'Monstrous' from Anthony O: George the Giant

George is big, in fact he is down right monstrous. Don't tell George that though as he can get a little sensitive, sure he is a little taller than average but that could just be because he is big boned. It really is not George's fault that none of the clothes in 'Ye Olde Shoppe' fit him, I mean do they think everyone is a halfling?

George just wants to settle down and be an average Joe. He certainly fancies himself as somewhat of a pretty handy baker but for some reason every time he wanders into a new town looking for a job it is all screams and pitchforks and "Call out the guard!".

George is actually a really nice guy, unfortunately George has to fight sometimes though otherwise these pompous little English men keep poking him with sticks. So he squashes and he stomps and swings his club all the while thinking about how to make amazing scones with some cream and a touch of strawberry jam.

One day George will get really angry at all those little English men with sticks and be they alive or be they dead he will grind their bones to make his bread, one day...

'Childhood' from AnthonyO: 'The Magician's Apprentice'

Magician by Raymond E Fiest has had such a significant impact on my life. I first read it as a fresh faced young and impressionable boy and immediately fell in love with the fantasy genre and the world of Midkemia.

The character of Pug was my favorite, through the wide eyes and wild imagination of my 10 year old self he was everything I aspired to be - brave, adventurous and lets not forget he got to hang out with a beautiful princess!

This submission is a tribute to the young Pug and depicts what his first encounter with the trolls looked like in my imagination. A young, scared yet very brave Magicians apprentice about to experience his first taste of his incredible power while defending his princess from the monstrous trolls.

This submission ties in the childhood theme through the magic this scene inspired in my boyhood and also by the look of determination on the face of the young apprentice miniature. 

 The Miniatures are both from the Zombicide Black Plague game system which produces some top class and interesting 28mm figures.

'BFG' from AnthonyO: Da Ork Nob

When thinking about big guns it is hard to go past an Ork, the bigger the better because size has a direct correlation to noise and noise is directly related to effectiveness, or something like that.

 

For this challenge I did not have anything prepared and it took a dive into the bits box to bring this Nob together. Although it is not a large or impressive miniature I thought I would try my best to make him look good.

Going back to old school painting styles I did not use any washes on the skin and tried to blend it up through about 7 layers. I even tried for the first time to give a hot barrel effect to the muzzle of the flamer using a bit of sponge.

Well here he is, angry, excited and eager for a fight.

'Flight' from AnthonyO: Wolfspear Drop Pod

For the first bonus round I have thrown my hat in with a drop pod from Games Workshop for 40k. A drop pod is designed to be launched from orbit and plummet to a surface of a planet to deposit combat troops. Technically it does not fly as such but as it moves through the air and this is enough for me to draw my long bow and take a shot!

I have painted it in the colour of the Space Wolves but with a slight twist, in the book 'Dark Imperium' there is a minor mention of a successor chapter to the Space Wolves made up only of Primaris Marines called the Wolfspear. There is almost nothing written on this chapter so I thought I would give it a go.

As per my normal thing I used a blister pack sponge to create any variation on colour and topped it off with some battle damage incurred on the way down. The Primaris Marines are just there for scale and show, no points for them.

'Characters/Scene from' Anthony O: 'The Fall of Berlin 1945' - Assault on the Reichstag

For the challenge I have painted up a German soldier vaulting a fallen eagle during the assault on the Reichstag. The soldier is 28mm and from the Raus blister pack by Warlord Games and the eagle and base are from Heer 46.

The inspiration for this is a Soviet movie titled 'Fall of Berlin 1945' released in 1950 and in part has room by room fighting for the Reichstag which can be viewed in YouTube. The combat is brutal and at times hand to hand and I have tried to represent the feeling of the battle in my little simple scene.

The German soldier is not depicted in the film vaulting an eagle however I feel it represents the fighting the film is showing as the Russian soldiers advance through the rubble as Germans defend and counter attack.

'East' from AnthonyO: Nakatomi Yakuza

When I began to plan for this challenge I had no real idea other than to rummage through my bits box and hope inspiration would hit me. Well it did in the form of some miniatures I had acquired through a mystery 50 metal miniature lucky dip box I had purchased from Northstar Games.  These guys are from a game called A Fist Full of Kung Fu and formed part of the Yakuza Gangsters set. I had no idea what I would do with them when I found them in the lucky dip and had placed them into the bits box for perhaps an eternal slumber.

Well this painting challenge to the rescue and when looking at them I was inspired to make a gang with a lot of inspiration from those terribly bad yet amazingly good 1980's Police V Yakuza movies. The Yakuza was the arch enemy of every Detective for a good few years, you know the detectives who were top tier martial arts experts trying to atone for losing there partner in a gun fight and were just returning to work after being shot themselves type, or a Green Ranger Seal.

So I bring you the Nakatomi Yakuza Gang in this East v West battle, a ruthless group trying to muscle in on the drug and gambling trade of the New York China Town district. They are led by Tsukuda Yoshimatsu, the son of the clan leader who is trying to prove himself to his father and earn the respect of the clan. He is supported by his loyal followers and treats the local Police Department with disdain, if they can't be bought off they will suffer the consequences with meddling in his affairs!

The Nakatomi Gang, yes I loved the 80's.

Kubo Kado (The Sumo) - A rising star of the Sumo grounds in Japan he fled to the US after it was found out he threw a fight for money. Adopted into the Nakatomi Clan he acts as Tsukuda's personal bodyguard and his signature move is crushing people to death with his bare hands.

Sawa Yoichibei (Onmyōji) - Sawa is the Gang's sorceror, summoning Shikigami to manipulate their enemies or gather information. It is said Sawa is over 1000 years old and has been sent by Tsukuda's father to keep an eye on him.

Tsukamoto Ukon (Uzi) - Tsukamoto loves his Uzi submachinegun and is his weapon of choice when taking down the Gaijin. He moved to New York to study but found himself drawn to the gangster lifestyle and was recruited to the Nakatomi Gang by Tsukuda when he found him playing Double Dragon at the local arcade.

Toma Kane (The Doctor) - Toma is a medical student who acts as the Gangs medic, doubling as the torturer when the gang needs those skills. He has been known to cut his victims up just to practice putting them back together, it is rumored he is acing his medical studies.

Tsukuda Yoshimatsu (The Leader) -  Tsukuda has been given this assignment from his father in an attempt to secure a foothold in the US. Educated at the best schools and universities Tsukuda is a highly intelligent person and knows it, often mocking his victims before offering them single combat with his preferred weapon, the Katana.

Painting

These guys were such fun to paint, the scheme was simple yet effective (hopefully) and suited a bad guy Yakuza gang that were the stereotype in all those movies.  The background was all free hand painted by myself other than the three posters I have printed off and glued on. The dragon is a copy of a wall mural I found online and the graffit is just random ramblings.

'Armour' from AnthonyO: French Laffly AMD 80

This vehicle is a French Laffly AMD80 Armoured Car and is going to provide some light support for my Vichy French WW2 project. I am not 100% sure who the manufacturer is so rather than risk getting it wrong I will just say it is a nice resin kit in 1/56 scale.

In Bolt Action game terms that are hardly inspiring but are an accurate vehicle for my force and have a Mad Max type of feel to them which suits my band of plucky Legionnaires.

The painting was done, after an initial base coat with a brush, by using foam from blister packs to createlayers of brighter colours from Desert Sand up to Bone White. The overall effect hopefully has created a subtle weathered look and fits in with the way I have painted my troops.