From RayR - Gang of Four & Other figures from Col Bill's 35pts

Back in the day on the borders of England and Scotland a gang of young ruffians caused mayhem everywhere they went, they were forever bunking off of school, hiding in the woods and playing soldiers

Now they're all grown up, nothing had really changed, apart from bunking off of school that is.

Leader of the gang is Chris, he dreams of being a dashing Cavalryman charging down the nearest enemy, with no mercy.

Second in command is Martin C, not sure why but he's always got his finger up his nose???

Graham like his pal Chris, wants to be a Cavalryman too, flashing his blade or lance at the enemy.

Lastly we have Matt, he's a bit of a bruiser and got caught by his mum nicking the broom

and is always seen, picking his troos out of his bum!!

My short and sweet ode to the Top 4 Challengers, was bought to you in association with Col Bill's Border Reiver range

Next up

Its bruiser Matt's Mum, older brother and sister.

Nobody argues with Mrs W, she's a reknowned good shot having won the county shooting show 3 years on the trot. 

Her teenage son Mike, runs with a gang terrorizing villages near there's and always has a few bob in his pockets.

Then you have sweet, sweet Mary, who's waving a rather non polite hand gesture at the local magistrate.

Once again the figures are from the fab Col Bill's range of Border Reiver figures.

So all in all these will earn me...

35 points!

While I can't speak to the accuracy of these miniature challengers, they do look very nice. Hopefully your four targets will be more flattered than anything else. Great work on all of these figures, they are certainly an interesting bunch of characters.

-StuartL

From RayR - A Tour of the Challenge Studios. 135pts

For today's first post I'm taking you all on a tour of the Challenge Studio, my first stop is my first Blue Security Pass.

Swords & Sandals: The gladiatorial arenas of Hyboria. Chariot racing in the Colosseum of Rome. Battling strange gorgons on white-sand Greek beaches. Or climbing into the Wooden Horse of Troy. Whatever you’re painting in this studio, we’d love to see the shifting sands of ancient adventure, scimitars flashing in the dark, and maybe a few sandals too.

A Col Bill's Belt Fed Girl fits perfectly in for his round. 

A very healthy Gladiatrix, named Acca Volsa

For the next stop we cross the Yellow brick Road and end up in Western's

Westerns: Anything goes, as long as its ‘Way Out West’. Your chance to Paint Gary Cooper, Sitting Bull, or - for the more lateral thinkers - Toshiro Mifune, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker. Wagons roll !!

This very cheeky young lady is Doll Face Kitty and is another of Col Bill's Belt Fed Girls.

Last time I spoke to the Colonel, he said he gets a few complaints about some of the Belt Fed range, can't think why???

I thought I had a few Cowboy figures laying in my draw, but alas, I didn't so it was Col Bill to the rescue!

Next up, we have the only chap in this post and what a mighty chap he is too!

For my next stop on my tour I've headed for Books.

Books: Time to paint something from a famous book. It can be any book, as long as you think it would make a great subject for a film.

I've already posted a few figures from the famous book by Homer, but this figure is the King of Kings in The Illiad.

Here's my copy of the Iliad, what a great book it is too.

So who is this bearded hero, from Wargames Foundry?

Its King Agamemnon, who was the king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Artreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra and the father of Iphigenia, Electa, Laodike, Orestes and Chrothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy, either by his wife's lover Aegisthus or by his wife herself.

Next up, its Limo time, a quick call to Lady Sarah and I hop in her limo and get dropped off at Arthouse.

For payment may I present Morag MacEwan, wife and Mother to the three figures in a previous post.

She is from Col Bills once again, this time from their Border Reiver range.

pack Border Farming Family

When I saw the word Cabaret on the description for the Arthouse stop on the map, I knew immediately what figures I could use.

Arthouse: Darling! Come in, relax at the Cabaret, and enjoy the show! From cold-war European drama, to adventures conducted solely in 8th Century Mayan dialect. From miniatures created out of bottle-tops, to hair-roller armies. Everything artistic is welcome here - whether the art is visual, or just a pose. Want to paint a miniature in just pink paint? Obsessed with Carroburg Crimson ink? This is the Studio for you! Welcome to the location for the quirky, arty and the downright strange.

These luvvly ladies are once again from Col Bill's Belt Fed Girls range (I sense a theme here?)

The wonderfully titled Ella, Bella & Marcella!!

Can Can Dancers

So with this entry I shall try and get myself a Red Security pass from the SnowLord himself.

Red Security Pass:

If you have completed at least four Green locations and four Blue locations, well done! You’ll now be welcomed into the Studio of the Great Show-Lord himself to collect your Red Security pass. The Show-Lord will give you one task to complete. If you succeed, you’ll have earned the chance to sit in the Producer's Chair. Everyone… please be quiet…… shhh!! ….Lights. Camera. Action!

Here's my very neat and tidy map of all proceedings!

 

As for the points

Swords & Sandles - Gladiatorix 5pts Bonus 20 pts =25pts

Westerns - Cowgirl 5pts Bonus 20 pts =25pts

Books - Agamemnon 5pts, Bonus 20 pts = 25pts

Sarah's Limousine -  Morag 5pts Limo Ride 20pts = 25pts

Art House - Can Can Girls 15pts Bonus 20pts

For a Grand total of 135 pts!

So its over to you Curt.

Be gentle with me.

I think this post should probably come with an NSFW advisory notice, there seems to be a complete lack of modesty among some of the models you have painted. For the swords and sandals entry, I'm not sure your entry meets the minimum clothing requirements of sandals, let alone anything else. Also, that cowgirl is going to get the worst saddle-sores possible. I can see why the colonel gets complaints. At least Mrs. MacEwan seems to be a decent, upstanding member of society.  

Nice work on all of these Ray, and well done on clearing the blue stage in one fell swoop. Hopefully the Show Lord assigns you some clothed figures for your challenge.

From RayR - 25mm Border family - 15 Points

 

We leave the sunny hills of Portugal and head for the grey rainy weather on the Border of England and Scotland for my third post of the day.

Any show I attend I always try to pick up a few figures from Col Bill's Wargaming Depot  as do the rest of the Rejects. I'm not 100%, but I think I picked these up last year at one of the Partizan shows.

These are 3 figures from Col Bill's very own Border Reiver range. They are a Border family, minus the Mum!

I do like a few civilians, so thought these would be a good addition to my Donnybrook collection. 

Now I'm not gonna paint up an army, Postie already has 25mm Border Reivers, so I don't need them.

They are beautifully caste figures and almost paint themselves!

The 3 men of the family will earn me 15 points.

Mum will turn up later in the Challenge, I'm sure of it?

Models that can paint themselves could explain those challengers who can manage scores in the 3000+ points range, but I think you may be exaggerating. These minis do look great, civilians are a fantastic way of making any miniature battlefield look more interesting. I like the natural earthy tones you have used for the figures, I doubt the folks living along the border were well off for the most part. Nice work.

From RayR - Three in one Xanth, Mars and Sarah's Yacht (75 points)

  

For my visit to Xanth,(another planet that I had to look up) I'm using the tag, A Unique Talent.

During my 3rd spell with covid, when I was locked in my shed for a week, I re-watched The Last Kingdom on Netflix, amongst other things. 

I already had Col Bill's Aethelflaed figure, which I planned to paint as a gift for my Dad. So thought it'd be a good entry into the bonus round.

I used the colours in this stain glass window to paint her up, I was going to go for all white, but I think this colour scheme looks better?

Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c. 870 – 12 June 918) ruled Mercia in the midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and his wife Ealhswith.

 

Æthelred's husband died in 911 and Æthelflæd then ruled Mercia as Lady of the Mercians. The accession of a female ruler in Mercia is described by the historian Ian Walker as "one of the most unique events in early medieval history". Hence the Unique Talent.

5pts for the figure

20 pts for the bonus

Figure 2 in this post and I've flown from Xanth to Mars, here I'll use the Tagline "Gods of War"

My original plan was to paint a figure of Ares, the Greek God of war, but Wargames Foundry had sold out of the pack. So I opted for a different Foundry pack and went with a Greek hero instead, Achilles.

Achilles was the son of Peleus, a Greek king, and Thetis, a sea nymph or goddess.

Zeus, the king of the gods and Poseidon, god of the sea, had both fallen in love with Thetis and were rivals for her hand in marriage. However, the gods were warned of a prophecy that Thetis would have a son who would grow up to be greater than his father. Worried by this, Zeus arranged for Thetis to marry a mortal man so that her child couldn’t challenge his power. In another version of the story, Thetis rejects Zeus’s advances and a furious Zeus decrees that she will never marry a god. Either way, Thetis ends up married to the mortal Peleus and Achilles is born.

5pts for the figure

20 pts for the bonus

My last figure in the post, I'm catching a lift on Sarah's Star Yacht from Mars to Krypton.

This figure comes from North Star's 1672 range and is one of their figures in pack GS43- Civilian Party

Lady Sarah will enter the giant Donnybrook civilian box, to sit amongst the other million figures I've already painted up, hoping that one day she will be used in a game........any game!!!

So I've only Krypton to go, then I can enter the Challenge XII  Sun.

5pts for the figure

20 pts for the bonus

So that's a total of  75pts

Not bad for 3 figures ah Greg?

 

***

 

Clearly I should open an accounting firm called "The Wednesday Crew", as they continue to squeeze multiple points out of hardly any figures! 

 

Claiming the "accession" being a "unique talent" is pretty spurious - in this case, she just existed in a unique place at a unique time, leading to a unique event - that is a coincidence, not a talent...however, the stained glass is pretty cool, and if there is a unique talent in this post, it is the aggravating, Clinton-esque justifications. Bonus granted.

Achilles looks super cool, I love the paint effect on the armour, well done. And your ticket for Sarah's Star Yacht is spot on. I imagine you must have an unmatched collection of civilians and vignettes to add those really neat extras to your games Ray - as Curt says, you have a unique talent for that too!

75 points awarded...for three figures...

GregB