From JohnS: From Valon to Hastings (60 points)

Having achieved my target by painting only Slaughterloo I decided that my Stretch Goals would be painting some historicals.

I have had these Normans prepared for the Challenge since 2022 so I thought that it was about time I slapped some paint on them. The mix is somewhat strange as they are actually done as "add-ons" to convert some existing units into wider To The Strongest units.

These 4 Crossbowmen will be added to two more armoured crossbowmen bases to former one of the Standard size units I will use for TTS.

These chaps are in a looser formation as they are to be used as light Infantry, other (bow). I always mix a couple of spearmen in these light infantry units as I think that light infantry probably had some form of close defence even if their primary role was as skirmishing bowmen.

This base is Spearmen to be used as regular Spearwall. I have a couple of Deep Spearwall units already so these will add to existing bases to give me a bit of flexibility.

All of these bases are 60mm deep x 45mm wide. Three bases side by side will give me a nice 135mm wide unit. Looks ace on a 150mm grid.

The musician will be used as a Hero in To The Strongest. Nothing inspires a unit to charge in harder than a man playing a horn!

12 x 28mm Infantry @ 5pts = 60pts

 

From Millsy:

I have the same man tooting a horn in my SAGA force. Hopefully he does more for you than my fellow does. Maybe I need to give mine a nicer paint job like you've done and he'll treat me better!

Sometimes a change is as good as a holiday right? Fantastic Napoloeonics to dark age historicals is a change of pace indeed. These will be a great addition to your To the Strongest! forces and I'm sure they were pleased to get some love after teasing them with undercoat a couple of years back.

Thanks for sharing your work with us this year mate. I've been fascinated by your Slaughterloo posts which are never dull! One day I'd love a chance to have a game and see what  all the fuss is about.

Cheers,
Millsy

From JezT: Mixed Crossbow - 28mm (35 points)

Hi All 

Small post from me resulting from a "stock check" of my Crossbow figures. I usually play Basic Impetus Bolt Action but for some armies I have based using sabot bases so I can play smaller skirmish games such as Saga using the figures individually. For my Late Crusader army and Normans I was cross mixing using the same figures - I could get away with it although the bases were different. 

Anyway now solved this problem! Firstly found a few old Gripping Beast figures which I painted up for the Late Crusaders - 

Painted to represent City of Jerusalem

Painted as Knights Hospitallers

Next is a pack of Footsore Crossbow painted up to use in the Norman army. These Footsore have a bit more dynamic poses and will match in as I have the Footsore Norman archers and spearmen. 

One was promoted to a Spearman - or is that demoted?

So just a simple 7 foot figures for 35 points this week. 

Cheers Jez

TeemuL: Simple 35 points, but very good brushwork and nice to hear your plans to use these models in your various games. I love the light blue colours on the first one.

From Kerry T - Norman's home is his castle (300 points)

 Morning afternoon and evening all

First a big thank you to you Millsy for all your hard work in looking after us as our Friday minnion. Millsy's idea and coordination of a regular Tuesday chat for the Friday crew has also been a huge bonus and made this my third challenge even more pleasurable than the previous two. Thank you Millsy

I hope to produce one more post before next week's deadline which will be my final entry of Italian wars cavalry but this one is all about buildings.

I 've shown some of Norman's troops earlier in the challenge, well this is Norman's house!

Ever since starting to collect and paint the Baron's war figures from Footsore I've hankered after a castle. Last year I put one together from a mixture of Tabletop Workshop, Renedra and Ziterdes components and am pleased with it but since then I've taken the plunge and bought a 3D printer. 

I've always loved the range put out by Printable Scenery https://www.printablescenery.com/product-category/historic/middle-ages/. 

They produce a superb range of high quality STL files for a number of periods including Medieval Europe. I felt I also needed more 28mm buildings but the cost of postage to NZ for these is prohibitive. This seemed a no brainer option particularly when I was able to buy both their "King" range and "Country" as late kickstarters for only $US60 each. Each range contains a large number of buildings or castle components with each available as a ruined option as well.

I've quietly been printing components off since late October!

I'd always intended to submit a castle entry and made a start on painting these about 3 weeks ago when I had a week off and finished them off last week

Black spray undercoat and test pot paints from a DIY store 

Printed on a Elegoo Neptune 3PRO filament printer

Dry brushing starts

The garage is the only place to do this

I then dry brushed with a mixture of greys and brown using large brushes

Baron's war figures attack the main gate

One type of corner tower

The Royal gate and towers

The stone fort and stables

The back gate

view from the back

What I love about these various wall, tower and building sections is that they can be configured in multiple ways.

The various wall and tower components

The stone manor

The Square Keep

The King's gate

An idea of the round or Royal component variations

The second level allows for 90 degree or 180 degree angles

I'm not sure I like this roof variant

The stables

I'm the King of the castle - the Norman Stone Fort

It breaks down for storage

The Kings Quarters

Stone fort ruin variants, not yet properly painted so no points for this have been claimed

So many variants!

The Stone Fort ruin is the only ruin variant I've printed off but will likely print off a few broken walls in the long run. I think I might be printing forever especially as I can resize the houses in the Country range in 15mm as well. I'm looking forward to painting the cottage and farm buildings in the range next

As to the points value the following pictures should give an idea

Just about 8 inches high makes this 3 x 2.5 cubes = 7.5

Another 4 cubes and 2 cubes

Never mind the cubes, I think these STL files have to be the beat value wargaming purchase ever even though I've got through quite a bit of filament

I hope my maths are correct this time but my estimate is 13.5 cubes @ 20 points = 270 points

I now have to decide whether to sell off my other castle!

From Millsy: Oh. My. Word! This thing is absolutely spectacular Kerry and I am insanely jealous (apart from your storage requirements). Any game played on a table graced by this gorgeous structure would be an absolute pleasure to participate in. You've absolutely nailed the stonework and I think the blue/grey on the roof is a great choice. This is quite the effort to finish on mate if it does prove to be your last sub it's a cracking way to finish! I've rounded you up to 15 cubes, 13.5 just doesn't seem enough.

And thanks for your kind words. The paint and chat has been great fun and a wonderful way to get more stuff painted!

From Kerry T - More plastics - Norman Light Cavalry (120 points)

Morning, afternoon & evening all.

I started last week's post by highlighting how warm it was here as its summer....

And with summer good things come about

Our first pick of Blueberries this year

I've never had any intention of crushing them with a pestle and mortar and adding the liquid to a bottle of Vallejo blue to make a true French Napoleonic uniform blue, I've been adding them to my cereal in the mornings, I love it when the garden fruit come into season.

Its been a busy week at work and instead of playing golf and painting yesterday on my day off I got swamped by a mountain of paperwork instead. Again my usual plan to display a hoard of figures has come unstuck and the PVA is only just drying on these bases. I'm hoping to get a chance tomorrow night to relax with a glass or two of wine and spend some quality time enjoying viewing what's been posted in the last 3 days. My apologies for not passing comments but I will get there

More cavalry again from me I'm afraid - Victrix Light Norman cavalry intended for use as generic forces for the Reconquista in Spain. At least it made the basing quicker

Shields from LBMS

There are some nice head variations in this box allowing a wide range of options

Don't look too closely I've just realised I've forgotten to paint the horses' eyes!

I just didn't have the time or energy to dot them in tonight - like these above I've hit the wall!

I really have enjoyed painting these Victrix plastics, I'll have more Normans painted up as Andalusians next week, the variations on the frames allow you to field them for several regions. They're great value

In summary 

12 Mounted figures at 12points = 120

No time to finish anything for bonus points this week but I did have some female figures arrive in the post today.

Best wishes and thanks for looking

From Millsy: That's a great looking crop of blueberries mate but they are nothing compared to your latest cavalry addition! Such a wonderfully painted crew and based to match. The blues in particular are really eye catching and will surely make these fine fellows pop on the table. Looking forward to the Andalusians now you have teased them... 120 points added to your total!