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 MattW: WW2 vehicles and Flak (171 points)

I have been on a mission this week to complete a number of 20mm WW2 vehicles and guns to clear the decks a little and complete something for the build. 

First up a Flak 88 for my 16 Luftwaffe Field Division project 

Next six supply Jeeps for my 90th Infantry Projects. The jeeps are resin from Raventhorpe with Drivers are AB and Alder Miniatures. 

Finally a Armoured caterpillar D7 Bull Dozer for my Engineers from Raventhorpe 

20mm gun @ 8 points

1 x flak gun = 8 points

20mm vehicle @ 15 points  

15 points 6 x US jeeps = 90 points 

15 points 1 x Bulldozer = 15 points 

20mm miniatures @ 4 points    

5 x Flak 88mm crew        = 20 points 

9 Jeep drivers and crew = 36 points 

half dozer driver @ 2 points  driver                                                      = 2 points 

 Total points.               = 171 points

Cheers

Matt

TeemuL: Nice to see the "default gun" of WW2 German wargamers, Flak 88. Just add a couple King Tigers and Jagd Panthers and you have a nice army to wonder how Germans lost the war. But no, you seem to have taken the historical road here and added jeeps and a bulldozer, excellent! You don't see that many bulldozers on wargaming tables, good to see at least one in this Challenge. I have a faint recollection of seeing some others, too, but I can't be sure. And 20mm, the bulldozer definitely looks larger, so you have done great brushwork on it!

From StuartL - Currahee! - Overdue & Returns + Sarah's Library Cart (100 Points)

Hello all,

    My first of two posts today is covering the Overdue and Returns section. During last year's challenge I decided to finish off my US Airborne for Bolt Action that I had initially started during 2020's quarantine challenge. About this time last year, I posted up the final set of minis for my army, or so I thought. When it came time to post, I realised that I had missed a few figures and support weapons. D'oh!

    So here, finally, I have the end of my Bolt Action army.

   

    These have all been painted using the same paints (Vallejo) as my previous entries and represent the last few models from my army case. All of the figures are from Warlord Games' range of minis. Some of the barrels on the guns are very fragile and bend or snap easily. The kneeling figure with the carbine on the left side of the picture has had to have his weapon repaired with a barrel trimmed from a plastic kit after the metal piece snapped off.

    To support my force I have an MMG Team, a Light Mortar Team and an Observer (taken from the mortar team). The MMG gunner in the rear has also had a barrel replaced due to the very soft metal used for the minis.

    These figures will go on to join the models already done and should be the end of the army. Of course, no army is ever really finished, so at some point I might add in some armoured support to represent the US forces that pushed inland from the D-Day beaches to link up with the airborne troops.

    With those figures out of the way and the first section of the challenge library completed, it is time to move on. Another short hop on the library cart should see me into the next section where there is a statue to paint.

    This rather stern looking woman is from Reaper Bones' range of NPC's. I foresee her giving an adventuring party a hard time for the lack of proper morals and poor manners.

For scoring:

11x28mm minis (2 prone) = 55 points

Overdues and Returns = 20 points

Sarah's Library Cart = 20 points

TOTAL = 95 Points

From Millsy: Good to see I am not the only one painting Bolt Action stuff this year Stuart. Seeing your wonderful European theatre stuff is a pleasant change from all my sand and sun I have to say! I've been replacing barrels too for the same reason and although it is extra effort up front it pays dividends down the track.

Lovely work on these, both the uniforms and the basing. I'm sure they will provide Jerry a real challenge hiding amongst the hedgerows and springing the odd surprise especially with a nun in tow to rap a few knuckles with a ruler!

100 points for your total including an extra 5 for the barrel swaps. 

From Tom C: US Airborne [High Adventure] (44 points)

Hello again, and a belated happy new year, if I painted faster then it would be more socially acceptable! Many of you have been a lot quicker with your output and it's great to see, thanks everyone.

What should be a simple entry in theory today, when I thought of what fit the bill for daring and risk-taking, who better than the American Airborne? Although, there is a fantastic quotation about a potential recruit listening to the recruiting officer talk of jumping out of aircraft with understandable scepticism until he heard there was hazard pay, so adventure might perhaps be put to one side... either way, no further introduction needed from me for these, I'm sure lots of us have seen Band of Brothers!

So, here we have about half the minimum size of a unit of US paratroopers which can be fielded in Flames of War, all 15mm Battlefront plastics from the Hit the Beach starter. I paired them with the plastic urban bases which Battlefront also do, thinking of Normandy towns and villages and when I have the full platoon together I'll integrate them properly. I've not painted any of the Flames of War teams before and I'm sure I'm not the first to scratch my head over the best way to do this but I thought I'd rather paint them separately, blu-tac-ing them onto Vallejo bottles. Now I'm here though I think I need to go back for extra groundwork, perhaps something I should have foreseen!

I also need to go back and do the base rims... I only did the individual paras!

The sculpts themselves have highs and lows, I think the actual machinery of producing them has, amongst other things, left the machine gunners looking like Quasimodo in French Foreign Legion service (a film I would watch). When it all works though, there are some great face expressions and details in there. I am quizzical however as to why only one of the mortar team is covering his ears, the other two are waiting quite patiently and so might find themselves joined by another metal sculpt I have to hand instead.

Quasimodo ringing a different tune now.

For the actual painting, I opted for the Normandy uniform as I felt it offered a little more flexibility. Battlefront's own Colours of War guide reckoned Olive Drab for this, surely a typo as they also reckoned this for the helmets. I used a mix of Green Grey and Khaki as recommended by a different Battlefront guide which seemed more appropriate, with Green Grey for the webbing. With hindsight, the Market Garden M1943 uniform would probably make for a better paint scheme, offering a bit more contrast with the accoutrements. It took a reasonable amount of time with the Nuln Oil lining the boundaries to try and improve the definition, hindsight would probably also have me doing this right after the zenithal prime: I liked the brighter colours and ease of coverage but the shading was a lot and I honestly feel like more work would be worth the investment but tempus fugit! 

The mortar team had their brickwork rendered,
the bazooka boys have to make do with my freehand.

In terms of scoring, we're in 15mm, with 11 upright/kneeling infantry (22 points) and 2 prone legionnaires (2 points) and the shoehorn hopefully strikes to lever high-altitude parajumping into enemy territory into High Adventure for another 20 points. 

The sights are now set on Historical Drama...

...but when will the snail get there?

Minion Phil: Hey Tom, nice tidy work on these US paras for some high adventure! These Battlefront plastics came out great, our method seems very sound and has given a nice tidy result, even if it was a bit of a faff. I don't think I saw any quasimodo-like figures in there. 

I suppose an issue with those urban bases is how to hid the small base the model is mounted on, I wonder if a little dark wash would tone down that lighter grey to match the finish on the multi base? 

44 points for your tally!

From StuartL - Airborne Assault - Caprica - 125 Points

Hello again.

During the 2020 Quarantine Challenge, I painted up some US Airborne for the Normandy campaign. As I have had half an army sitting unpainted since then I decided that I was going to get the rest of them completed during this challenge. 

The models are all from Warlord Games' Bolt Action range and are the older, metal minis rather than then newer plastic models. They are lovely figures, though they are kind of busy due to all of the details packed into them. Airborne troops took everything with them that they might need and it really shows on these figures with ammo pouches, first aid kits and holstered pistols. There are 21 models in total but two are prone. (The mortar team).

After finishing off this lot, I had intended to take a picture of the finished army, but as I started laying out the models I thought, "Hang on, I have a light mortar team for these guys don't I?" A quick check of the box later and I found that when I was pulling minis to prepare for the challenge, I missed the bottom tray of the carrying case. I have another ten minis to do before the army is done. D'oh! Anyway, I'll try and get them primed and ready before the end of the challenge.

As for the Challenge Sector, today's target is Caprica, which has the theme of Doomed, and once again I have painted up a mini for This Is Not A Test (TNT). My regular warband for TNT is a group of Peacekeepers, essentially a para-military force that is trying to bring peace and tranquillity to the post-apocalyptic wasteland by shooting anyone that gets in their way. As the judge, jury and executioners, the peacekeepers have a couple of unique units, one of which is the Sacrificial Lamb. The Lamb is a settler or trader who committed some minor crime and was 'arrested' by the Peacekeepers. Rather than just execute them directly, the convict was given the chance to commute their sentence. Equipped with a melee weapon, they accompany the Peacekeepers into the wasteland as extra muscle. 

Out in that vast wilderness it is tempting for the convict to try to make a break for it, or to duck out of combat rather than go toe-to-claw with some mutated beastie. To ensure that the convict does what they are told, a large explosive device is strapped to their backs and wired to a radio detonator. After a game, if the Sacrificial Lamb was detonated, a Peacekeeper warband gets another one for free. I have yet to end a game with my Lamb still on the table. 💥

The model is from Warlord Games' Project Z (perhaps ironically) Male Survivors boxed set. I added some plasticard straps for the harness and a radio antenna from a GW sprue and gave him a quick and dirty paint job. This model will barely be on the table long enough to be seen anyway. 

Given the rather short term job prospects of being a Sacrificial Lamb, I think this chap counts as being quite Doomed and therefore should score me some bonus points.

So, for my tally:

20x 28mm models = 100 Points.

2x prone 28mm models = 5 Points.

Caprica Bonus = 20 Points.

It's great to have you back this year Stuart.  Nice work on the paratroopers, I don't have the patience for a lot of the late WW2 figures with all their gear and subtle shading.  I also like the sacrificial offering, a worthy submissions  for Caprica.  Next time round, can I suggest that you post your "regular" stuff in a separate post from any challenge locations so that the specials stand out a bit?

JamieM - US Airborne (110 points)

Continuing my historical travels, I present some US airborne troopers.  These are from the Bolt Action starter set and I bought them because of this book:

My son absolutely loves these books. They’re history books for kids with a lot of the gruesome bits left in and presented in a way that kids can understand and enjoy. Whilst I was painting a couple of weeks ago, he came in and said that he wanted to play a Second World War wargame. This gave me the excuse I needed to buy something new...... the bolt action rules looked decent and the starter set looked like great value, so I purchased it.

I was very impressed with the plastics and the ease with which they went together. In fact, I subcontracted the building of them to my kids which shows you how easy they were!

Some research on colours informed me that the uniforms were light brown, until they decided to be greenish instead. Looking at the variety of colours in pictures, I decided to go for a greenish hue. The backpacks and the like all done in a khaki and helmets using US Dark Green.

I thought I’d try washes to bring out the different colours, so they were basecoated with Zandri dust and then washed and highlighted with different colours to separate them. Sped the painting up and I’m pleased with how they came out.

I went for a variety of weapons as recommended by the bolt action quick start rules. I shouldn’t think we’ll be too concerned when we play about switching weapons as needs be.

Whilst double checking the points, I realised that I had two less than I thought..... a quick check of the floor revealed that two of them had taken a combat drop off the table before the picture was taken, so here are all 24 in one picture!

Half points for four of them as they’re lying down, so 110 points all told.

From StuartL: Challenge Island Safari Journal - 19th March (55 Points)

Look out below C.I.S.T.ers, we're coming in to land at Fran's Fjord.

Nothing like gallivanting through the clouds to remind you of how much you hate heights eh? Now that we're back on the ground, let's have a short stroll around the wondrous area that is Fran's Fjord.

It is said that in this part of the island, strange portals appear that show glimpses of strange lands and alternative realities. Imagine a world where you were king or queen, or one in which boy bands were prohibited by law. All things are possible when you gaze through one of these portals. However, I should warn you that we have had a little difficulty getting the focus right on the portals themselves. For some strange reason everything you see is... smaller. Whether it is a side effect of the cross-dimensional flux or just a bizarre coincidence, everything on the other side looks to be roughly half the size it should be. Weird or what?

Ah, here we go. This portal seems to be opening and showing us a view of a different world.

According to my Challenge Island Safari Tour issued Inter-dimensional Analyzer, what you are seeing here is a combat unit from the 82nd Royal Colonial (America) Airborne. It would appear that in their reality the British won the American War of Independence and the colonies remained a part of the Empire.

These brave paratroopers are training for deployment against the Tsarist armies currently deployed in the region we would think of as Alaska.

This Cornwallis Mk. III mecha may lack the punch of the opposing Rasputin Assault Bots fielded by the Tsar's army, but it's jump capability allows it to land behind enemy lines alongside the infantry and provide much needed support with it's Edison Electro-rifle.

Ah, it seems like the portal is closing and we mustn't tarry around here. Next stop, Bromley's Butte.

----------

I must admit to not having much idea what to do for this location on the map. I managed to dredge up some FoW American Airborne armed with captured German weapons and a Reaper robot mini that would work as a suitably high-tech option to accompany them. Since I needed to make them look more imagi-nation-ish, I painted them in the colours of British troops during the Zulu war.

So that should give me 20 points for 10x 15mm figures, plus another 5 for the robot (since it's really just a repurposed 28mm mini), and 30 for Fran's Fjord. If my math is correct, that's 55 points for my tally.


Another entertaining entry in Stuart's Safari Journal! I must confess to having test-painted a few of GZG's 15mm New Anglian Confederation infantry in a similar scheme a few years ago. Hurrah for your alternative reality Brits!

TamsinP