Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV

 After missing out over the last few years, I entered the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV this year, an annual painting event run by Curt Campbell in Canada that starts on December 20th and ends on March 20th. There are many things to like about this event - it is not a competition, it is very welcoming of painters of all standards, the community is highly supportive and it is a great source of inspiration and motivation to get stuff painted to meet the points target you set yourself. 

Over the last few years Curt has also put together a special theme for the theme and you score bonus points if your entry fits with the theme. This year the theme is Dante's Divine Comedy, so you have The Abyss, where you can try and paint something to capture the theme of sins like Lust, Wrath or Heresy, and paradise where the challenge is to match the theme of the 'Spheres' like The Wise or The Warriors of Faith. 

As well as the theme, there are various Side Duels, where you can go up in friendly competition to see who can, for example, get the most points of painted Napoleonics or the most 'Skullz' in their entries! The Duels are entirely optional, like the Theme, so there is no pressure to get involved in them if you don't want to. For the first time, I have entered a Side Duel - to see who can paint the most (by points) stuff for the Horus Heresy setting.

So far I have had two entries (I have painted more stuff, but am holding them back for some of the Divine Comedy themes - you have to progress through these in a linear manner, and once you leave the Abyss you cannot return - probably a good thing!)

To kick things off, I did 7 Shoretroopers by Fantasy Flight Games (at least they were when I bought them, I think Atomic Mass Games produces the game now). These are part of the Star Wars Legion line but I am not a huge fan of the rules, so I am going to use them in games of 5 parsecs from Home, which I came across very recently.

The full squad. in front of a John Hodgson backdrop. The terrain and baseboard are from GW's Kill Team

The Squad Leader has blue markings and each member of the squad also has a red marking on their right arm

Squad Leader showing his blue rank markings

Specialist with a heavier weapon and a trooper with standard blaster

All the backdrops used in these pictures are from John Hodgson's new Backdrops Book - Sci-Fi Ruins and Interiors. The pics above all use one of the ruins backdrops; the next two use one of the interior backdrops form the book.

I also entered these into the first Circle of the Abyss - Limbo - as they are figures that have sat around unpainted for quite a while!

My second entry consisted of two very different genres and scales. First up was a 28mm figure of Medraut (Mordred). His lust for power led to the battle of Camlann and the ruination of Arthur's Britain, so he seemed like a perfect entry for the Second Circle of the Abyss - Lust! The figure is a Victrix plastic Early Saxon Armoured Warrior. Victrix do a Late Roman set which also works for Romano-British, but I liked the pose and wanted to use the 'Sutton Hoo' style that comes with the Saxon set! I also gave him a round rather than an oval shield to further mark him as making a break with the Romano-British tradition of Arthur. The shield is decorated with a Little Big Man Studios transfer (now owned by Victrix).

The second part of the entry is 20x 15mm Imperial Fists Breachers for the Horus Heresy. They are based individually but then mounted on a magnetic movement base like the Death Guard I posted previously. I have gone for a quick scheme using GW Contrast paints - white primer, Aggaros Dunes for shading and then Imperial Fists Yellow over the top. Not going to win any awards, but looks good enough on the tabletop en masse, which is the look I am going for. I did paint a muzzle burn effect on the meltaguns which I think you can see in the final pic.

Sergeants have been given red power fists to help them stand out

You can just see the muzzle burn effect on the meltagun trooper in the centre of the pic

These 20 Marines also got me up and running in the Horus Heresy Side Duel.

The next two pics are of the Primarch of the Space Wolves - Leman of the Russ, The Wolf King of Fenris, The Lord of Winter and Ruin! He is a 3d print from an stl file sourced online, scaled up to make him suitably imposing and epic! First shot shows him next to some Grey Slayers to give an idea of scale, and the second shot is Russ alone. These were done prior to the Challenge, so don't count for it, but I hadn't posted them before so thought I should pop them up.

Bloody Miniatures

 

I first heard of Bloody Miniatures on The Lardy Oddcast, when Richard Clark waxed lyrical about them and how they had inspired him to write a set of rules for ECW skirmishes. The English or British Civil Wars, or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, have never really caught my attention for wargaming but I was intrigued by how Rich raved about the quality of these figures, so I popped over to their website. After all, there's no harm in looking is there?

Well, I was floored by what I saw. Even allowing for the fact that Richard (the owner of Bloody Miniatures) is an amazing painter, the figures are stunning. The sculpts are full of individual character, as befits a range intended for recreating the myriad of small skirmishes, sieges and raids that characterised the bulk of the fighting. The figures are large 28mm, having been designed to match the figures released by Bicorne and the now-defunct Renegade Miniatures. There are some useful shots comparing Bloody Miniatures with other manufacturers, and they are appreciably bulkier than some e.g. Warlord and Perry. This doesn't bother me too much, as I don't intend to get many (famous last words!), so Bloody Miniatures and Bicorne Miniatures should provide everything I need for some small-scale ECW skirmish gaming.

Richard also produces an excellent painting guide which I found very helpful, even if I am nowhere near as good a painter as he is. 

I have bought several packs - Richard does several deals where you get a discount if you buy several packs, so that's what I did! I actually finished the first of these a month or so ago but hadn't got around to posting them.

First up we have an intrepid lady, ready to defend her manor against rapacious Roundheads, or cowardly Cavaliers! She is escorted by her bodyguard of dismounted Cuirassiers, their hefty armour provides good protection but they won't be going anywhere in a hurry. The female figure is from 'The Gallant Ladies' pack and the bodyguard unsurprisingly is from 'The Unhorsed Cuirassiers'.

 

Next up we have a detachment of dismounted troopers, armed and armoured with back and breast-plates, pistols and carbines. Richard is a big fan of carrying out small conversions and to this end he produces two sets of heads and weapons to use with his figures. He argues that with a simple hand or head swap you can effectively produce a new figure, and he has numerous examples on his FB page. I have to agree - the figure raising his sword 3rd from right in the picture is actually from 'The Pistoleers' pack and has had his original floppy hat replaced with a lobster-tailed helmet. The figure on the right is also from 'The Pistoleers' pack and the others are all from 'The Dismounted Troopers'.

The light wasn't great when I took these pictures, so I think they are a bit washed-out - I tried adjusting the colour saturation on this photo but perhaps it has gone too far teh other way! Heigh-ho.

The last group is probably my favourite so far and represents an aggressive forlorn hope. Jacket colours in the ECW are a contentious issue, and at the end of the day the evidence one way or the other is often inconclusive or non-existent. Having said that, one of the attractions of the period is the colour - and having looked at the beautiful pictures in the gallery on the Bloody Miniature's website, I was set upon some snazzy jackets, so I have made my choice happy in the knowledge that it looks good to me (even if it might be wrong)! These men are meant to be from Waller's Regiment of Foote and are wearing their yellow jackets with pride!

I have several more packs to go, including muskets and pikes and some devout Scots Covenanters, which I hope to get done over the course of the annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge which I have signed up to for the first time in a few years.

Finally, if you are looking for some suitable ECW reading material, I can thoroughly recommend The Siege of Loyalty House by Jessie Childs, which is full of ideas for scenarios, as well as being an absolutely cracking read.

20mm Moderns

 I was on the Modern Miniature Warfare FB the other day and got chatting about 20mm moderns. The OP was asking about how it looked versus 28mm, so I offered to take some pics of a few of my models. Taking advantage of today's sunshine (a bit too bright but given the pretty grim 'summer' weather thus far, I'm not complaining!), I had a quick photoshoot and here they are. Backdrops are from John Hodgson's Sci-Fi backdrops book.

First up I set up a Chechnya scene, with Russian troops advancing through the ruins of Grozny. All figures are from Liberation Miniatures, which sadly seems to have ceased trading. This is a real shame. Not only was Rolf's modern range enormous and very competitively priced, he was a really nice guy to do business with. The figures are meant to represent an MVD (Interior Ministry) unit - pictures from the time show soldiers in a real mish-mash of uniforms, so the figures are painted up in various different approximations of the camo suits worn at the time. The BTR80s are also Liberation Miniatures, cast in resin with metal turrets. Two are armed with the standard 14.5mm MG turret and one is a BTR80A with a 30mm cannon.

Street-level view of the head of the column

Overhead view of the Command element

Lead APC and section with Command element to the left

Rear section and APC coming up behind the Command element

The whole unit - probably wondering where the Chechen 'wolf-packs' are!

Drone feed of the advancing column!

Next up is a die-cast T80 with ERA. Can't remember who made this - I know I got it online and that it only cost about £5! Not as detailed as a plastic kit, but at that price and from a couple of feet on the table, it more than does the job. The infantry are again Liberation Miniatures, this time two Motor Rifle infantry. The tank commander is also from Liberation Miniatures.

As it was a sunny day I also thought I should take a couple of snaps of my Afghan British. The vehicle in the rear is a Mastiff MRAP - a real beast of a machine! It is a resin model originally produced by Britannia and now available from Grubby Tanks. The Warrior MICV is a plastic Revell kit with a Liberation Miniatures commander. Whilst a lovely kit the barrel of the Rarden cannon is very thin and broke off some time ago. It has been replaced by a metal cannon that comes with Grubby Tanks' Warrior kit - Andy very kindly sold me just a the barrel to replace the broken one. It is noticeably thicker, but significantly more robust.

The figures 2nd and 4th from left in the first picture are both Britannia Miniatures British infantry, again now sold by Grubby Tanks. They are most suitable for the early years of Operation Enduring Freedom and they work very well with Liberation Miniatures in terms of size and style. In this picture they are next to two SOF figures from Elheim Miniatures. They work well enough together; I would say the Elheim figures are a bit slimmer and more detailed, crisper casts, but the Britannia Miniatures do have a certain old-school charm!

You can really see the size of the Mastiff in this picture

Finally, I set up a VIP security detail - figures are all Elheim once again and the cars are re-painted toy cars from Poundland - one of the joys of gaming in 20mm! 

Dark Ages pics

 Well, as mentioned in a previous post, real life makes for an erratic posting schedule! However, as I am now on a bit of a break, I can start catching up and posting on here.

These are all various Dark Ages figures in 28mm that were actually completed a while ago but never posted, so here they are. Backdrops as ever from John Hodgson.

Firstly, we have some Roman-British by Footsore Miniatures - lovely figures that really capture that sub-Roman society on the wane feeling! I have been a fan of the Arthurian 'period' ever since I read Bernard Cromwell's Warlord Chronicles, but for me these figures are more reminiscent of the figures in Patrick McCormack's novels. These books are a fantastic read (sadly the third in the series was never published but is available as a free download), set in a Britain several decades after the calamitous battle of Camlann, with clashes between Picts, Britons and Irish Raiders. It combines these with flashbacks to the time of Arthur, a golden age full of promise that ultimately went unfulfilled. Well worth the asking price! For gaming this period I use the Dux Britanniarum rules from Too Fat Lardies.

    

My favourite figure in the range and arguably, one of my favourite figures in any period, full stop! He represents Bedwyr, the last of Arthur's Companions. In McCormack's novels he is a fearsome fighter, and for me this figure projects a real sense of menace and barely restrained violence! In Dux Britanniarum he will be a Champion.

Six Romano-British Warriors. In Dux Britanniarum, they will be Elite Comanipulares, but in bigger games they will probably become leaders of other groups of Warriors.

And here they are joined by Bedwyr

Finally a picture of the leaders of the Warband. From L to R we have Cei 'The Long Man', the Lady Gwenhwyvar, Bedwyr, and Derfel Cadarn 'The Mighty'

Next up are Vikings from Gripping Beast. These are some of the oldest miniatures in my collection, having been bought decades ago when Gripping Beast had a shop in Richmond (I think?) and WHAB Shield Wall was first released. As such, they needed a bit of a spruce up, so I have re-based them and in several cases re-done the paint job. Not my finest work but they look alright on the tabletop from a couple of feet!

These Vikings are represent Jomsvikings, warrior-monks cum mercenaries who were probably an apocryphal creation of the Sagas! Still they look cool, and who doesn't like a bunch of tooled up mercs masquerading as monks.

As an indication of how old these are, they are all on square bases for Warhammer Ancient Battles. They have been put on a Warbases sabot skirmish base 

More Jomsvikings

Both groups of Jomsvikings facing off against 'ordinary' Vikings

Same two groups in front of a different backdrop. Obviously they have just come ashore for some kind of religious retreat!

A close up of the Command group

I also have some 'ordinary' Vikings, also by Gripping Beast and bought at the same time as the Jomsviking figures.

A repeat of the pic above, this time with the focus on the group of Vikings in the foreground. Banners and shields are all transfers from LBMS

The same group as above from the front

A second group, this time with some Dane-axe wielding Vikings and a Raven banner, in front of two different John Hodgson backdrops

Arnor, Angmar and Medbury Miniatures!

I am building up some forces for a campaign set in early Third Age Arnor in The Lord of the Rings. At this time, Arnor as a realm still exists (although it is failing), but is beset by the Evil forces of Angmar. In my head this is reminiscent of post-Roman Britain, with the forces of Arnor a pale shadow of the former might of the kingdom, fighting valiantly but ultimately in vain to halt the encroaching darkness of Angmar.

I have lots of Orcs for the foot soldiers of Angmar, but was looking for something to represent the more unusual, spectral elements of the Witch King's army. GW does produce 'Spectres' - undead soldiers reanimated in the service of the Lord of the Nazgul. However, there are only three available poses, and at £11 for three figures, not particularly great value. However, my favourite 3d sculptor - Medbury Miniatures - came to the rescue with a very timely release: Ghostly Gauls. 

MM has so far released a good variety of figures armed with axes, spears, pikes and swords. There are also archers, cavalry and a command set with a kingly leader, horn blower and a couple of standard bearers; plenty for skirmishing in Arnor!

One nice feature is spears come as a separate piece with a hand 'cast' on, making assembly less fiddly. It is also very easy to snip off the spear, drill out the hand and put in a more robust wire spear if preferred. The shot below shows the lovely detail on the miniatures.

These will form the undead warband of a long-dead king. I imagine them having been buried in their armour, alongside their favoured weapons. As such I went for a subdued colour palette, that hinted at their ethereal status but that was less 'ghostly' than the Army of the Dead in the LOTR movies. Armour was dulled with age (a heavy wash of Agraax Earthshade over all metal betails like chainmail, helmets, torcs and shield bosses). Flesh was GW Contrast Aethermantic Blue over a white basecoat, and hair was a GW Contrast Apothecary White wash over the white basecoat. This contrasted nicely with the duller armour and clothes and helped the figures pop a little.

Here are the first three, all armed with axes and shields. Much of the fine detail is obscured by the shields but you can how good that detail is on the figure on the left. As always, the background is from John Hodgson's backdrop book.

This shot shows the cloaks, basically just various GW Contrast paints over a white basecoat.

Medbury have also released some 'Rangers', similar in style to GW's Rangers of Middle Earth. So far there are 2 sets of archers and 1 set armed with spears, as well as a set of 4 Ranger Characters; it is this latter set that I have printed out and painted.

I absolutely love these figures! They ooze character, and although they are relatively 'simple' sculpts, they are perfect for leaders in a warband. I have painted these in earthy, wilderness tones - lots of greens and browns basically. GW Contrast Snakebite Leather, Wyldwood and Gore Grunta Fur over an Army Painter Skeleton Bone basecoat are perfect for worn leather belts, clothing, boots and quivers. However for the cloaks I wasn't happy with how the Contrast paint looked and so reverted to normal acrylic paints, in this case AK Medium Green, highlighted up with AK Medium Green mixed with increasing amounts of AK Green Grey. Once again, al the figures are pictured in front of John Hodgson backdrops.

First up we have a hornblower, summoning his Rangers for the charge! I painted the fletching on his arrows red as apparently this is a common practice to help archers see where their arrows hit and so adjust their aim. His cloak highlights are a bit stark compared to the others - I might go back and tone these down, but I doubt it!

Next is a commander signalling to his Rangers, either to hold fast or move up (stealthily of course!). On all of these figures I tried to push my technique for painting faces - normally I just paint the skin and wash it with Reikland Fleshshade from GW. With these I followed the tips for painting faces by Richard Lloyd in his guide on the Bloody Miniatures website. Although meant for painting English Civil War miniatures, there is plenty of good advice for painting 28mm figures. Anyway, I am quite pleased with how this figure turned out and his face certainly stands out! I envisaged him as an older veteran of the wars against Angmar, so painted his hair whitish-gray, which helps him stand out nicely.

This next character I see as the overall leader, and so I painted him slightly differently to help him stand out on the battlefield. I basically swapped around some of the colours - green for his tunic, a darker brown for his cloak (GW Contrast Wyldwood) and Snakebite Leather for his boots - so that he would look different but still coherent with the rest of the characters. I really like this pose - a guardian watching in the wilds of Arnor.

Finally, we have my favourite character in the set - very reminiscent of a certain fantasy movie character! Now although a figure smoking a pipe is going to look pretty incongruous in most (all!) combat situations, the sculpt is just so characterful. It really captures the look of a wizened, weather-beaten Ranger, his worn tunic patched, taking a moment's respite yet still maintaining a watchful presence. I particularly like how the backdrop in this photo adds to the atmosphere, as a shaft of light breaks through the clouds over the moors and hills of Arnor.

And here are a couple of group shots. You can see here that although the leader's clothing is painted differently to the others, keeping to the same colour palette keeps the group looking unified.

All of the Rangers are based using the Gamer's Grass Highland tufts set - perfect for the wilds of Arnor.