TFL Painting Challenge: Large Update

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Only eight weeks or so to go before the end of this year’s Challenge…and the paint brushes are flying around as people get their last few entries of the year ready.

Today, in no particular order, we have:

  • Lots of snake fencing and a squad and a bit of US soldiers for the Bulge from Travis

  • Squadrons of WW2 aircraft for the desert of Med from Mark Luther

  • Joining Mark on the aircraft production line is Jason Ralls, but he adds some WW2 shipping as well

  • Our favourite Valkyrie, Carole, paints a famous shieldmaiden and some Jotuns for her to fight

  • Mervyn is clearing some of the more obscure bits of his lead mountain

  • Andy Duffell is all slingers and ogres

  • There’s a mix of Napoleonics and WW2 from Sapper: they’re all still PBI though

  • Lloyd is still painting Aztecs: loads of colours never used before and never to be used again

  • More 15mm SYW Austrians from Mr Helliwell

  • A mixture of skeletons and samurai from the Hodgemeister

Lots of beautiful paint-jobs on show, so make sure you visit some of the galleries. Clicking on the name of the person will take you straight to their gallery, which will open in a new window so you don’t have to faff around with navigation etc.

Here are a few examples to wet the whistle…

IABSM AAR: On the Northern Shoulder of Kursk, Fight 3

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Yet another stupendously huge IABSM AAR from Just Jack: the third in his series of fighting on the northern shoulder of Kursk.

This time, the Soviets are counter-attacking towards Kastenwold, and seem to be doing a good job of it too!

This is another huge AAR: 162 photos if I recall correctly. So click on the pic below to see all…

The Sumerian Panzer Division

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More of the lovely 15mm Sumerians from Museum Miniatures. This time it’s the bronze fist of the army: the battle carts!

These are a bit like heavy chariots…except for the fact that there are no horses available, so the somewhat less sophisticated equids are used instead; and primitive technology requires the carts to have four wheels instead of two i.e. making them hard to manoeuvre.

Other manufacturers take note: these are easy to put together in that the carts are basically one piece with the yoke and pole being another. Add in the bow cases on the sides and you’re done.

As usual, I’ve painted these mostly with Citadel Contrast paints. I’ve covered how the Sumerian infantry are done in previous posts, but the equids are undercoated as usual, then have the legs and lower body lightly painted in Apothecary White. The upper body is then painted in Nazdreg Yellow. The mane down the back is simple black, black tufts on the ears and in the tail, and you’re done. Horse equipment was Contrast Snakebite Leather.

If I have any complaint, it’s that the warrior in the back is in a bit of a weird pose. I question how easy or practical it is to hold the spear like that for a sustained period, or even to thrust. I know holding a Japanese bo like that wouldn’t work unless you’re talking about literally the very final point of a somewhat unusual overhand thrust: I went and got mine out of the car to try it out!

But that’s a minor gripe: overall very nice figures.

Q13: DRS Models

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Another update to the list of 15mm Sci-Fi Figure Manufacturers that you can find listed in the Q13 section of this website.

Latest addition, long overdue, is DRS Models: a range of 3D printed models covering seven different factions. No infantry or other units, but the vehicles do look very good and, pleasingly, cover all the different sorts of model that you need i.e. each faction has main battle tanks, APCs, anti-air vehicles, SP guns etc.

Here’s an example from the Cetian range:

I haven’t ordered or got any of these yet, but they certainly look very good. Some of the ranges are quite unusual as well: giving a suitably alien feel to a battlefield.

Click on the picture above to go to their home page.

IABSM AAR: Operation Martlet, Day 2

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Great little AAR by Desmondo Darkin, taken from the IABSM Facebook Group.

The scenario was based on Day 2 of Operation Martlet, 25th June. 1944: the British attack on the German line at St Nicholas Farm and the Grand Farm.

Desmondo and friends used the Oh What a Total Bummer dice-driven version of IABSM. Click on the pic below to see what happened:

You'd Have To Be Crazy...Sumerian Saddle Carts

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Next up for the Sumerians (15mm from Museum Miniatures) are another non-core unit: the absolutely insane Straddle Carts:

The view from the rear, below, shows them better, but it’s a chap sitting on a mini-vaulting horse being pulled along by four equids!

This seems like a very good way to die!

What is a shame, however, is that the army lists from To The Strongest rate these as just about the worst troop type you can get: Raw Lights. Now I know that is probably the author reflecting his slight disbelief that these things ever existed (carvings, presumably, being open to misinterpretation), but I think a Veteran rating would be more appropriate. For a start, more people would use them, adding to the uniqueness of the army; and secondly, as I say in the title, you’d have to be crazy i.e. Veteran to ever get on to one of them in the first place!

Sumerian Archers

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I’m making a real push to finish my Sumerians now. These are from the excellent Museum Miniatures 15mm range, painted with Citadel Contrast paints.

Today’s offering is a non-core unit: a regiment of either Bodyguard or City archers:

Lovely figures, as you can hopefully see, and really easy to paint. Here’s a view from the back:

On to the Battle Carts next!

IABSM AAR: On the Shoulder of Kursk, Fight 2

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Another stupendous After Action Report from Just Jack, currently fighting a mini-campaign On the Northern Shoulder of Kursk.

This is fight two, so make sure you are sitting comfortably as we launch into another epic tale: even if this report contains only 144 photos this time!

Just Jack runs as excellent blog, Blackhawknet, that can be found by clicking here.

Click on the pic below to see all:

Q13: New Manufacturer Added: Trilaterum

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I’ve added a new company to the list of 15mm sci-fi figure manufacturers: Trilaterum.

Trilaterum produce a set of rules (not that you’ll need them obviously, as Q13 will fulfil your every need!) and several ranges of figures. So far they have:

  • The Agarascale: fungus-looking lifeforms that would go well with Ravenstar’s Horrids

  • The Dominion: humans in battlesuits

  • The Kaevur: they look like space dwarves to me…so I’ve ordered a load and will report back once they arrive

  • Quite a few larger mecha, space beasts and vehicles

Overall they look very nice. As I said above, I’ve already ordered some Kaevur, and if they prove worthwhile, I’ll probably get some Agarascale basic toadstool infantry too.

A couple of negatives, though. Firstly, the website shop doesn’t, as far as I can see, give a clear listing of pack contents. It has plenty of photos, but it’s not clear if the group shots are meant to be photographic catalogue entries or just examples. If the former, then my second negative is that it looks to be quite difficult to amass enough infantry for a platoon without buying loads of (perhaps unwanted) support material.

For example, Kaevur pack one is listed as containing:

The Photo of Pack 1

Kaevur Pack 1 contains enough miniatures to make the following units

Hoolda Infantry x 2
Juht Infantry
Kaevamine Heavy Mecha Vehicle

If I only get six basic infantry figures, I’m going to have to get a lot of drilly-things (at the back on the left) to get a decent platoon’s worth of PBI.

I suppose I could just e-mail them and ask, but where’s the fun in that?

Review to be continued when my Kaevur arrive…

IABSM AAR: The Road to Gravelines

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Tim Whitworth and friends are working their way through the Defence of Calais scenario pack. Here’s a quick AAR from Scenario #04: The Road to Gravelines.

The unenviable task facing the British was to get a massive truck borne supply consignment of rations from Calais to Dunkirk along the road via Gravelines. Early in morning the convoy left the Calais Gate and travelled the route until it reached the village of Le Beau Marais where 1 Panzer Division forward elements had set up a substantial roadblock on the village crossroads and billeted up for the night.

The game begins with the British reaching the roadblock and the Germans being alerted to their presence.

Click on the picture below to see what happened:

TFL Painting Challenge: Big Update

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Aztec Priest from The Hat

Morning All! Big Painting Challenge update today.

I’ve actually been adding entries over the last couple of days, but haven’t had a chance to get it all finished until now. Scorecard is up to date as well.

We’re now only a couple of months away from the end of the year: so let’s have a big push from everyone…especially those who haven’t sent much in so far.

So, today, in no particular order, we have:

  • Carole adds to her Gothic horror collection

  • There are lots of Romans from Mr Stoesen

  • Lloyd is off to South America with some amazingly painted Aztecs

  • Jason Ralls sends in some nice early war WW2 figures

  • Mervyn finds time not only to see Alice Cooper but also to finish some banshees (no comparison made, I’m sure!)

  • There’s a mix of Hessians and Romans from Travis

  • And a big lot from Fred Bloggs: his usual mixture of everything from Epic scale to 35mm

  • David Scott sends in his first entry of the year, proving it’s never too late to break your duck

  • A new army from Mr Helliwell: 7YW Austrians are now underway

  • Andy Duffell is back: some French/Indian wars native Americans plus a confused looking German officer (although I’m not sure they’re together!)

  • And last, but not least, Mr Luther is back in the Ukraine with some hovels and haystacks

As usual, clicking on the name of the person in the list above will take you straight to their gallery (opens in a new window).

Today’s pictures are below:

IABSM AAR: On the Northern Shoulder of Kursk

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A stupendous AAR from Just Jack from his excellent blog BlackHawkNet covering a game of IABSM set on the northern shoulder of the great battle of Kursk in July 1943.

This is well worth a read although, just to warn you, there are 175 captioned photos of the action!

So get yourself a cup of tea, settle down, and click on the picture below…

IABSM at Pie, Mash & Lard 2019

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It was the Pie, Mash & Lard Lardy Day at the South London Warlords yesterday: a day which included a IABSM game put on by Ian Spence involving a US mixed force of tanks, Recce and infantry pushing German defenders out of a village and driving off table. A bloody affair which ended up with most German units eliminated, except the crucial platoon that held the village itself.

Click on the pic below to see Desmondo Darkin’s full report plus pictures:

More Museum Miniatures Sumerians

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Here’s the latest batch of the 15mm Museum Miniatures Sumerians that I have finished. The more I paint this range, the more I appreciate the beauty of the figures.

48 City Spearmen

I’m painting them using the new Citadel paints: using just one coat over an undercoat to get all the highlights you can see. I reckon that now I’m more familiar with the figures, I could add a few extra highlights to make them even better (especially on the flesh), but as I’m painting about 400 of the little blighters, I think I’ll stick with what I’m doing!

City Axemen

The next big challenge is how to paint the equids/onagers i.e. the proto-horses they used to pull their battle carts. Might do a bit of easy-to-paint light infantry first whilst I think about it…

Levy Slingers