From AndrewB- Big ol final points pile! 1020pts

Well, this year I told myself I was going to focus on painting, not necessarily posting every week, but then March 20 was rapidly upon me!  Here we go, for a great big points bomb to finish off!  

First, a big bundle of Soviets I painted for a big bolt action game.  These are a mix of 28s, some printed, some metals mixed from a number of manufacturers! 

There's something like 22 infantry, 21 gun crews and guns, and a vehicle(tachankas are wild, that was a fun build!)

Next, with more WWII, I did a bunch of printed and Warlord Games Italian vehicles, along with a bunch of Old Glory infantry!  More fuel for the Bolt Action fires!

Italians have some whacky vehicles, which really makes for fun and interesting painting, if not particularly effective gaming!

I'm not sure I'm the biggest fan of the army building for Bolt Action V3, but I figured I should give a gun platoon a shot, with a couple light howitzers and a light AT gun(gonna need more crew!).

Looks like 23 infantry, three guns, and eight vehicles!

Now we'll stick to the Med, but perhaps a couple thousand years earlier, with some generic armed Greek/Roman civilians, as well as some character figures and a mythical opponent, a giant Cyclops!

I believe the characters are mostly Footsore, with the Cyclops being Reaper, and the civilians a mix of unknown manufacturers, for a total of 22 figs!

We'll finish off with a big old lot of Lord of the Rings figures, split between Uruk Hai and men of Gondor, with a mix of random generic men mixed in, to use as stand-ins for wild men, or some random brigands or such.  

These were quite delightful to paint while listening to the book series in audiobook form!  The figures are a mix of GW and 3d printed, and I think the random men might be old Warlord of some variety, perhaps Gauls or Germans!  The stand-ins for the clansmen of Lamedon are likely my favorites, with the leader being particularly 'cheeky', and kept facing forward for modesty's sake!

Counting these was a bit of a struggle, but it would appear there are 30 Uruks, 36 men of Gondor, and 11 of the random men, for a total of 77!

Sliding in about a half hour before midnight, we've got 168 Infantry figures, and 9 vehicles, for a total of 840 + 180 = 1020pts!

This year's challenge has been quite a delight, but I certainly need to figure out a better method for submissions, to avoid this sort of rush, and bring you fine readers better detailed posts!

Shout out to the figures who didn't get photos taken, fifty-something 28mm Bronze Age chaps, and 35 1:600 ancient galleys, among a good number of smaller scale figures.   

Thanks to all the entrants for their inspiring posts, and the organizers for the hard work!  I'll see you all next year!

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A parting points airstrike, eh Andrew? Wow, this is a great finale to your Challenge this year - fantastic stuff. Of all these I think the Cyclops is my favourite, but that may be because he's the largest of the batch, but also because Ray just had a Jason and the Argonaughts entry and I was thinking, 'That boy needs a cyclops for this lot.' Any here you are with the perfect solution, and so well painted to-boot! 

Wonderful work Andrew, and this will shoot you well past your points target for this year. Well done!

Until next Challenge then!

- Curt

AndrewB - Big ol WWII bundle! 465pts!

 Back for another year, here I come with the traditional freak giant bundle painted(now to maintain for at least another week or so)!Locally, folks have been really excited about Bolt Action, especially big multiplayer games.  

Unfortunately, most of my bolt action forces are geared towards two player games, so I’ve been painting like mad.  Unfortunately, I completed 50 something Russians immediately before the start of the challenge, but then on the 21st, I sat down and painted a boatload of ‘Tractor Factory’ T34s for a Stalingrad themed game. Gotta love the ability to churn out armor with home 3d printers(that’s a theme for this post). These were a bit of a challenge, as I have no idea what they should really look like, but I figured overall brand spanking new coats of paint to protect from corrosion was probably best.  I also put a newly turned barrel on one, and muddied up the hulls on two which were used as transports for a couple squads of SMG guys.  

That game went over well, with requests for a Normandy themed game.  Naturally, this meant large forces of Americans and Germans taking to the table, with traditional American armor(Shermans and Stuarts), as well as some less traditional German AFVs. First, the Americans!

They’re all 3d printed, with additional resin stowage items I’ve had for years and finally found a good use for!   I attempted to freehand the normal stars, mutilated them horribly, and reprimed, starting over.  I got the tracks dirty after attempting a stippled lightening of upper armor plating, then hit them with a light dusty drybrush one of my local buddies swears by.  I’m not mad with the results. 

Okay, the center guy isn’t technically an M5, but the stubby 75 on the M8 has always been a favorite.  These had the same star issue, but the additional stowage and recognition panel or maybe captured flag on the Scott makes them quite fun and a table favorite.  

The German armor was quite fun, with their command vehicle being a StuG III, with a pair of Wespe and converted R35 tank destroyers mounting Czech 47mm anti tank guns. These were present on the Cotentin peninsula, and made for a breath of fresh air against the standard PzIVs and whatnot seen in the late war. 

As always, wargamers have to agonize over the pointless decisions, but I eventually settled on a two-toned scheme similar to the converted R35 at the panzer museum at Thun.  It’s always fun to try something different, and a similar dirtying up and dusty brush kept these looking uniform, like they’ve been rolling the same dusty roads in June of 44.  

You all know I won’t leave you without infantry, so I knocked out a bunch of American riflemen and a bazooka team I got years ago in a Kickstarter, I believe for Disposable Heroes 2.

 

Looks like a guy with an M3 snuck in there too!  These are painted to represent standard infantry from slightly after the invasion through the end of the war, so they’re a bit boring in their entirely green uniforms, but that’s okay, I’ll find some colorful stuff to put on the bench before long!  I based these guys with one of the mixes from Turf Warz, which I’ve really come to appreciate. These guys preformed admirably in today’s game, so huzzah for painted and based figures!

And now we come to every wargamer’s favorite subject, MATH!  I’ll double check, but to break it down, 25x28mm figures makes 125pts, and 17x28mm tanks makes for 340!  465 might be the largest total for a first post that I’ve ever made!  Lots of work over the past week, but getting them on the table immediately really brings a good feeling.  Now back to the table to keep up momentum!

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Wow, our first real points bomb of the season!

An amazing piece of hobby industry here, Andrew. Working on models for an upcoming game is always a great motivator, and we can certainly see that with your output here! Bolt Action is a great, fast system, and perfect for multi-player game, especially with the random activation system - keeps people on their toes. 

Your math is spot-on! Your output for this post is basically what I'm aiming for this Challenge - Wowzers! Well done.

- Curt

AndrewB- Ancients! Project hoppery for sanity! Wrath, Heresy, Violence! -507pts

My apologies for the delay in posting!  Real life 1:1 scale terrain projects (hooray old house!) have gotten in the way, but I’ve managed to sneak in some additional minis, and possibly completed one of my larger projects builds for a challenge yet!  A whole mess of ancients!  Not a huge amount of time for pictures and posting, as my scant hobby time has been pushed into as much painting for sanity as possible, but here we are!  A top view of a load of ancient figures just itching for the tabletop!  

89 of them, to be precise!

First up, some Egyptians!  These I planned as the Wrath! Entry, as they were built and painted to fight a bunch of Sea People figs a buddy was supposed to be painting(Historically, the Egyptians were the only survivors of the possibly Sea Peoples-induced Bronze Age Collapse, with Ramses II stopping them in the Nile Delta, avenging the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean), but his figures didn’t get done!  That’s alright, especially with the angry bald dude in the front, wrath still sits well.  The Wrath of the Pharaoh, perhaps!

These guys are slightly more interesting, they’re a mix of various peoples of the area of Israel and Judea in the early biblical period, along with a group of six Philistine figures, who can be opponents, or mercenary allies.  Lots of basic spearmen, some slingers, and some really fun command figures!  With no chariots, this should likely be a force from the time of Saul/David, but can also represent the smaller rural forces of the Hebrews all the way through to the Jewish Revolt in the 60s-70s AD, giving an impressive ~1300years of possible play.  In that time, the peoples of this region fought hundreds of opponents, from the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Greeks, Babylonians, to the Romans, with a huge amount of fighting taking place with one another!  They’re the perfect candidate for the ‘Violence’ category!  

Last but not least( I know it’s out of order, but it’s all the same post), my submission for Heresy!  This giant dude is my representation for Goliath, should I ever find a set of rules to game his fight with the ‘A’ portion of Force=Mass X Acceleration. Fighting and even unsuccessfully trying to kill future King David is probably enough to count as Heresy for a lot of folks.  

That’s 88 28mm figures and a 40mm, and three categories!  My math isn’t always the best, but I think it’s 507pts.  My apologies for the poor backdrop and lack of pictures, but I needed to make sure folks knew I hadn’t dropped out, and have been putting in work in my now short amounts of time. I’ll be sure to get more detailed and quality pictures for my wrap-up post.  Not sure the unexpected home repairs are going to let me hit my 1200pt goal, but I’m gonna try!  Thanks for all the help and inspiration!  

PS- if anyone knows of a good skirmish/big skirmish game for pre-ancient by wargaming standards figures like these, please let me know!   Picked up Clash of Spears, but these guys will have chariots soon, and not only is the conflict before the period of the rules’ design, but there’s no rules for them.  

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BOOM goes the Dynamite - a points bomb if ever there was one! Great to see some Bronze Age/Biblical period models hitting the Challenge Andrew.

We all know the pain of the worst of all scales (1:1) so this speaks volumes of your commitment - good luck!

- Paul

From AndrewB: Armored Wrath! 136pts

 Sorry for the delay, but for the first installment of our 6mm project, we’re looking at a sizeable chunk of XXX Corps, here to wreak havoc and take vengeance on the sorry Jerries of the Netherlands in a huge Market Garden game.  

I think the Priests are my favorite, as much as they can be tough to get onto a table.  

A big Guards Armored family photo!  68 6mm vehicles for 136pts!  More 6mm coming soon as I finish German vehicles and base infantry!

AndrewB Season Opener Inferno Blitz! Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed! 260pts

Hello folks!   Sorry for the delay, but let’s get to posting!  I decided this year aside from a couple projects I’m working on, I’d blitz through the Inferno Challenge as best I could. Now that I’ve gotten some basing glue, here we go!  

First is Limbo!   These are some Old Glory ‘voodoo’ warriors I acquired many years ago to attempt to play some good James Bond style Baron Zavoodie henchmen.  Alas, they’ve sat unpainted on washers for the better part of a decade, and I ran across them while digging for other projects, so here we go!  They’re quite characterful, despite lacking many different sculpts   

The second circle provided me some trouble as I don’t have many figures which are particularly ‘Lusty’.  That said, I ran across this bundle of cave folk while shuffling through shelves, and here I am.  Not outright lusty, but she’s got her chest out, and the boys seem to be enjoying it, so here we are!  I’ll try and find some relevant 3D prints to come back here maybe.  In the meantime, it makes good sense in that monosyllabic, unshaven way.  

Next, we have gluttony!  While trying to find a suitably rotund model, a four-legged friend knocked me on the knee with a stainless steel bowl, and then proceeded to eat the dog food I put inside with a vigor that would put the Cookie Monster to shame.  Bam! Gluttony!  Not sure where all these doggos are from, but they’re certainly hungry, and will certainly serve my games of 02 hundred well until I get the plastics in the box built and painted.  

Moving right along to Greed, this group of unsavory bootleggers, loan sharks, and bookies along with some of their other flunky buddies   I like to think of these folks as side characters like Forrest Gump at some of history’s most notorious gangster moments, all with the dreams of bags of stolen cash. I even managed to sneak in a dashed my lady gangster for Lady Sarah, so that was fun to find.  We’ll see if crime really pays!  

That’s about all I can get into this post, so look for more next week!  As for my points, I think we’ve got 13 Voodoo warriors for 65pts, four cave people for 20pts, seven puppies for 35pts, and 12 gangsters for 60pts.  There are four circles in the challenge for 80pts, and two women for Lady Sarah at 40pts.  This rounds me to an even 400, which I’ll need to be picking up the pace on!  

See you all next week, and happy painting!

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A fine opening Salvo there Andrew! I like the variety of figures you've been able to get done

I'm sure it was satisfying to finally get those Voodoo warriors completed too!

Unfortunately, there are no bonus points for female figures in this year's challenge.

65+20+35+60=180 + 80 bonus points = a total of 260

- Paul