The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, the historical side

Its that time of the year, when temperature drops, snow covers the ground and we get ready for another crazy painting challenge! So as usual I decided to join the fun, along with a whopping 71 other crazies! Yes, the challenge keeps getting bigger, and this year there are a few changes. First and foremost the Challenge now gets its own blog,  and all the participants get to participate in it by writing their own entries. We also get a date in which we can post our weekly updates. In my case Tuesdays. This should help Curt manage this massive endeavor. 

So as usual I've set myself a goal slightly above what I've done in the past, this time 600 pts! The scoring is as follow for the 28mm painters :

28mm foot figure = 5 pts
28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 10 pts
28mm vehicle = 15 pts

I've been working hard on Oldhammer recently, but I do want to include some historical painting in the challenge. So here's the goal, on the historical side of my hobby :

• 4 gun Austrian battery, with 12 crews : 100 pts 
• 24 Canaanite Royal Guards : 120 pts 
• 12 Canaanite javelineers/skirmishers : 60 pts

Historical total : 280 pts.  

So all in all between my historical goal (280) and my fantasy goal (315) I'm short 5 pts but I have a few individual figures and surprises in mind to fill that gap. Of course, I reserve the right to change my plans without any notice! This is merely a tentative plan to help me focus.

Also, as Curt did last year, every two weeks there is a theme bonus round. These are worth 50 pts each but I do not count them in my point planning, although they will surely help me reach my goal if I can submit enough of them: 

• December 14: Cold
• December 28: Mount(s) & Rider(s)
• January 11: Victorian
• January 25: Myth
• February 8: Hot
• February 22: Comedic
• March 8: Anti-Hero

I have an entry in mind for all the bonus round except the cold and the hot (which I may or may not participate in depending on my progress). But I'll keep my ideas secret and they will be revealed on the appropriate dates.

So the last two weeks I've done as much as I can on the prepping side, trying to be better prepared than year's past. I haven't prepped everything, but its a very good start. 

My prepping table this morning

For those interested, you can find the Fantasy side of my challenge here

And finally, I'm proud to mention that Murawski Miniatures is sponsoring the challenge this year.  And boy are the prizes worth it!

Napoleon Minion Imperial Guards

What happens when you mix some of my favourite cartoon characters with my favourite historical era?

The secret force behind Napoleon's rise to power (and probably responsible for his fall).

2nd battalion, 1st infantry regiment, Duchy of Warsaw

I recently finished the 2nd battalion of the 1st infantry regiment of the Duchy of Warsaw. You might remember a while ago I painted the 1st battalion. 

For this unit, I decided to use the recently released "Duchy of Warsaw Retreat from Moscow/Campaign gear" from Muraswki Miniatures, which I really like, combined with a mix of campaign and full dress figures, to create a diverse and rag tag bunch. I also used some figures from the new firing line command. As with the rest of my Polish force, they are meant for the 1809 era, specifically for the battle of Raszyn. 

I'm quite pleased with my work on this battalion, I think it is one of my better painted Napoleonic battalion. I'm getting used to Paul Hicks sculpting, which helps. It's weird to say, but before painting Murawski figures my Napoleonic collection was basically all sculpted by the Perrys! I also used this regiment to try different greys and white/beige recipes, as I'm currently looking for a new way to paint white uniforms. I might go with the method I used for the trousers of that grenadier on the far left.

So I now have 2 regiments completed, the 2 battalions of the 1st and 2 battalions of the 8th. Not bad. I intend to work on an artillery battery next and a command stand, and I should have enough to field a brigade for our games. When that is done I'll post a pic of the complete brigade.

Here is my now customary picture of the complete regiment. I love the 1st regiment in 1809, with the yellow facings and the big white flags.

Up next on the historical painting table, either some Canaanites or more Poles. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Back to ancient times...(Canaanite archers)

Today au menu a unit of Canaanites. No I did not forget about my biblical project! I've been waiting patiently for Warlord games to re-release Cutting Edge Maryannu Chariots, which I expect will now be very soon. I need those to finish my second Chariot unit and my Canaanite Prince. In the meantime I worked on my Napoleonics and Oldhammer project, but recently I had to itch to work on some biblicals, so since I have a few infantry units left to paint I figured I'd paint those. My original plan was as follow :

- 2x6 chariots
- 2x24 spearmen (close order)

- 1x20 archers (open order)

- 3x12 skirmishers (slingers or javelinmen)

- 1x Canaanite prince on chariot

However after discussing it with John, and after reading a few rulesets we decided to build forces for War & Conquest first,  of approx. 1650 pts.

So the new plan, very similar, became :

- 1x5 Maryannu Chariots

- 1x4 Maryannu Chariots + Canaanite Prince

- 1x24 Royal Guards

- 2x24 Spearmen 

- 1x12 javelinmen

- 1x12 Shasu Bedouins

- 1x12 Slingers

- 1x16 Archers

It's a bit Chariot light, I think, but Chariots are expensive and long to paint, so hopefully I'll add more as time goes by. So I decided to do the archers next. Royal Guards I will keep for the end I think, as I usually do for my elites. I used the same painting technique as for my other Canaanites, 3 layers with an AP finish, and the same limited colour palette of pale blues, red and raw linen.

Canaanite archers were semi-trained militia or conscripted peasantry. Canaanite tradition dating from tribal days dictated that the infantrymen supplied their own equipment, but it is unclear whether this still applied into biblical times. It seems a distinction was made between militia armed with spears or bows. Canaanite infantry was mainly used as support to the main shock troops, the chariots. 

My original basing scheme was to put 4 or 5 figures per base for open order, but after doing some tests 5 per base is really too much for 50mm square bases and it looks crowded like a close order unit. So I went with 4 per bases, which looks quite good and different enough to both the skirmish bases (3 per base) and the close order (6 per base) to be easily recognizable on the battlefield. 

I might have got an old batch as these were not as clean a casting as what I usually get from Foundry, although not in the Perry level of bad casting. Still I really like Foundry biblical range, and these were no exception. Great movement, and a joy to paint. 

So now all that's left to do is 3 chariots, including my Canaanite Prince, one unit of Royal Guards and a small unit of javelinmen. Not bad at all.  

The striketrough are completed units.

- 1x5 Maryannu Chariots (2 completed)

- 1x4 Maryannu Chariots + Canaanite Prince

- 1x24 Royal Guards

- 2x24 Spearmen 

- 1x12 javelinmen

- 1x12 Shasu Bedouins

- 1x12 Slingers

- 1x16 Archer 

Currently on my workbench on the historical side : the 2nd battalion of the 1st infantry regiment of the Duchy of Warsaw, obviously Murawski Miniatures.