EdwardG: Sprint finish points bomb (376pts)

Hej hej all,

Thank you all for the kind comments on my previous post. Having been languishing in the doldrums for this Challenge I resolved to at least have a go at attacking my points target in the final week and a bit. 

Thanks to some long work meetings and a kind wife who indulged a few later nights of me painting. I think, if my maths is correct, that I've made it, and a little over. Be that as it may I'm slightly sad I wasn't on this kind of form for more of the challenge! The dent into the 28mm lead/plastic pile is noticeable, but there are still nearly 5x really useful boxes full to go! 😀 

But, enough waffle. I concentrated on first getting my basic English Saga force painted and then branched out to the Scots, via some mercenary troops. I managed the English and a fair number of Scots (32 remaining for the full schilitron!)

First up on the photos is Sir Thomas Grey, English Captain and all around sold soldiery chap (with a nice and simple heraldry, and a flag from Flags of War!). The Grey family had a handy run of about 4 generations of solid soldiers, fighting in all the wars versus Scots and Frenchmen in the period. They eventually made it to the ranks of the Earls under Henry V, with a large number of French estates, but seem to have lost it all in the 1450s and 60s.

Supported by his tried and true men-at-arms, and household knights.

And supporting him are his band of merry Archers. All of whom are wearing an unnatural uniform coat...but give me a chance, I painted them all in about 6hrs! 

His opponent from over the Wall, a place they call Scotland... is a deer stalking highlander with a mixture of close combat clansmen and pike armed yeomen. All energised into a combat frenzy by the sweet melody of the pipes! 

And then supporting whomever has just promised the larger pay packet, a bunch of axe happy Irish mercenaries. They began the challenge being painted yellow, but I lost the will to continue after base coating them. Coming back to them a few months later I went to recover the paint job and "start" with a black undercoat. I liked the under coat much more than the original paint scheme, so they became black coated Irish, rather than the "traditional" mustard yellow that is shown in the pictures of Irish of the period. 

A final addition were finished at lunchtime today. I found these chaps, undercoated from a previous Challenge, in a misc minis box and felt inspired having painted their 28mm Irish cousins. I belive they are Essex minis of a generic axemen/halbardier type. 

All of this effort equals points...at least that's the hope! 

English = 42 x 28mm foot = 42 x 5pts = 210pts

Scottish = 22 x 28mm foot = 22 x 5pts = 110pts

Irish = 8 x 28mm foot = 8 x 5pts = 40pts

15mm axemen = 8 x 15mm foot = 8 x 2pts = 16pts

Total = 376pts

Grand total = 74 + 376 = 450pts!! Phew! 

So long all and thanks for all the fish! Looking forward to seeing you all next year! 

Best, 

Ed 😀

What a paint bomb Edward, loving this.  Lord Grey is wonderful and I live his huge retinue of archers in their red livery.  It may not be strictly historical but it works and gives unit cohesion.  But most of all I love those Scots with their wild Irish merch.  Well done all around.

PeterD 

EdwardG: Better late than never. A few little chaps on horses - 6mm British Napoleonic Cavalry (54pts)

 Hej hej all,

Well, while there are still ~2wks to go, I can safely say, I hope I'll not go through a repeat of this challenge time again. These past weeks have been a perfect storm of work overload, a harsh winter, illnesses at home, and a general hobby slump. I know we all go through it, but hopefully it's now behind me!

I had plans, BIG plans, for this Challenge. Last summer, I'd realised I had a lot of 28mm minis for SAGA (and other game systems) in the lead/plastic pile, and I'd resolved to get them painted. All of them. In hindsight, this was probably my first erorr. As I have filled 5x 4L really useful boxes with built and prepared minis...and some on top that I couldn't squeeze in. So far I've hardly made a dent. 

Instead, when I found myself on another work trip, I began painting some of my 6mm backlog. These chaps are the 5th British Cavalry brigade from the Waterloo ORBAT. Three units of light cavalry, in hussar uniform. They've taken longer than they should have to paint, but now they're done!

The units are scaled to match the number of squadrons and the frontage each would present in normal formation. This gives a grand total of 54 cavalry figures, including the command and ADC. 

All of the minis are from Baccus and were a pleasure to paint. 

Points:

54 x 6mm Cavalry = 54pts

Hopefully I'm able to find some mojo to chip away at the 28mm mountain I've created. With 2 weeks remaining I doubt I'll make my target, but never say never! 

Take care all! 

Edward

Hoi Edward, these things happen! You are on your way now at the least and whatever Life throws your way these miniatures have been finished in a gorgeous paintjob! Having painted some Bacchus miniatures I can concur with your judgement they paint up a treat but it's your excellent paintwork that makes them really shine. We all experience the troubles of real life and a hobby slump now and again and so it is something we all sympathize with let's hope you can get a little dent in the 28mm mountain before Challenge's End and afterwards just plan the unfinished projects for next year!

Cheers Sander 

EdwardG - First post 4 Scots in a field (20pts)

Hej everybody,

I've been very slow off the ground this year. It's been a busy time at home and the painting mojo is low.

I've managed to get 4 minis painted!! They're the start of my Scots army for SAGA. 

The minis are from Antediluvian Miniatures. They're excellent to paint and wonderfully full of character. Sadly, my painting is rather rushed and needs a bit more to get the most out of these minis. But still, hopefully have made it before the cut off! 

Points:

4x 28mm foot = 4x5pts =20pts

Hope to catch you all soon! 

Best,

Ed

Hoi there Ed, well we all have experienced our Mojo being affected by all kinds of daily troubles... so how incredibly good to see you join us nevertheless with such excellently painted Scots. The pikes seem especially menacing and I for one would not like to have to face them. 

Enjoy the Challenge, cheers Sander  

Ready - From EdwardG - A fun lunch time (10pts)

 Hej hej all!!

I'm very sad that it's already the final days of the challenge. But all good things must come to an end to have meaning. So with that in mind I've already started planning the minis in the lead pile to be painted in Challenge XVI 😀 

For my final post I've only got a single mini. I was thinking I could try and shoehorn him into a Bonus category for some extra points. But I realised that would be a real stretch and so he scores just for himself. I manged to paint him during my lunch break while working from home. I'd hoped I could get more minis done during the time, but I got caught up trying to get the blue the correct shade I was looking for and so ran out of time!

He's a Perry metal mini. I know he's a French Knight from their Joan of Arce command pack, but I'm not able to name him. He has cast on heraldry, which I must admit I'm not a fan of. It's 3 bunches of grapes. Not sure if it's a pun on his name, or a silent cry for help in the days before AA. I didn't want to stick to the official colours, so I've given him golden grapes on a blue field. He'll either be the commander or a hero for my French saga warband. 

Points 

1 x 28mm Mounted = 10pts

Just before signing off, I'd like to say it has been wonderful being part of the challenge again this year. Thank you to Martjin my minion for the really supportive comments. And thank you to all for the inspirational minis and painting. I'm really looking forward again to next year already. It's certainly the best way I know to pass the winter months! 

TTFN! 

Ed 😀 

 

Sylvain: A great parting post! A knight in a shiny armor on a big horse is one of the most iconic warrior you can find on a wargaming table and your painting job looks great! I like how you mixed the rocks and the grass on your base. See you at Challenge XVI!

From EdwardG: A quick bit of steel (80 points)

 Hej hej! 

I know two posts in a week is rather greedy, but I was blessed with an all day senior management meeting today! I had to step in for my boss last minute this morning, which I meant had to dial in but only actually present in for 15min! Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quietly turned off my camera and grabbed these minis I had prepared on the table. 

These are again for Saga Age of Chivalry. They're a mercenary unit of heavily armoured knights which can come in very handy when facing an opponent who favours shooty type of troops. 

They're made straight from the Perry plastic set. I admit they were sprayed silver to speed up the painting process. I'm sure I could have given them a far fancier decoration, but time didn't allow and I'm happy with them as they are.  

Points:

8 x 28mm Mounted figures = 80pts

As these chaps were an unexpected boon, I'm not sure if I'll have another post before the challenge end. I hope to be lucky! 

TTFN!

Ed

Nothing wrong with a devious plan well executed... Even spray cans are allowed if they get you your toys on the table in a way you are satisfied with, and your knights in shiny armour look very okay to me! I'm sure they will be a useful addition to your Saga force, and for now they will indeed net you 80 points.

Martijn

From EdwardG: a miniature DBA points bombe (540 points)

 Hej hej all,

As is my standard, I have been working away at painting an army for DBA. This year, I'm back to 28mm (having stayed in 15mm land for the past few challenges). 

These chaps are for all intents and purposes a bit of a clearing project. There are about 6 or more different manufacturers and all of the figures come from left overs of previous projects. They're painted and based to fit a Danish Leidang DBA v3 army from ~1250AD. They have with them some German knights who can join as an ally.

The army will be an interesting one to play, as it has a solid core of very heavy infantry, with the options to have a not insignificant mounted wing. Compared to other armies in the competition which favour one or the other much more. 

Starting with the General's element. These are classed as Knights in the DBA rules. Painted with the Danish Royal family coat of arms (the yellow was a real pain!) 

Next up are the Danish nobility. Unlike other European countries, Denmark had not so much in the way of nobility. The shield patterns are a mixture of known noble families, and the tree commune symbol from Areo island. It's the island where my wife and I were married, so holds a special little place in the heart. They are again classed as Knights under DBA rules.

The German Allied knights round out the mounted that I have painted this challenge. These are possibly the only bases that come from a single manufacturer. All 6 being Fireforge knights. I had given up trying hand painted shields by the time I got to these figures. So the shields and horses are adorned with printed heraldry. A little crude, but the effect isn't bad. 

Now on to the foot. 

The main backbone of the army are 8 bases of Heavy Foot. Each base should have 8 figures, but on one base these wouldn't fit. So it's 7 bases of 8 figures and 1 base of 7 figures. They are a total mix of many different manufacturers, and I won't even try to list them! 

A quirk of the army is the inclusion of "Freelance Vikings". Not sure how many Vikings were still about in the 1250s, but I've made the base as it's in the list! Their black shields denote their lack of allegiance to any lord or commune. They're classed as fast melee foot, so can be very useful in hunting down bowmen or similar lighter troop types. 

Speaking of lighter troop types, the final parts of the army consist of Bowmen and the skirmisher troops. Most of these are a little bit kitbashed, except for the Gallic bowmen who were found at the bottom of a box and have been pressed into service as Finns.

Last but not least, the style of the campaign means that each player needs a figure to represent their location on the map. In the end I have taken the heavy foot figure that didn't fit on to his base and made him that player marker. 

A closing group photo of the army in all its tray based glory! 

I hope that this is not my final post for the challenge. Fingers crossed time allows for a few more figures to make it through the painting queue! 

Points total:

84 x 28mm foot figures = 84 x 5pts = 420pts

12 x 28mm mounted figures = 12 x 10pts = 120pts

Total = 540pts

What a great project, Edward! All these units are very fine, but I like the knights with their hand-painted shields (although I can fully undestand that you gave up on the shields halfway!). And yes, yellow is notoriously hard to get right, but I think you nailed it. I'm not sure what Teemu would think of your Gallic Finns, but they seem to fit the bill rather nicely. As do your slightly outdated vikings. A DBA army to be proud of! I'll throw you some bonus points for the hand-painted shields, so 545 points will be added to your tally. Well done!

Martijn