AHPC14 - Famous Person Statue - El Cid 25mm

 

For this post I'm dipping my toes into Section 2 of the Challenge Library and landing on........

Famous Person: The plaque says it all.

I searched through my unloved leadpile to see what I could use for a statue and found a few suitable figures, but needed some kind of plinth. Then at Cavalier last Sunday I saw some for sale from Iron Gate Studios, a swift purchase was made! 

Irongate also sell a range of  very nice looking figures El Cid and the Reconquista. So another purchase was made, and the unloved figures from my pile of shame were put back in the box! 

If you're gonna paint of figures for the Reconquista, why not go straight to the man of the hour Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, himself!! Of course otherwise known as El Cid.

Iron Gate's version of El Cid

Not really sure on the points for this one?

Its definitely 20 Bonus points and 10 for 1 x 25mm mounted figure

then its whatever Teemu wants to give me for the plinth?

RP No126 Gripping Beast-Andalusian Horse & The Challenge

Well the Analogue Painting Challenge is now over for another year. I wasn't a winner this year but I'm very pleased with my 4th place. I made my quota of points which was 2500, but as the reigning champ Curt put me up to 3000, so technically I suppose I didn't. I'd have needed a couple more weeks to get to the 3000 mark.
I did originally reach the lofty heights of 3rd place, knocking KevH down to 4th, but I noticed a clerical error made by our sleepy Canadian host. Curt inadvertently gave me an extra 148 points!!! So back down to 4th I go. I'm just pleased I made the top 5, which was both my and Fran's plan.
I've already said it on Curt's blog, but I'd just like to thank him again, its been a hard 3 month slog, but I've got a hell of a lot of figures painted up, some of them probably would still be in my lead draw for quite some time if it wasn't for the Challenge. Its such a great motivator. I do hope I'm able to devote so much time in the next Challenge, but that depends on my job, if I even have one at Christmas that is!!!!
Well done Curt and well done to all the other Ronin, apart from Fran!

This was my entry into the Analogue Painting Challenge on the 14th March, these 12 Gripping Beast Andalusian Horse gave me 122 points to my total. They've been at the bottom of my unloved lead drawer for far too long, I do infact have another almost identical unit all cleaned up and ready to go, perhaps I should save them for the next challenge though????
I gave these figures just a basic paintjob, mainly to match in with my older El Cid figures that were painted years ago. I found the banner online, on the Grimsby Wargames Society website, there are some great free flags, go take a look.
I'll be posting more of what made it into the challenge over the coming weeks, as well as the rest of the Rejects profiles on both my and Fran's blog.

RP No 123 Crusader - El Cid, Spanish archers

 Since I'm getting a massive drubbing at the hands of the 25mm Monster Machine painters over at Curt's Analogue Painting Challenge, I thought I better drop the 15mm for a while and get a little 25mm figures painted myself, just to try and catch up a little. I opened my unloved lead draw and out popped, these 16 Spanish archers by Crusader. Now these have been in the unloved forgotten about lead draw for most probably 10 years, (sad I know). But this is one of the great thing about the challenge, for me anyway. Not only does my painting rate go up but I also get some old stuff finally finished. These will be staying in my collection of El Cid figures and one day we may even get a game with them??? If I remember rightly we've only played one game, that was a looooong time ago using WAB rules. Not sure what I'd use now though?? Any suggestions?
These earned me 80 points in the Challenge,  I did go up to 5th after posting these but I'm currently in 7th, but at least I've finally broken the 1000 point barrier.........at last!!!

25mm Nubian Spearmen, Spanish Reconquista

Today's post is once again one of my long hidden gems, dusted and photographed just to appear here for your viewing pleasure!! he he!
This unit of Nubian Spearmen was painted many moons ago and like the Black Guard in my previous post, have only made one miserable appearance on a wargaming table, which is such a shame, because in my opinion they look quite good, but I'm biased of course, as I painted most of them. Around ten of these figures were part of my bring and buy bargin at a Birmingham wargame show around 12 years ago. The figures are all from the excellent Gripping beast range. They are based on a picture in the Osprey book,  "The Armies of Islam 7th-10th century Men-at-arms No125. These and others make up my Moor army to oppose the infamous Charltono Hestona  El Cid.
Hope you like them!!!

Ray

Ben Yusef's Black Guard

Now these, (I'm sure the other Rejects will confirm),  haven't been out of their box for some time, infact I've only ever had one game with them and that was many moons ago.  As the title suggests these fine looking fellows belong to Yusef Ibn Tashfin , better known to us today as Ben Yusef.
Ben Yusef was the second ruler of the Murabitun Empire, better known as The Almoravids in Spain, who were the first Saharan Islamic religious movement to establish a large state, which expanded northwards to include half of the Iberian peninsula. The first Muribat ruler Abdalluh Ibn Yasin re-introduced the old military system of tribal drum groups and many other peoples joined the empire, including large numbers of black Africans recruited as slaves, ex prisoners and many Andalusians.
Ben Yusef  created a Hasham Guard of some 2,000 African Infantry also known as The Black Guard, on his way to conquer Andulas, with the eventual defeat of  El Cid at Valencia in 1099.

The figures are by Gripping Beast, I bought some of these figures painted, along with some other El Cid and the Reconquista  figures that I'll post at a later date at a wargame show in Birmingham around 12 years ago, (I think!!), so I had to paint the rest to match in and have got to be the easiest figures I've ever painted, spay black and drybrush grey, with a little colour here and there.        
So there we have it Ben Yusef's Black Guard.

Ray