From KillianF: Fantasy Elf Heavy Infantry (40 points)

 Good day all,

Thank you for the nice comments on the Orcs & Dwarves previously. I am following them up with 8 Elf  warriors. These are for the most part from the Oathmark Elf Heavy Infantry, which is one of my favourite renditions of elves in plastic. The bodies are dynamic, the armour interesting, and there are far more posing options than the other Oathmark Elf kits. Additionally, I have used arms from the Wargames Atlantic Armoured Late Romans, which are a slightly different style of mail, to create even more poses. I also gave one of the greatsword bearers a crest from the old Warhammer High Elf Archers kit. These old High Elf kits provide a fantastic range of gubbins and decorations to create some really ornate panoplys. Here's the group: 

 

 

This then inspired the leader in his massive dragon helm. 

I made the dragon itself by carving one of the High Elf Spearmen banner pole toppers, with the wings coming from another piece, some sort of winged gem. Judicious filing and application of miliput hopefully has hidden the gaps sufficiently. The arm was made by chopping some various bits and pieces to straighten it, and then more miliput to fill the gap in the armpit. I used a small amount of terracotta putty for the initial fill, and then after a day some black miliput on top. I then carved a cocktail stick to the desired size and sculpted the mail. I essentially poked holes in the black until the orange showed through. Miliput is not the best for such fine detail (I'd rather green stuff), but it's what I had on hand. Overall I'm quite happy with him.

The painting is pretty simple, given the quantity of armour they wear. The cloth was either blue or turquoise, and the leather was either red, turquoise or brown. I always try to give my elves a green tinge to the skintone. I much prefer it when elves are characterised as somewhat alien, so I try to avoid painting them as just "humans, but better". These guys were based with a skintone mixed with yellow ochre (a fantastic colour), washed brown-green, and then highlighted up with Titanium Buff. I have yet to decide how I'm going to do the shields, so for now they're remaining plain blue.

My Elf army will have one unit of greatswords and one unit of axemen. These may or may not have similar stylings to Warhammer High Elf White Lions and Swordmasters. Sometimes in life you just want to recreate the army you badly painted at the age of 12. I have 2 additional fantasy elf armies to paint yet. One day when they are complete I will be able to field a massive host with several different types. But for now, I've got to finish off these Oathmark ones......

Points:

8x 28mm: 40 points

Squirrel: 1 point 

Squirrel tally: 7

Zona Scavengers, 10mm Black Orcs, 10mm Skeletons, 28mm Goths, 28mm Elves, Dwarves and Orcs 

From DaveD . That a fine addition for this Sunday Killian.good work on the kit bash elements here . 40 it is 

 

From JohnS - Dwarfy Goodness - 60 Points

I stagger away from Historicals this week, back to fantasy. Dwarfs have been calling my name.

We have another Oathmark game coming up on Sunday so I have been inspired to add a dozen more Dwarfs to my Kingdom.

These four are more of the Kev Adams resin dwarfs I picked up a few years back.

I think they are fantastically characterful sculpts and take me back to the 90s when "Doofs" became my go to army in WHFB.

These four are actual Oathmark miniatures from Northstar Figures. I have the king too but he was painted pre-Challenge so remains temporarily banished!

They are slightly taller and slimmer than The big-headed KA dwarfs but there is room for all the Dwarfy types in my Kingdom.

I have gone with a "Dark Ages" feel with these guys, using some LBMS shield transfers on some figures.

These last four are from my "random dwarf" selection. The bald guy on the left is a Kev Adams I think, the pick wielder is a Citadel mini but I am not sure of the makers of the two right hand figures.

I particularly like the spearshaft as is is wrapped in wire like every good workman's quick repair of a broken tool.

Another fun week of painting, and chatting. Back to historicals next week. Probably.

PS I have started playing around with "flocked" movement trays for Oathmark, this is my first try using a Renedra movement tray.

12 x 25/28mm foot @ 5 ea = 60 points 

From Millsy:

More swagger than stagger if you ask me. These are jolly good John! I particularly like your choice of shield motifs. The norse theme really suits the character of the miniatures and your painting style.

I have quite a few of the same sculpts in my Oathmark dwarf army and they really are a joy to paint. One of the joys of Oathmark is the ability to mix a range of figures in a unit which you've done superbly.

Great stuff and a well earned 60 gold added to your tally mate.

Cheers,
Millsy

From JohnS - Late Romans and Dwarves (or is that Dwarfs?) - 115 points

It's so good to be Challenging again! I committed to sticking with two historical armies in the Challenge this year. Carthaginians and Carolingians. Therefore my first entries are Late Romans and Dwarves. Mistakes have already been made!

 I was introduced to To The Strongest by my AHPC and Odinian mates a year or so ago and I love it. So much so that I have decided to build several armies to play. AlanD already has 4th Century Romans (among others) so it made sense to do an opposing force.

 I bought a painted army as the core but it was legionary heavy so needs Lights and Cavalry to round it out. I chose to use a mix of Gripping Beast and Victrix miniatures.

 

  

 

 

My mat has 150mm boxes so Standard Units are on 135x60mm bases and Lights as here are on 125x50mm. They are actually based in smaller groups to allow use with other rules but saboted to those sizes.

 My catephractii are the first two test figures for this unit (ok, I haven't bought the rest yet but I know a guy..) and I am quite pleased how they are coming together. Gripping Beast figures.

 

 

 

As these will be one third of a Standard cavalry unit they are on a 60x45 base (or sub-base if you will)

Right, now I get to blame Millsy for the next lot of figures. Late last year we played a game of Oathmark. I have had a copy of the rules since they were released some years ago but not gotten around to them.

They are cracking good fun and scratch the "rank and flank" fantasy itch without being too complicated or hide-bound in lore. I saw an opportunity to use some of my many, many dwarves that are not quite right for WHFB or Old World.

 

 

 

 

I dug through my stash mountain and found some old Kev Adams, Marauder and Citadel dwarves plus a couple of newer plastics. I love the idea of Militia units. Ordinary folks called upon to defend their homes, armed with what ever comes to hand.

I present to you two groups The Smashers and The Slashers, Dwarf Militia. 

The Smashers 

The Slashers

 

The dwarfs are based on 25mm rounds (except for two on 20mm square which will be used for a WHFB army) as they will be used with a sabot tray and be available for Dragon Rampant and other fantasy skirmish games too.

Thanks to the Antipodean crew for helping me get this far. Our paint and chats gave me a chance to relax during the hectic Christmas/NY period.


From Millsy:

LOL. Fair call. If I had a dollar for every sentence I've seen that started with"I blame Millsy..." I'd rarely have to fund my habit myself! Given how well the dwarves performed for both of us when we played I can see why you'd want to paint more. You've done a lovely job on them and they have a proper old skool feel John.

Seems like it is the season for Late Romans too. In some sort of weird tit for tat I am blaming you and Alan for getting me painting mine, although you've managed to beat me to the punch with getting some finished. I particularly like you variation of the helmet colours. I should have thought of that myself and will have to sneak that into my force later on.

Well done all round mate. I look forward to facing these sooner rather than later. 115 points it is to get you started.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Kerry T - Waaagh - Goblin Wolf riders (150 points)

Morning, afternoon and evening all

Waaagh (or please substitute your favourite or the most appropriate GW war cry!)

Today is my designated posting day and so for my second post I've painted some Goblin Wolf Riders from the Oathmark figure range. 

The original intention was to have them square off against some dwarves but as usual I set myself too onerous a task and they aren't quite finished

Down by the riverside...

My 28mm Fantasy project is a real slow burn, only really getting added to with each challenge and up to now its growth has largely been confined to dwarves.

These plastic Goblins from Oathmark are somewhat cheap and cheerful, not the greatest of figures but really very quick to paint and very receptive to dry brushing. The 15 wolves probably took me no more than an hour I think. Having said that as the following pictures illustrate they could really have done with some filling beforehand as there is a bit of a join where the two halves are glued together - to be honest though I felt that as these are intended to bulk out the Orc and Goblin army they'd be ok with a quick job and look ok from 4 feet on the tabletop

Painted with the minimum of effort and with good old eighties  GW green

Running away

I presume teef like this are the stuff of a dentist's nightmare

I've been painting quite a bit over the holiday period and initially tried hard to complete the dwarves to accompany them but I quicky realised that the challenge is a marathon and not a sprint, rushing too much to finish an entry makes painting a chore rather than the lovely relaxing time that it should be. Still next Friday's entry is about 80% complete already and consequently being slow to learn, my mind is furtively planning what I can add and cram in to accompany the dwarves now!

In summary then

15 x 28mm Mounted figures @ 10 points = 150 points

1 Squirrel

Blwyddyn Newydd dda i chi gyd

Valleyboy

From Millsy:

And a very Happy New Year to you to Kerry!

Your wolves and riders are very fine indeed. They have definitely repaid your efforts in dry brushing and look very much the wild pack. I particularly like your mix of metallic colours and the rick red on the shields too. Great stuff and a very handy 150 points in the bank.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Ross M: 28mm Skeleton Archers (60 points)

 These figures were not meant to be a part of this challenge or anything at present however, plans are made to be changed and changed they were. 

There is a mixture of old and new in this so starting with the new, well nearly all of the new at eleven Oathmark skeleton based as a regiment for Kings of War. There is a twelfth figure on another base that will be here shortly. 

When I say new, I should say newly painted as the figures have been in the pile of shame for several years now. The colour scheme was painted to match the previously painted figures as best as possible and there is one of the rear right hand group that does just that. 

Here are both groups together, with the newly painted to the right of screen as viewed and the previously painted to the left. Same figures, paints, painting methods and varnishing; the difference between left and right has been a different primer. The newly painted were primed with grey car primer the previously painted skeletons had been primed with Army Painter Skeleton Bone....just goes to show how a little change can make a difference.

Basing these has been interesting and very similar to basing Impetus armies about a decade or so ago. The multi-figure base allows more use of flocks, tufts and foliage to create a theme on the basing and as a result across the army. 

Hope that you like these and that I'll be able to sneak a post in before the end of the week. In terms of points I make this to be:

12 x 28mm infantry at 5 each = 60 points

12 skulls at 1 each = 12 points

Total for this entry being 72 points

Thanks for looking and if I am unable to post for the 20th, its been great being part of this in 2024/25. 

Cheers for now.

-------

The best plans are those that incorporate agility to shift with our ever changing whims Ross! And I'm thrilled that these bony lads made the cut. They really come together well en mass and the purple wildflowers on the basing give a great splash of colour to bring them together. Good stuff!

60 points for the figs (skulls don't get extra points that I'm tracking, sorry)

- Paul

From Millsy: Back in Black... More 28mm Arabs (90 points)

G'day All,

Apparently a week off from painting black was enough and I'm back with more Arabs. This time it's another ten infantry (Gripping Beast with Fireforge Games upgrades), two cavalry (again Gripping Beast with Fireforge Games upgrades) and the last four miniatures from the Reaper Miniatures Legends of the Sands box set.

A mate pointed out if you are doing Mutatawwi'a for SAGA you are better off leaning hard into either mounted or foot troops so I added another unit to the foot collection. Simple enough to assemble, paint and base, and although they are different style minis they mix well enough with the upgrades.

The two mounted miniatures upgrade one of my earlier units to five miniatures, plus add a mounted warlord for SAGA that'll do nicely until I either buy something fancier or just stop caring this isn't a fancier figure and forget all about it.

Finally, there's four more cracking character Reaper sculpts... two rather flexible ladies (I mean they are limber, NOT from a morals POV!), a wizardy vizier type and his lovely apprentice. The latter two will also do very nicely for Frostgrave which is a nice unexpected bonus.

Points wise...

• 14 x 28mm infantry = 70 points
• 2  x 28mm cavalry = 20 points

Total: 90 points

Next up, yet more Kruleboyz. Thanks for looking!

Artist: Adani & Wolf

Album: The Irresistible Dust on the Floor

Artist: Overcoats

Album: The Fight

Artist: The Mission UK

Album: Carved in Sand

Cheers,

Millsy

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Wonderful work on these black-clad Mutatawwi'a. The little punch of colour really adds the chef's kiss to these guys, especially the shields on the mounted fellas. Your stuff really makes me want to get back to my Siege of Malta project. Inspiring stuff! I also really like your 'local colour' with the Reaper models. The vizier and the red-robed dancer are my personal faves. Well done Mr. Mills!

- Curt & Huck

From Millsy: 28mm Arab Horsey Boys (160 points)

G'day All,

I'm back for a third time with another lot of 28mm Arabs for my SAGA / Oathmark project. This time it's fourteen cavalry, kitbashed from the Gripping Beast Arab Heavy Cavalry and Fireforge Games Black Guard / Berber Infantry kits.

As mentioned previously the Gripping Beast Arab Heavy Cavalry horses were a real PITA with the neck joints being very poorly aligned. Despite my best efforts to fill and hide the issues I am still unhappy with them. They'll do I guess, if I squint and kinda look at them out of the corner of my eye...

The riders on the other hand, I am very happy with. The banner bearers were all upgraded to give them longer poles and flags made from heavy art paper to match the infantry. I've also swapped all the heads (which required some careful shaving), the arms (which were an easy like-for-like swap) and some of the shields.

I'll need one more to fill out three units of five so will try and pick up a sprue at CANCON on the weekend. The amazing KerryT also sent me a care package of 10 camelry and another 5 cavalry which he'd 3D printed so I hope to have those painted sometime soon as well. 

Scoring:

14 x 28mm cavalry = 140 points

1 x cheeky "money for jam" bonus for the Seventh Circle: Violence = 20 points

Total = 160 points

Artist: Agnes Obel

Album: Citizens of Glass

Artist: The Offspring

Album: Americana

Artist: Massive Attack

Album: Mezzanine

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Millsy

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Hi Millsy

Great musical selections .. I'm particularly keen on  Massive Attack and Mezzanine is classic :)

Well, these 'horsey boys' look super, I really like your customization of the banners and the head/arm swaps. To my (very) untrained eye, the horses themselves look  great.  Can't wait to see all the Arabs in a group shot!

140 points for the figures and 20 for the Location bonus points

Looking forward to your next post

- Sarah