From DavidB - Off to the woods! (145 points)

And I'm off to the woods now- once I finish this. Land Nav, Ruck March, Weapons Qual, and other fun infantry tasks! ;)  I'm good with it as I do love the snow almost as much as the woods. I have finally finished my Empire Light Wizard and his posse of Light Acolytes. 

He and his crew were the most fun I had painting out of this group. I probably should've toned down the color some, but I think the purple and blue punches up the white robes and red shoes does scream OldHammer. They were exiled from my incomplete Empire Army that is now 99.9 % plastic. An old Elector count as a general is all that remains.

The fellows flanking the metal engineer -also exiled have replaced the Light Wizard.

The Bright Wizard from GW plastic kit. I may get another one as it has lots of great bits and you can make 2 wizards.

The bright wizard brings the boom to the battlefield. My daughters play the spectrum of pony elves so he will have plenty of Elven wood to burn! ;)

The Amethyst Wizard is my favorite, I like the background of them and their ties to the sect of Morr. Morr is the god of death and his priests tend to the dying and dead. They maintain the "Gardens of Morr"-cemetery - and ensure all is peaceful and quite as they continue silent contemplation and raise lavender roses in the cemetery. Should a Necromancer, Ratman, or some other foul miscreants disturb the peace, the Amethyst wizards and priests of Morr are very unforgiving! ;)

The engineer carries his tools and his repeating rifle, the wizards have all sorts of nifty details on them . 

And the greatswords....these fellows also were exiled and replaced with plastic troops. I dug em out of the lead mountain as they are the closest I have to Italian War troops although these fellows will instead be delving in Mordheim.

They took forever. I was experimenting with black vs white primer and expanded NMM to gold hues. I've repainted them so many times that I'm uncertain which ones started as white or black except for the champion who was coated white. I just can't quite get the yellow down yet on the armor or clothing.

These were a gift from a friend who gave me a lot of Wargames factory and GW scifi stuff. I have no idea where they were made.

They do have a lot of character and will be used as proxy bodyguard for my Tau Etheral.

I also plan to use them in pulp games and as an Alien force in my Sci Fi games with the kids. They may even appear in the Superhero gaming too! 

The fellow in the front is the leader as he has extra bling and no collar. I also painted colored spots on the heads of them all. Maybe paint maybe alien freckles. But the troopers have yellow spots and the caped fellows have blue ones. It was really a fun way to include them altogether with color, match them up to my Tau, and reinforce that these aliens also have a caste system.

These are the last of my Defiance Games marines. I added all sorts of bits to them to create the Genovain Dragoons. 

The planet Genova is largely agricultural with some nice beaches. The Genovian Dragoons were sent to reinforce another world. Shortly after their arrival an outside sponsored coup overcame Genovia. The Genovian forces hired a contractor to take them home, but unbeknownst to them the contractor was allied to the coup and jettisoned the "whole" army into deep space. 

The Genovian Dragoons are now a world-less mercenary force doing all they can to get back home. The mix of gear shows the hardships they have endured. Their story also is taken from a tale evolved by my kids and I from my own deployment when the family hit some rocky financial times due to political posturing and the kids were worried I'd be left overseas. This way I shown them daddy is coming home anyway possible.

These last 10 do not really count for points as they were block colored back when I first came home from Afghanistan. All I did was base em, ink em, paint some camouflage and highlight them.

They are my Scifi Jannisaries,  and this is a chalk of them as they fit perfectly in the VTOL. They excell in rapid response, ship fighting, urban ops, and recon. Evan also wanted to see some scifi Fez, and it wouldn't be AHPC without a few Fez! ;)

Well David, another breakneck-pace of painting even while you were supposedly going to take a "break".  Quite an eclectic assortment for us to enjoy here.  In fact, it seems to be some kind of informal commitment between you, the French Jester and Alex to hit us with the greatest variety possible in some of these submissions!

It is always nice to see Oldhammer figures.  Personally, I would rather have a root canal than pick up "Age of Sigmar", so there is always a twinge of regret when I see Oldhammer stuff but these sure do look fine.  The Greatswords in particular stand out for me.  You also have quite a show of Sci-Fi for us again.  Those Tau-look-a-likes are very interesting - maybe someone in the Challenge recognizes where they are from? They will certainly look sharp on the table.  I quite enjoyed the story of the Genovians, and the connection to your own family. 

All in all, another very nice entry. So the total is 13 28mm fantasy figures and 16 28mm Sci Fi figures, as well as 10 "bonus" chaps who don't score, but still add their bulk to the post.  Well, that will get you another 145 points! I wish you the best in your "fun infantry tasks" - although "ruck march" doesn't sound really "fun" to my soft civilian mind...

From DavidB - Catachan Green Everywhere! 28mm Catachans (160 points)

So, I finally have gotten some stuff done in my usual OCD/ ADD manner. Family, holidays and work to include military did give a few obstacles. The above slanted pic is from early December near Challenge start. It is shocking not for the lack of snow and cold, but because I was actually sent into the woods with a truck. They NEVER gave me a truck before! You would not believe how hard it was to stuff that truck in my ruck, I had to leave behind a few shirts just to get it to fit!

I totally miffed the Nostalgia Round and no doubt will totally miss a few more too! So I put a bit of nostalgia in the background. Above are my Elite Catachan Devils squad. As an elite hard bitten veteran unit, they are allowed up to three special weapon troops, as well as shotguns, auto guns, pistols, and close combat weapons instead of or in addition to their lasguns. A loaded for bear unit, they are also allowed a veteran Lt. Off to the right you will see Lt Maddog Millsy who has a power fist and plasma pistol, for reasons unknown he also carries a vortex grenade. ( okay, I got that really neat half sphere template, and it would be a shame not to use it!)

The Catachan Devils are joined by another elite taking the moniker Dead Men. They are an assault team equipped with shotguns, two demo packs, a plasma gun and heavy flamer. The veteran SGT has a power sword and bolt pistol.

Catachan deathworld vet armies have a weapon skill of 4 which means these fellows will have more fun in melee than your typical guard squad.

Death world Vets are allowed a squad of Ogryns as a troop choice, so I rummaged up 5 to serve them in that capacity.

The bonehead SGT is an old RT sculpt and has been dubbed " FrrrRRRRrrrpp" after the Ogryn fondness of gaseous bodily functions. I think it is this, their raucous laughter, and lack of hygiene which is why they cannot sneak, ambush, and infiltrate like the Catachans do.

Still, at 5 strong they will last a bit unless Lt Maddog Millsy gets a little too happy with that vortex grenade!

I also completed this four man recon team of Sequoia Indian scouts. They were assembled from Defiance Games marines and Wargames factory Woodland Indians. Apparently the 1st Nation plastics are now unavailable as Warlord bought them up and are retooling the whole line. But for $260 you can get 8 of em plus all sorts of British and Americans in Warlord Games latest big box set...my wife said "No" but used way more words. ;)

I assembled from the left: A point man, a marksman, a Sgt, and a scout. They are well equipped with cutlery and the scout also sports a warclub. I used my usual method of painting and highlighting all the flesh areas first -5 layers. The war paint was all inks and washes except for the white which was sparingly thinned. The inks and washes just seem more natural to me and give a bit of stained translucency to the warpaint.

I included this to show why the plastic Catachans are so hated on the left is a plastic trooper who's arms are just random slabs of bulges with no clear understanding of anatomy, The Ogryn clearly is a deformed Mutant, but he has solid musculature. The woodland Indian and the Necromunda ganger are really fine in muscle tone and believable. Lt Millsy is showing that the newer plastics of heavy weapon teams and command squads have finally restored anatomy back to the realm of reasonable.

The metal Catachan sculpts are still better though.

This lot is a gang painted in the 90's...lookit all the orange guns! They are the Orlock Sump Snakes and will eventually get repainted to join the Catachan Grass Snakes. I included them as the unpainted roster are filling up the squads of the deathworld veterans and the commander of the force is the former leader of the Sump Snakes. He has the big power fist and bolter and is standing front left.

I stopped painting them last century as I really hated the arms on the plastic troops, but the Perry sculpts are not getting cheaper and its a crying shame to leave them unused in a box. Millsy also gets kudos for inspiring me to get them out after all his great Catachan entries and work post challenge season.

Well David, I have to make a bit of a confession - I have always despised the Catachan figures, but here you have done a wonderful job painting them and giving them character - work the on the faces of the one vet squad in particular totally fits the part.  The old-school Rogue Trader-era Ogryns are marvellous, and the conversions with the woodland scouts are very, very well done.

$260 bucks for a few figures? That sounds like a bargain compared to Forge World...take it from a guy who does communications for a living - it's all about the context...

I usually find the Catachans to be tired and terrible, but you and Millsy make them fun and entertaining.  Shows what a cranky cynic like me knows - nothing! Great work!  I can imagine them stalking the enemies of the Imperium (or just some guys who tried to rip them off at cards) with blades and a handy vortex grenade, literally ready for anything...

Those Ogryns are big fellas, so we'll give a few extra points for those lads.  On the whole, 160 points - well done sir!!

From DavidB - Red Caps & Skaven Mage (25 Points)

Ah, holiday week! No internet, insurance company phone tag, and the usual holiday frivolities! Here are the pictures of the delayed ratman and some holiday fun I had with the kids. The fun all started with a full dinning room, three dogs, one terrified cat, and a led squeaky ball....

I did have an "Oliphant" full of nasty evil folk for the fortnight challenge, but he and the mighty Harad warriors were taken out! A fuzzy stampede lead by said led light and consisting in order of one cat in-the- wrong-place, three excited lab mixes, and four concerned kids. No holiday decorations, French doors, or heirlooms were damaged. No lasting harm to any living being ( the cat may have lost a life, but he has at least 8 more). The mighty oliphant and a couple troops did not survive the charge. They can be repaired, but I'm not keen on it for now. 

To settle the kids, we painted models yesterday. Each of us had 4 Defiance Games marines from my prep box. The kids feel better about it and some of their work may be observed behind the four I painted.

Mine are the Red Caps, an intergalactic mercenary group made up of former soldiers looking for decent pay. The troops are responsible for their own gear and uniforms. Hence the mishmash of gear and camo. They are for a freebie skirmish written by Howard Whitehouse. Quick play and wounded/dead troops are not removed. Care- under- fire is part of the rules.

There was controversy about Defiance Games. But as you can see the models are pretty decent. Plus I was in contact with them and received TWO boxes plus extras for FREE while I was deployed and I never asked once for samples or anything beyond what I paid for. I am sorry to see them gone now.

I like the "combat diapers" the models sport. "Combat diapers" are uncomfortable, hot, jock-itch creating gear that you don't need till you do! Seeing them reminds me that you the same idiots will be designing uniforms for troops in the future, and those troops will find the same discomfort I have...and the same gripping on comfort will continue anon! ;)

In the 1812 War, more British troops died on the march to Washington than in the skirmishing. It was because of the wool uniform jackets, backpacks, and humid summer air! You KNOW they were griping a bit!

The Skaven mage is a conversion of several fantasy bits. I needed a sorcerer for my skaven warband and did not like what GW had available. All the parts came from GW kits, and in the end , I had my very own cycloptic mage!

Since mages are albinos in the Skaven world, he was undercoated white. Since he eats warpstone for magic, I painted his eye green. He keeps his stash of warpstone in his staff within the lantern.

I have him posed as if he is preparing a blast of magic. I used a lot of inks and washes on him with a light drybrushing of tan followed by more washes and some highlights. I prefer black undercoats, but white makes washes work really well. The Defiance Games marines (mercs) have a NMM attempted on the weapons, but I don't think it worked out too well. I think I did better with it on Red Platoon, but it is still new to me. I'll try again on later entries.

From Curt:David, it sounds like you've had your hands full this holiday season! My deepest condolences regarding the stricken Oliphant and its posse. I hope we see the repaired beast soon. I like your Red Caps though I find the whole idea of 'combat diapers' deeply troubling. I had no idea... (Though I guess they make perfect sense.) Your Skaven mage is completey ace. I love the lantern, his green eyes and his albino fur - excellent stuff.  

Finally, your hobby space has that whiff of chaotic reality about it that I find strangely calming. Thanks for sending that along.  :)