From ClintB (Paint Monkey) - GW Genestealers / Aliens (65 Points)

Today I have 12  Games workshop "Genestealers" and a "Broodlord" (He's the bigger one but you probably already guessed that.) Many of us, if not most of us, have painted some of these in the past and contemplated the idea of using them in an "Aliens" Game set on "LV426" at the colony of "Hadley's Hope". I am no different. While these are not exact copies of the Giger "Alien" they are easy enough to find and will serve the purpose well enough for a game. I am sure every player at the club will have seen the film so no surprises there!

As such I have gone for the typical black/green colouration but with tongues and claws in  lighter accent colours. The green was achieved by using my darkest commercial green as a base coat and also a final highlight and two layers of black writing ink of the type I used when I was a boy with desks had inkwells. Yeah I am that old. Say what you want about the ark, but it did float!

The slotta bases were all covered in plasti-card with the same decking texture and then painted in a couple of metallics and a mix of Flesh wash and orange ink, was run into the pattern to look like rust. A final coat of silver was applied haphazardly to look like scuff marks. But you can't see all that clearly on the Photographs which I quite like as you can see it in direct sunlight. I don't recall Hadley's Hope being all that rusty but call it artistic licence.

The Broadlord will take the role of the alien queen as it stands significantly taller than your average Joe Alien (Genestealer). And along with the rest was a chuckle to paint as I know my club will get a lot of fun from misquoting the film as they play. Not least of which when they say "Game over man, Game over!". We all know someone is going to!

I went for a clear gloss varnish as my memory of the film back in 1986 was that they did have a slimy/chitin look to them all. So I was never going to use Matt varnish. I do already have my colonial marines bought (but not yet assembled) and for those I will be using "Defiance Games" UAMC Infantry. So you may expect them close to the end of the challenge.

You can see a couple of rust spots here on a close up of a genestealer. As well as the hint of green mixed in with the Black. This is by new means a novel idea for a game but one I have yet to do so It was about time I did so.

And this last picture is just to remind you all what I was aiming for. I have yet to source any "face-huggers" so any suggestions for them would be well received but "Crooked Dice " do something similar and I already have some of their astronauts so that might be the best route. And I shall be building the terrain in the warmer weather.

That's it for this week. 12 Games Workshop Plastic Genestealers, I think I need to source more just to let players have fun firing at them, and 1 Broodlord figure to act as the queen A bigger target for my players to try to hit.

All the best Folks.

From Curt:Ah, wonderful work Clint. I love the hi-gloss black/green on these fellows, to which the claws provide the perfect counterpoint (excuse the pun). I also really admire how you did the decking - a brilliant effect I think. I look forward to seeing the upcoming Marines.   

Okay, back to the painting desk Methuselah.   :)

From AdamC - 28mm Imagi-Nation Napoleonic Guardsmen (118 Points)

Now readers of my blog may remember I swore I would never paint 28mm Napoleonic troops again but JohnM offered me these figures and the uniform looked simple enough that they wouldn't drive me too crazy. To further motivate myself I decided I would tie these troops to my Imagi-Nation the Grand Duchy of D'Argent. This is a mid-size country on taking up parts of northern Italy, Switzerland and South-Eastern France.  I plan on doing a more extensive "history" on my personal blog but I will be inflicting some on you below.

There are 24 figures in all. A battalion of 16 figures, 4 additional individually based skirmishers., 1 casualty marker and a 3 figure vignette. That should be 120 points.

D'Argent with its long standing relationship the Bourbon Family opposed the French Revolution.

 In 1805 the D'Argent contingent of the alliance was trapped at Ulm with Mack's forces.

Unwilling to surrender the Old Duke (who was in his late Eighties at the time) gathered his men..

 and lead a break out in the early morning hours.

 He sent his two sons out with the vanguard and took his guardsmen to lead the rearguard.

 The old Duke fell in the battle surrounded by the bodies of his gray clad guardsmen but...

His sons escaped. The elder son came to terms with Napoleon and eventually married one of Napoleon's Nieces.

His troops would march along side the French Legions and the D'Argent Guard was rebuilt and often served along side the Imperial guard.

The younger son?  he took a contingent of men first to Austrian and then England where he became one of Napoleon's most implacable foes.

The figures are Victrix they are better most of that line I have worked with but before painting was even finished I had already lost on of the brittle bayonets. The flag is the Berg-Klev flag from Warflag.com.  The uniform paint job is one of my own creation. 

These two Guardsmen with handkerchiefs on their bayonets had me puzzled but I decided that if I put them on a base with the drummer it would look like they were requesting a parley.  Not much use on the gaming table but they will be a nice addition to the display pieces on my desk at work.

Finally we have a casualty figure always good to have these handy.  The leaves on the bases are from Secret Weapon they work with 15mm troops but look much more right with 28mm.

From Curt:Very cool back story Adam! I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to Napoleonics but I always love a good story. I applaud you on tackling these Victrix figures. I did a battalion of one of their early sets and almost lost my mind with assembling them (I think it was around 9 parts each). I really like the light grey greatcoats, red facings and  tall bearskins - it makes for a very attractive unit. 

Well done Adam! 

From AnneO - Hasslefree Modern (5 Points)

This is my sixth submission for this years Challenge. At this time last year I had only submitted three, two of which were Theme submissions. While six may not seem like much to the heavy hitters out there, for me it represents doubling my output.

This is Finn, a 25mm figure from Hasslefree, sculpted by Kevin White.

I sculpted the base insert using Super Sculpey.

This figure is worth five points.

Curt has kindly allowed me to post the following vignette to share as a piece of related work for NO POINTS.

During late Summer my Father-In-Law was in hospital several times. The Hubby and I spent much of our time driving back and forth to visit him.  At the beginning of the Challenge I noticed this piece sitting on the painting table and realized I had completely forgotten about it and had not even posted it on my blog.

These are Hasslefree Juveniles, sculpted by Kevin White and are scaled to 25mm.

I sculpted the broken concrete on the base and the brick wall for the backing using Super Sculpey.

I have come to enjoy painting Kevin White's sculpts as the details are crisp and the lines are so clean. Further Kevin has a great knowledge of human anatomy and he brings that to all of his work. I have several more of his figures and will be painting them for this years Challenge.

From Curt:
As usual you've treated us to some wonderful work, Anne. 

I too love Kevin White's work. He has such a fine grasp of how human bodies move (and perhaps more importantly) rest. You've done a brilliant job with all of these pieces. The colour blending on the pistoleer is fabulous (I wish I had his hair...) and I love how you've done the display base on your corner vignette, especially the urban decay along the front edge. Wonderful work and thank you for sharing it with us.

From ByronM - 28mm German WWI Squads (85 Points)

I started to collect two World War I forces last year, but only got part of them painted in last years Challenge.  In fact they were picked up to make sure that I had something to enter in the Challenge since the previous years it had only been historical models, and I usually do Sci-Fi.

Here are two more squads and two more leaders for my early WWI German 28mm Army.

The figures are mainly Renegade figures, which are really nice for anyone that has not picked any up before.  They have great detail and are generally pretty clean so there is very little work to do to prep them. They are also reasonably priced, and are now back in production.

My only complaint is that they are extremely chunky when matched up against any other 28mm figure.  I would realistically call these guys 32mm not 28mm.  This isn't a real issue though if you keep the models in each squad all from Renegade.  When I do have to mix models into a squad, I recess these models into the bases as much as possible (dremel down 2mm) and mount the other models up on 1 - 2 mm plasti-card on top of the base so that they end up being the same height and it becomes way less noticeable.

Again though, the figures are very good, I like them and would buy more in a heart beat.  It is just important to understand that they do not mix well with other figures out there.

Here is a unit of 9 riflemen with 2 having grenades to help out when counter assaulting the enemy.  Also included is a leader to oversee the squad.

Also painted up is a second HMG squad and leader.

Everything is based for use with the excellent 'Through the Mud and the Blood' rule set by Too Fat Lardies.  The individual soldiers are on 25mm rounds, the leaders (Big Men) are mounted on 30mm hex's, and the HMG is mounted on a 50mm round to give me some room to create a sand bag wall.

The paint scheme is based on Mr. Roundwood's excellent WWI army as he has a great colour guide available on his site.  I went for a faster paint job that he does, but aimed for a rough and dirty look so being clean and smooth didn't matter as much.

The figures are based with liquitex medium and bits of wood and metal sheeting.  This is then painted up in browns and blacks and then a heavy coat of pigment powders are layered over everything.

From Curt:Beautiful work Byron! I've always admired your paint style - so nice, clean and well executed. Lovely stuff. 

I thought I was a bit OCD, but dremeling down and building up your bases?! Wow, that is 'focused' (though, what am I saying, I seem to remember doing something similar in the past as well...) ;) 

I totally agree with you Byron, the Renegade WWI range is wonderful. True, they are a bit tall and beefy, but they have a wonderful esthetic about them and are a pleasure to paint. I really like that prone MG-08 team behind the sandbags (sorry Greg). How did you do the sandbags Byron? They look brilliant.

85 points which allows you just enough to slip past fellow-Conscript Greg. Well done!

From BrendonW - Romans & Wars of the Roses Banner Bearers (83 Points)

In our household we are getting some work done that is likely to disrupt the painting flow. But before that starts I managed to get some more 28mm dudes completed. First some Early Imperial Romans from Warlord Games. 4 Legionaries and 5 Auxiliary oval shield fighters. They have some multi-basing happening to help them rank up into a tight unit. They have nice animated poses but it will cause ranking up issues if I don't consider this in a unit formation. One auxiliary I cut his arm and repositioned it to point upwards to try and help the ranking up. All shields have decals. The Oval ones come on a clear background while the rectangle ones are fully coloured.

Next is more Banners for my growing Perry War of the Roses collection. 7 Plastic 28mm fellas. 3 flags I designed, 2 trumpet blowers, 1 fancy jacket fella and 1 with a big spear. Sorbitium Fermentum (Drink Beer) and Manducate Lardum (Eat Bacon) is the inscription and possibly the solemn vowel these warriors take.  These are probably the last of the banners on foot. I hope to get one more in the force but a mounted standard. Not the best photography but you get the idea. Cheers

From Curt:Argh! Romans with proper shield adornments! I shake my fist and curse you, sir. :) Seriously, excellent work Brendon. The Romans look marvelous and your Wars of the Roses project continues to sap my will. Again, I love your Bacon & Beer banners - not much better things to rally behind, I think. I look forward to seeing your upcoming mounted figures for this project.

From AlanD - Yet More 28mm Saracens (90 Points)

(From Curt: I'm going to start some of the Monday entries early as it looks like I'll have my work cut out for me tomorrow.)

Here are another 15 Black Tree Design Saracens. As always, shields are hand painted in order not to displease Odin. I'd be repeating myself if I went on about how nice these figures are, so just enjoy the photos.

These should give me a base of 75 points. Huzzah!

From Curt:Wow! Here we go again with these gorgeous freakin' hand-painted shields! Alan, amazing work AND you show off even more with these wonderfully detailed patterns on the cloaks and jerkins. This is turning out to be a very, very enviable force. Top drawer stuff here. I'm going to add another 15 points for this visual treat of this fine detail brushwork. Well done Alan!

From Curt - 28mm Russian Civil War - Czechoslovakian Volunteers from the Kornilov Shock Regiment (65 Points)

In response to Miles’ request to provide pictures of our various hobby spaces here is a shot of my nerve center (or is that 'nerd center'?). 

Yes folks, it’s literally a closet, so no snarky remarks… :) Both my wife and I are pretty draconian about having a fairly minimalist household (I should’ve prefaced this by saying we have no kids). We try to keep things pretty spartan around the place, but our book collection and my hobby stuff frequently pose a challenge. So I created this ‘hobby closet’ in our media room in order for me to keep my hobby rig set-up while still having the ability to close the doors in order to keep the room looking neat and tidy. 

I know, it's a little OCD, but I'm okay with it (rocks back and forth).

Anyway, I’ve got about half a dozen hobby projects all on the go right now, which I must say is making me a little mental. Most of them are waiting for ‘that one essential thing’, a decal, a flag or some other infuriating detail that I’ve convinced myself that I absolutely need to properly wrap them up. Now, if I can get some of this stuff wrangled I should be able to get back on track towards my points target but right now it's pretty much a complete gong show.

Nonetheless, from all this chaos, I’ve actually managed to finish something to the point that I can submit it!  Woohoo!!

Continuing on from my Tachanka, this is another entry which focuses on the Russian Civil War. 

I find this period of history fascinating as there were so many personalities and groups involved in the conflict. Russians, Latvians, Finns, Poles, Ukrainians, the list goes on and on. This submission is about a small portion of the Czechoslovakians who fought in Russia during the Civil War.

I was quite close to my grandparents on my mom’s side. Granma's family was Austrian and Grampa was from the outskirts Prague. Gramps, while being a fervent new Canadian was also very proud of 'The Old Country' and took great delight in telling me stories of Jan Hus and his Hussites, and of the ‘Czech Legion’ which fought the Reds and helped to secure Czechoslovakian independence. When he told me about the Czech armoured trains and the fact that the Legion itself controlled thousands of miles of Russian railways I was a little dubious, thinking he was pulling my leg. Later on, when I was in university, I read more about the Czech Legion and discovered that truth is indeed sometimes stranger than fiction.

This squad represents some of the Czechoslovaks who volunteered to serve with General Lavr Kornilov’s forces. They became part of the famous (or infamous) Kornilov Shock Regiment which was considered very dependable amongst the White forces and was composed of some pretty hard, hard men. Suffice it to say that not many of these guys survived the Civil War but apparently a few made it back to the new state of Czechoslovakia and probably had some harrowing tales to tell I’m sure.

These models are almost all from Footsore Miniatures (previously Musketeer Miniatures) while at least one is from Copplestone Castings. All of them are excellent figures, easy to prepare and a real joy to paint. 

Even though the traditional uniform of the Kornilov Shock Regiment had the men in red caps I decided to keep these lads in a mix of headgear to show them as separate volunteers. I also painted in white-over-red cockades for their caps and right breast as that was the chosen colours of the Czechloslovakians fighting in Russia.

One thing some may notice is that there are a lot of white flowers on these bases. I thought that since the basic uniforms in the Russian Civil War were often very similar to one another I’d have the white flowers signifying White troops and, you guessed it, red flowers for the Red forces. Dorky I admit, but I think it will make things easy to decipher when they’re all mixing it up on the tabletop. (In fact I think I’m going to use the same idea for my upcoming Wars of the Roses stuff…)

I’m not sure what I’m going to actually do with this these guys. To be honest I'm collecting this period in both 15mm and 28mm. Yep, nuts I know, but I really like painting the detail of the bigger castings from Footsore and Copplestone, while also loving the little 15mm cavalry and armoured trains from Peter Pig. I’ll probably do up enough to use for ‘Chain of Command’ and perhaps some Pulp gaming as well, other than that I have no clue. But I guess that’s the fun of it all!

These 13 figures will give me 65 points.