From MartinC Schutztruppen (200pts)

 So after a week off last week, retirement is so busy, I'm back with some WW1 German colonial troops. Don't remember the manufacturer, but the figures have separate heads that don't really fit very well. Still they are a simple paint job

10 man squad

Another 10 man squad

5 man squad

Some officers

Machine gun team

These may find action the back of beyond, in a similar African version.

29 x28mm infantry = 175

1 x machine gun with 3 crew = 25pts

Total 200 points 

Right I'm off to make trees using expanding foam, more of that next week.

Last minute update. I'm a massive Port Vale fan and yesterday we knocked Sunderland out of the FA Cup to reach the quarter finals for the first time since 1954. For those in far flung parts of the world, i.e. not Burslem, Port Vale are pretty rubbish in the grand scheme of things and are bottom of the 3rd tier of English football and 60 places below Sunderland. I'm a very happy bunny and we have drawn Chelsea in the quarter finals. The income from that one match will be about 25% of our annual attendance income. UTV

They may be of unknown origin and they might need their heads adjusted, but they painted up very well.  Love the basing too.  Plus Schutztruppen is just one of those German words that fun to say, even though I probably get it wrong.  Good luck for Port Vale against the Blues in the quarters.  Making trees out of expanding foam sounds like it will give you quite a buzz - let us know how it all works out.  

FYI, you forgot to add labels so I've added a couple.

From AndrewB: First Entry! Runners, WWI, and a Wizard! Overdue, Historical, Fantasy (287pts)

Hello again everyone!   Excited to be back for another great year of the AHPC!   

I’ve got lots of projects to get work finished on, but I really enjoy the challenges, and the Library has tons of rooms, so time to jump on in!  I started with Fantasy! I’ve had this old suspiciously Gandalf looking figure for quite some time, and he certainly shouted out to me, so I did a quick hybrid speedpaint/traditional job to get him onto the gaming table soon!   I’m still working on making this technique so what I want, but it’s pretty solid for good Tabletop standards that I’m usually happy with   

If anyone has any idea who manufactured this figure, let me know!  I’m sure it’s out of production now, but I really like it. 

Next, for the big chunk of 15mm I’ve plowed through in the past couple days! For the History room, I grabbed some 1910-early WWI folks based for FoW, as a part of a fun project you all will get to see as the weeks tick by!   These are from Peter Pig, admittedly my first from the storied company, and I’m quite delighted by them!  There’s some Highlanders in their khaki kilts, some RN shore party (which I made the completely wrong blue, but it’s a ‘what if’ campaign anyways), and a couple bases of trench raiders   Flanking the two command stands and sharpshooters, I have three heavy machine guns, and a block of eleven bases of infantry!

I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get through these guys, but I pleasantly surprised myself!   

Highlanders and RN

Tench raiders(in an unadapted test scheme), MGs, and the HQ troops

Block of infantry!  And an MG

Lastly, a group photo!   Please excuse the improvised Photo Booth, space limitations prevent me from building a proper place to take large photos.

My final count for the 15s is 101!   Painted those on the bases to return to my roots painting FoW at 18, what a mistake!  Putting figures on sticks is the way to go, and I’ll be doing that the rest of the 15s I paint in the coming months! Everything’s based with the excellent products from Geek Gaming, who are some of my favorites for hobby supplies.   

Lastly for this post, a quick session on Christmas Eve is gonna complete the Overdue room!   I’ve had these four runner models for a few years now, not sure what I wanted to do with them, but recently played in a game put on by Thomas Foss of Skull and Crown, which was more of a race than a war game.  Boom, racers for a generic setting, where players will be running for something, yet to be determined.  

The different pants will be how the players (hopefully some younger/newer gamers) will keep track of their fig. 

Running along for now!   More next week!

Gandalf as a 28mm is five points, with the fantasy room bringing his subtotal to 25pts.  The 101 15mm minis plus the historical room will bring their subtotal to 222pts!  The fun runners are 28mm, with the overdue room totaling them to 40pts.   Hot dang, we’re on our way with 287 and a strong start!  Will upload my progress picture with the library on my next post!  

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First, welcome back to the Challenge, Andrew! 

You're opening gambit is a nice blitz through the first Section.You can never have enough Gandalfs I say, and this chunky model of unknown provenance is a wonder example of the breed. I particularly like his lustrous beard - it reminds me of Ralph Bakshi's rendition of the Grey Wizard. I also look forward to watching your 15mm WWI project unfold - the test stands look the business. Well done!

- Curt

From SanderS: Christmas Truce (25 points)

 Hoi,

Here we go, my first post of this Challenge and I am happy to be back again. Since we have just done down into another lock-down here in the Netherlands, a lot of time last week has gone into preparing for online-teaching when the break is over. That left me only limited time for my first post and I really wanted to make something Christmas related but the only figures I had lying around for this were the two WW1 soldiers playing a game of soccer during the Christmas Truce of 1914 made for Wargames Illustrated. 

From the start I intended this piece to be a showcase vignette and not a wargames figure and so I made the scenics more to give the impression of nearby trenches and battlefield debris, rather then really recreating an actual battlefield with trenches and all. 

In the end I am very happy with how this piece turned out and it nets me my first 10 points for the two 28 mm figures.

Now on to some more point-heavy posts.

Have a great Christmas everyone, cheers Sander

___________________________

Wow, you've done fabulous work on this vignette, Sander! I'm gobsmacked, really. I've seen these figures several times, but think this the best treatment of them. On top of the excellent figures, I really admire the judicious use of battlefield scatter to set the scene - wonderful. I'm going to add a few extra points for your work on this wonderful vignette.  

Welcome back to the Challenge, Sander!

- Curt

From LeeH - Well built Trenches

I have a sizable collection of terrain suitable for WWII 15mm wargaming but I realised that I didn't have any trenches. I couldn't let that oversight be ignored and I briefly toyed with the idea of making some myself but quickly discarded that idea as madness... especially when I saw these models from Ironclad Miniatures. Collectively this lot cost me a shade under fifty quid, but in reality, it was pretty economical considering I have nearly 6ft of trenches to show for my money. Made from a really nice quality resin they didn't need any cleaning up (aside from a wash and scrub) or repairs prior to Priming. 

It has taken a lot longer than expected to paint these. They are such good models, with so much detail, they deserved a bit more time and attention to make them look as good as I could get them. As with all my terrain and miniatures I gave them several coats of varnish (4 in fact) to ensure they will survive rough handling and keep looking good for many years to come. So long as I store them properly I can see myself gaming with these for a long time. 

I had hoped to have a couple of German PAK anti-Tank guns painted up an as well, but I'm still waiting for these to arrive so they will have to be entered at a later date. They are 3D Prints and I'm rather looking forward to seeing what the quality is like. 

As for scoring, I piled the lot up, and got a couple of tape measures out before I primed them. They measured roughly 7"x8"x4" which is a little over one terrain cube. 

Incidentally is it bad that I really like the smell of resin? 

(Scoring: 20 Points)

From RayR - Benito's Brook - Dulce et decorum est...... (35 points)

Gotta admit, I did struggle a little with Benito's Challenge, then I found this little figure, that I picked up as a freebie at The Other Partizan in 2018.

Its entitled Dulce et decorum est The Great War 1914-1918 and sculpted by Martin Baker

"A figure or vignette related to some brave feat of arms, almost hopeless against impossible odds."

It was the last two words of Benito's Challenge that inspired my choice of a downtrodden and exhusted Tommy .

It was a hard figure to photograph, as he's actually bowing his head in sorrow or weariness?

So I had to angle the figure up so you can view his face. 

I kept the basing plain, no grass tufts or anything other than mud and dirt.

He was a enjoyable if quite solemn figure to paint up and for this reason he shall be put up as another Curtgeld figure. 

Should be a very plain and simple 35 points?

An excellent submission for Benito's Brook.

TamsinP

From MilesR: WWI German Naval Landing Party makes landfall at Reidy's Reef (280 Points)

 My second entry for this challenge is also the start of my meandering trek across Challenge Island.  My journey starts at Reidy's Reef (of course) with this WWI German Naval Landing party.  The figures are 28mm in scale and from Brigade Games here in the US.  They stock a fairly large WWI collection and have lots of nice esoteric stuff.

Thee are 43 Sailors armed with rifles, 4 figures in the command group and a 3 man heavy machine gun team.  These will work great for some raiding scenarios and also general pulp gaming.

The selection of poses is a limited limited but then again the demand for WW1 German Naval troops is likely fairly limited.

A close up of the command group.  Please accept my apologies for the poorly staged pictures.  My gaming area is still a bit of a wreck due to the pipe burst and will be a few more weeks in repair mode.

Surprisingly, there aren't a lot of uniform guides for WW1 German Naval Troops but I did find a picture of this gentlemen, so patterned the uniforms after the colors in the picture.

The final tally for this entry should be 280 points.  50 28mm figures at 5 each and 30 for my first "X-marks-the-spot" locale.  While there is a machine gun, it's just painted gunmetal grey and based so let's just throw that one in for free.

Why WWI German Sailors?  You'll just have to wait to find out.....

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A Pipe burst?! Have you been eating spicy food again, Miles?

50 German naval troops. Wowzers. You never just test the waters do you, Miles? From looking at this entry I get the very strong sense that a BIG convention game is being cooked-up here. Based off of how cool these guys look I'm eager to see how this project unfolds over the next few months.

A very well earned 280 points for you, Miles. Welcome to Challenge Island!

-Curt

From MartinN: Curtgeld, French and a smattering of 15mm (65 points)

The canal simply didn't fit into the booth

A last Hurrah of sorts really. Despite having reached my highest points total yet -most of it due to bonus points- I haven't been as productive by far as I'd have wished to. Especially when compared to what I managed to paint last year I'm a little disappointed  by my own efforts. Still it was a jolly good ride and an experience I wouldn't have wanted to miss.

As my Curtgeld for this year I've two Uruk-hai berserkers to present. Really rather enjoyable to paint and I actually would love to paint a few more at some point. I haven't dug into the GW version of LotR but the up and coming supplement Age of Magic for SAGA might actually entice me enough to collect a smallish warband... or two.

 As requested by our beloved Overlord I didn't do the bases so he could match them to his own forces. Tamiya X-27 clear red mixed with a little black wash was used for the blood effects on the swords. After varnishing I should add. Was thinking about maybe adding a few cuts on the berserkers too but decided against as it probably wouldn't have been visible on the reddish skin afterwards anyway.

While I love painting Horizon Blue I've miserably failed to "kickstart" my WW1 French as I'd intended. So these three bombers are all that I can offer in addition to the one painted at the start of the challenge. Well... butterfly, what more could I say?

And lastly for this year I've a rather smallish contribution in 15mm as well. Two Normandy style houses I bought recently (there are a few more I didn't manage to finish) and an Italian Semovente da 75/34. The Semovente is a 3D print I made on my newly acquired Anycubic Photon. The file was created by m_bergmann and can be found on thingiverse. He has made some superb vehicles which, when taking the limitations of 3D printing -like thicker barrels- into account, compare favourably with commercially available vehicles.

I'll leave the points for the judge(s) to decide. Once again my heartfelt thanks for a fantastic three month goes out to Curt, Lady Sarah, all the Minions and of course all the participants and lurkers. Winter season wouldn't be what it is today without the lot of you.

Marvellous stuff, Martin. Your entries have been of an eyewateringly high quality- and now you're jumping on board the 3D printing wagon.

I really like the berserkers. Peter Jackson had the idea that they filled their helmets with blood before donning them, sloshing it all over their heads and shoulders. Those cleavers would hew their way through any defenders. I'm looking forwards to SAGA Fantasy as well.

And those poilu bombers are magnifique!

5x 28mm figures
1x 15mm vehicle
10 points for terrain
20 Curtgeld
63 total
+2 to keep Tamsin happy
=65

Barks

From Barks- WW1 French big post (230 points)

These 15mm French were one of my key goals for this challenge, and I've knuckled down over the past few weeks to get them done. They're from PSC's  Commands and Colors: Great War game, and are in soft plastic. I was heavily influenced by James White's painting technique. The bases are Vallejo Dark Earth paste drybrushed with VJ US Tan Earth.

First, les Poilus: 52 riflemen.

Squad specialists: Elites, marksmen, grenadiers, and Chauchat LMGs.

An ammunition handler and engineer.

Hotchkiss MG teams. I resculpted the front tripod legs using green stuff and 1mm plastic rod as the original figure just had a flat triangle.

Crapouillot ("little toad") 58mm trench mortar teams.

Flamethrower! The first time I have tried this technique. I soaked some clump foliage in black paint and PVA, then drybrushed it white/ yellow/ orange/ red. It is affixed to the base with a small nail and has a styrene rod running through it. I'm really happy with the outcome.

Officers. The binoculars have two spots of gloss white.

Staff Officer- this is a metal figure from PSC's original Kickstarter. I based it on General Foch, and I think it came out OK for 15mm!

But that's not all! I picked up some tanks from PSC (Schneider CA1 and a Saint Chamond) and Battlefront (two Schneider CA1s). I made up the camouflage scheme, and am really happy with it. The PSC tanks had no machine guns, so I drilled out holes and added 1mm plastic rods.

Saint Chamond

I've got one PSC Schneider CA1, and two from Battlefront. The PSC one is diecast pre-assembled, and the Battlefront ones are resin hull with metal MGs and tracks. They are very similarly proportioned, but the Battlefront ones have more pronounced rivets and deeper detail on the front grill. They were harder to assemble. I added the front posts from H-column strip styrene on all the Schneiders.

Schneider CA1s. PSC on the left, Battlefront centre and right.

They'd be perfect for WW1 What A Tanker!, but are in an unacceptable scale... 😔

Finally, the hex tile groundwork is a 3D printing project I've commenced to make a full battlefield with 'proper' trenches. I won't score it yet, but maybe later this Challenge...

On ne passe pas!

94 Infantry 188
4 vehicles 32

From guest grognard minion DaveD

Oh my... now thats a sight to behold a proper points bombe! Cracking work Barks , lovely blue on this smaller scale to make it stand out. There so much to like here and I am not sure which is my favourite - Foch , flame-throwers or tanks .. hmmm ... I think its the flamethrower.. extra 10 minion points for the tank camo , and a brilliant job on the flamethrower.