From JohnS - Coming down the final staright, It's Cataphracts Followed by Horse Archers! - 80 points

Scraping in under the wire I have more Late Romans : A Base of Cataphracts (to complete a unit) and 4 bases of Horse Archers

The left figure is Victrix and the right Gripping Beast.

Both miniatures have good detail, the Victrix a bit finer

I enjoyed painting both miniatures and I like the contrast between the two.

Once again the Horse Archers are a mix of Victrix and Gripping Beast.

The more dynamic Victrix were a bit easier to paint (the horses are beautiful)

These guys have gone straight from the last Paint and Chat of this Challenge onto the photography table, hence the wet varnish!

28mm Mounted figures x 8 @ 10 pts = 80 points total to finish.

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Terrific work John! These cataphracts are very impressive and very neatly done, while the horse archers are dynamic and obviously ready to cause no end of headaches for your opponent on the tabletop. Well done!

- Curt

 

From Millsy: Last of the Late Romans - pic heavy (300 points)

G'day All,

Here we are, last stop of the Late Roman line for the year. At times I wasn't sure I'd make it to completion, but things have worked out and I have to say I am overall pretty satisfied with the army as a whole.

Last to be shared are some commanders, the bulk of my cavalry and a manuballista. 27 x cavalry, 4 x infantry and 1 x artillery piece for a total of 300 points. And the money shots...

General and Heroes

These are mix of Gripping Beast spare plastics and some metals (from I cannot remember where). I'm not that fussed with the metals as sculpts to be honest, the horses are more like ponies and they lack the crispness of plastics, but they do paint up well enough and don't look like everything else so all good in the end.

Equites

Two bases of Equites (medium cavalry). All Gripping Beast plastics and Little Big Men shield decals. Probably the most enjoyable of the cavalry to paint and they look the business. I may have to add a couple more stands down the track for larger battles but not without more legionaries first.

Equites Sagittarii and Equites Illyricani

Two bases each of  Equites Sagittarii (light cavalry with javelins) and Equites Illyricani (light horse archers). All Gripping Beast plastics once again. Despite being the same number of miniatures as the medium cavalry they took almost half as long again to paint. I loaded them up with bits and the lack of mail to hide the tunic patterns made for more work too. You might be able to see I ignored the sculpted tunic pattern (which was right pain to paint) and matched them to my infantry instead. I think it works, at least from gaming distance.

Ballistarii

One little Ballistarii (manuballista) which in truth I will likely never field but I bought it so it got painted. I added a couple of spare infantry to fill out the base and get rid of them basically. The manuballista is from Warlord Games and the odds and sods more Gripping Beast.

The Army

And here's everything in one set of pics. They're getting a run out in a week or so and I am keen to see how they perform. AlanD is a tough opponent and they'll likely get a hiding but it'll be great fun whatever the result.

Wrapping up...

Thanks Curt and Sarah for hosting the mayhem once again, my fellow minions for sharing the load and the laughs and my wonderful collection of Antipodean lunatics charges. At times I wish you were less prolific but then I remember we don't do anything by halves down here and paining little men is no different.

Lastly, my donation for the year went to the family of a vet who died suddenly from an undiagnosed condition. Never met the guy, nor his family but that's not the point. Along with a pile of other donations his son will have his college tuition funded so hopefully he'll make a positive difference in the world.

All the best everyone. Til next year, stay safe and may you always roll sixes!

Cheers,
Millsy

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Wow Millsy, my eyes are still lingering on those last few photos of the completed force. That is just amazing!! It all looks so good, man. Well done. These new additions are superb, especially those equites. I hope you and Alan have a terrific time when you roll these guys out.

That donation sounds very worthwhile and immediate. Well chosen, mate. 

Finally, thank you for all your help minioning the Friday crew and with the theme rounds. It was really appreciated. Have a good one!

- Curt

From MattW - LOTR, Ancients, Medieval, Dredd, DR Who and Bloodbowl 85 points

A few bits of the table in the last week, a mixed lot 

Not sure where the figure is from maybe salute? Perseus with medusas head 

Cyberman, not sure where it is from possibly citadel? 

Medieval Bishop/Priest from gripping beast 

Alamani German putting a Roman to the sword Foundry, a marker for my games 

Two Judges for Judge Dredd games from Warlord miniatures 

The beginnings of my halfling Bloodbowl team from GW 

Tree-beard Mary and Pippin 

Fifteen 28mm foot @ 5 = 75 points 
One mounted @ 10 points 
 Total points 85 points 

Squirrels 
Ancients 1

Dark Age 1
Medieval 1
Dr Who 1
Bloodbowl 1 
Lotr 1
Total squirrels 6

Cheers
Matt

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Very fine brushwork, Matt! I especially like the rock-throwing hobbits and Perseus. Great stuff. 

- Curt

From Millsy: Late Roman skirmishing archers (100 points)

G'day All,

The weather has improved, the annual audit is done at work and life is good from a hobby POV. Things are moving along nicely once again in the Late Roman department now that varnishing can happen. Consequently I've got a bunch of skirmishing bowmen to share this week.

These are leftovers from both the Gripping Beast Late Roman and Dark Age infantry sets which I didn't want hanging about so painting them up for To the Strongest! made the most sense. They're sufficiently generic they could pass for any number of protagonists for the period I think which is always useful.

20 x 28mm infantry = 100 points

Next week will see the last of the Late Romans - a pile of cavalry, a little artillery and some command. I'm super excited to have them all done as I have a series of games on the horizon. Let's not think about how freshly painted troops typically perform eh?

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Millsy

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Great to see some more Romans rolling in Millsy. I have really enjoyed following this project during this edition of the Painting Challenge, and it has been great fun to have you as part of the Thursday crew!

As for the performance of freshly painted figures...well...I hope the dice gods will reward your efforts with favour and good luck! But in the event you end up marching off into miniature Adrianople, at least they'll be nice an varnished as they go down...

Another 100 points for you - thanks so much!

GregB

From Darrell H - 8 Late Roman Archers (Points 44 )

I finally finished the last eight speed painted Late Roman Archers to go with the first Legionary unit of my LR army! I say finally as they really do seem to have taken forever due to varnishing issues and the weather (I do a Humbrol Enamel Gloss coat before matting down so it can take time and is weather and humidity dependent).

These eight fellows were originally going to be painted a few years ago, prior to the Vanishing Disaster Incident, which put me off painting the army completely. Until this year.

As the Archers are integral to the whole unit of Legionaries I've included a piccie or two of the lot to give you guys and gals an idea of how the miniatures work together.

Please  note, I am only claiming the points for the 8 Archers as the other 16 models were painted a few years ago!

FromDaveD , lovely work once more Darrell. I too use Humbrol  Gloss , from a pot though I am switching over to using Screwfix Yacht Varnish as a hard protective finish and then a Matt down - we all have our own solutions. You must be pleased to get these done . I’m giving them 44 pts