From PeteF Shadow Hulk breaks out of Limbo (40 points)

This large gribbly horror is a Shadow Hulk from the Nightstalkers faction in Kings of War.

He's 7" (185mm) tall - much bigger than what I usually paint - which is one of the reasons he stayed in limbo for more than a year.  Encouraged by the category - and that he has that one-of-the-circles-of-hell vibe - I knuckled down and finished him.

I make that 11 skullz for this entry including the ones on each side of of the creature's head.

Not really any prettier from behind. The model is from Mantic Games and is a mi of resin pieces and a plastic giant figure - they thought it would be a good idea to use this plastic giant as a basis for other giants - frost giant, rift-forged Orc giant and this one.  

I joined this merry band for Challenge VIII and haven't missed one since - back in those halcyon days I wasn't fully employed (at least at an office by someone who was paying me).  I've had to set my points sights a little lower and don't have as much time as I'd like to enjoy and comment on everyone's work - but here goes...

At 7" I think this giant is worth maybe 20points plus 20 for limbo for a total of 40 to get my Challenge XV started.  Good luck everyone - may your paints flow smoothly and you brushes twirl swishily!

40 points

.8 of a squirrel

11 skulz

__________________________________________

Lovely to have you back with us Pete (Challenge VIII? Has it been THAT long - yeegads)! 

This is one big brute (7" is quite impressive, as the ladies say). That being said, as scary as he is, his face ironically reminds me of a Jim Henson creature, perhaps Grover or Cookie Monster?  Still, I'd definitely be getting my coat if he crested the horizon. Very Noice!

- Curt

From PeteF: Esenyshra - The Wailing Shadow (25 points)

 

My third post for this Monday is also the final one in Challenge XII that will be minioned by Monday's Marvellous Minion - Peter. Thank you for helping make the Challenge happen - it's always a lot of fun and helps to get the brushes twirling in their constant struggle against the Shelf of Shame. (didn't you mean shelves? - Ed).

This is a figure for my Kings of War Nightstalkers army - I got the foundation for this army painted in Challenge X. KoW is a constantly evolving game with small adjustments being made at least annually and more significant changes every few years - this helps keep the game fresh and balanced - and it means new models, units and formations come up which you may want to add to your army. Mantic, however, is not the Evil Empire. Changes in the game are not made to sell new more powerful beat stick models without which you won't be competitive!

Mantic doesn't have an official model for Eshenyshrya - I got this one as part of a bulk lot on EBay so I'm not sure of the manufacturer.   She fit the bill of someone who was "transformed into a creature of the void: a banshee." 

Painting fantasy figures is certainly teaching me some new techniques and I feel like I'm getting a little better at highlighting robes and things - it's a departure from my standard French Napoleonics (apologies to anyone who wanted to see Minifigs this year - I have plenty in the queue!). This also completes 4 inner ring planets so I'd better contact the Snow Lord for the final challenge.

1x28mm figure = 5 points + a 20 bonus for this Mysterious Neighbor on Mars = 25 points

Squirrel +0 (Total 7)

Skulz +2 (!) (Total 3) - there is a tiny skull on her belt and another embedded in top of the scythe

Great work on this figure, although not specific to the KoW system, she looks like she'll fit the bill nicely.  I really like the effects on that purple robe and those are some serious washboard abs on display,

It's been a pleasure to admin to your varied work this year Pete.  Speaking of which there is one element of past Challenges that you have not brought out this year.  As you have now completed your trip through all three rings, it is time for me to set out a Final Challenge for AHPC XII.

Your challenge is a unit of Minifig Napoleonics, any army, any regiment.

From ScottM: Nightstalkers (35 points)

For 'The Pit of the Pendulum' chamber, I went with the terrifying option. These three figs are 28mm plastic from Mantic Games. They're from their Nightstalkers army. From left to right they are: a Banshee, a Screech and a Shade.

The Screech is definitely the highlight of the group and was the funnest to paint. I don't know if the creatures are any good in the game but they're definitely creepy.

So that should be:

3 - 28mm foot figs + Chamber bonus = 35 points

From PeteF The Horror, The Horror (65 points)

Horrors

After a quick break from dungeon exploring to paint some Minifigs - here is my entry for The Pit of The Pendulum. These beasties are Horrors from the Nightstalkers faction in Mantic Games Kings of War.

Riftweaver

It's something to do with sprues and molds or whatever - but Mantic ended up putting more of these nasties in their Nightstalker armies than you'd really need in a typical force. So they introduced the "Horror Riftweaver" monster - which is just five horrors on a single 50x50 base. Since I had a bunch of Horrors from various sources I've done five as a riftweaver.

Unfortunately the riftweaver is pretty crap in the game so it may never see use on the table top. The individual horrors, however are quite handy. They are cheap (Kings of War being an army building points based game) and have good spell options for making other units more effective. According to the fluff "their warped and broken bodies channel the bitter winds of the shadow worlds". Mwahahahaha.

The standard pose

The horror model from Mantic is monoposed so I chopped them up a bit for variety. The Reapers (also Nightstalkers) came with some spare arms that seemed to fit the aesthetic. I used contrast paints to get the basic colour scheme done but ended up basecoating and layering over most of it. The crackling magicky bits were tricky but turned out OK if you don't inspect the minis too closely.

Movie Clue

You may notice a clutch of eggs amongst these horrors (so could have been used for the hatchery). My Nightstalkers have references to various scary movies as they are from the realm of nightmares. These were prepped and primed for Challenge X - glad to finally paint them.

PC XI Shelf - 2 squirrel points

Because of the pandemic, I haven't managed to get them on the table for a game or tournament - but hopefully they'll see some Kings of War action in 2021.

9 horrors and a room bonus for 65. 

From PeteF: Gribbley Brains on-a-stick (20 points)

It's been a crazy final furlong for Challenge X - and my Nightstalkers army has seen a lot of progress in the last few days. Contrast paints have helped with the speed and I'm happy with how all the units look ranked up - all sort of purply, pinky and bluish. It's going to be fun to get them on the table.

These two lovelies are Mind Screeches. They are one of the monsters available to the Nightstalkers faction - they have quite a few spells available to them - Lightning Bolt to deal out damage, Mind Fog to cause the enemy unit to test its morale (who wouldn't need their morale tested when zapped by a flying brain?) and Wind Blast which can be used to blow the opposing unit backwards (perhaps out of its charge range) or sideways (maybe off an objective). I'm really looking forward to seeing how they do as part of the army.

Clue 1: Grave

Clue 2: A bucket of pig's blood. Spilled.

Both the horror movie clues are for the same classic movie. Looking at the bucket of blood I think it might need a handle, length of rope and a face down prom king to complete the picture. The bucket itself was 3D printed as I couldn't find one in my box of bits or online.  The blood flowing out of it used Woodland Scenics water effects and Citadel Blood for the Blood God paint. For those of my fellow challengers who do not enjoy horror - I apologize for this project and hope you've been able to scroll through these entries without paying them too much attention.

Not sure how best to score these gribbley goobers - they measure about 100mm from tentacle tip to the pointy bit at the top of their carapace. Maybe 10 points a "head" - but I'll leave it to Curt (or his minions) to judge.

Now, that is a gribbley horror. I'll assume it is a similar size to your previous entry and score it as a 40mm figure.

TamsinP

Edit- scoring updated. I'd somehow failed to spot that there were two of these and have now been told how tall they are - 10 points each = 20 points total.

From PeteF: More Gribblieness - Kings of War Phantoms (56 points)

With the help of Contrast Paints and social distancing I'm ploughing through my Kings of War Nightstalkers.  The plan is to get them on the table quite fast while giving the army a hook by leaving clues to horror movies on most of the bases.

The Clue - Made from my own sticks

The clue for this unit of phantoms is more subtle than some of the others - I can remember watching this film at a small cinema in Notting Hill Gate - and being utterly freaked out by it. Did you get it?

The phantoms are large flying cavalry and part of the Nightstalkers faction. They don't hit particularly hard but being fast and nimble they can be used to threaten their enemies' flanks (an important aspect of the game) or even to fly over the top of an unsuspecting opponent and get into the rear of their army. A lot of the gameplay in Kings of War is scenario based and fast units can also be very useful for grabbing objectives in the last couple of turns.

I won't quite get to the end of my Nightstalkers painting before tomorrow night but I've now completed around three quarters of the army and am hoping to have time to submit two more monsters by the deadline.

Tortured souls imprisoned in the strange mist

Phantoms are heavy infantry and you're supposed to be able to fit each one on a 25mm square base - I had to change my basing plans and elevate some of the back row to fit 8 in a space that "should" be able to take ten. I liked how it turned out and might try something similar on the remaining units. It helped break up the monoposed monotony too.

These ghosties are 47mm tall so do we score them as 40mm (7 points each)? If so that would be 56 points for the unit of 8.

Your horror-film theme for this army has been a treat to see. And yes, I did get the film reference for this lot. I think I saw it at a small cinema in Soho (Panton Street?), but it didn't freak me out. Lovely work on these gribbley phantoms.

TamsinP

From PeteF: More Gribbley Horror - Kings of War Reapers (45 points)

I started playing Kings of War around a year ago. It's a ranks and flanks fantasy mass battle game with a solid community and evolving rules system that keeps the game fresh and updated. I bought a second hand army from EBay and slowly rehabilitated it. I entered a local tournament - one of the nice things about this was that the swag was randomly distributed so that, even though I was destroyed on the tables, I got lucky in the prize draw and won a Nightstalkers army.

Challenge X has been an excellent opportunity to get started on the Nightstalkers - with each unit containing a clue to a horror movie. So far I've entered spectres (Silence of the Lambs), Butchers (The Shining), Fiends (Starship Troopers), A Dream Hunter (Hellraiser) and a Legion of Scarecrows (The Ring). You'll probably recognize the evil character nestled in this group of Reapers - I think back in the day he caused a lot of real nightmares.

The Reapers are an extremely hard hitting glass cannon unit. They are best used as a back up killing machine that will charge any unit that successfully routs something in your front line (there's a lot of this sort of maneuvering in Kings of War). I only have enough reapers for a troop (official model count of 10) - although I can see myself getting more so that I can deploy regiments of these nasties.

I used contrast paints to lay down the basic colour scheme - with a bit of extra dry brushing and layering afterwards.  I used Citadel's "Blood for The Blood God" technical paint to spread some blood around the holes in their stomachs, claws and teeth (if you look carefully you can see their spines at the back of the stomach holes. Which isn't nice.) I think the result is fine for wargaming - I'm still learning to use the contrast paints and find the main drawback is that the residue that gathers in recesses can get a little shiny if too much paint is slopped on.

9 foot figures for 45 points. Welcome to Prime Time!

Well, those are certainly gribbly and horrific. Nicely done Pete!

TamsinP

From PeteF: A Legion of Gribbley Horrors (265 points)

Kings of War encourages multibasing - whereby gamers can make dioramas out of their units rather than just ranking up their troops on small square bases. I decided to embrace multibasing for my Nightstalkers army and pay homage to various (mostly horror) films as part of the project.

One of the infantry options for Nightstalkers is Scarecrows. They can be in regiments of 20, hordes of 40 or legions of 60. If the troops "fill the base" it's OK not to have full model count and because of the terrain I made for this unit and the need to create a bit of space around the creepy girl, I only managed to squeeze in 49 scarecrows.

A legion is a bit of a daunting prospect to paint - I used contrast paints for the skin, tendrils and ragged clothes, colour shift Afterburner from Turbo Dork (a putrid gold colour) for the metal weapons and a fair amount of drybrushing to provide highlights and a hint of blood on the skin. Normal layers were used for the smaller details - like bits of string and teeth.  The bluish purple skin colour is similar to what I used for the Butchers and is a mix of Leviadon Blue and Shyish Purple.

The well is scratch build from various bits and Milliput. I put a couple of LEDs in it to light it from the inside and built the lid so that the light will show round the edges - like in the movie poster. Muwahahaha.

The girl is from Studio Miniatures' horror range. She gives me the creeps - which I suppose is the idea. My wife told me she hopes my toys don't come alive when the lights are off! If they do I'm relying on the Napoleonic and WW2 armies to club together to keep these gribblies at bay.

I watched the film almost 20 years ago and it is maybe the last horror movie I saw - although I no longer like the thrill of being terrified for entertainment,  I have enjoyed coming up with horror themed multibases for the Nightstalkers.

spare spectre 

I found one more spectre that I painted earlier in the Challenge so I'm entering him here too. I think I'll use him as a "mindless" levy figure for SAGA, Age of Magic. Was hoping to get this published on Friday 13th... but the pools of blood (Woodland Scenics realistic water) took too long to dry. 50 regular foot and one child for 253 points.

From DaveD - great lets start the day with a points bombe! nice idea for the LED to - a fine looking nasty legion - so lets call that 265.