Paint What You Got Challenge 25/26 - Photo Finish

Today's the final day of Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge and, while I haven't finished everything I planned back in December, I've got to a straight edge, so I'm calling it done.  

This is what I've managed to get painted in the time allowed.

The Finished Haul

I'll do a longer post soon, discussing the minis, but for now, here's a photo showing it all*

*Actually, there is more. I've got a unit done for my undead for Bodvoc's Dark Shadows campaign, but I'm keeping them a secret for now.

A New Project for March

These arrived in the post today from Anvil Industries, part of a little project I'm planning for March. 

Mystery heads

I'm not saying what it is yet, but, with the exception of these heads, I should be able to source everything from my existing collection of stuff. If you want a clue, it's a Quickstart version of a game currently in development. 

Feel free to guess what I'm planning in the comments (Bodvoc, you already know, so hush).

Paint What You Got Challenge, Two Weeks to go*

Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge finishes on the 26th of February, so how am I doing?

Well it could be better, a combination of other tasks and obligations (not to mention concert rehearsals) means that I've not had as much time hobbying as I'd like. 

Still, I'm well on with the gnolls for Rangers of Shadow Deep. 

Progress so far

I've finished the first batch of five gnolls, plus another five from the ones I built for Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge.  I've also finished off the last little bits on the vulture and the campsite bits.

Ten Gnolls

 

All the minis were painted with Army Painter Speedpaints.  I was looking for fairly washed out colours, old cloth that the Gnoll have stolen or scavenged. I think Speedpaints work rather well for this. 

I prepared the first five with a grey prime, black shade and white drybrush.  For the second batch I primed in light brown, washed with Army Painter Strong Tone and drybrushed with Vallejo Game colour Off White (the campsite was a test of this). I'd hoped it would give a warmer effect, but I'm not convinced there's much difference.  

I've also changed slightly the way I did the metals.  I used VGC Chainmail after the bulk of the Speedpaints were applied, then shaded it with Gravelord Grey.

I might add a few extra details, such as teeth and claws, but they'll do for now. 

Gnoll Archers 

The shooty gnolls. These are armed with bows, but I've a couple more with crossbows to paint. 

Four gnoll archers

Twang

Gnoll Soldiers 

The fighty group.  There's a good variety of miscellaneous weaponry here. I thought about shield designs, but then I see them as crude wooden construction.  Anyway, the gnolls don't care.

The warrior section

Gnoll Sergeants and Recon

Gnoll sergeants use two handed weapons, there are two options on the sprue.  I like the idea of the hood like cloth denoting rank, I just wish I'd thought of it when I built the first sergeant with the axe, but I've kept the red theme in  his eyepatch. 

They are accompanied by their vulture.

Sergeants and vulture

I'm pleased to have got these done, but they were, at times, a shore.  Part of the reason is my decision to go multi-coloured on the clothing.  I think I over did this, and I got a bit obsessive in trying to make the different models look as different colour wise as possible.  I'd have been better off choosing three distinct colours and applying them over all the minis.

What's Next?

I've the remaining five gnolls, plus their shaman already started, and three rangers to finish too, one of the Shadow Deep, and two of The North.  I'd like to get some more done, but I think time is going to run away with me.  I wonder if I can claim the Julian Defence again?

* Probably considerably less by the time this gets posted.

January Update: Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge Results

I joined Anne's 2026 Miniature Assembly Challenge near the beginning of January with the aim of building enough Frostgrave gnolls for the second mission, converting some MESBG Rangers of Gondor into Dunedain, and possibly building a couple more minis. 

How did I do?

Assemble miniatures, gnolls, a ranger, and two different rangers

Well I managed ten more gnolls, more than enough, but it finished off the sprues. 

I also built an extra Ranger, nominally for T'Other One to use when we tackle the second mission.

Dunedain

The Dunedain were less successful; I finished two, but they were more work than I anticipated. 

Two converted Dunedain

both with backpacks

I wanted them to look sufficiently different to the Rangers of Gondor, so I decided to do away with any masks, shift the quiver to the hip, remove the sort of tabard thing and add extra equipment.  This was inspired by the official miniatures from GW. 

Alas I didn't take any pictures of them prior to converting them, but you can find plenty of pictures online if you're interested. 

The masked head on the firing ranger was removed with a razor saw and replaced with a bare head from (I think) the Frostgrave Soldiers sprue. I used quivers from the Oathmark Human Infantry sprue and concealed the mess made by removing the back quivers with Frostgrave backpacks etc.

I filled in the gaps with a 50-50 greenstuff and milliput mix, and made some attempt at showing the straps, but it's not perfect. 

I didn't complete the required nine Dunedain, and never started on the Dark Emissary I'll need for Boðvoc's Dark Shadows campaign, but even so I'm pleased.  I've got plenty to paint in February for Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge. 

I missed the target for several reasons.  The Rangers were far trickier than anticipated (and I realised that I was short of four minis anyway). I've also been busy playing a lot of music, which has been glorious (Renaissance town bands and verse anthems among others), but hasn't helped assemble anything. 

If Anne runs the challenge again next year,  I certainly want to take part. 

And a Show

I did manage to get to York Wargames Society's Vapnatak on 1st February.  

My haul was modest, but useful. 

Vapnatak haul

I picked up five more Rangers of Gondor, so that's one excuse gone (see above). Seven monotone Skaven,  in case I ever get around to Vengeance of the Lichemaster (the seller threw in a skeleton missing it's slotta base,  but that's not a problem. 

I also got a selection of the old WotC prepainted Star Wars minis. 

Apart from the second hand stuff I got some more d10 dice for games of Warlords of Erehwon. 

Warlords of Erehwon, the Map of Albion (Dark Shadows Preliminary Game)

Boðvoc and I played the first game in our Dark Shadows campaign.  To get us a bit more used to the rules and how to use our armies we played a preliminary game where both sides raced to get a map to the mysterious isle of Albion. 

Boðvoc used his tin cans dwarves and I used my new undead. 

The Scenario 

As host, and campaign organiser, Boðvoc came with a suitable scenario: both sides were trying to find a thief who had stolen a chart showing a safe route to the mysterious (and misty) Isle of Albion. 

Six tokens represent possible hiding places for the thief, a unit contacting a token reveals it, with a 1 in 6 cumulative chance it will be the thief with chart. 

We each had 500 points, which doesn't buy a lot of dwarves.  My secret weapon was a Carrion Beast, which you can see painted in the previous post. I thought something fast would prove useful grabbing objectives. 

Apologies if the following focuses more on the undead than the dwarves, you can read Boðvoc's account over on his blog.

The Field of Conflict 

The battlefield was suitably busy; ideal for this sort of skirmish. Cliffs blocked the far end if the table, as seen on the photos  -  these were actually the old modular plastic hills from Citadel stood on their side! A track leads along the length of the battlefield to a couple of fields and a farm house, with a hedge extending the line of the track.  A couple of low hills flank the hedge near the centre of the table,  and a couple of woods and a large hill dominate the near end of the table. 

There are a couple of boggy areas, near the cliffs and at the end of the hedge, and minor ruins scattered around. 

Objective tokens were placed in both bogs, both fields, one of the woods and on the rocky hill. 

The undead moved on from the left and the dwarves from the right. 

Opening Moves 

Once both sides had deployed it was clear that most of the action would be over near the cliffs. 

The two sides face off

Initially, both sides moved forward towards the objectives. Makhar boosted the skeleton spears, increasing their number to nine, otherwise it was simply a case of making progress towards the objectives.

Two turns in

The dwarven archers occupied the nearby woods.  They searched in vain, no sign of either thief or chart.

Makhar climbed the hill with his bodyguard.  No sign of the chart here either.  He took advantage of his position to inflict a Chill Wind on the dwarven axe troops, killing four.

The zombies shambled forwards, keen to feast on dwarf. To their left, the skeletons advanced into the field. Hiding in the crops was the thief, and, more importantly,  the sea chart.

Over near the cliffs the Carrion Beast circled round and dropped a rock on Amlodi.  The dwarf hid behind his beer barrel, one of his drinking chums was less fortunate. 

The action hots up, the chart is in bony hands

Main Battle

Shaken by the loss of one of his guard ("he owed me a pint"), Amlodi Forkbeard did little more than check his beer barrel for leaks.

The skeletons withdrew from the field, accompanied by a nervous rogue clutching the map. 

The dwarven infantry moved up, hoping to catch the skeletons with the prize, while the zombies shuffled ever closer.

Makhar scrambled down the hill and caught the dwarven guard in another chill wind, but they were made of sterner stuff and largely shrugged it off. They were less fortunate when the Carrion Beast dropped rocks on them, losing one of their number. 

The dwarven archers shot at Makhar and his bodyguard,  but caused no casualties. 

The undead take shots at the dwarves who desperately chase the the map

The Carrion Beast continued it's bombardment of the dwarf guard, taking out another, as did Makhar's Chill Wind. Seeing the skeletons withdraw with the chart, the necromancer decided to make the dwarves pay for their presumption. Hopefully it would delay any attempt at dwarven expansion into Albion. He ordered the zombies to charge the dwarven guard.  Despite acquitting themselves well, the dwarves were spent from their previous casualties and broke, the survivors fleeing the battlefield. 

The dwarven axes then charged the remaining zombies to avenge their kin and wiped them out. 

Desultory shooting from both lots of archers caused no casualties, but both sides suffered somewhat (a pin each).

The Dwarven Guard have gone to the Halls of the Stone Ancestors, the zombies are destroyed, and neither side's archers are up to much

End Phase 

The dwarven archers crouched down in confusion (failed Order test). Both Makhar and the Carrion Beast slew a dwarven axe, but the dwarves had the effrontary to charge the necromancer.

Dwarven axes vs Makhar and his guard

One of Makhar's bodyguard was smashed to bits by the axes of the dwarves,  but their earlier casualties caused them to break. They kept their discipline,  and withdrew in good order.

The skeleton spears continued their withdrawal,  keeping the chart safe.

Gradual whittling down of both sides

The undead gradually retreat.  Makhar tries a final blast of Chill Wind on the remaining dwarven axes, but they shrug off the effects. 

With no way of catching the skeletons with the chart, and unwilling to risk more dwarven lives (according to some, because his beer barrel had sprung a leak), Amlodi Forkbeard sounded the retreat. 

The Chart is safe in Makhar's hands

Well that was a hugely enjoyable game. I did wonder what Boðvoc has done to upset the dice gods: his luck, especially to begin with, was shocking.  Amlodi failing a Command test when he needed a 9 or less, for example.

Conversely, my rolling was good, especially early on, and I managed to cast every spell, though not always terribly effectively. 

It was my first game using my undead, though I did face them when T'Other One squashed my orcs with them back in November. I was pleasantly pleased with their performance, though a lot of the success was down to avoiding the dwarves.  The scenario helped a lot here, I'm sure I'd have struggled in a straight up fight. 

The Carrion Beast seemed very powerful, essentially being untouchable, as it stayed away from any dwarven missiles.  I predict a lot more archers and rangers, and probably some magical support in the dwarven lines in the future.  

What's Next?

The next scenario is The Mists Recoil, actually the first one in the original campaign.  It's an odd one, designed for individual skirmishing minis using a  system akin to Mordheim. It pits boats full of attackers trying to land opposed by three war machines and a tiny garrison. 

We'll not be trying to do individual minis; so far we are looking at the three war machines and 200 points of undead against 600 points of dwarves in boats.  This may change of course. 

I need an undead champion to lead my skeleton crew, fortunately I've already got one part painted.  I've also got some Grenadier war machine crew, and a complete Skull Chucker catapult.  I'm looking out for potential war machines for the crew, or perhaps some scratch building?

At some point I must paint a banner for the Fantasy Lords standard bearer I painted in December.  Boðvoc has a Spoils chart, and my undead got a magic banner granting Command 10 to all units within 10".

Citadel Carrion Painted

I finished this lovely Oldhammer mini in December, but I've kept it secret until I could surprise Bodvoc with it in our first Dark Shadows game (more on this in an upcoming post).

Initially I thought the mini fairly dull.  To be honest, pretty much just all vulture feathers and flesh, and a black robed mini skelly didn't inspire me.  Looking for inspiration online showed lots of images of nearly black minis with very little else to grab the eye.  I dragged it out of the unpainted undead pile because I wanted something fast and flappy for my army.

As I looked closer I appreciated the details, its a nasty, rotting smelly corpse that still flies.  It has patches of wing missing any feathers, the leathery skin still allows flight.  There are areas where flesh and skin are missing completely, the neck is exposed down to the spine, and the head is mostly bare skull and beak.  Even the underneath has the organs exposed, along with a couple of ribs.

I don't think I've done it justice, but I've had fun trying.

Undead bird after your chips!

Flap flap flap

I'm sure those should be on the inside

I really enjoyed painting this beast, hopefully it was a pleasant surprise for Bodvoc as it strafed his dwarves, or tried to.

What Next?

I do have a few more secret projects for the campaign, expect them when they've had their first appearance on the table top.

Otherwise,  I'm in the middle of Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge,  so I'll be plugging away at that until February 26th. 

PWYG 25/26 and AMAC 26 Further Progress

I'm around three weeks into Dave Stone's Paint What You Got Challenge and a couple of weeks into Anne's Miniature Assembly Challenge.  

So how's it going?

PWYG

Well it's been a busy week outside of the hobby (lots of music), and I've done very little painting, so PWYG has been a bit in the background apart form a bit more paint on those zombies.  I haven't even managed to finish of the 

AMAC

I have managed to assemble another five gnolls, finishing the plastic gnolls I wanted for the second Rangers of Shadow Deep mission.  There's still the Herbalist/Shaman, but he's the metal model I got at RECON last year, so doesn't count for the assembly challenge.

The next batch of gnolls

Four of the gnolls are pretty standard, I used the crossbows this time, rather than bows. For a bit of variety,  I used the greataxe from the first Frostgrave Barbarians set. It fits pretty well on the gnoll bodies,  and the bits of armour help sell the idea of the sergeant being a bit tougher. The arms are a bit more muscled than the gnolls, but I guess the sergeants get first dibs on any protein?

Whats Next?

I want to get soem Dunedain built for the early scenarios in the Fellowship of the Ring book.  These will be kitbashed, based on the GW plastic Rangers of Gondor.  I plan on adding a few bits from various sprues to make them look less like the Rangers of Ithilien, so hopefully they count in the challenge.

I've a couple more minis I'd like to build too, more on those later.