From JohnS: Nine To Cross The Line (45 points) + 9 Skullz

 

For this year's Challenge I set out to do my whole stated points goal by painting Slaughterloo figures only, and with no Bonus points. These nine Preserovitch's Dismounted Zombie Cavalry push me past my 500 point goal. Huzzah!

These are the first Alternative Armies resin figures I have painted and I must say it was quite challenging. The surfaces are quite chalky and even with a heavy undercoat they didn't like the SpeedPaint type colours too much. And the mold lines are just about impossible to remove. I may stick to the metals in the future.

The colour scheme was heavily inspired by the examples on the Alternative Armies website and even had me mixing my own custom colours of the high flow pigments.

All in all, I was happy to get them done and achieve my self imposed target. I think I will finish off the 15th AHPC by a bit of "bonus round" painting of historicals. I have a motley crew of Normans and Early Crusaders prepped that will let me finish a couple of units for To The Strongest.

There is some truth to the rumour that I will keep painting until the whistle blows in case AlanD drops a closing hours Points Bomb. Must defeat Alan, it will be the first challenge that I have achieved this completely personal side duel!

 9 x 28mm Infantry @ 5pts ea = 45 points

9 Skullz too! (There's a little gold one on the front of each helmet)

From Millsy:

Congrats on reaching your points total John, and in fine style as well!

Despite your trials with the resin and speed paint I think you've done them proud. The subtle difference in the tones of the green for their skin vs. the coats is well done indeed and the helmets are something else altogether!

45 glorious points!

Cheers
Millsy

From JohnS - Fun With Flags or Someone's Got To Tell Them What To Do - (65 Points) + 12 skullz

I have been building my Slaughterloo Undead army for years and started out with Zombie Line Infantry which were just troops. Last year Alternative Armies released Colour Parties for the Zombie Line. I snatched them up!

Colour Parties To The Front!

As I have two units of Zombie Line, one in green coats and one in brown I painted a Colour Party for each.

 

 

The observant may note that these are Neapolitan Colours, with bonus skullz!

 

 

Of course, it makes complete sense that a bunch of mindless zombie troops would be lead by a mindless zombie colour party. Pretty sure I marched behind some in my younger days.

And talking of leading, who could forget our friends from the KGB. Four more of these friendly blights on undead society join us this week.

Three KGB on foot and one riding

Even in the Undead Worker's Paradise, some are more equal than others.

Being a horseholder is an important and valued job.

 The last entry this week is a single Zombiski Kossack. Not QUITE dead, they are the terrifying semi-controlled light cavalry employed by The Star Wraith. Due to their semi-life status they are able to take orders and act independently. I have five already painted so needed a sixth to make the minimum unit size.

So that's all for this week. I'm getting close to my target and hope to pass it next week.

9 x 28mm foot @ 5ea = 45

2 x 28mm mounted @10ea = 20

Total - 65 points

PLUS 12 skullz taking me to 90 skullz so far

From Millsy:

Three blokes taking a flag for a walk! Who doesn't love a colour party? These are great fun and the rehashed French flag with the skull motif is hilarious. Moar skullz! The cossacks are very cool too.

You've really dived in the deep end with the Slaughterloo stuff this Challenge mate and the outcome will be a big increase in painted lead which is brilliant. Of course I'm still waiting on my invite to come play but that's another story...

65 points it is.

Cheers,
Millsy

 

From JohnS: The Poet, The Pavlovas and the KGB (49 points + 15 skullz)

The World of Valon is really an interesting place. "May you live in interesting times" kind of interesting. It's easy to get killed but you needn't worry, there are plenty of necromancers and liches to bring you back. At best, you'll be mostly dead.

Lord Byrorc and Frank, his home-made standard bearer

Frank is cheap to run as long as you have some electrickery at hand

Lord Byrorc WAS Albion's greatest living poet. He is now the Witchlands greatest unliving poet.

 

First up today we have Lord Byrorc, a gad about town in old Londinium, whose poetry had all the ladies swooning until he made the poor choice of joining the Albion Expeditionary Force to the Witchlands. Sent to aid the Dark Czar against the Ferarch invasion, all they really succeeded in doing was provide more material for the re-animators.

Now animated by spite and doggerel, Byrorc is little more than a skeleton in a powdered wig but he still maintains a private passion for the works of young Mury Shrilley. So much so that he built his own standard bearer following the instructions in Shrilley's novel. Young Frank runs on "electrickery" fed to him via the large bolts in his neck.

Pavlova Grenadiers

I must admit, they normally have more strawberries

Or passionfruit

I bet when they left the green shores of Guinalea they didn't expect this

 

Speaking of the Albion Expeditionary Force, part of that was made up of the hulking Bog Orcs of Guinalea, that green and pleasant part of Albion. Unfortunately the AEF was fed into the meat grinder of battles against the Ferach Emperor Mordred. The Dark Czar didn't care, as their corpses provided fresh building blocks for his liche necromancers to raise.

The  Dark Czar was so impressed by the size of the re-animated Bog Orcs that he immediately summoned them to serve as his Star Wraith Imperial Guard as they stood a head taller than their enemies.

The first KGB brute was a werewolf but he's alright noooooooow!

Order must be maintained!

Enemies and spies are everywhere!

 

The Star Wraith Aleksander, also known as the Dark Czar, uses a vast network of liches and savant undead (such as werewolves) to keep control of the seething masses of undead at his command. Known as Kommisariat Graviski Bureov, or KGB, they are everywhere in The Witchlands rooting out traitors and commanding troops through their psychic link to the Star Wraith. They are often seen on the battlefield "encouraging" the performance of the Undead Army.

Points:

5 x 25mm figures @ 5 = 25 points

1 x Mounted 28mm figure @ 10 = 10 points

2 x 40mm Infantry @ 7 points = 14

Total Points Claimed  = 49 points

Skullz for the Skull Duel = 15

Skull total so far is 78

From Millsy:

I never imagined there was anything cooler and a Pavlov's grenadier mitre cap. I stand corrected. Had I been thinking clearly I would have realised almost everything can be improved by the addition of moar skullz.

Cracking stuff all around John, especially the guards and Lord Byrorc who made me properly laugh out loud. Does his poetry stink as bad as his rotting corpse? Let's hope so.

49 pointaroos for you!

Cheers,
Millsy

From JohnS: "When The Dwarf In Front of You Is Killed (Again)..." (140 points)

The Krautian Flesched Legion are the re-animated Krautian Landwehr that were part of Ferach force that invaded the Witchlands. Those battles didn't go so well and left behind piles of prime zombie making material for the Dark Czar to use.

Slaughterloo Undead units are 28 figures strong, mainly to allow the Kommisar to re-slay a couple when needed, to encourage the others to perform as required.

The unit is lead by a vampyre who uses his mesmeric powers to control the undead dwarves.

The unit Kommisar makes sure the zombie Krautians understand the importance of their role in the great effort to repel the invaders from the Witchlands. Stirring speeches and instructions such as "When the dwarf in front of you is killed (again), pick up his musket and attack". Of course, they're zombies so retention of instruction is not their strong suit. 

The Vampyre and Kommisar

Points:

28 x 25mm figures @ 5 = 140 points

Skullz for the Skull Duel (which I will now enter) @ 2 per Legionnaire + 1 for Kommisar = 53

Skull total so far is 63

From Millsy:

My first thought was that I should spell check this post. Then I looked at how many "made up words" it contained and gave up in favour of the delightful chaos of Slaughterloo spelling.

Two cracking additions to your Slaughterloo collection mate. I especially like the Kommisar who's face is enough to inspire loyalty and fear in equal amounts no matter the situation.

140 more points for your tally and a hefty skullz count too.

Cheers,
Millsy

From JohnS: A Speck of Slaughterloo Uhlans (110 points)

Next up in my All Slaughterloo Challenge Cavalcade are these Krautian Uhlan Lancers accompanied by a Krautian Staff Officer.

Uhlan Lancers and Officer

Mounted on savage boars, the Krautian Uhlans are the pride of the Dwarf Cavalry and their Death's Head badge strike fear into the enemies of Blooka's Children (as the inhabitants of the Krautian nation are proud to call themselves.)

An officer knows that hydration is key

The Krautian Staff Officer is mounted on a fine fat farm bred pig as this reflects his more genteel upbringing. In keeping with Dwarven tradition the Officer always has a frosty stein of bier handy to ward off the rigours of dehydration. Officering is thirsty work.

Standard Bearer, Line Officer and Staff Officer.

The Officers inspect the troops.

Armed with lances and dwarf muskets the pitiless Light Cavalry rove the battlefields of Valon at will, displaying their superior boarsmanship and charging home when least expected.

The lances aren't just for warfare. They make a handy tool for spit-roasting any mounts that don't make the grade. After salting and smoking, of course. Delicious when washed down with a stein or two of Krautian Schwarzenbier.

This was another fun paint and a good diversion from preparation for Cancon (Australia's largest games convention) which is next weekend. I was helped along by a couple of great paint and chat sessions too.

11 x 28mm Mounted Figures  @ 10 = 110 points

From Millsy:

"Boarsmanship" is my word of the week now. Everything about this submission made me laugh and think I am really missing out on something through not having played or painted any Slaughterloo over the years.

These fine fellow have real presence and look more like heavy cavalry with their chunky dwarf bodies on chunky boar mounts. I really like you choice of blue and gold which pairs nicely with their beards, something that seems very appropriate for a uhlan for whom sartorial style is a must have. They even have a slightly piratical look about them which is what being a light cavalry man dwarf is all about!

Cracking work mate and a very well earned 110 points.

Cheers,
Millsy

From JohnS - Slaughterloo Undead Todoroni - (125 points)

Hello Challengers! I'm so happy to be back, and painting again. I have missed the last couple of Challenges due to work pressure among other things. You would think that running a games retail business would be all fun...anyhow, since I have a tendency towards workaholicism, the AHPC is a brilliant way for me to switch my brain to a related but relaxing activity.

To that end I present my first entry, the Undead Todoroni from my favourite silly game, Slaughterloo. Longtime challengers will remember my fascination with the Fantasy Napoleonic world of Valon, Alternative Armies' setting for Flintloque skirmish and Slaughterloo mass battles games.

"Slap me with a mouldy flipper, it's the Undead Todoroni!"

Every Napoleonic nation has an analogue in the world of Slaughterloo. From the BritOrcs of Albion, the Ferach Elves of the Emperor Mordred and the Undead armies of the Dark Czar of the frozen Witchlands, plus many more. The Todoroni are from the Nepolise client state of the Ferach Empire. Giant toads, they are great singers, fantastic cooks but not the greatest soldiers.

When the Nepolise troops joined Mordred's Grande Armee du Norde they were decimated by the Dark Czar's army. The Dark Czar is never one to waste a good source of zombies so the Undead Todoroni were umm, born? re-born? Animated!

 

 

 

 

Lead by a Vampire Officer, with discipline provided by the Kommisariat Graviski Bureov (KGB) Liche, they stumble into battle under their tattered flag, trying to keep time to the unearthly squealing of the company accordion player (to be honest his playing only seems to have improved with his death), perhaps with the taste of their last delicious meal in the ghost of their memories.

Todoroni come in two sizes, imaginatively known as Big Todoroni and Little Todoroni and generally serve in different units but the Dark Czar has lumped them all into the 777th Croaked Line.

The rare Undead Big Todoroni

The more numerous Undead Little Todoroni

The most commonly viewed aspect of Undead Todoroni. They're not brave.

This was a fun unit to paint using the DaveChop method (like SlapChop but taught to me by Dave) which gave me a really great effect in a very reasonable amount of time. In fact these figures triple my entire 2024 painted figure output.

24 x 28mm figures @ 5 = 120 points

2  x 28mm prone figures @ 2.5 = 5 points

Total Points Claimed 125

___________________________________________

Welcome back to the Challenge John! It's wonderful to have you return to us from your busy work life so we can see what you've been up to. Slaughterloo is one of those games that has always eluded me but you've done a magnificent job on these Nepolise Undead Todoroni (giant dead frogs, ewww). Your interpretation of the DaveChop has served you well and I love to hear that you've tripled your 2024 output. That's what the Challenge is all about! I look forward to seeing what else you produce for us over these next few months.

- Curt

From JohnSh - Krautian Line Infantry (100 points)

Continuing on towards my goal of painting my entire Slaughterloo Krautian Divison as part of the AHPC, I present my Line Infantry Kartoffelburg.   

                 
Much like their historical world analogue, the Prussians, Krautians units often represent their home states with slightly different uniforms and weaponry from their fellow Krautians. The Kartoffelburgians are armed with the advanced Dwarven Musket II (a breechloader!) and are considered a hard hitting regular infantry unit.

Legume Salesman Johann Lennon

"Give Peas A Chance"

A diverse crew, these Alternative Armies miniatures were fun to paint. I particularly like the former Marketing Manager for the Krautian Legume Growers Association, Herr Johann Lennon. Who doesn't remember his most famous jingle "Give Peas A Chance"?

These twenty dwarves took me several weeks to paint as I had to go back to work (I know, can you believe it?) and keep shipping out toys to all the desperate gamers out there. I managed to sneak away from our preparation for Cancon (Australia's biggest games convention) to post these picks.

I hope you enjoy this further foray into my Slaughterloo madness. See a few of you at Cancon.

________________________________________________________

John, I should dock you 5 points for that pune or play on words, but I will restrain myself and let that one go through to the keeper! 

Your productivity is commendable, and I heartily approve of these Dwarves. An excellent take on Napoleonics!

That's 100 well-earned points for you, keep 'em coming!

Ev