Painting Challenge Wrap-Up

The 6th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge wrapped up this past Sunday.

I ended up finishing with a decent score of 620, which was nonetheless well short of what I'd hoped to hit (850). This was mostly owing the fact that I was also working on a massive writing project in the midst of the Challenge, a project that ended up taking up most of my December and January. And then it took me most of February to really gather my wits back about me. So by the time I was ready to start painting again in earnest, the Challenge was nearly complete.

Still, I did manage to knock off one big painting project (a platoon for Bolt Action) and make a start on my 40K Black Templars project (which will get a post of its own at some point, I imagine).

Another reason I didn't do as well as I'd hoped is, ironically, because I've managed to establish a regular painting schedule outside of the Challenge. Last year, the Challenge was key to me getting a ton of unpainted figures finished up for my display cabinets, as it forced me to establish a regular nightly painting routine. I managed to maintain that routine, and even (thanks to moving into a bigger house) set up a permanent painting corner that makes putting in time on my figures even easier. So I felt less pressure to get things knocked out - there wasn't the "now or never" feeling of last year.

Also, due to my insane work schedule, I wasn't able to get invested in the community of the Challenge - commenting on other peoples' work, offering encouragement and advice, etc. (Indeed, I still have yet to get caught up on my blog feed in general; I've got a backlog of several weeks to wade through!) Losing that connection to the Challenge further reinforced my lackadaisical participation.

I'll probably participate again next year, but with a much lower points target. Maybe just a single big project or something. We'll see.

At any rate, as I did with my last post, here's a round-up of what I submitted during the back half of the Challenge...

A Bit of Brazilians

Outside the Painting Challenge, my biggest project last year was putting together a platoon for games of Bolt Action. I went a bit off the beaten path with my choice of force, in that I modeled my platoon on the Força Expedicionária Brasileira (FEB), or Brazilian Expeditionary Force, which fought in Italy during the latter months of the war.

I wrote about my collection in greater detail here, but in brief the FEB was mostly U.S. kit but with Springfield rifles instead of Garands (and an according difference in tactical doctrine). Part of the draw for modeling this force was the fact that the army was racially integrated, so it presented an opportunity to paint up models that look at once familiar yet subtly different, but I'll be honest: what really sold me was their divisional insignia--a snake smoking a pipe!

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

I got to have a game with my boys from Brazil a couple months ago, and noted that my squads needed some beefing up, both in numbers and firepower. So here are six more recruits (including two BAR gunners) set to join the FEB's ranks in time for my next game.

One thing I didn't have in that game (nor in the pictures taken for the above-linked post) were sleeve insignia. The kind folks at Fighting Pirannha Graphics (and what an appropriate name that was!) took care of that for me, and I am now the proud owner of two sheets of FEB sleeve insignia decals...

So that's six 28mm infantry for 30 points. A small ding in my total, but a good way to get back in the swing after losing January to work obligations. Next week, hopefully, a modest points bomb...

28mm "Defenders of Leningrad"

"Next week, hopefully, a modest points bomb..." 

So spake I three weeks ago. Well, that's what I get for making promises, I guess.

But here, at last, is the promised modest points bomb: a platoon of Soviet naval infantry along with a KV-2 tank and a gaggle of citizen militia. This is a 1,000-point Bolt Action force modeled on forces defending Leningrad in early 1942, somewhere towards the end of winter and beginning of spring.

I've long had an interest in the "Black Death" of the Great Patriotic War. Long ago, I had a platoon of them in 20mm scale. After getting into Bolt Action last year, and finding an opponent who enjoys early-war Eastern Front games as much as I do, I set about putting together a naval infantry force in 28mm.

First Squad

Manufacturers are Warlord and BTD. There's a nice mix of black pea coats, blue middy blouses, and army-issue telogreika.

Second Squad

Although I appreciate the authentic mix of uniforms, this is chiefly what slowed me down the most (especially with the extra militia squad in their civvies thrown in for good measure!). I'd anticipated that this project would paint up quickly--it was supposed to be just a bunch of black uniforms, after all. No such luck.

Third Squad

Speaking of the black uniforms, I'm pretty pleased with how those turned out. They look suitably dark without losing too much detail or going too gray with the highlighting.

Platoon Command: HQ, Politruk, FAO, ATR team

The Commissar's in town!

I owe this to the "Black Paint Set" from Andrea Color, a set I'll be returning to when I shift gears and start working on my Black Templars for 40K (which I'll hopefully be able to at least get a start on before the Challenge ends).

Maxim HMG team

Back to these fellows, though: When researching this force, I read somewhere that there were KV-2s at Leningrad. One of my all-time favorite tanks, I leapt at the opportunity to do one in 1/56 scale.

This KV-2 from Warlord bears the weathering of a tough winter: its whitewash camouflage largely dissolved by now, rust streaks in great abundance, tracks and running gear covered in frozen mud.

Bolt Action provides Red Army lists with a free squad of Green-quality troops, so I decided to build on my "city defense" theme by representing my free squad with "partisan" figures, here standing in for Leningrad's ad-hoc People's Militia Army.

These figures from BTD have tons of character, and I found myself making up little back-stories for many of them. I painted up their commanding officer as a dismounted Cossack cavalryman, put in charge after his horse ended up in the communal stew pot.

Black Templar Terminators and Land Raider

As the finish line looms closer, I finally at least manage to put some points on the board towards my Black Templar project. I'd hoped to get through my entire Templar list this Challenge, but so it goes.

I've always had a soft spot for the 40K universe, but most of my gaming in that setting has been via Epic-scale engagements. For various reasons, I never got into 40K proper back in the 90s. I've nearly gotten into it a few times over the last 10 years, but I lacked a project that really fired my imagination.

That changed when I discovered the Black Templars. I love their look, I love their lore. In a gothic sci-fi universe, they are the most gothic of all. I used to field an Empire army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and I think the Black Templars come closest to capturing that same visual aesthetic. I was additionally pleased to find out that Forge World offer a variety of resin and brass-etched "add-ons" to properly pimp out one's Templars in grand gothic fashion.

What we have here is one of the centerpiece units of my Templar force: five Terminators and their Land Raider Crusader transport.

The Terminators are kitted out with custom shoulder plates and shields from Forge World; for their helmets, I swapped in appropriately knight-like pieces from Puppets War (gotta love those third-party Eastern European conversion companies!).

As befits the Eternal Crusaders of Righteousness, these guys are positively festooned in purity seals. (I love purity seals.)

And then there's the behemoth that is the Land Raider Crusader. This thing took almost as long to build as it did to paint! Coming off of painting WWII tanks, which are usually no more than 3-5 pieces total, it was a bit daunting assembling this thing, with its dozens of parts.

Size-wise, it's truly massive - probably the largest vehicle miniature I've ever painted.

Once again, lots of nice additional details courtesy of Forge World.

I'm quite pleased with how the black turned out on both the Terminators and the Crusader. I used Andrea Color's "Black Paint Set" (as I did with my Soviet sailors in my last entry) and the kit worked great both with the brush and airbrush (although the rather viscous paints needed a lot of watering down for the latter).

I'm going to knuckle down and get one more entry in before the closing ceremonies, so I won't say cheerio just yet...

Curtgeld & Farewell

For this, my final entry, I present my Curtgeld. Coming into the Challenge, I honestly had no idea of what this was going to be, but when David Bowie ascended to the stars back in January I suddenly had a notion of who I wanted to represent a risk-taker and gambler.

As many eulogies following his death pointed out, Bowie was a consummate risk-taker, constantly shedding his pop identity in favor of new realms of exploration, dabbling in the latest frontiers of a variety of musical genres and forms of expression, never sure if his next move would spell the end of his popularity or career. Yet time and time again, he proved his doubters wrong. Even his failures and wrong-turns were interesting and edifying in their own way.

His public devil-may-care image inspired countless fans from all walks of life and identities to be themselves, to revel in their weirdness. His impact on the generations that grew up with the image of Ziggy or the Thin White Duke or, yes, Jareth the Goblin King is incalculable. And he went out like a true artiste with a brilliant final album musing on the nature of death and dying and immortality.

This figure, originally a Ral Partha and now available via Iron Wind and amusingly titled "Androgynous Rocker with Microphone", fit the bill nicely to provide a 28mm tribute to the man.

And his tush.

The Painting Challenge So Far

It's winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, which can only mean one thing: it's time once again for the annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!

After a successful run last year, I've hopped on the merry-go-round once again. I found that the Challenge really motivated me to get through my unpainted lead piles, and I've been slowly stockpiling over the course of the intervening year in anticipation of doing so again.

As with last year, I'm starting off slowly thanks to holiday distractions (and, this year, a big writing project!), but I'm looking forward to really building up a big head of steam over the remaining weeks (the Challenge concludes on March 20th).

So far, I have two entries up for a total of 100 points out of a projected goal of 850 points (and putting me 45th out of 88 entrants). Not a bad start. If I can keep up a pace of 100 points per week for the remainder of the Challenge (that's the equivalent of 20 28mm figures, which seems realistic), I'll exceed my goal. Plus I've got a plan for the "Defensive Terrain" bonus round...

Here are my two entries so far:

Bug-Eyed Martians

Hoo-boy, I am shaking off the rust! I did a fair amount of painting over the summer, but it's been a few months since I picked up the brush. So a small project as I stretch my muscles by way of a Christmas gift for my dear old Dad.

He's a big fan of 50s sci-fi, and has a modestly-sized toy collection in that vein, so when I saw these figures from Hydra Miniatures I knew I had to get them, paint 'em up, and make a contribution to his collection.

Since they're meant for display, I didn't spare the garish colors and gloss varnish touches. I think he'll be pleased with the results.

Warmachine: Scruffy Desperado Types

January is a very busy month for me work-wise, but I'm still managing to put in a couple hours every evening, and here (finally) is my first significant accomplishment of the Challenge: a passel of figures for Warmachine.

These fellows (along with a Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew I painted a long time ago) are sufficient to field a good medium-sized force by the standards of the game. To be honest, the core concept of the force is meant to tweak the nose of my regular opponent, who usually fields the Cygnar faction. So here we have Magnus the Warlord, a traitor to his homeland of Cygnar, now a scruffy mercenary generalissimo conspiring to bring down Cygnar's current king.

He brings with him two Warjacks: the heavy Mangler and the light (and appropriately-named) Renegade. Although these are normally considered "mercenary" designs, Magnus has painted them in Cygnar blue--deep down inside, he still thinks of himself as a patriot--but life out in the swamps and badlands is tough, and the paint is peeling and chipping, the iron beneath beginning to rust.

To help in his plotting and endeavors, Magnus has contracted the services of the notorious bandit gang, Croe's Cutthroats. Armed with crossbows and "murder blades," these desperadoes are in it for the gold and plunder and couldn't care less about Magnus's political ambitions.

Even though my Warmachine/Hordes rules mastery remains woefully lacking, I'm looking forward to fielding these guys, and hopefully soon.

Bolt Action Brazil!

In the English-speaking world, it is generally unknown that a volunteer Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) fought alongside the US Army in Italy from mid-1944 until the end of the war. This was in effect a light infantry division, consisting of three infantry regiments augmented with artillery and light armour. It was supported by a Brazilian Air Force contingent of a light reconnaissance squadron as well as a P-47 Thunderbolt-equipped fighter squadron.  --From Brazilian Expeditionary Force in World War II by Cesar Campiani Maximiano and Ricardo Bonalume

About six months ago, I got it into my head to collect a Bolt Action platoon based on the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Força Expedicionária Brasileira, or FEB).

Why Brazil?

Well, like most folks who have been into a given period of historical wargaming for more than a few years, I'm inordinately interested in the weird little nooks and crannies of my chosen period, and the FEB struck me as a fun but not too "out there" choice (as far as these things go).

They were equipped by their American allies (for the most part), so standard U.S. figures suffice nicely. As a nice change of pace from the period, however, the FEB was the only fully racially-integrated division fighting for the Western Allies, so score one for diversity! In fact, I first started reading up on the FEB after having a productive online discussion with a fellow blogger regarding the white-washed nature of typical WWII (European theater) wargaming. Warlord makes a range of Japanese-American and African-American figure heads that provided plenty of conversion opportunities.

Plus it can't be denied that Brazil in the 1940s has a certain romantic charm about it.

But the final tipping point for me came when I saw their divisional sleeve patch:

Yes, that's a snake smoking a pipe. The image was based on an apocryphal story that someone (it changes depending on who you ask - let's just say Hitler) said that the Brazilians would join the war effort "when snakes smoked."

(I've currently got an order in with Fighting Piranha Graphics to produce a sheet of custom sleeve insignia decals...)

I ordered Osprey's volume on the FEB (because of course there's an Osprey book on the subject!) and did some reading. In the end, I decided to base my list off of the FEB in the last stages of the war, as they overran northern Italy during the spring of '45, specifically in the fighting around Montese and Collecchio. In particular, I modeled my collection on a Pelotão de Choque ("Close Combat Platoon"), ad hoc units that were tasked with aggressive reconnaissance and "keeping up the scare" on the retreating Axis forces. The members of the Close Combat Platoons were hand-picked from various units based on their bravery and exploits in the war up to that point, so it's a nice way to model a fierce fighting force in an army that had a, shall we say, somewhat checkered service history.

Although the FEB was equipped with American materiel, they weren't carbon copies of U.S. soldiers. For one thing, despite intentions to do so, they weren't trained in the U.S. Army's contemporary tactical doctrine, and for good reason: the infantry were largely issued surplus M1903 Springfield bolt action rifles rather than the more famous M2 Garand. As such, the Bolt Action special rules for American troops wouldn't be a perfect fit.

What I decided to do, after further reading, was keep the AIR POWER special rule, but replace the FIRE AND MANOEUVRE rule with the VENGEANCE characteristic from the Armies of Great Britain supplement, the better to reflect the FEB's noted solidity on the defense and general chip-on-the-shoulder attitude of wanting to prove themselves to doubtful allies and foes alike.

Without further ado, then, some pictures:

One of the two "Close Combat" squads. Between the halftrack's .50-cal and the .30-cal team, these guys should be able to lay down some serious firepower.

The other "Close Combat" squad, including a bazooka team for some anti-armor (the one place where my list is fairly weak).

Support elements: a Jeep mounting a .30-cal, an FAO team to call in those Thunderbolts, a medic and attached Jeep, and the platoon Lietenant and team. (I also painted up a "moving" .30-cal team for fun.)

Okay, this is when things really went overboard - I assembled and painted a 1/48-scale Thunderbolt to use as an airstrike marker! How could I not though, when Italeri makes a kit with FEB markings?

An integral M8 armored car and an M10 tank destroyer from the 1st Armored Division (which operated in close communication with the FEB).

Partisans! Advance units of the FEB often made contact with local insurgents and used them in operations against local German and Italian defenses.

The whole crew! A little over 1,000 points, so plenty of room to customize my list for a "standard" game. I hope to get them onto the table for a battle very soon.

Os brasileiros estão chegando!