From StefanK: 28mm AWI British Infantry, Viking Bondi & Challenge Desperado (110)

From Stefan:

The 44th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was raised in 1741 and firstly bore the name of its founder Colonel James Long and was originally the 55th regiment of foot. After first employments during the Jacobite Risings of 1745 and the Flanders campaign in 1748 the regiment was renumbered as 44th Regiment of Foot, actually as part of a large reorganization of the British army. A few years later the regiment was brought into action during the French Indian War where it fought in important battles like the Battle of Carillon, the Braddock Expedition and the famous siege of Fort William Henry. Above all it served in the Battle at La Belle-Familie which the "Bloggers for Charity" want to restage this year at several events to create attention and rise funds for the charity projects "Help for Heroes" and "Men Matters".

For this excellent venture I agreed to paint a unit of redcoats which will represent this heroic regiment. It consists of twelve figures manufactured by AW Miniatures who is establishing a quickly growing 28mm range covering the FIW. Overall the miniatures are very nice. The casting quality is good at most parts although some thin details like the loading stick are damaged on several miniatures. The sculpting is crisp and clear and make it rather easy to distinguish the different parts and layers of the miniatures. Unfortunately a lot of the finer details (especially the lacing) are left out and must be painted on.

The faces are quite good but don't have the excellence and expression the top-notch manufacturers (Perry, Wargames Foundry, Front Rank et al.) usually provide.

As usual I used Vallejo Model Colours and Armypainter Quickshade to paint the figures. My main source for the uniforms was C. E. Franklin's "British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783". There I read that officers used to wear waistcoats in their regiment's facing colours. Therefore I decided to give them that individual blot of paint. This time I didn't base the figures because James and Andrew preferred to do that themselves.

Next is a unit of eight Viking Bondi for my SAGA warband. All eight figures are metal ones from Gripping Beast's SAGA range. Some of them look slightly old fashioned and stiff but altogether they are really good. 

As most SAGA miniatures I know so far these Bondi have open hands to glue the weapons in. Most of mine got spears this way. But I used steel wire spears rather then the leaden ones provided by Gripping Beast. Absolutely outstanding are their faces which make it easy to bring out some expression.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

And so it ends... As my last entry I proudly present: The Cowboy.

The miniature is from Wargames Foundry and actually his name is "Lonesome Dexter" from the "This town ain't big enough". But this time he shall represent one of the countless cowboys immortalized in Sam Peckinpah's movies. Curt asked for such an act of appreciation and I hope my humble work bestows honour to his concern.

This fellow was the first Wild West figure I ever painted. And it was great fun. It is well detailed and sculpting as well as casting are of top-notch quality as usual for Wargames Foundry. Once again I employed Vallejo's Model Colour range to paint it but skipped Quickshade this time because I didn't have the time to let it dry long enough. To give the miniature a little special 'something' I didn't only decorate the top of the base but the bottom as well.

Well then, Curt, this one's for you. Many thanks for organizing this year's painting challenge. It was great fun to participate and I enjoyed the company of all those excellent painters and modellers a lot. Additionally those three months let me learn a lot about my very own way of painting and pushed my skills forward. It was an honour to see my humble work presented alongside the pieces of art our fellow competitors submitted. For next winter I'll definitely reserve a time slot for the next painting challenge hoping to snatch a slot again. I hope you like this little sign of appreciation. 

Stefan, this is beautiful work, all of it.  I'm sure whoever receives your AWI figures from the 'Bloggers for Charity' event will be absolutely delighted with their 'score'.

Your bondi certainly look the business - I'm particularly taken with the colour detail on their jerkins and trousers. Beautiful.

Finally, I give my humble thank you for the wonderful cowboy figure you've painted as my Challenge 'levy' (or 'Curtgeld' as some have now called it). I really like his grey hair and his jersey chaps are an excellent choice (great pattern). Also, the Challenge banner on the bottom is pure class. Thanks again!

This wonderful assortment of miniatures will give Stefan 110 points, with a bit extra for the chaps! This will be enough for Stefan to exceed his Challenge target of 600 points. Congratulations on pushing through to the finish! 

It's been a pleasure Stefan, I'm delighted you could join us in this little bit of winter madness.

From BrendonW: 28mm Dark Age Saxons and Viking Standard Bearer (22 points)

From Brendon:

28mm Gripping Beast Plastic and Foundry Metal.

The three Saxons have heads from the Warriors box and one shield has a LBM decal. The Foundry Viking has a Banner made by me. I found the Raven image doing a google image search and I think it is actually a Tattoo. 

So thanks tattoo artist. Hope you don't mind me using it. The Foundry viking came with a shorter banner pole with a small Raven on its top but it was a very flimsy join to the hand so I removed it as it probably wouldn't last painting let alone gaming.

Wonderful stuff Brendon. These lads are nice and gritty and that raven banner is a brilliant piece of work - bravo! 

These three Saxons and the Viking banner bearer (and the banner itself) will give Brendon 22 points, enough for him to reach is 750 point Challenge target. Congratulations Brendon, well done!

From StefanK: 28mm Viking Berserkers & Herdmen (41 points)

From Stefan:

Besides my other project I'm mustering a force of Vikings for Saga. Lately I finished a squad of four Berserker that will set free ferocious havoc on the battlefield hopefully.

The miniatures are by Gripping Beast and belong to their nice range of Saga figures. Although some of their figures are slightly old-fashioned these berserkers stick out a bit. They are very dynamic and with the wolf hides over their shoulders they look really fierce. Only their hands are a bit tricky because the weapons have to be glued inside. On the one hand that seems a bit uniform but on the other hand it offers the chance to equip the guys individually. So I chose to substitute the leaden spears with steel ones. 

Very exciting to paint were the faces of the figures. They've been sculpted with a lot of expression and fine detail in them. So it wasn't too hard to work out the eyes, the beards their hair. The clothes - if present at all - were rather plain so for the gifted painter they present lots of space for freehand sketches. Although I wouldn't count me to this illustrious category I'm really pleased with the striped trousers. The result really encourages me to try more patterns like this from now on.

Simultaneously to the Bersekers I was working on a unit of Hirdmen for Saga.

The miniatures are by Gripping Beast and belong to their nice range of Saga figures. Actually I like them a lot although the sculpts are slightly old-fashioned. They are very dynamic and have excellently detailed faces. Their hands are a bit tricky because the weapons have to be glued inside. On the one hand that seems a bit unfirm but on the other hand it offers the chance to equip the guys individually. As Hirdmen they are kind of elite warriors and so I wanted to have them different from the Bondi with spears so I gave them swords and a two-handed axe.

 

Very exciting to paint were the faces of the figures. They've been sculpted with a lot of expression and fine detail in them. So it wasn't too hard to work out the eyes, the beards their hair. The tunics are rather plain so for the gifted painter they present lots of space for freehand sketches. I didn’t dare to experiment too much there so I left it at some careful braids in contrasting colours. The result really encourages me to try more patterns from now on.

As usual I painted the figures with Vallejo Model Colours and shaded them with Armypainter Quickshade (Dark Tone). The fine artworks on the shield are decals from Stephen Hales' Little Big Men Studios. For the bases I used my habitual combination of sand, static grass and tufts.

Lovely work here Stefan.  You've done a wonderful job on reflecting the varied nature of the clothes, shields (hides!) and equipment of these fierce fellows. I really like most Gripping Beast sculpts but I have to say I'm not a big fan of their open handed design. The weapons don't easily sit well within the fists and are always at risk of being broken off during play. I often resort to puttying them close to give them a better chance of tabletop survivability.

These eight Vikings will give Stefan 41 points, with an extra pip for the excellent striped trews on the one fashionable shield-biter.

From IanW: 28mm Viking Herdman & 6mm Napoleonic Marshals along with Assorted Flunkies (21 points)

From Ian:

Finally something different. 

OK lets start with the Griping Beast 28mm plastic Viking from their Viking Hirdmen boxed set. I wanted to do a test figure and it was an excuse to do something a little different.

Clean up and assembly was mostly straight forward though the belt pouch and knife was a bit fiddly. I can see doing all 44 getting tiresome but the reward would be a great mix of poses and weapons so I will have that in mind when I get at the test.

Went with a straight forward shield design to keep this simple. I also went with a black primmer to make the chainmail more realistic, overall I prefer the darker finish for these.

Dropping back to my usual scale I have finally finished the new Baccus command figures, a bunch of Marshals and other hangers on.

These are certainly an upgrade on the old Baccus command and have some nice detail and a much wider mix of poses. However I still prefer the Adler as they have a lot more detail (that extra mm or two really helps) and though these are sturdier I will take the risk with the Adler breaking.

Quite easy to clean up and paint though some of them have a real issue with mould lines, but overall nice clean casts. I have based them loosely on images I have of commanders and ADC's I just hope I don't get slapped for doing this

My Napoleonic Pedant/Prat referee jersey's in the wash so you're safe... ;P

Ooh, that Viking sample looks very, very good Ian - I think you can go straight into production with these! Would this project be for SAGA or do you have something else in mind?

I agree with you on all counts with the new Baccus command figures: they are all very nice but I'd still put the nod to Adler's range. As you say that extra 1-2mm makes all the difference. All this being said I think you've done a marvelous job on these models. Your excellent basing gives them a Peninsular War feel about them, what with the larger gravel elements.

This lonely Viking and the posse of Napoleonic command officers will give Ian 21 points (with a bit extra for the shield and being in the vanguard).   

From BrendonW: 28mm Dark Age Characters (65 points)

From Brendon:

1 x Norman Knight, 2 English Heroes. The Norman is the last mounted plastic (Conquest Games) in my collection so it's a great feeling to have them completed. The other two fellas that have a mounted and unmounted version come from the Dark Ages in England (Harold & Tostig Godwinson). Both metals from Crusader games but one has plastic shields from Gripping Beast with LBM decals. They will make for great looking Kings and Nobles for my Dark Age armys. As you can see the Metal horses look a little smaller than the Plastic Norman but that's no big deal to me.

I had a bit of a stupidity attack when I went to matt spray these and picked the wrong can (German Tank Yellow) but fortunately it wasn't too much time before I had them back to how they should be. It was just a light spray but it did ruin a Viking shield with a nice LBM sticker on it. Lesson learnt.

The Viking King and his daughter are Foundry figures. The Large wolf is from Northstar for the Myths and Legends game. I mounted him on a 40 x 40 base and he will be a 'counts as' model. My 10 year old daughter insisted I painted the girls hair brown like hers so who am I to refuse. I was not sure how to paint the Super Wolf but had an idea in my head after a bit of thinking and I was pleased with the result.

After a week of super hot we went to a Cyclone watch but never got a direct hit but we have had non stop tropical rain for a week or so which means dark days so it made photography very tricky.

Lovely work Brendon. I feel your pain on the matt spray gaff. I am verrry deliberate when I pick up any can of spray now. All of these figures are great but that wolf is particularly awesome - reminds me of the Stark direwolves in the GRR Martin novels. I think I need to get one for my Strange Aeons collection...

These Dark Age heroes and characters will give Brendon 65 points. Well done sir!

From KevH: 20mm Dark Age Viking Army (535 points)

KevH breaks for tea as celebration for finishing his new Viking army.

From Kev:

Here is the Viking army in all it's 20mm glory, lol.

All figures are plastic 1/72 (20mm). The majority are Zvezda & Strelets, with a very small amount of Revell to make up the numbers. This force is more or less the same composition as the Saxon Army I painted last year.

The Army general has already been seen and is here just for completion.

The Army is based for Hail Caesar and to our own basing system for the rules. We mount infantry on 30mm x 30mm and four bases make a standard unit. Two bases make a small unit with a large unit at six bases. Skirmishers are usually a small unit and consist of three figures. The troop types also determine how many figures will be on a base. 

Heavy infantry are 4 figures.

Medium infantry are 3 figures.

And Light infantry are 2 figures.

We found this system works well and the troop type is easily recognizable.
The Army consists of
The CinC (already Submitted)
2 x Divisional commands (3 figures per base)
1 x Hearthguard (Huscarle) Heavy Infantry unit (16 Figs)
3 x Hirdmen units, (16 figs per unit).
3 x Bondi units, Medium Infantry, (12 figs per unit).
5 x Beserker stands (2 figs per stand) for representing the Beserker wild fighter element within a unit.
1 x Bow unit, Light Infantry, (8 figs)
2 x skirmish units, (6 figs in total)

Thats a total of 140 figures according to my reckoning and not including the command. [Actually it adds up to 130 figures - ed.]

All standard bearers are conversions as you only get 1 in the Zvezda box and he is blowing a horn as well.

So I used them both as horn blowers and converted 10 into standard bearers for the unit and army commands.

Phew. 

I need my tea now.

Indeed! That is a colossal amount of work Kev, well done young man!

This Viking force will give Kev a very impressive 535 points, which includes some extra for the standard-bearer conversions. This was a little too late in his race with Andrew but it will pip him into 1st place in the points roster, with a point to spare! (And, serves as a quick response to Millsy's challenge!)

Fabulous work and an impressive effort Kev!

The Vikings of the 2nd Challenge!

Over the past two Painting Challenges I've had the pleasure of collecting a wonderful assortment of figures from talented hobbyists from all around the world. I've been asked a number of times to put up a 'rogue's gallery' to display my ill-gotten booty, and so to answer that request here is the first instalment of my past Challenge fee submissions: The Vikings from the 2nd Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

As you can well imagine, I'm very proud of this collection. It's quite eclectic while still having a great central theme. I decided to add a sprig or two of yellow flowers to all the bases in order to mark them as 'Challenge Vikings' within my Dark Age collection. This way, when I have them out for a game, I'll know which figures will be the real fire-eaters. :)

From AndrewS

From RayR

From FranL

From MichaelF

From JuanM

From DaveD

From MilesR

From JohnM (actually from a related contest but I include him here)

From TimB

A Viking Descendant: A Norman Milite from KentG

SylvainR

ScottB

RossM

PhilH

In a spasmodic fit of hobby-room reorganization I shamefully lost the provenance of who painted these fine fellows seen below. Actually, I believe I have a good hunch of who-painted-what, but if past Challengers can help me identify the brushwork on these lads it would be greatly appreciated!

This last photo features the whole warband with my shameless addition of 'Hrolf Heldrid', a warlord vignette that I put together during the Challenge that year. A force to be reckoned with!