KenR - 28mm "Spanish" Heavy Cavalry Dos (62 pts)

 

Here is the 2nd of 6 Heavy Cavalry units I have prepped for the Challenge and a nice little Palette cleanser after the Pike guys I did last week.

The figures are 28mm Spanish from TAG (The Assault Group) with flags from Petes Flags, these are banners for Neopolitan Condottieri so the figures will have a dual use as and when required. Figures are based 2 per base on a 50 x 60 base which is my standard for the period. 

As always I've used the colours and designs in the flags as a guide to my Palette and look to the riders, 6 x 10 points for 28mm Cavalry plus a couple for the flags nets me 62 more points.

I've got some French Command Stands on the go (which may be a late entry this week) being finished off before I do the third unit of these and then its back to some Pike.

Below is a picture of the growing Spanish Gent'd'Arms (12 done pre challenge) so you can see how the group looks.

Wonderful stuff Ken, I just can't say enough about your units.  The full array is awe inspiring.  

From KenR: 28mm Spanish Italian Wars Cavalry Part 2 (62 points)

Following on from last week's Spanish Gent d'Armes I have another unit of, guess what, Gent d'Armes! Which doubles the amount of heavy Cavalry I have for that army, they won't have long to wait for action as the Italian Wars collection will be out and about at the York Show at the weekend.

I've already ordered another 36 of these figures from TAG, they are 28mm figures from their Spanish Renaissance Range, this unit has a larger number of Sword bearers with a couple of Lances required for the obligatory flags.

They are based on 50 x 60 bases which is my standard for the period, horses painted in oils, figures in acrylics. 10 points a piece for the Cavalry gives me another 62 points when you chuck in the flags.

The joy of painting for me is when the individual units I paint join up in a larger mass and even with just two units I get a sense of how spectacular these boys are going to look on the table when I've done 12 to 16 of them. 

Next week I hope to have some Prussian Landwehr done but don't worry, there should be a ship as well this week!

TeemuL: RayR just had a cavalry unit added to his army, KenR does the same. Both are counting on to get some bonus points for their troubles. Both units look great. Both have a lastname starting with R. Are you guys related? :)

My Thursday crew is making this rather easy to me, no nasty surprises of minis in strange scales, no last minute entries, just pretty models and all the maths done for me. And as said Ken, those two units together look quite spectacular, one unit of six looks a bit thin, but that unit of twelve looks just great. Looking forward for more - and the ships, too.

From RichardM: A unit of Stradiot Light Cavalry for the Italian Wars (60 points)

My much delayed first post. Nevertheless here it is.

I have started with a unit of 4 light cavalry Stradiots using TAG miniatures in 28mm. 
 

The horses have been painted with the oil wipe method, which I like as it gives good depth to the colour and does not require much thought to get the highlights and shading in the correct places. As it is messy and takes some time to dry, it is not something that I want to do on 4 horses alone so there are another 8 (2 units of light cavalry) mounted crossbowmen that were done at the same time - the crossbowmen need to be painted.

I have great plans to build on my already existing Italian Wars armies in 28mm during this year's Challenge.  

In addition to the crossbowmen mentioned above, I've also got quite a few Spanish arquebusiers primed and in various stages of commencement and some vignettes on the tray also primed. I may throw in the odd building as well as I usually spend all my time doing figures and then need to catch up on the terrain. 

Points earned: 

- 4 mounted at 10 points each 

Thanks 

Richard

Welcome to the day of Firsts for sure! And a good entry to go with it!

Am guessing by the term Oil Wipe.. its literally slap oil paints on the model, and then wipe the excess off? Great method for sure, with easy to replicate results!

I've also taken the liberty to give you the History Section points. So 60 pts to start you off here!

Congrats and welcome

Kyle

From ScottM: Studio Under Construction Japanese Peasants (140 pts)

I started on this project I think back in 2012. I originally wanted to do up a couple samurai armies in 28mm. My steam quickly ran out and I've been slowly grinding out bases for the last 10-11 years. Still don't have enough to field two decent sized forces. I think it's going to be a lifetime project. So this location is perfect for this. 

Under Construction - These three bases actually painted up really quickly. No intricate armour, just peasant clothing. These Japanese peasants are 28mm metal figs from The Assault Group (TAG).

Scoring: 24 - 28mm foot figs + location bonus = 140 points 

Friday Minion: Hey Scott, loving these Japanese peasants, you've really nailed the mix of colours to convey that they're a rabble, without risking it looking like a gathering of clowns. I love the earthy tones, subtle orange and blue-grey in particular.  

From RayR - Donnybrook - Polish Haiduks (95 points)

  

Staying on the Vienna 1683 project for my next post.

I've been scrambling for info on the Polish Infantry that was sent as part of the relief force to Vienna.

It would have saved me a lot of fuss to include these in my venture to the centre of the Challenge Quadrant, but alas, I'd already started painting these and perhaps some other too?????

From what I've read so far it only looks like 2 units were sent?

And as per usual I don't know what 2 units and what they wore?

So I've gone for a generic blue coated faced red.

The 8 figures on the left are from Essex Miniatures,

The 8 on the right are from The Assault Group.

The 3 command figures are also from TAG.

I found the flag online here on Another Miniatures Painting Blog , this and other on the site are taken from The Stockholm Roll.

The “Stockholm Roll”, a 16 m long painting depicting the entry of the wedding procession of King Sigismund III Vasa into the city of Kraków in 1605, is now on show in the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

The Essex figures were a little smaller all round than the TAG figures, so I double based them, which bought them up to the same height, which made the fit in a little better. Not perfectly, but it'll do fine for me and the Rejects.

I will need to print the flag off again, with a better quality paper, as this one is rather 

wishy washy in colour.

19 x 25mm figures @5pts each

95 points!

This should push me back up to 7th place, only 3 points ahead of Kerry!!

And 39 points behind Miles!

 

***

 

Great work Ray, I know the defenders of Vienna will appreciate any relief support they can get! Well done. 

GregB

From JezT: Samurai - Three ways (40 points)

 Hi All 

My third post and going for a third Squirrel point by presenting Samurai and inspired by the UK cooking show Masterchef I'll be serving up Samurai three ways.

Firstly we have the popular - Sengoku Jidai  the Age of War style. Here I have a couple of extra figures for my Impetus Late Samurai army - these are all mounted singly and use sabot bases. My army represents the forces of Uesugi Kenshin at the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. The Samurai sashimono is the black circle on white of  Takemata Hirotsua. The standard bearer is holding one of Kenshin's personal standards showing the Kanji character for "bi" - standing for the first syllable of Bishamon-ten, under whose divine protection the Buddist Kenshin lived (quoted from Stephen Turnball's Samurai Warlords which has a great illustration).  

These are Perry Miniatures

Secondly we have the very classical Mongol Invasion 1274.  These are earlier Samurai wearing the more classical earlier armour.  

These are TAG miniatures

Finally we have the Tokugawa style, these are post 1615 period. I might use these figures in a samurai skirmish game, there is a more scruffy Ronin type and two of a Daimyo's senior retainers in more formal kimonos.   

These are North Star Miniatures

Altogether should be 40 points and another squirrel for me

Cheers Jez

Well done, Jez, a tasty treat! Good work on all the freehand and patterns. It may already be popular but my favourite are the Sengoku Jidai era.

Barks

From TamsinP: More 28mm WW2 Japanese (120 points)

The Adventures Of Oscar: Time Traveler, Slayer of Squirrels and Very, Very Good Boy

Chapter Three

In which our hero finds himself returned to the jungle...

Row-row! Hmmm! Back in the jungle again. Is it the same one? Is it the same time? *sniff, sniff* Must be - that's the scent marker I left last time. I think I'll explore this way this time - maybe I'll find some jungle squirrels? I wonder if Daddy-Curt is missing me? I bet he is, but this time-traveling lark is such great fun!

Ruh...those look like big garden canes with leaves. Is that bamboo? Well, there seems to be a path through it - let's go find jungle squirrels!

None so far. Maybe if I go a bit further...oooh! Another clearing - there won't be jungle squirrels there, but let's take a look-see anyway...

Drat! No jungle squirrels, but what's that I see?

Yoiks! More of those Japanese men! Better scarper!

Whew! That was a close one, but they don't seem to have followed me! Better get out of here tootie-sweet! Now which button should I press? I think I'll try this one...Ruh-row! Not the jungle but it's very hot and dry...

Now, onto the bits that you probably came for.

Yes, the second batch of 28mm WW2 Japanese. In the photo above you can see the second rifle squad for my core platoon, a FOO team and a Type 92 70mm infantry gun and crew.

Rifle Squad

I had almost finished these in time to submit them last week, but the basing wasn't quite dry in time for me to matte varnish them with my airbrush (as my hobby room is above my downstairs neighbours' young daughter's bedroom, I've agreed with them not to use the airbrush after 7pm) so they've had to wait for this week to be submitted.

Go-cho (Corporal) and LMG Team

Rifle Team

FOO Team

Type 92 70mm Infantry Gun Team

In case you are wondering what the green "posts" on the FOO and infantry gun bases are, they are anchors for some vegetation:

I left the vegetation off until I'd taken the photos so that you could see the figures better.

<<<INTERMISSION>>>

Extract from the journal of TamsinP, Time Traveler, Society girl and Adventuress

I'm sitting in my hobby room, studiously painting some miniatures when a message flashes on my computer screen - "Video chat request from Snowlord". "What does he want me to fix now?" I think to myself, before clicking *Accept*. The chat screen opens and Curt's face appears, sitting beneath that bloody Czapka which makes him look such a berk.

"Hello, my dear! I do hope I'm not interrupting anything important?", he begins.

"Just painting the flesh on some figures. What's gone wrong now?"

"Why do you assume that something's gone wrong?"

"Well, for a start, you're calling me."

"Errrmm, well, yes. You've got me there, Tamsin."

"OK, so what is it that you need me to fix for you this time."

"Well, you remember that box you sent me back in 2020?"

"Yes..."

"The one with your time travel device?"

"Yes......"

"That you asked me to put somewhere safe, where my "pesky hounds won't find it?"

"Ye...one of them's found it, haven't they?"

"Errmm, well, it seems so..."

"Seems so???"

"Well, the box was on the floor, and there's no sign of the device, and Oscar's missing."

"Riiiiiight. So, how and when exactly did this happen?"

"Ahh, you see, there's the thing. I was distracted, what with it being the first day of the Challenge and I must have left the door of my new hobby room slightly ajar."

"The first day of the...you mean he's been missing for just over a month? And you're only just telling me? My gods, but you're a berk! Heaven knows what trouble a time-traveling hound could cause!"

"Yes, I must admit I am a bit of a berk for not calling you straight away. Anyway, is there any chance that you can help me get him back? I miss him awfully, you know."

"Hmmmm. I suppose there isn't anyone else you know with time-traveling experience. I still have the blueprints for the device, but there's no way to tell where and when Oscar is. I'll have to consult with some of the other minions to see if it can be modified to target the original device."

"Oh, thank you so much, Tamsin! I've been fretting dreadfully about it all, you know. I'll leave you to get back to your painting. Cheerio!"

"Bye!"

The chat screen closes and I put my brush down on the bench. "Drat and curse that berk of a man!". I sit for a few minutes, fuming and pondering how to tackle this problem...

Two bits of silliness in one post? I'm spoiling you this week!

The figures are all 28mm and a mix of Warlord Games (FOO Team, Gun and gunners, a few of the other figures), Eureka and TAG.

For scoring:

22 x 28mm foot @ 5 = 110 points

1 x 28mm crew-served weapon @ 10 = 10 points

Total = 120 points

I'm sure some of you are thinking "Tamsin hasn't painted very many figures this week". There's a good reason for that - I may have distracted myself with assembling a load of MDF terrain which might appear later in the Challenge:

Almost everything...

Just the "White Box Bundle"

Most of it was the "White Box Bundle" I purchased from TT Combat at last year's SELWG show. The rest were purchased at Salute - containers, crates and large generators from TT Combat; small generators from Blotz. These will be for various SciFi games (but mainly for Judge Dredd). I was thinking of buying some more of the pre-fab buildings, but looking at them laid out on the table I'm not so sure that I need them.

_________________________________

Haha! Tamsin, I'm very much enjoying the continued misadventures of Oscar Lost in Time. The Japanese figures look terrific, especially the time you've obviously spent thinking about the groundwork for them - it really looks superb. And speaking of groundwork, those jungle terrain bases are magnificent, especially the standing bamboo. Nice schwack of MDF terrain as well - I look forward to seeing if those make an appearance later during the Challenge.

Now, go see if you can help me out and get Oscar back home where he belongs. )

- Curt