 3D printed Iain Lovecraft figure.

He does hide a nasty surprise behind his back. Perhaps he is a Witcher?

Finally, not for points, some 15mm ACW buildings. I have had these for at least 25 years, so it was about time to paint them. Yes, I know, it is a perfect waste of valuable Challenge painting time, but I wanted to try out a recipe for painting wood by Stuart from the Miniature Realms YouTube Channel.

I need to keep working on this technique, which wet blends grey, green and brown speedpaints, for I would like a more greyish look. Still, I think they look okay.

Anyway, that's it for this week. Scores:

5 28mm mounted @10 = 50

4 28mm foot @5 = 20

58 6mm @0.5 = 29

Limbo, Gluttony, Lust = 60

For a total of 159 points. And a 6mm squirrel.

All of which should enable me to still reach my target by the end of the Challenge...

It you stayed with me to this point, thanks for looking and keep up the good work!

Martijn

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Hello!

Great paint job on the Iain Lovecraft figures! And well done on passing through Limbo, Glutoony and Lust/

I'm very much looking forward to seeing you catch and beat your Challenge target  :)

- Sarah

From EdwardG: Last sprint and a smattering of production [Overdue and Returns] (357.5pts)

Hej hej all,

Sadly it is finally here, Spring. I cannot believe how quickly this challenge has gone. Its been inspirational to see all of your minis and thank you all so much for the kind comments give posted on my few entries.  I've been rather poor at completing minis this challenge. I've had half painted minis sitting around the painting desk since December, and they're still there! 😀 Partly to blame is my disjointed painting time, but most of it stems from a rather terrible "oooh shiney" infection. 

So without further dithering and fluff, I present my final offering to the great 14th Challenge:

- A Spanish 15mm DBA army

- More 6mm Napoleonics

- A fraction of my Cold War British 6mm target

Starting from the bottom of the list, I present the Cold War 6mm British. I'd had high hopes of getting those project fully completed this year, but not to be. The project started before COVID and in the time to the start of the challenge I'd only managed to get one Regiment of Challenger tanks off the painting table.  The rest of the minis have sat in varying stages of primed and bare metal. Which means that the painted miniatures below don't look at all coherent! Hopefully it's not too obvious, and in the end I blame the British Army Paint procurement process ;)

The Orbat below is one I've been studying and tinkering with for a while. The basis is the British 3rd Armoured Division of the BAOR in 1985. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information on this Division on the Web for this time period. The reason I picked the 3rd Division in 1985 is because it was the only moment when I could find the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars (QRIH) and a Guards battalion on the same Orbat in Germany. I've a family connection to the QRIH and the Guards. Both of my grandfathers (sadly both now passed) were officers on each one, respectively. My father's father was commissioned into the 4th Hussars (a pre-amalgamation Regiment of the QRIH) in 1948 and served until he shifted sideways onto the diplomatic scene in the 1960s [https://www.qrhmuseum.com/obituary-col-g-a-g-gilhead] My mother's father was a Guards officer in the Coldstream Guards leaving the battalion a Major to take up life in the city as an insurance underwriter at Lloyd's of London, specialising in aircraft. Famously, in the family,  being the lead for insuring Concord but being unable to take up his complimentary ticket on the inaugural flight because my grandmother didn't trust any infernal flying machine that didn't have a prop propeller! 

Hence the wish to remember them a little with this Orbat. That said their era was the 1950s and 1960s, but the other wargamers here in Hamburg have collections for the 1980s. Hence the shift forward 25yrs. 😀

First up I present the hypothetical Recce Regiment the 9th/12th Lancers. The only Divisional orbat I could find does not give a recce Regiment. But with the rules we play, it's a necessary force to have, hence why I've added them in.  They're equipped with a mixture of Scimitar and Sabre CVR(T)s, with one squadron parading in Striker anti-tank guided weapon vehicles.  

Next to parade is the second heavy tank Regiment of the Division. The 17th/21st Lancers. They're equipped with older Cheiftan tanks. The 1980s was the big tank transition period for the BAOR. From the older Cheiftan to the new Challenger 1. I've equipped the QRIH (painted pre COVID!!) with Challenger, so I decided to give the Lancers the older kit to depict the discrepancies in British Army equipment issuing :) 

And finally for my Cold War British, I present the Coldstream Guards. This version of the Regiment is also slightly hypothetical, as they weren't in the 3rd Division at the time (it was the Iriah Guards) and the battalion didn’t change over to being an Armoured infantry battalion for a few years. But I didn't want to let real history get in the way! 

I'm really happy with my progress, even if there are two more Brigades to complete for the whole Division. A target for next year! As this project was started prior to COVID, I'd like to claim the Overdue Section Bonus :)

Next onto the parade ground I have the 1st Hannoverian Brigade from the 1815 version of the British 3rd Divison. Accompanied by the Brigade commander and the associated skirmisher stands for the rules we use. Again, all made up with the brilliant Baccus miniatures. 

This Brigade was made up of the field battalions of the Hannoverian army. Most of the soldiers were professionals who had been fighting in either one of the armies for a lot of the war. The Hannoverian army was also strengthened, in 1814, by a cadre of officers and NCOs transferred over from the KGL as it returned from the Peninsula.  All in all, this meant that this Brigade was in the thick of the fighting for most of the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, giving a very good account of themselves throughout. 

I had also hoped to get the final KGL Brigade painted in the last week. But they're still sitting in the painting queue, undercoated and ready to go for another week! 

Last, but not least, I present the 15mm DBA army that I've been working through this year. Painting a DBA army has become one of my challenge staples. And I think it'll continue for a long time as there are many more in the purple bible yet unrepresented on my shelves.

This year it was the turn of the Ancient Spanish. An army based on the Spanish who fought against Carthage and Rome from the 250BCs onwards. The hope is that I'll be able to play them in one of our local themed DBA days later in the summer. The figures are all from Forged in Battle, and I have had them in the lead pile for a while now, so I'm happy to have gotten some paint on them eventually 😀

For points of this submission I've calculated the following, please correct me if I have erred! 😀

52 x 6mm Vehicles @ 2pts = 104pts

54 x 6mm foot with the vehicles @ 0.5pts = 27pts

10 x 6mm prone foot with the vehicles @ 0.25pts = 2.5pts

Overdue Section Bonus = 20pts

252 x 6mm Napoleonic foot @ 0.5pts = 126pts

2 x 6mm Napoleonic mounted @ 1pt = 2pts

28 x 15mm Ancient Spanish foot @ 2pts = 56pts

5 x 15mm Ancient Spanish mounted @ 4pts = 20pts

Total = 357.5pts!

I'd like to thank Curt and Sarah for running another sublimely fun Challenge! I cannot wait for winter again and the start of Challenge XV!! Perhaps next year I'll have a painting streak and be able to best my personal goal of achieving a top 10 finish 😀

Also thanks again to all my fellow Challengers. It has been great to tune in and be inspired by your painting and thank you all again for the comments on my entries. It's super motivational to read them all.  

TTFN, and see you for the round ups! 

Ed 😀

Some fine sprinting here I'd say Ed! Nice to see the Cold War vehicles and figures (well done on the camo btw!) contrasted to your very colourful Spanish 15mm. Good to hear that good old DBA is still getting some love also. I am very impressed by your Hanoverian troops though, it is really a great sight to see them all lined up together, and I liked the little background history as well. I think your calculations are spot on, although the spreadsheet says 358. We'll see how it shows up.   Meanwhile, I am sure we all very much appreciated what you produced during the Challenge and are looking forward to meeting again next winter (when I hope you will remember to add your labels too ;-)! 

Martijn