From BrettM: Walking Dead and 2 Witchers 90pts

 First trip on the lovely Sarah's Star Yacht 

Female figure from Mantics walking dead range

With this entry we are cruising over to Glorantha.

I finished up the last of the walking dead figures I had left.

Not too much on these paint jobs. Figures weren't that great so gave them more of a board game standard

The Zombies I painted the rim of the base Red just to tell the difference on them quickly

Next while landing at Glorantha we find a Hero that has quite a story. 

The Witcher

Painted two up as one is for a friend of mine. 

Tried to do a bit more with this paint job. Not enough highlights though imo. 

This adds up to 10 minis at 5pts each plus the bonus for Lady Sarah's Star Yacht and Glorantha for an additional 40 points. Final points on this one 90.  

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Great work Brett! I like that female doing the tactical advance with her scoped rifle. Good call on the red bases to differentiate the Zeds from the survivors - smart. Also, your two(!) Witchers are very fine. Your friend will be very pleased at getting one of those, I'm sure. 

From GregB - A Heavy Cavalry Hero for Glorantha (30 points)

General de Bonnemains - 28mm figure from Eagles of Empire.

Greetings all! Work has been pretty busy for the past couple of weeks - which is nice, it funds new hobby purchases! But it also slows down the painting pace...that said, I was still determined to come up with some kind of submission this week, and I thought visiting another Challenge Quadrant planet might help. I started on Istvaan V, and looking at my collection and set of projects, an opportunity presented itself to visit the neighbouring world of Glorantha. The theme for this planet calls for "heroes", and with this in mind, I present General de Bonnemains, who led the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Division during the battle of  Froschwiller on August 6, 1870. This is a 28mm metal figure from "Eagles of Empire".

The Battle of Froschwiller was a major engagement that occurred early in the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian coalition was advancing across the border, and Marshal MacMahon, commander of the Army of Alsace, was preparing for a defensive battle, having found an ideal position along the Sauer river. Orders to concentrate had been issued - the 1st Corps was already in place, and he was waiting for 5th and 7th Corps to join them. The Prussian side had similar notions, their III Army also planning to gather its strength before commencing a grand battle. Two armies faced each other warily across the Sauer valley, near the towns of Froschwiller and Worth. 

The plan was to wait until ready. But plans often don't work - and for the French in 1870 they, like, never worked. On August 6th, the pickets on both sides started to engage. Escalation followed. Artillery was committed. Troops were sent forward to deal with that. Maybe best to secure a town, you know, just to be sure? Can't allow that, right? 

Before long, the elements of the Prussian III Army were getting stuck in. The Bavarians led the way on the right flank, and the Prussians committed to follow their allies. Through the day, the French fought valiantly - 1st Corps containing some of the very top units in the French Army. MacMahon waited for help to arrive, but it never showed. As his lines buckled, he needed to buy time...and he bought that time with the lives of the reserve cavalry. General de Bonnemains led the charge, four regiments of Cuirassiers, the cream of the Second Empire's heavy cavalry. The odds were long, but the safety and glory of France were at stake. 

A very dramatic pose by the sculptor, perfect for the subject.

It was not to be...the rock-paper-scissors era of infantry lines and squares holding against the heavy cavalry were gone. The French Cuirassiers went forward, and were shot to pieces by the Prussians, armed with breech-loading rifles, backed by steel-breech-loading artillery, these glorious French cavalrymen never had a hope. In particularly tragic sequence, 700 Cuirassiers were caught in the village of Morsbronn and massacred in a matter of minutes.

The sacrifice of the heavy cavalry bought time for Marshal MacMahon to pull his shattered forces from the battlefield and fall back - many of these troops would meet their ultimate fate at Sedan some weeks later.

A white horse, perfect to lead a glorious charge!

I have not been able to track down whether General de Bonnemains survived this battle or whether he was one of the casualties of the fighting that day - apologies for the sloppy research! But I had purchased this character figure from "Eagles of Empire" - purveyors of beautiful 28mm metal figures for the period, and a quite interesting set of skirmish-type rules for the setting. He had been sitting, primed, for months, since he had arrived in the summer...a perfect target for an Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge submission! I thought he would make a fine submission for "Glorantha".

The "Eagles of Empire" sculpts are tall, lean and lovely - with one challenge in this case. The sword was bent during shipping, and I could not, no matter what I tried, get it sorted. It is tragic for this figure to defend the honour of France with a bent sword...but hey, things went really bad in 1870 for them, right?

So, for points, we have a mounted 28mm figure, and a planet bonus - should net 30 points. Thanks for reading, and I hope to have more to share next week!

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What a fabulous figure for Glorantha, Greg. There is something terribly tragic, yet somehow romantic about the French series catastrophes of the Franco-Prussian War. They tried so valiantly, but they experienced such incredible hubris during those campaigns that is makes your eyes water, especially when one realizes that the FPW largely paved the way to the rise of Prussian/German militarism and creates an inexorable path to the First World War. In this light, the bent sword is somehow perfect for this figure. Well done dude.

- Curt

From JohnE - 28mm Pulp Figures Carson (Indiana) Smith (Jones) - [Glorantha] - (25 Points)

Here's a 28mm Pulp Miniatures Carson Smith (not Indiana Jones). Hoping this covers one of the themes for Glorantha, allowing me to travel to the middle ring of the Quadrant.

Points Summary:

1 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 5 points

Glorantha (Outer Ring) bonus = 20 points

Total = 25 points

 

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Great brushwork John - this works just fine for Glorantha, and as a bonus, I'm sure no lawyer would, in any way, consider this figure to be anything or anyone resembling any character seen in any movie at any time. 

GregB

From GeoffreyT: The saga of Beowulf (Glorantha) (85 points)

Here we have Beowulf and his retinue in 28mm by Eureka Miniatures, and a grendels arm widget from a Heresy Miniatures alternate part.

Twelve 28mm miniatures in Beowulfs warband.  I think there is another somewhere, but I pilfered his shield for a different project and need to find a replacement.  I plan on using these guys for the 'Ravenfeast' game, by littlewars TV.  

Not sure which one is Beowulf, but I reckon it is the burly one with no top on. 

To celebrate this auspicious completion, I will recreate Beowulf's saga in 28mm imagery.  I've based the story more on the 2007 movie interpretation.  I was a bit hazy on some details so filled in the gaps where I could.

Beowulf hears of Hrothgar's troubles, and needing a Quest to be valid for the Glorantha Bonus points, he departs to Norway to find a worthy adversary.

"Lo Hrothgar, take me to your monster"

Hrothgar throws a party to attract the monster Grendel with irritatingly loud music.

...DOOF, DOOF, DOOF...

Grendel arrives late to the party looking for snacks.  All the Geats are drunk and asleep apart from Beowulf.   A fight ensues.

'Your Santa disguise does not fool me Grendel"

Beowulf rends Grendels leathery arm from his hideous body.  Grendel leaves the party armless and dying.  The next day Hrothgar inspects the scene and is impressed by Beowulf's wrestling prowess.

"you remind me of when I was a boy ...blah blah blah...
"

The happy Norwegians throw another party.  This time Grendels mother turns up, and chows on some unsuspecting Geats.

At the crack of dawn, surveying the carnage, Beowulf and Hrothgar find a hand clutching an envelope from Grendels Mothers Optometrist, revealing the address of the monsters secret lair.

"Grendel's Mother, 1 Swamp Lane, Swampington-on-Sea, Norway, EU."

Beowulf departs for Swampington-on-Sea, taking a golden vessel handed to him by Hrothgar to return to the Hag.  Leaving behind the rarely discussed Viking shortship, he dives into the water to find the underwater cave-lair.

Deep in the beasts lair, Beowulf finds that "The Hag" is unexpectedly attractive.

"Welcome to my lair darling"

 Beowulf's plans go astray, and he stabs her with his 'other weapon' instead.

'So, that was your "magic-sword" '

Fifty years on, Beowulf is a mighty king reigning over a mighty kingdom.  He does all the mighty things that mighty kings do, except one thing; he cannot sire an heir.

An ageing Beowulf discovers he is not childless, when his long lost son 'Grendel's half Brother' comes to visit in the form of a dragon.  All of his retinue runs away except the brave Wiglaf, who helps Beowulf slay the dragon.

"Hello Daddy ... you owe child maintenance payments"

Beowulf is fatally wounded and with his dying breath, Beowulf bequeathes his Kingdom to Wiglaf.  

Does Wiglaf accept both the Kingdom and the monsters curse ?

"Hmm, where did this golden vessel come from..."

The End

***

For this post I am claiming

12 x 28 mm miniatures for 60 points.

1 x widget for 1 point

20 bonus points for Glorantha

The letter Q for Quest

A Squirrel for 28mm Geats.

Until next time,  GT.

Hwæt! Absolutely brilliant. At the end of the day, our toy soldiers are there to tell stories. Here we have the OG Anglo-Saxon story, charmingly retold with a troupe from your wonderful collection. I particularly like Grendel's mum in all her incarnations (I laughed at her first appearance), and the arm is a fun touch.

Eureka's Beowulf is the dark-haired fur-cloaked chap you've used as Wiglaf, but they are a band of flexible characters you can name as you wish.

Have a few points to round up for being so entertaining.

Barks

NB Don't forget to tag your squirrel

From MikeF - World Eaters Deredeo Dreadnought - Glorantha - 40 points

Next up on the World Eaters invasion tour is Glorantha. This is a place of Heroes...apparently. I think earlier Challengers have already used the dreadnought angle for this planet, but luckily there are no points awarded for originality. 

Space Marines really love war! Unfortunately death can really get in the way of that. Luckily, the most "Heroic" members of a chapter who are suffering mortal wounds from battle can be "rewarded" with entombment inside a Dreadnought, allowing them to fight on for all eternity. The Horus Heresy space marine legions have numerous types of dreadnought. The version I painted up is the Deredeo Speedboat Dreadnought! It's pretty goofy looking, but you can't argue with the ridiculous number of weapon on it. It's obviously a long range unit, which doesn't traditionally match the berserk World Eaters. My rational is that this is 30k and the World Eaters are not full on psychopaths yet. They're a legion who subjugate planets using the full spectrum of weaponry and tactics available to them. They just love chopping things up with swords and axes a little bit more than most!

The white is painted with Vallejo ghost grey with a Nuln oil recess shade and Vallejo dead white highlight. The blue is painted with GW Macragge blue followed by Altdorf Guard blue. I gave it a recess shade of Drakenhof Nightshade and a highlight of Calgar blue. The Altdorf allows the transfers to contrast a bit better than the Macragge.

28mm vehicle - 20 + 20 for the planet = 40 points

Thanks for visiting.

From DaveD

That's a fine entry with massive guns! 40 points it is!

From AlanD: The Next Project and Runes for Glorantha (125 points)

In the lead-up to the Challenge, PaulOG and I were talking about our 20,000 different projects, and I got all excited again about the English Civil War. This tends to happen every 8 months or so. In particular, I was inspired by the beautiful new figures from Bloody Miniatures, which are in my painting queue. First up though, I wanted to paint a Covenanter force to play Pikeman's Lament. I already had a few painted Covenanters, so I based them up and prepared the rest of the army for the Challenge.

This week I painted a unit of 12 pikes and a frame gun, all from Warlord Games. For the basing, I've decided to go with the 3-2-1 basing recommended by Michael Leck and Dan Mersey in the rules for Pikeman's Lament. I must say, I like this arrangement of basing a lot. It's quite flexible, and gives units a nice slightly ragged appearance. I had my usual existential crisis about what colour hodden grey should be, settling for the main part on a sort of medium sea grey with a bit of brown added in.

I was quite keen to explore Glorantha this week as well, and remembered I had a set of runestones from Fenris Games that I bought about 10 years ago. These are lovely accurate models of runestones from Sweden (from memory), and will be used for objective markers or just interesting table scatter in games like SAGA.

15 foot figures should give me 75 points, with another 10 for the frame gun. I don't really know how to score the runestones, except that they all fit in a 6 inch cube, so call it 20 points? Add a bonus 20 points for Glorantha, and I think this entry is worth 125 points. The Inspektor visiting from Weimar Berlin is just included for scale.

I really like that grey-blue tone you've achieved with your pikemen. I've never been quite game to adopt the 3-2-1 basing, even though I can see both the gaming practicalities and the aesthetic appeal. I do wonder how effective frame guns and early artillery was, but I'm sure there's a psychological shock. And the painted patterns really help the runestones pop.

Barks

From MikeP: A Few Tiny Napoleonics (24 pts) (Glorantha)

 Hello friends:

I have a very tiny entry as one of Tamsin's Tuesday Tigers, tiny in both scale and points.   It's been a busy week and I'm working on the rest of my Germanic war band for next week, hopefully.

This Christmas Santa gave me an Elegoo Mars Pro 3 printer and I eagerly fired it up to print the test file that comes with the machine.   Alas, my first attempt produced a block of resin, and drained all the resin in the tank.   The best advice I got was that the LCD screen that shipped with the machine was defective and was just pouring light all over the tank.

Elegoo came through and sent me a replacement LCD screen, but the downside was that I had to remove the old one and install the new one, slow trembling step by slow trembling step, watching a YouTube video as I went.  It was nervewracking, because I'm not terribly technical, but I was successful and the test piece printed, so I felt quite heroic (hence the Glorantha part of this post - more to follow).

I know that there are some 3D printing veterans in this Challenge, but I'm finding it all new and exciting, so here are my first 3D prints, from Turner Miniatures.  Henry Turner is a prolific designer of 3D figures that can scale from 6mm to 15mm.  He's primarily known for his two Europe Asunder Kickstarters, the first being infantry and artillery, the second, which I've backed, being focused on cavalry.   

Here are two of Henry's free 6mm cavalry figures, an Austrian cuirassier trumpeter and a French cuirassier eagle bearer.

Until now the only 6mm cavalry figures I've painted are metal castings from Baccus.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail Henry packs into these little guys.  They were enormous fun to paint.

I'm calling these figures 6mm, though from the base to the top of the head is almost 15mm.  However, they compare quite favourably to my 6mm Baccus figures and on the table I doubt I could tell them apart. Right, that's the test figures done, can't wait to start printing and painting these guys by the squadron and by the battalion!

So how do I justify Glorantha with this tiny entry?  Because heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and these two dashing cuirassiers are as heroic as they come (really, would you argue with them?), and because I took the 3D printing plunge and then fixed my machine.  QED, I am, to quote Lord Flashheart, a bally hero.

Finally, here's a bit of fun.   Henry Turner offers this free .STL file, "Caporal Frosty".   He's appropriate for this snowy cold day where I live.   I scaled the file up to 15mm before printing.

 Perhaps, before he abandoned the Grande Army in Russia, Napoleon asked for a body double so his troops didn't know they'd been abandoned, and this was what he got?   Or maybe it was bait to lure the Cossacks off the trail?   Hmm, that almost sounds like a Babylon 5 entry, but I'll refrain.

Two 6mm mounted (2 points), and 1 15mm foot figure (2 points) and Glorantha = 24 points, I think.

Cheers, 

MikeP

Smashing work, Mike! Somehow, I don't think Napoleon's troops were fooled for one minute by his body double! 

Tamsin

From TashaH: Ferocious Dragons [Glorantha] (33 points)

 Glorantha - Planet of Quests, Runes and Heroes.

At the core of many a quest is a dragon. Residing on Glorantha are the Meadow Dragon, the Forest Dragon and the Snowy Mountain Dragon, all obtained from Dracokiro on MiniFactory As you will see, they are ferocious and should instill fear in every hero's heart at the prospect of engaging them. 

 

The Meadow Dragon embraces darkness and dread. Very fearsome.

Gloranthan dragons like to pose on rocks - we don't question it.

I used acrylic craft paints for the Meadow Dragon. I used a new one to me, a Colour Shift paint from Folk Art. I added a couple drops of Flow-Aid from Liquitex and that made it much easier to work with.

The Forest Dragon is a lively one and is known to attack with furor and frenzy. 

I used earth tone Citadel Contrast Paints for the Forest Dragon. After several layers and some blending, I dry-brushed Molten Bronze and Brass Balls to the dragon's wings and chest plate. I glued real crystals around the base of the dragon to cover up my poor attempt at removing a puddle base.

Lastly, the Snowy Mountain Dragon is the most fierce of all. Being trapped on the cold mountain has made him cranky and unapproachable. Oh wait, that's every person in Saskatchewan right now!

I got the idea for this base from a YouTube video. I apologize for not having the link. I was half paying attention and couldn't find it again. My lack of attention also means that my process is not the same as in the video. I'm certain theirs is much easier ha ha. I used white craft Gorilla glue on the stone, with just a touch of Talassar Blue Contrast Paint stirred in, sprinkled it with a hefty dose of baking soda and left if for about half an hour. When I came back, it was very puffy (like a cloud). I was a bit concerned and moved the mound around a bit, to make it look a little 'drifty'. I placed the dragon in the center of the mound, sprinkled it with more baking soda and left it for several hours. The white craft Gorilla Glue is not quick setting like the Gorilla Glue Super Glue. 

After a few hours, the mound was about 3/4 set. I decided I wanted to add some more snowy detail to the base and added a much thinner layer of the glue below the current layer and followed the same steps, minus adding the blue tint. 

The next day, I painted white accents into the snow and added a couple paw prints to mimic the pattern that is imprinted in the original base.

The dragon is painted using 4 shades of blue and purple Contrast paints, with a hint of Vallejo chrome as an accent. 

Points

2 x 20 mm figure - 8 points

1 x  28 mm figure - 5 points

1 x planet bonus = 20 points

Total - 33 points

If Tamsin would be so kind as to drop me into the Warp Maelstrom adjacent to this planet, I'd like a surprise landing please.

Those dragons certainly look cute, sweet and...errrmmm....that is to say, extremely ferocious! These very, very scary beasts will see you sail through the 50 points of figures for you "Chocolate Cake Duel" alongside Sarah. I guess you both have to bake each other a chocolate cake and then share them! You have my jealo...errmm...sympathies! 

I think I'll warp you to the Vogsphere, so something bureaucratic or blackly comedic next week please!

Tamsin