From BrendonW - Stab, Loose, Stab, Stab (48 points)

This weeks submission is 5 x 28mm foot and 2 x 28mm Mounted and all plastic.

The inspiration for the two Arab Ninjas or Hassassins came from an historically based Novel and also 'counts as' Hero for Kings of War. When I proxy my Arabs as Elves they get access to a 'Hero' named the 'Master Hunter'. Comes with a bow most suitable for sneaking around and being a sniper perhaps. Two below have bodies from FireForge while one is entirely Gripping Beast except for an extra dagger from Conquest Games. Mr Swordy McSwordface is modelling another hand painted shield and I am happy to have him completed as he fills the last slot in a unit tray. 

The last of the double ups for my Perry Miniatures. A heavily armoured pikeman and a horn blower. That's it for the heroic defenders of Black Beer and Bacon this season. I may have only one infantry body left in my stash but I will keep that just in case I get some crazy idea to make something of it. 

A real mix of kits on these two. A head from the Knights, parts from the Light Horse and so on. 

Two Normans with similar painted horses from Conquest Games to reinforce my Norman collection. Two plucky heroes to lead the charge or take the glory after the charge. The shields are hand painted.

Here is the Regiment of Arab infantry with the final hole filled with this posts Arab and previously painted Arabs with some from this Challenge and others from previous times.

cheers from Brendon
I won't be posting anything next week as I am away for a few days.
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Tidy bit of work on these figs, Brendon - the last Saracen looks great when put into the line with his compatriots, a terrific mass effect there with the added bonus of some splendid textiles and shields.

And it's always a good day when there's Beer and Bacon! Although I would DEFINITELY ask the ninja types to take a drug test before sending them on any crucial missions...

45 points for the figures, plus another 3 for the spiffy freehand shields!

Ev

Brendon W - Wednesday Wars with Mongols, Arabs and a Norman (70 points)

This weeks episode contains.... 7 x 28mm on foot, 1 x 28mm Cavalry and, 2 nasty War Machines. All of these except the Norman I actually built during the Challenge...GASP! The War Machines are one of very few small purchases I have made recently. Which is kind of good as I work my way through the unpainted hordes. Anyway...on with the show.

Group shot for this weeks Wednesday club team photo.

Three more Arabs on foot to increase my collection. This time though some experimentation with the bodies. The middle one has the body from a Gripping Beast Dark Ages kit and your right is a body from a FireForge kit. Seemed to work OK. The FireForge scale leather looks suitable for a Fantasy setting but perhaps a little bit of sculpting for some baggy pants would be better for the Arab look to match the rest. Shields are hand painted.

Next in the Wednesday warrior line up is this Norman from Conquest Games. A little bit of inspiration from the Beer and Bacon army to inspire the colours on the hand painted shield. Swords can become heavy so he has his one casually down as he look to his right to give his aching shoulder a little relief.

Among my Sprue horde I could not locate (after a quick search) the larger shields this kit comes with so he has a slightly smaller one. The smaller ones have a boss while the big ones do not. 

Another mix and match with these Mongol War Machine crew. Heads and one arm from FireForge Mongol kits and Bodies from Gripping Beast Dark Ages. The metal staffs are for cranking the War Machine but I could make an arrow head for them instead.

Last but not least the weapons of war for the Mongol Crew above. A pair of nasty Bolt Throwers. These metal machines are a Mantic product fronted with plastic shields from FireForge. Been a long time since I built a metal kit like this and .....wow...lots of filling etc. 

These are actually from the Goblin range but I have re-purposed them for a different army. They are mounted on 50mm square bases. Crew for these machines have no function in 'Kings of War' rules. They are really just decoration but I wouldn't have these weapons without a crew. Kept it minimal though with only two crew each. Just extra efficient and well trained I guess. 

Cheers from Brendon

PS. Tunes Challenge....SLAYER

I am seeing them soon all the way down in Melbourne on their last World Tour. So looking forward to that. I also listened to the more chilled ZAKK WYLDE, 'Book of Shadows II', also chilled out with THE SWORD, 'Used Future'. I need to listen again to TENGGER CAVALRY...Mongol Folk Metal.

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"Mongol Folk Metal"? There had better be throat singing to go with those awesome morin khuur riffs...

😁

So, let's see... 10 for the Norman, 20 for the two ballista thingies (and a pip for their splendid basing), and 35 for the footmen (plus 4 extra for the shield painting) - that's 70 points! You're on fire, mate!

Ev

From Brendon W - Red and Black and Arab Infantry (142 points)

This week I present 24x 28mm infantry and 1 x 28mm Cavalry. All plastic.

Group pic

From Perry Miniatures plastics a variety of reinforcements for a few different units. A lone officer Knight on his horse, four pikemen, four for a black powder unit and four for a billmen/halberd unit.
A few non standard builds among them with hand swaps, weapon swaps and wind instruments from other kits.

Arab infantry double ups to bolster the ranks of two unit types. Spear armed unit and a sword armed unit. All shields are hand painted and I am happy with the result.  I decided to really try for some brighter colours on some sword armed dudes. Made for a change from my usual painting style and I enjoyed the mini challenge I set myself.

I was lucky to get these photos taken before I left for work. An early morning thunderstorm with plenty of rain threatened to not go away and it made my photo zone (back yard) rather dark and very wet. Lucky for me it cleared away just in time.

Cheers from Brendon
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The welcome return of the Knights of Beer and Bacon! And more of the soldiers of the medieval Middle East! Exceedingly fine work there, Brendon.

24 infantry is 120 points, that's 10 points for the Knight, plus 12 points for those shields, very nice work!

That's 142 well-earned points!

Ev

From BrendonW - Arabs, Arrows, Dark Ages and more (97 points)

This post contains 18 x 28mm and 1 x 28mm Casualty and all of them are Plastic.
I missed last weeks deadline but fear not I am unlikely to miss next week. No doubt most of us have overlapping projects on our painting tables happening and sometimes time just runs out.

This Conquest Games Norman is having a bad time of it. He has become crippled by being on campaign in foreign lands and overindulging in local food. You can tell by the way he is clutching his stomach that he is in a lot of pain from gut bacteria. An Army marches on it's stomach indeed.

These Gripping Beast Arabs have 4 hand painted shields. At the time of creating them I was really starting to feel a good flow with my painting. Very happy how they turned out and more will be on show next week so stay tuned.

A pike unit boss and a previously painted drummer from Perry Miniatures. Only one of these Red and Black hard drinkers counts for points. The drummer was torn asunder from his base and re-based. A delicate yet brutal task. I have a few flag wavers already so I won't be attaching a flag to this bossy dude. He can boss around a pike unit me thinks.

I am sure he is just trying to boost morale by yelling into his helmet and waving his sword.

He will put it away and join the fight as soon as his hangover lifts a little.

Gripping Beast Dark Age Archers. After painting armoured miniatures these none uniformed humans actually take longer even though in almost every game system they are cheaper. One below was a carry over from the previous batch of completed figures but was waiting for a partner to join him.

Cheers from Brendon

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And now to M. Brendon, an exciting chef from the Australian Tropics, whose work with diverse ingredients places him firmly in the ModOz tradition.

A base of dead Norman is surrounded by Dark Age Archers and a layer of beautifully-decorated Arab Infantry, The entire ensemble is garnished with a touch of M. Brendon's signature Beer and Bacon. 

This course nets the lucky chef 90 points, plus 4 for the decoration on the shields and 3 for Le Normand Mort.

Ev

From Brendon W - Archers, Arabs and More (80 points)

This week I have a variety of plastic 28mm miniatures. 2 x Mongol Cavalry, 4 x Arab Archers, 6 x Dark Age Archers and 1 Norman Cavalry Casualty.

Gripping Beast Dark Age Archers except one. The plastic kit comes with only three body types. The Miniature with the quiver on his back is from Conquest Games. These double ups on 25mm round bases are suitably dull and drab and my less than average photo makes them darker perhaps.

A fraction brighter these Gripping Beast plastic Arab Archers but have more archers to paint and I think I might aim for a little brighter with them. I glue a lot less flock on the Arabs and I also do a quick highlight of Khaki on the Flock as I do for the Gripping Beast Mongols below.

These Fireforge plastic Mongols are based on 50mm squares to help extend my collection across unit trays. The black horse had a small slope constructed to give a change in angle.

I have only one more mounted Mongol in my unpainted hordes so hopefully this challenge will motivate me to completion. 

I did purchase some FireForge Mongol heavy cavalry but they are resin and not a high quality plastic kit. I have had them a few years but they are such lower quality of the ones above that I am on the verge of selling them rather than painting them. The sculpts suck! It's a mystery to me that parts such as the quiver and bow in its holster are totally different! Why not just use the bits from the set above? Anyway I will stop ranting about the disappointment they are.

The Conquest Games Norman Cavalry box comes with this great little unit base filler. I hand painted the shield on this miniature in pain (or in death). The belly of the horse looks a little odd in regards to the sculpture finish. They sit on a 50mm square and I think Casualties get half points.

Cheers from Brendon

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Very nice work, Brendon - those Fireforge Mongols are especially cool! Pity their resin brethren haven't come up to scratch...

I couldn't find anything in the rules about scoring casualties (then again, I'm not known for my attention to detail in these matters), but I figure that the unfortunate Norman has to be worth at least as much as a regular mounted model given the effort that's gone into painting and basing him! So I'm scoring him as a regular cavalry figure.

Could your Dark Age project become the next Knights of Beer and Bacon, I wonder...?

Ev