AHPC XII: MIke W - Tales from the Construction Site plus other stuff

 As with the last submission, I will start with a ride in Lady Sarah's Limo, this time taking me to the Under Construction Site. For my Limo fare I present a 28mm Female Apocalypse Survivor figure, this woman being painted to represent a member of the Highway Patrol or maybe a State Trooper.

This Female State Trooper or Highway Patrol
will escort Lady Sarah's Limo!

I've gone for a Blue uniform, with dark blue trousers with a light blue shirt, timings on both shirt and trousers being reversed. She has a light blue helmet and black boots and night stick, whilst she also carries a M16 rifle and nightstick. Her dress is somewhat relaxed, likely the stress of here survivor status meaning that usual uniform care is no longer possible!

I made an attempt at Police Badges on each shoulder

Again the base is make to look like an urban wasteland...

Final shot

The figures I have worked on this week for the Under Construction are a batch of forty, 28mm Vikings. These figures were acquired some time ago from eBAY and are a mixture of Gripping Beast and Victrix plastics, now the reason that these are an 'Under Construction Lot' is because the original owner had partially painted them and affixed them to square Games Workshop bases for use in a Lord of the Rings setting, the standard bearer even came with an 'evil' icon and three skulls hanging form it.

A 'large' project lot arrived from eBAY,
I put it off as there was a lot of re-construction work to do...

(I did momentarily consider leaving this in place to increase my Side Duel Skullz score - but no, historical accuracy won out!  )

First job was to rebase the figures,
removing the old square bases and affixing to nice round bases

Second Left was the Standard Bearer as delivered,
I removed the skull laden icon and will replace with a nice flag

I have put off doing anything with these figures as there seemed to be quite some work to be done to get the ready for a reasonable paint job.

As expected there was quite some construction work just to get these figures ready to paint! - A number of the figures (5) has broken spears and or arms that needed replacing. Two heads needed to be refitted and several arms needed to be reset to make them serviceable to my eyes. Finally all the square bases needed to be removed and then replaced with round MDF bases to fit in with my basing standards for the period. Not a quick job, especially as I ran out of bases and had to resort to the good old 2p piece standby for a handful of these figures!

Typical figure and painting standard as supplied,
they need quite a lot of work!

Test figures, with base colours blocked in,
note - I ran out of MDF bases so had to finish batch with 2p pieces!

Final state of the 'test' figures, I was pleased with the transformation

The figures had been sprayed with a rattle can to give them a silver finish and then many had had a gloss brown paint applied to cloth and leather areas. In general I thought that I could salvage the silver figures and apply inks to make the chainmail work whilst I'd need to redo the leather, clothing, skin and shields on all the figures.

A group view of the final figures, all forty of them.

And possibly a better view of the finished figures in video format

So not all my own work but I think that I have stamped my vision of the Dark Ages on these little guys. By way of showing the process I have a snap of a figure prior to my first painting steps, using him as a test for the rest of the batch.

The command group, Leader, Standard Bearer and Musician

I added belts, repainted wooden spear shafts and shields, dressed them in browns and greys before redoing their skin and hair. I liked how it was going so two more test figures joined the original to have Dark Tone ink applied to the chainmail and then Agrax Earthshade added to the clothing. Skin, unsurprisingly had Flesh Tone applied and the spear shafts and shields had Light Tone applied to give a shaded appearance.

First of a series of close-ups of the figures, most figures came with Gripping Beast shields, smallish with leather bindings. Some came with larger shields with steel rims. Again, rather embarrassingly I did not have transfers the right size for these shields - so they have been painted plain colours.

Once dry I put on the shield transfers before applying matt varnish and allowing to dry overnight before completing the bases in my usual manner. Overall a pleasing result in these three little guys. I just had to repeat the process 36 more time!

Five more Vikings, I'll let you determine which are Victrix and which are Gripping Beast

When people ask me how I can paint so many figures my usual answer is determination and a steady hand, what I should also add is a high pain threshold and shear 'bloody mindedness'! Anyway I got all 36 figures done, eventually!

Almost all figures originally came with Spears, any non command figures with a sword or axe have been subject to repairs in their 'Under Construction' Film Set.

Another five guys, most came wearing chainmail,
some wore leather and a few were unarmoured.

The Victrix and Gripping Beast figures go pretty well together,
although the differences in the sculpts are clear, height is about the same.

And still they come, I made extensive use of ink washes over simple base colours on these figures

And the final four, with pesky large shields!

Before I stop move on - just a comment about Dark Age shield types and the debate as to if they were steel rimmed or bound in leather - both are depicted here. I always assumed that they would all be the former but a few years back I was talking to a Viking Re-enactor in Largs, Scotland who made the comment that steel rimmed shields would be stronger but much harder to repair when on campaign.

After a battle the shields would not surprisingly be in bad shape, if it has a steel rim the warrior would need a blacksmith with a forge to repair it, taking time and money as dozens or even hundreds of warriors would all want their shield fixed at the same time.

Binding shields with stretched, wet leather would likely be quicker and easier in the field to get a warrior's kit repaired. Each warrior would soak leather strips and stretch around the edge of their shields and then these would be dried by a fire. As the wet leather dries it shrinks and hardens, creating a tough binding.

It should also be noted that shield designs form damaged shields would often be cut off and then attached to new or captured shields, reusing existing artwork where possible and again held in place by leather bindings.

I assume the re-enactor knew what he was talking about - it seemed logical to me

Thank goodness I also had a fun batch of Grechin to get completed this week!

So I've been banging on about the Great Gobbo Rebellion under the leadership of the much forgotten 'Red Gobbo', to date, however, I have not really done many Grechin to populate the ranks of the GLA (Grechin Liberation Army) or is it the UGF (United Grechin Front), who knows - and it'll likely change every time the force is fielded. Anyway here are a group of 28 Rebellious Grechin.

The Grechin Mega Mob, 28 little guys

They have been painted in the same manner as earlier posts, with the skin highlighted in a lighter colour than their bigger, uglier cousins - the Orks. These figures are all plastics, collected form a number of eBAY lots that I have obtained in the last few months. Many have had the 'Red Star' on their arm bands or elsewhere about their persons.

In groups of four...

Most of these guys have 'Red Star' armbands

A couple have looted imperial Guard equipment, namely a Laser Pistol and a Grenade Gun, the res have the usual miscellany of pistols and out of date 'Sluggas'.

Another four

A fun group with Grechin Boss left, middle
two ammo carriers and right a guy with a looted grenade launcher.

So what else am I working on? Well there are more Marian Scots Pikemen edging towards the workbench, along with some Late 17th Century French Militia (which have been on the workbench for almost a year now, in a plastic bag) and even more Ork happiness...

There's more...

... and more...

... and finally the last four!

.. Until next time! Oh and here's my map from the film sets

AHPC XIII - First Month Update / Status

Our very own Grahame & Mike W. are again participating in the annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Competition. This is a prestigious global painting competition, reported fairly widely online and in the Wargames Press.

This year there are 80 participants who have set personal painting goals which have been converted into a Points Target. For our own little club its worth noting that at this stage both Mike & Graham are in the Top 5 of the global rankings.

Both Grahame & Mike are over 50% towards their personal targets,
there are two months to go before the challenge closes.

To check-out Grahame & Mike's work in this year's challenge, click <here>.

Siege of Tllage

 By Mat T

An allied army marched in three separate columns to besiege the Swedish Town in Livonia of Tllage. The Russians arrived first and set up their position on high ground overlooking the town and awaited the arrival of their Polish and Saxon allies. Investing the town with heavy repeated cannonade from well mounted heavy batteries the Russian engineers began constructing siege works by driving trenches towards the walls. The Swedish defenders tried a cavalry raid at night, but the dark winter night was not in their favour and the effort achieved little.

Overview of the battlefield

Rupert, master of all he surveys

Within 2 weeks the Grand Polish army arrived, much cavalry and heavy guns stripped from the walls of nearby Polish towns. The brave Swedish defenders looked upon this great host with worried eyes and sent urgent letters back to Sweden to send a relief army asap. The Poles dug in their guns to the south of the town and added their weight to the heavy bombardment from the Russians.

The impressive defensive terrain pieces

 

As soon as the Russian engineers had completed a trench parallel to the town walls within 100 yards the Russians tried a powerful assault with 4 battalions of foot. The attack sent 2000 men up against the still relatively undamaged walls and the slaughter was huge. No Slav set a hand on the walls as the men were quickly rejected by a hail of light artillery fire and well-aimed musket volleys. The attack faded fast and many dead and wounded Russians were left to rot on the bloody field before the town.

The Swedish fleet moves up the coast

 

The Russians retreated back to continuous bombardment of the town walls from long range and awaited the arrival of their Saxon allies with yet more heavy guns.

Steve C. makes a decisive move...

 

During this time the Swedes had been busy. Off the coast of a Swedish fleet was being gathered. Reinforcements were pulled from Sweden and Finland to assemble a strong enough relief force. General Limburgh had a difficult decision to make. Should he despatch a small force quickly to add to the defenders of Tllage and bolster the defence, or should he wait to gather a bigger relief force to land further up the coast. Having seen how easy it was to brush off the first Russian assault General Limburgh chose to hold his forces back until he reached a critical mass to strike hard and decisively.

 

... and then another one!

This decision put a lot of pressure on the isolated Swedish defenders of Tllage. The siege grumbled on for a further 2 months and the heavy continual bombardment of the Russian and Polish guns heavily eroded the towns once proud walls. But still no Swedish sails were to be seen and also the Saxon army had not yet arrived.

Dave checks his forces

 

Frustrated at the lack of presence of their German allies the Russians chanced another assault and committed 6 battalions to the effort. This time the fighting was more balanced. The Russians surged over the heavily churned ground before the walls and under heavy fire threw their ladders up the pock-marked brick defences and surged up onto the walls. In two locations the fighting was hand to hand, but the Swedes held firm. For a moment it looked like the Tsars flag would be unfurled on the towns walls, but the Russians nerve cracked and the following battalions started to flee. The moment was lost and the town held firm.

Steve C. over does the decisive move thing...

 

Another few weeks rolled by and then the brave defenders of Tllage were overjoyed to see Swedish sails on the horizon. Relief had come at last and General Limburgh sailed his armada to the north of the Town and landed on the long open beaches several miles to the north. His army deployed out into the broad valley that ran towards the Russian encampment and prepared a grand assault to drive off the invaders. The Russians in turn prepared their defences and the Poles rode up their entire cavalry force to support. At last the Saxons were spotted and the scene was set for a major confrontation.

... and finally settles for a defensive posture.

 

Sensing that attack was the best form of defence as the Swedish army deployed off the beaches, the Poles spurred their horses and launched a major charge on the Swedes. General Limburgh deployed his horse to counter this threat and a massive cavalry melee was joined across the entire line. Men and horses swirled across each other and the slaughter was fierce. Initially the Swedes gained the advantage in the centre and a wave of Poles were driven off, but to the left of their main line the Swedes broke and this allowed the Poles to seize a wooded ridge that dominated the left flank of the Swedish relief army.  

A close-up of the town emplacements

 

Worried by their failure to secure this key position the Swedes slowed their advance and the Russians breathed a sigh of relief. With Saxon reinforcements now flowing into their siege encampment the critical vulnerable moment had passed and the two armies settled into an uneasy glaring match across the open valley. Tllage would not be relieved today.

AHPC XII: From Grahame - Mixture of Stuff, but mainly 15mm

 Made it. My first post just in time (again). I am always impressed by the challengers who plan for this event every year, knowing exactly what they are going to paint, and have everything ready to go on the starting date. Although, I say every year that this time it will be different, I am going to plan etc, I never do. It may be because I always seem to be painting, having more opportunity to paint and collect rather than game. This, and I get bored easily, it seems every year, I am already in the middle of painting a number of armies. So it was this year, therefore, my first entry is a bit of a mish-mash. 

Early Republican Roman

These are 15mm Chariot Miniatures figures. This is not a new army but having watched the Yorkshire Gamers You Tube video I decided my army was too small. I am now down to the last few units, but below are some of the units I have managed to complete during the challenge.

These are Roman Hastati. There are 16 figures to a unit as I wanted to make them smaller than my usual units of 24 figures. Total Points = 64pts 

Next some Velites. I was really short of these as the army expanded, so I had to paint a further 39. Points = 78 

15mm Galatians (Museum Miniatures)

This wasn't a complete army, and I was going to get rid of it as I already had a Ancient Briton army, but I hate selling painted soldiers so I thought I just buy a few more units and use it as Galatians. I think that what the figures are supposed to be anyhow. 

Each unit is made up of 30 figures, as they warbands, so I add a few extra figures and put them on deeper bases. There are four units, the ones with white shields are naked fanatics (I have taken the picture of them at an angle to save their modesty and to try not offend anyone). Points 240

15mm Midianites (Essex Miniatures)

I decided that regardless of how much is currently I have on my painting table, I need something new to give my the feeling I had achieved something extra during this challenge. So having spent a couple of days going through my metal mountain (yes it is that bad), I decided that some camels could be fun. They weren't and I still have a few more units to paint. 

Anyhow the camels. Currently, I have painted one Scout unit (12 X Camels). These are camels with single rider (48 points). Then four units of 16 camels with 2 riders (although 3 on the units have a leader who is mounted on a camel by himself  (so that's 3 units at 94 pts and one unit at 96 pts). Points total 378 pts. Sorry about the pictures but surprisingly the sun came out in the UK and I didn't notice. 

The Foot Warriors. There are three warbands (30 figures each), a bow unit (18 figures) and a skirmish unit (9 figures). Points = 234

WW2 Italian Paratroopers . The "Folgore" Brigade (Battle Front Miniatures, and some 3D printed vehicles)

I really enjoy putting Rapid Fire units together in 15mm so below is part of the "Folgore" Brigade in North Africa. I had already painted the first Parachute Battalion so I have added another two Battalions, an Engineer Battalion, an HQ (vehicles are 3D prints) and 2 20mm AA vehicles (Battle Front), during the challenge. 

Para Battalion X 2 = each of 34 figures = 136pts

Para Engineers = 36 figures and 1 gun = 76pts

2 AA Vehicles, each with 2 crew = 24pts

HQ 2 vehicles and 3 figures 22pts 

Grand Total = 258pts 

Photos of the two Para Bns are first, which are much the same and the Engineer Bn at the end (has more flamethrowers).

Prussian Napoleonic (AB Figures)

I couldn't do the challenge without painting figures for my favourite period, Napoleonic. Not sure I made the right deciding a few years back to base my figures on General de Brigade units. They take ages to paint and are expensive to collect. However, once done I do like the look of them in their big units. Anyhow two Prussian Cavalry Units completed each of 32 figures. 

The first is the 3rd Brandenburg Uhlan Regiment and, the ones in a lighter blue coat, the 2nd Neumark Landwehr Cavalry (I had to replace some of the lances that broke off - the only problem I have with AB figures is lances, swords and bayonets are very delicate). 128 Pts 

Finally something different for me - Games Workshop Gondor Infantry 

Just fancied something different and these have been sitting on the shelves for years. A quick paint job, and another sneaky 60 points 

                            

Nearly forgot I also painted 3 tents for the Midianites (5pts)

So really finally I think that works out at 1205 points and a very big apology to the Friday Minion. SORRY.