From KillianF - Entering the Zone (30 Points)

First post for my first time challenge! I have painted six modern adventurers who are exploring "The Zone", a mysterious area in unspecified Eastern Europe. For some reason these guys jumped up past the  4th C. Goths I originally planned to start with.

 From left to right:

Simeon the Scrounger, Handy Javik, Natalie Halovna, Andrei Peshtov, Vas "the Boy", and Kid Czerno.

These guys and girl are all in a mish-mash of tactical gear and weaponry, which was good fun to paint. Some jazzy camo patterns were suitably dulled down with washes made from acrylic ink and AK fluid matte varnish. The various lenses are not accurate or tactical, but I like the pop of colour and texture they add. They were done with Tamiya clear red and yellow.

These are the start of a small collection of figures for Zona Alfa and similar games. The models are 28mm from Anvil Industry (from a whole variety of packs), 3d printed by myself.

6x28mm infantry: 30 points.

I also believe this qualifies for 1x Squirrel Point.

Probably need to crack on with some Goths now......

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First, welcome to the Challenge, Killian! It's always a pleasure to have new people join in on the madness, and for all of us to enjoy looking at new brushwork and toys!

Excellent work on this post-apoc squad. The figures really have that Metro 2033/STALKER vibe going on. I also like the desiccated ash waste groundwork - very on-theme. I haven't checked out Anvil Industry in ages and am bewildered by how much their stocklist has grown - thanks for the tip!

These half-dozen ZONE adventurers will give you 30 points towards your Challenge target. Well done!

TomL, Ambitious Lovers. 75 points

This week we move along in Paradise.  First we visit the second circle where the Ambitious reside. Here we meet Team Chase from Pulp Figures, otherwise known as that keen as fresh mustard, an overachiever's overachiever: Johnny Quest

“Join brave and brainy 11-year-old Jonny Quest as he travels the world with his scientist father Dr. Benton Quest, his adoptive Indian brother Hadji, his bodyguard Race, and his faithful dog Bandit. ”

Bandit's face was unexpectedly quite the personal challenge.  Next we visit the Third Sphere: The Lovers.  Together through trials and setbacks, plane crashes and uncertainty - A fisherman & his wife.

 These figures were from Akula’s “Apocalypse Isle Miniatures”.  As I recall they were part of his “Lost” or apocalyptic line he commissioned for his own collection.  I picked these up with his other civilian figures (painted last AHPC). Everything was painted with a mix of ProAcrylic, Two Thin Coats & Foundry acrylics. Picture background is from Jon Hodgson's backdrop painting books.

Points: 75

Ambitious & Lovers: 40 points

7 x 5 point 28mm figures: 35 points.

Will definitely return to the ACW painting for next week.

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Johnny Quest? looks like some Johnny come lately version of Tintin! - he even has Snowy in tow! No Captain Haddock though sadly - all quality adventurers know at least one dodgy sea captain (don't they Alan and John...). Seriously though, what great characterful models and your bold colours make them look like they've stepped right off a comic page :-)

Looking forward to seeing more of your ACW next week - the project is really going great guns! :-)

- Paul

JamieM - Grey Alien Warband (67 points)

A second post of the day (or possibly first of next week if I don’t get it finished in good time!) and it’s a slightly random one.

I have a lot of rulesets. A lot. It’s a bit of a standing joke at the club that someone finds a game and I’ve already got the rules and either have a force or two or have bought a force, painted it and since sold it. A lot of my rulesets are miniature agnostic, which is great for buying a bunch of unusual miniatures that take my fancy. On the downside, this gives me licence to buy a bunch of unusual miniatures that take my fancy.

And in this vein, enter the Alien Grey warband

The miniatures are from the Wild West Exodus game system, but I decided they would work as adversaries in my budding post apocalyptic games.

This is the leader fella, scary looking big chap with a standard grey for scale.

These normal fellas come with two weapon types for the most part, standard rifles and larger rifles.

There is also a grey with a heavy weapon and a slightly different alien who probably sings the cows to sleep before they are taken away by the look of him….

I couldn’t resist the box when I saw it and I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing that a mate of mine bought me an expansion and the rules for Wild West Exodus for Christmas as a present/punishment for my lack of willpower.

12 28mm figures and one 40mm figures nets me 67 points I believe.

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A second post in one day! Another veteran tactic by a seasoned AHPC participant...thankfully you appear to be done with the naval nonsense, and must resort to more honest work. For now...

I salute your commitment to ensure you never commit to just one rule set! After all, there are so very many rules out there, and your "comprehensive consideration and collection" (CCAC) approach to gaming rules is one I have no doubt many Challengers will relate to. Hobbyists such as yourself are essential cogs in the psychological ecosystem of gaming - when we see rules we might like, and take a chance on them, we can still tell ourselves "well, at least I'm not as crazy as Jamie!"

My shelves (and storage) heave with piles of rules I have tried, or want to try, and the cycle of rules-meaning-I-should-buy-figures-which-is-a-good-reason-to-buy-these-other-rules is nothing other than...a perfectly normal, healthy approach to this great hobby!

The Grey Aliens here looks wonderful - ready for a military skirmish, or perhaps to snag a few subjects for some, er, probing research back at the base, all to determine what is going on - post-apocalyptic setting or otherwise!

67 points for you, and a great start today to your Challenge!

GregB

From Curt: Third-Tier Security Mooks (50 Points)

Hi There!

For this submission I have a team of third-tier security mooks to help quell all sorts of volatile situations. Things like chaos incursions, vehicle parking arguments and particularly aggressive seniors at grocery checkouts.

These models are from Knucklebone Miniatures, one of my favourite 3d designers.

I wanted a quasi 'Mega-City One' look for them so went with a distressed yellow ochre for their shoulder and knee pads. Also to give them a little 'somethin' somethin' so I provided them with snazzy looking chromatic visors - besides, the bad guys need something to aim for...

I had a few of mishaps removing supports with a couple of their weapon magazines going missing. Bad words may have been uttered. Anyway, I rolled with it and came up with some sprue replacements, but I placed them at their feet, figuring that these hapless new guys had accidentally thumbed the magazine eject on their weapons and are now caught wanting.

I like 'Number 10' the bare chested officer with the cigar. He has a sort of Robert Crumb counter-culture look about him. 

I had some extra Adeptus Imperialis decals laying around and so gave the bunch their very own shoulder pad numbers. Easier for body identification I figure.

These chalk outline aspirants will be valued additions to future games of Mothership, Kill Sample Process and Cy_Borg. 

Aaand another 50 points to add to my tally along with another Squirrel Point - wooo!

Thanks for dropping in for a peek!

- Curt

From MikeF - Old World Empire & Sherman Tank - Fantasy Room - 70 points

 While working on my Steel Legion army, I've been picking away at a few other things. First up are some test models for a possible Empire Army for Warhammer: The Old World. Since there are no models for the Empire yet, I'm using 3rd party models to represent most of the units. I experimented with Wargames Atlantic Conquistador box to stand in for state troops. I painted them up in Altdorf colors and I think they'll look pretty good ranked up. I needed to keep the paint scheme fairly basic as I'll have to paint a large number of these guys. The models naturally have a more Spanish aesthetic rather than Holy Roman Empire, but I think they'll work. I really enjoyed painting the Wargames Atlantic models. They're simple sculpts that aren't cluttered with details that bog down batch painting. The torso and legs come in one piece and can be armed with a variety of weapons including spears, swords, halberds, crossbows and arquebus. The price is also decent as you get 24 in a box for under $50 CAN. Judging by current Old World pricing, Empire State Troops should be about $90 CAN for 20. 

I'm claiming the Fantasy room for this group.

Second up is a Sherman tank for the game "Tanks for the Apocalypse." The game is from Snarling Badger Studio and takes place in an end of WWII post-apocalyptic America where the survivors have salvaged numerous Sherman tanks from the Lima Locomotive Works in Ohio and use them to battle for territory. The tanks are often given home modifications which may help or hinder you in the game. I had a 1/48 Tamiya Sherman that I've been using as a test model for various tank paint schemes. I gave it numerous conversions and a non-standard camo paint job.

6 x 28mm models = 30 points

1 28mm vehicle = 20 points

Fantasy room = 20 points

Total = 65 points

Looks like this will be my final post, so I'll hopefully see you all in December. Thanks for visiting!

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Great work on these two very different projects Mike! Those pikemen look brilliant and will serve nicely for 'southern' Empire levies. I agree, the Wargames Atlantic sets are excellent. I've been using their STL versions and find the models to strike that balance between detail and not being too over complicated. Love the whacky post-apoc Sherman with it's blue Mickey Mouse camo. Also I see it won't run out of fuel or water anytime soon with it's jerry can reserve!

Thanks for pitching in with us again this year Mike. Hope to see you sometime this spring or summer when I'm in the 'Peg.

- Curt

From JamieM - Post apocalyptic Santa and elves (25 Points)

I had hoped to get these posted before Christmas, but as always seems to happen I was distracted by starting other painting projects before finishing the last one….. but as it’s still the festive period, I reckon I’m ok.

Here they are, a post apocalyptic Santa and his little elves

These are from the Eden range, which have some lovely sculpts, but the game is now sadly dead as the company that made it has shut up shop. I take the opportunity to grab figures from eBay to liberate them from other people’s lead mountains.

Having said that, these are resin figures and are a special edition box that came with a special scenario where players try to steal presents. I’ll probably never play Eden as a game, but plan to use them for a miniature agnostic game like a Fistful of Lead.

Is it really Santa? Or just some bloke who stumbled across some fancy dress whilst roaming the wastelands?

But if it’s not Santa, why is he accompanied by diminutive fellows who could be described as “elves”?

These are lovely figures and I was dead chuffed to find someone selling them still in box, untouched as I’d passed on purchasing them a few years ago and regretted it ever since. The bases are cast in resin from the same range and add further interest to the figures.

Whilst Eden figures are 32mm figures, as the elves are a bit smaller I’ll just score them all as 28mm for the challenge for 25 points in total.

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Haha, Santa and his loonatic 'elves' look smashing, Jamie. It's good to think that in the post apocalypse there will still be Santa and his crew, doing their 'good' work. Beautiful brushwork, mate. I also really like the bespoke bases - very in-theme, those. 

- Curt

From Barks: Post-apocalyptic homages (Romance)(Statue of a famous person)(61 points)

In this library, the Statue of a Famous Person is of Buddy Holly.

Sort of.

Buddy

This is an homage to Buddy, the guitar-wielding ronin of Six-String Samurai. In the post-apocalyptic far future of 1997, Elvis has died and Buddy must travel to Lost Vegas to become the new king of rock 'n' roll. On his journey, he is accompanied by The Kid.

Buddy and The Kid

The Kid

Trailer:

Who says you can't have a meet-cute after the apocalypse? Turbo Kid is the story of Turbo Kid and the aggressively upbeat and quirky Apple. This film comes from the made-up imagi-nation of 'Canada'. Preposterous.

Apple and Turbo Kid

Turbo Kid

Apple

Trailer:

I also painted some skullz, to get my foot in the door for the Skull Duel. These are from a Mantic Terrain Crate. Each has twenty-seven skullz.

Skullz!

4x 28mm 3D prints from Imitation of Life (20 points)

Terrain 3x (2" x 1" x 0.5") (1 point)

Statue of a Famous Person (20 points)

Romance (20 points)

Skull Duel (Skull-o-meter™: 81 skullz)

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Okay, I love this entry.

That Buddy Holly mini is pure awesomesauce, especially the work on the six string (ie katana scabard), the hair and the flesh tones. That being said, I also really admire the super vibrant colours of the Turbo Kid and Apple (especially her trippy hair). 

I had to watch both movie trailers and I'm know what I'm watching tomorrow. Side-by-side I think Turbo Kid will take it, but I'm Canadian, so I'm biased. 

The takeaway from all this is that Barks watches some very weird sh*t. 

- Curt

PS: The skull 'terrain' is criminal - you should be ashamed. (Printing some now...)

From Barks: The bitter end (27 points)

Here's the last odds and sods as I gaze at my distant points target. First, some movement trays from Knights of Dice. These hold either three or five 25mm round bases. The mdf remains are interesting negative spaces, maybe I should save these for swamp terrain?

Next, a wasteland robot. It's the non-seasonal version of the Xmas-o-tron I submitted way way back at the start of AHPC XIII. It's a free stl from Imitation of Life.

Some battlefield stakes, with Middle-earthlings for scale. 3D prints from Asgard Rising. I struggled with warping, even after softening with heat, over-bending and dumping in ice-cold water.

Next, a lone squig.

Penultimately, a sausage dog from Eureka. I have a weird relationship with dachshunds: they're annoyingly yappy but such a humorous shape! The Skirt Swisher & I get points for how many sausages we spot on a given day.* So, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for this little chap. I'd like it to become a pet for a Rogue Trader or Inquisitor, snapping angrily at the heels of eldritch horrors etc. If it's a boy, Fritz. A girl, Heidi.

Finally, I was unable to avoid the Call of the Turnip. I failed to get a proper unit up of Lord Barkington's Brownjackets, the tuber-worshipping tirailleurs. Instead, here are their mascots, the vicious spudlings. Again, 3D prints from IoL.

• Bases: 5"x3"x3" thus 4 points
• Stakes: 10x 4"x1"x1" thus 4 points
• Robot: 1x28mm figures: 5 points
• Sausage/ potatoes/ squig: I'm counting them as 15mm so 7x2 points: 14 points
• Turnip28 Side Duel: 10 points

Thanks, everyone! See you at the wrap-up.

*Current record: 5. It was a pentasausage day.

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Haha! A scattershot wrap-up, Barks! All of these are excellent (though the bases are a bit of a stretch), but I especially like the wasteland robot and the vicious spudlings (checking out that designer after sign-off...).

It's always a pleasure, Barks. Thank you for overseeing the Skull Duel and I hope we can count on your noggin for the next edition of the Challenge. Cheers mate!

- Curt