Entry 14, Part 2 - Vth annual Analogue Painting Challenge - The Raisuli

The next entry was supposed to be for the Victorian themed round.  My son's birthday party was that Saturday and after three hours of wrangling kids around the pool I sat down to base this model.  Two hours later I woke up and it was way too late to get him based and have the sand/glue dry.

The Raisuli

Entry 14, Part 1 - Vth annual Analogue Painting Challenge - Pike & Shotte

The first entry for this week is an ECW Pike and Shotte regiment.  These are 36 28mm plastic models from Warlord Games.

The blue coat regiment

Entry 13 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 28mm Celt Cavalry

This next entry is, surprisingly, more Celts.  These are six 28mm Celt light cavalry from Wargames Factory.  There are twelve cav in the box so I made six mediums and these lads lights with javelins.

Six riders with javelins.

Lion Rampant

One of my Christmas presents was a copy of Dan Mersey's Lion Rampant rules.  While these are designed for medieval warfare they will work just fine for any sword and board type of troops.  They are a skirmish level game, with units of twelve, or sometimes six models.  Much is simplified in the name of game play but they work very nicely and are very quick to pick up.  This, however, is not a review of the rules.

Cirion leads his men against Isengard raiders.

Entry 12 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 28mm Celts

Another entry of Celts.  This starts off with ten more infantry.  This gives me 31 infantry so far, which sounds great until I realize I need a couple of hundred of these guys to complete the army.

Ten more Warlord plastic Celts.

Entry 11 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 3 US GI crew served weapons and a FO team in 28mm

This next entry is for my U.S. Army for Chain of Command.  I painted the first two infantry squads and command in the 4th Annual Analogue Painting Challenge, and have done nothing else with them since.  This entry is two .30 MG teams of three men each, on 60mm Mortar team, also with three.  The last three models are a forward observation team (FO).  All of the models are metals from Warlord.  We are having a snow storm today so the lighting for the pictures was a little bit funky.

Three weapons team and a FO team.

15mm Sci/Fi drop ship

One of my Christmas presents was a dropship for use with 15mm.  This is more of a terrain piece than it is a playing piece.

The drop ship with the fuel/water/liquid storage tanks visible.

Entry 10 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 11 28mm Celts (again)

This entry is another eleven Celt infantry for Hail Caesar.  This group is armed with spears and mostly armored in chain mail.  Now that I think of it, that doesn't really make sense as I would expect the armored warriors to have swords.

Eleven more bruisers to beat up on the Romans.

Entry 9 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 11 28mm Celts

This next entry is the first troops for my Celt army.  These guys are being painted up for Hail Caesar.  They are individually based so they can be used for skirmish games as well.

Eleven angry Celts.

Entry 7 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 1 x 28mm Santa

This next entry was something I whipped out on Christmas day.  This model came free from Foundry last year, when I ordered the Curtgeld.

Santa's not hearing any of your crap!

The model was a quick paint.  Simple but loaded with character.

The snow is OK.  Not great but it'll do.

The snow is GW's.  I'm not really sold on it, but I have a container of it to use up now.  I'm not really sure what I'll do with this model now, but it was fun to paint.

2014 in Review and 2015 Plans

As it's the first day of the new year, it is clearly time to take stock of the year just passed and to do a little planning for the new one, just begun.  The place to start, of course, is with this same post from a year ago.

Rhys preparing to slaughter me at Gruntz.

Entry 8 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 1 15mm Sci/Fi Vehicle

This next entry is for my son Rhys.  He's been getting 15mm Sci/Fi models as rewards for doing well at school.  He and I play Gruntz together.  Part of the deal is that I'll paint them for him, though he likes painting his models as well.

Light tank for Gruntz.

Entry 6 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 6 28mm Haradrim Riders

This is my entry for the mounts and riders bonus round for the Analogue Painting Challenge.  These are six 28mm Haradrim from Games Workshop, for Lord of the Rings.  They are led by Suladan the Serpent Lord.  Suladan was killed by Eomer on the Pelenor.

Suladan with two infantrymen

28mm Barbarians

These are two 28mm Celtos barbarians that were given to Rhys years ago.  There were three in the package.  He asked me to paint two of them while he did the third.

Two barbarians, ready for action.

Entry 5 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 8 Uruk-Hai

This is the final entry of Uruk-Hai for this challenge season, if for no other reason than the rest of my unpainted models have at least one color put on them already so are ineligible for inclusion in the challenge.

Entry 4 - Vth Annual Analogue Painting Challenge - 8 x 28mm Uruk-Hai pikes

This post is eight more Uruks for Isengard.  These are eight pikes, one of the stronger features of the army.  I actually don't play with them as much as they warrant because I hate the pikes in game.  I don't mean the rules are bad.  I hate that I am always stabbing myself with them or knocking them or other models over because of them.  The physical limitations are frustrating.

Entry 3 - Challenge - Bonus round: Cold

The first bonus round was themed: Cold.  These are each worth 50 points but, more importantly, are where you see some of the very best work in the challenge.  Competitors will often build dioramas and put extra love and attention into these entries.  I'm ahead of schedule this year so I had time to spend a bit more

This one was so obvious to me that I just had to go with it.  Villains and cold together made me think of a Dark Elf Cold One Knight.  The model is one of GW’s better efforts.  These are a huge improvement over the old models.  

Entry 2, Vth Painting Challenge - 8 Uruk-Hai swordsmen

"There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands.  They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men.  Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal."

Eight swart, slant eyed gobin-soldiers.

Entry 1, Vth Annual Analogue Painting Challenge

This unit is six 28mm Romano-British levy from Gripping Beast.  I bought the starter army for Dux Brit from Too Fat Lardies and it includes 18 of these guys.  I had planned to paint the first six as my last entry in last year's challenge but ran out of time.  I finished them up after it was over, and haven't painted a thing since then other than some of my son's 15mm Sci/Fi.

Six levy from Gripping Beast.

It finally begins. The painting challenge is underway

The Vth annual challenge has begun and I'm off.  Having barely touched a brush in the last six months I am starting off with a small batch, just to get the juices flowing.  I've planned out my painting to reach my goal of 650 points.  Each entry is sitting in a group on the book shelf with an index card showing me when they have to be done.

WiP Romano Brits

This is the last time you will see these lads until they are displayed on the painting challenge blog.

In the mean time I've got quite the selection of models coming up.  Uruk-Hai, 15mm Sci/Fi, Celts, U.S. WWII GIs, Rohan, WW II German infantry, and a planned entry for each of the bonus rounds.  This year the majority of the painting will be the Celts since I want to get that army onto a good foundation.

It felt great to start putting paint to lead.  That first brush stroke was liberating.  I'm glad this has finally started.