From MarkE: Romans and a Lady for Sarah's choice (45 points)

Squeaking  in under the deadline and before running out the door for another fun filled night at work, I present my last couple of submissions for the challenge.

A base of 25mm Old Glory Romans and a 28mm Dark Sword Miniature.

These Romans continue a project I started way back in the '90's  Here they are beside a base I completed somewhere before the century turned: New work on the left, old stuff to the right.

I had actually forgotten about this project until I started scouting out my lead mountain for the challenge.  If I recall correctly I was basing them for dual use for the old Chipco Fantasy rules and Classical Hack.  So a real blast from the past.  I've got at least 1.5 more bags of these to clean up, prime and paint so it will be Romans for a while on the bench.  It will help be get more of my brush skills back before moving onto some Perry Napoleonic that have been hanging around getting dusty for at least 10 years.

Last but certainly not least for this year's challenge is my submission to Lady Sarah.  She's a 28mm Dark Sword mini from their Elmore line that I purchased for the first time I entered the Challenge back in 2012.  Life intervened at that point and I failed to get one entry in.  I had to complete at least one mini from that failed effort.

I've always loved the artwork from that classic era of TSR.  I grew up with posters from Elmore, Easley, and the rest of that studio on my walls, and their evocative art fueled many a weekend D&D session with my high school friends. She was going to be my submission for the Toys theme round but I didn't manage to get her done by that deadline.

I'll be making my Curtgeld contribution to Doctors' without Borders.  I've worked with several physicians who donated their time to that organization over the years and they truly do great work.

Points:

8 x 25mm Romans @ 5 pts  = 40 points

1 x 28mm Lady      @ 5 pts =    5 points

                                            total = 45 points

It brings me to 229 for the challenge so a bit short of my 300 goal.  

Well it's off to work.  Unfortunately my night shifts don't afford me time to chip away on my hobby like (I think it was) Ray's epic nightshift challenge year.

Cheers,

MarkE

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A fabulous final entry Mark! Those venerable Old Glory Romans look the business (and the mentions of Chipco rules takes me back!). That being said, the female dancer takes the cake here. Wow, what a lovely job you did on her. Well done Mark. Also, thank you for the donation to Doctors' Without Borders - a very worthy organization doing important work.

- Curt

MattW- This is the Way - Completed AHPC XV

 This is the way XV complete

Another painting challenge over, I tried to focus this year on three projects, two had great success the other I got bored with. I did paint few other bits Roman’s, aircraft and Napoleonics. 

20mm Belgians, really happy with my progress I achieved 

Then my Greeks, got fed up with them too part way through…. Lots more to do this year to complete the army. 

Stalled American airborne, I really failed here to complete some, all 60 figs required was basing, anyway they should be done soonish after I get back from Oz. A few other 20mm pieces also

 Roman bits, several pieces not photographed as they have been packed away already. A clean painting desk for a day before I crack on with some napoleonics this week. 

I actually completed several more units but failed to take photos last week. as I was organising flights to Australia, rugby in Paris, hangover, then my birthday party, hangover….  Posted them on  the last day but alas too late. 

All the best to everyone this year, I am still renovating the chateau and hopefully the new Warganes room renovation goes well along with my new office and library. 

Cheers

Matt

From MartinN: Middle Imperial Roman Lanciarii & the joys of rebasing [30pts]

The challenge is drawing to a close and neither have I been as productive as I had planned -not that I was expecting much, mind- nor have I been as active on here as I had intended. While I'm sitting here at my desk I can gaze upon all the figures that I set out to paint this year and it's a bit of a sobering sight. But you're not here to see me dwell on my failures, are you?

Over the last three weeks I managed to convert and paint 5 more Middle Imperial Romans for my fledgling Midgard force. This time it wasn't the heavy infantry type Legionary, but my interpretation of the somewhat enigmatic Lanciarii. We're not really certain as to how these troops fought, or indeed how they were equipped. Rather than regurgitate arguments of men far more knowledgeable as I, I simply present you with my representation of these enigmatic troops, as I’m sure you can use google just as well as I if you’re curious. I for one settled on elite light infantry, armed with short throwing spears for harrassing enemy troops, as well as large oval shields and the Spatha, making them capapble of facing an enemy head on if need be. I was undecided if I should give them helmets, but in the end decided against for no other reason than the rule of cool.

The figures are a mix of A&A and converted Victrix and again I'm rather pleased how they work together. I also used parts of the different Victrix sets to convert some of the A&A figures as frankly I find them a little dated by now. To reinforce the elite status they were all painted wearing the same clothes, very much opposed to my usual view on uniformity in the pre-modern era, with purple ornamental stripes. Rather eye catching I think. Shields are again painted by hand.

So, why then do I just claim 5 figures when clearly there are 10 on the photos? Well, I had already painted a brace of 5 figures a while ago and having had to rebase them anyway for use with Midgard, I decided to intermix them with their newer counterparts. Seems like not much has changed in my painting approach over the last couple of years.

Anyway, 5 figures á 5 points each is 25 points in total. Hurrah!

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What a treat these are Martin! I would be looking at the untouched minis as a "pile of potential" if these are anything to go by!

I know all too well the 'fun' of rebasing having done it last year with my Caesarian Romans, but if it brings a new lease of life for them then its worth it. They look wonderfully dynamic like that too.

...and take a few bonus points to the crisp details and lovely hand painted shields!

- Paul

From MattW: Roman Command (15 points)

Roman Command  

Another Roman addition, a Roman Senator and Roman Legate, both miniatures are from the Foundry Imperial Roman range. The horse is Aventine I think

3 x 28mm figures @ 5 points = 15 points 

Cheers

Matt

TeemuL: Nice and simple entry from Matt, let's see how many other entries we get today? Including my opening post this is the tenth for this Thursday. There's great interaction on this little vignette, very nice command base. I like the strong contrasts on the white cloth, makes one believe to be under a strong sunshine straight from above.

From MattW: Roman auxillia and command (137 points)

Roman Auxillia and Command

I purchased these from Warlord last year for my Roman project, but then did not paint as they were too big to match my Foundry figures. A Warlord Games mounted officer also added to the mix. Hand painted Vexilum and one shield. 

25 x 28mm Figures  @ 5 points = 125

1 x 28mm mounted @10 points = 10 points 

Total 135 points 

Cheers

MattW

TeemuL: These are absolutely fabulous, hand painted Vexilum crowns the unit. You seem to be very productive this week, Matt.

From MartinN: 3rd Century AD Roman Legionaries/ Limbo (70 points)

This week too I'm running with the Middle Imperial/ Late Roman theme from last week. This time I've brought with me a base of Legionaries, which can clearly be dated to the first half of the 3rd century by their old style semi-cylindrical shield. Also the broad leather balteus, from which the Spatha was suspended, which had by then superseded the earlier Gladius short sword. Most of the Legionaries are sporting the -in my humble opinion- rather fashionable Niederbieber type helmet, also dating to the 2nd to 3rd century. As for armour they're wearing a hodgepodge of Lorica Squamata (scales), Lorica Hamata (chainmail) and the rather famous Lorica Segmental (banded metal strips), that is featured in so many Hollywood movies.

The figures themselves are a mix of Armorum & Aquila Miniatures, which by now are rather dated but almost the only commercially available figures for the 3rd century. Then there's a single Wargames Atlantic miniature from their Late Roman Legionaries set. The set fits the 3rd century almost perfectly with the inclusion of the Niederbieber helmet, but I find the details on the plastic rather soft and the Spathae much too large. That said they paint up OK. Also included are three heavily converted figures from Victrix Limited' Late Romans. To make them suitable I gave them heads from Aventine Miniatures, sculpted on the broader Balteus and designed and 3D printed  Spathae/ appropriate scabbards and Pugiones, the famous Roman daggers. Despite being noticeably larger than the other figures I do think they work together rather well. Shields are a mix of Aventine and A&A.

Painting wise I tried to give them a somewhat uniform appearance by using broadly the same colours, without painting them all the same. Personally I find it highly doubtful that Roman Legionaries ever wore anything approaching a uniform. For the shields I went with free hands and frankly, I had a blast. While at first I found it a rather daunting undertaking, I quickly realized I quite liked the look. So much so that by now I have more of those shields already painted than Legionaries waiting in the painting queue. First world problems I guess.

As some of the figures were already started before the challenge, in fact they had lain partly painted in my cupboard for a few years already, I'm claiming the Limbo bonus for this bunch.

So what do we have here?

Eight 28mm infantry plus the Limbo Bonus should give me 60 points plus whatever our dear minion is prepared to throw in for the hand painted shields and conversions.

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Well Nick, I have no doubt that I speak for all Challengers when I say "holy crap, this looks f**king amazing!" Your brushwork is, as ever, top shelf stuff. The conversions are amazing - and you know this because, absent you telling me/us about the conversions, we would not realize they were present, so seamless and smooth does everything look. 

In particular I am impressed that you managed to squeeze Victrix models in there. While I appreciate the quality of the Victrix sculpts, their giant size has turned me away from making purchases as they seem to loom of every other type of sculpt out there. 

Seeing your Romans always inspires me to say "one, day, I'll paint some Romans!". One day...

I award 10 bonus points for hand painting shields (!!), conversions and general amazing-ness. 

70 points for you in total!

GregB

From MattW: Lady Sara Limo Ride, Black and White, Roman’s and Moderns (166 Points)

Lady Sara Limo Ride, Black and White, Roman’s and Moderns 

Lady Sara, Limo ride

I would like to take the limo ride from Drama lot to Black and White lot please. 

As my offering for the limo ride  I have entered the Armagnac’s new hope for victory  against the English…..Jeanne D’Arc. 

A lovely sculpted Perry 28mm miniature with a hand painted flag over a photocopy

Studio Black and White 

…… as per custom for me  a Star Wars ship (1/172 a weird  scale, the model is about the size of a matchbox car) somehow fits into a challenge somewhere every year! A simple build I completed in between painting the other bits on Sunday, I think I assembled and painted in less than three hours while listening to The Yarkshire Gamers “Brews in the binyard chat” (where I got a mention too! ) 

Roman 

Next up some Romans, as always I commence with a command stand...

Varus I think through the forest to chase off the Germans is a great idea.....this way Arminius.. 28mm foundry miniatures

A unit of Roman Gallic imperial archers, a mix of Warlord and Foundry Miniatures

Another unit of Eastern archers a mix of Foundry and Warlord Miniatures 

Finally a modern matchbox diecast repaint for my Special forces types to ride around in. I have the figures to complete at some stage for the back with HMG. The Toyota technical will make an appearance in my 20mm afghan or middle eastern games 

1 x limousine ride via lady Sara limo  20 points

1 x Jeanne D’Arc 28mm                       5 points 

Location Black and White                   20 points

Star Wars ship (not sure on points)     10 points - scoring as 28mm vehicle = 20 points 20mm vehicle = 15 points

Roman 28mm Command Stand          10 Points

16 x 28mm miniatures                         80 points 

28mm Roman side duel (90 points) 

20mm modern/Cold War Vehicle        15 points

Cold War/ Modern side duel (15 points) 

Total  points  160

Cheers

MattW

What a fantastic set of entries, Matt. I'm going to assume the Star Wars ship is a 28mm vehicle, but it would help in future if you could state the scale, provide a size-comparison photo or email me beforehand to check. I've added a point for the flag as you have hand-painted over the photocopy.

For tracking your progress through the studios, it would be very helpful if you could download the studio map and edit it by adding numbers or ticks to indicate which studios you've visited, then include the updated map as part of your posts.

Tamsin

Update - the Star Wars ship is, I am informed, about the size of a Matchbox or Hotwheels car, so I've adjusted the scoring of that to a 20mm vehicle.