'L'amour' from SeanR - 'Elf of Hearts'

For my bonus round entry this time, I wanted to use a model I already had that might be a close enough match, and use the colour scheme and some minor freehand to convey the theme.

So I present my entry: the Elf of Hearts.

This is a Harlequin Solitaire from Games Workshop. I adore the clean lines and acrobatic pose of this model, and while a full army of this sort of pose might be a bit too much, this single model in the cabinet will work wonderfully.

The colours of purple and turquiose are colours that my lovely wife wears most, so seemed most fitting.

Our subject today is wearing a black leather jacket, and both the jacket and it's scarf have some small freehand hearts painted on. Hopefully this can be seen best in the above and below shots.

It's only a small entry and added early as I'm on holidays with the wife. When this is published I'll be away from the brushes and driving around Tasmania!

'L'amour' from IannickM - 'The Princess and the Frog'

For this bonus theme, I went pretty literal, and painted a romantic scene of a frog prince courting a frog princess. Your classic love story, really. A frog cupid, sending his love arrows into the prince's heart, was added to the scene, to tie the whole thing with today's holiday.

The figures are from Dark Sword's Anthropomorphic Animals range, and painting a frog during the challenge has become an annual tradition for yours truly! You may remember two years ago I painted a frog knight "Sir Kermit", and last year I went with a frog jester. This year I went big with three frogs!

Painting this range is always a lot of fun, as I can let my imagination run wild and just go with lots of colours. I'm also getting good at painting the critters and really happy with this lot. I'm especially proud as they were painted using a GW brush! In a moment of sheer clumsiness I ruined my precious Rosemary and Co. brushes by spilling army painter varnish on them, and so had to buy the only available brushes in Montreal. They are worse than I remember!

I'm going all in into this theme, as this entry is also my Valentine's day gift to Laurie, my girlfriend and mon amour. The Dark Sword's frogs have always been a favourite of Laurie (yes for some weird reason she prefers them to Chaos Champions and Napoleonic soldiers) so I spent the last two weeks working on them in secret. I believe she's going to be really happy with her gift!

--
Iannick

'L'amour' from RayR - 'Tamsin O'Leary'

I'd like to introduce you all to Tamsin O'Leary.

Now I know I could well be digging my own grave here, but how could I resist????

In the Civilian Mob faction of Donnybrook, there is a character called the Doxy.

The local Femme Fatale is secretly in the pay of your faction leader. She is able to use

 her ample charms to tempt a randomly selected character away from the

 battle for indeterminate periods and divert him to her chamber.

In the game, when her card comes out you throw a D6, if she is within 6 inches of a enemy character.

on a....

1. Her obvious charms have failed her this turn, She needs to reapply that make up!

2. Tamsin misunderstands her brief and lures a character from her own side. He will spend D3 turns in her boudoir.

3. An enemy character falls for her charms and misses D3 turns in her company.

4. A enemy character falls for her charms as above, but if he is attached to a unit, they also follow him, if they fail a morale check. They will also remain still for D3 turns!

5. A character falls for her charms,but when they meet she attacks him with her dagger, hidden in her stockings. The Doxy will strike first.

6. A character falls for her charms, after a quick kiss and cuddle she slips her dagger into his heart!

Alas he is no more.....

'L'amour' from SidneyR - 'The Proposal'

For the fourth Theme Round, once again we visit the fictional Flemish town of Laarden, which I’ve been building in 28mm.  This time, Mademoiselle Brochet is receiving a proposal from the dazzlingly over-dressed Antoine de Gautier, a young Flemish cavalier who you might remember striking a pose in the front rank of my second Theme Round submission while being immortalised in oils.  The rakish Antoine is accompanied by his “battle dog”, Ares, who he has prepared for the visit a set of ludicrous ribbons as outlandish as his own.  At least Antoine has not arrived without a gift for his paramour – a Valentine’s gold engagement ring  - and a declaration of his love.

Mademoiselle Brochet is dressed more sensibly that our heroic chevalier, although she’s still wearing Laarden’s civic colours: yellow on her somewhat extravagant hat, and blue ribbons on her own dog, Aphrodite.  A cluster of Laarden chickens have stolen into the scene, the hen clucking excitedly around the new town cockerel.  And maybe, given time, the dogs of the Chevalier de Gautier and Mademoiselle Brochet might even find themselves amorously involved.

Will young Antoine’s proposal be accepted?  Will Ares and Aphrodite fall in love? Perhaps we’ll find out in a later Themed Round.

I wanted to keep this Themed Round set in the Flemish town of the first three rounds, repeating colours, scenes and figures already painted.  And, because I love telling a story, and in a similarly daft fashion, I’ve put young Antoine in the same buff yellow as in Round 2, albeit with more ribbons, an outrageous hat and a ridiculous wig.  Mademoiselle Brochet is dressed with blue and yellow, the same colour as the Laarden militia’s standard from Round 2.  The cobblestones and the chickens featured in themed rounds 1 and 2, but fortunately no lazy workmen have (typically) turned up this time.  The figures are Dixon Miniatures for Antoine, and Warbases for Mademoiselle brochet and the animals, plus some hand swaps, and a lot of greenstuff and brownstuff putty!

Rather sentimental, and a long way from the realities of seventeenth century warfare.  But then, it is Valentine’s Day today!

'L'amour' from MartinC - "Words are Wine for the Lips"

This bonus round was an easy choice for me, I'd spotted these figures from Wargames Foundry a while ago. I like to think that the suitor is seducing his love with some romantic poety.

To see the world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
 

William Blake

However knowing 18th Century types it's probably Fanny Hill by John Cleland. They weren't also that hot on hygiene which explains the dust around the base of the chaise longue (The glue leached into the paper).The flooring and carpet are both 18th Century designs

'L'amour' from AdamC - 'Tom Bombadil and Goldberry'

This wasn't the entry I had in mind but when  I saw these two as part of a set at my local store I decided to go with them as my other plan is too large to get done in time.  Tom I did in his Blue Jacket and yellow boots as per the book I went with orange for the waist coat and green for the hat for colour (they are described in the book) but the blue feather is.  Goldberry is described in a green dress with a gold belt.

Tom Bombadil and Goldberry aren't exactly your typical fantasy power couple but.... Well Tom is the only being in Middle Earth who is unaffected by the one ring and at least on his own ground is pretty much master of all things weather the undead or evil willow trees.

Goldberry is a brilliant figure I got the whole set just for this figure.  She will appear as on of the Princess or decoy figures in a Frostgrave based game I am hosing at Huzzah Con  (I will let the judges decide if she should count for the side challenge.)  I tried to high light her face, hand and part of her dress to show the glow of candle light, it looks better in person but isn't as effective as I would like it to be.  I have a great love of Tolkien so I am pleased to showcase one of his loving couples for this round.

'L'amour' from Barks - 'Guaranteed to Score'

For the love of the game... Blood Bowl is a game played by men, orcs, dwarves, and other creatures, with one funny shaped ball. This is my interpretation of Thrud the Barbarian, a Star Player who sadly doesn't exist in the current rules edition. It is a conversion of a Hasslefree figure, which I picked up from Crusade in Cardiff in 2005. Hasslefree must have been about a year old as a company, and this figure has sat in my pile of shame for over a decade until I dusted it off for the Analogue Challenge! Foolishly, I primed it on a humid day and it is a far from smooth basecoat. It doesn't show from a distance, and I was in a hurry, so I let it slide. It looks horrible in these close-ups under a bright light, dammit.

'L'amour' from BillA - 'Stand by your Ape-Man'

"He ain't no varmint, Daddy!" screamed Bobbi Jo, "He's my boyfriend!" She planted herself firmly between her father and her lover, standing her ground with rifle in hand as the shaggy-furred hominid slunk into the shadows between the trees.  He never knew what to say during family squabbles.  

The Sasquatch (from Reaper's Chronoscope line) was another Christmas present from Gina; she knows my love of all things Bigfoot (though I'm hardly a "true believer").  As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be painted as soon as possible for the Challenge, and it dawned on me that he would make an entertaining entry for the "L'Amour" round.  Looking for a suitable beauty to go with the beast, the Chronoscope line offered up "Bobbi Jo, Redneck Princess."

I must have taken twenty pictures trying to get a good shot of her in focus, and him properly blurry.

Bingo.  A plan was coming together.  I applied some Green Stuff to a 50mm round base and pressed the two figures into it to provide "slots" for their tabs.  I painted everything, then began to final assembly.  A coat of Army Painter "Brown Battleground" basing grit and some moss glued into place to create some underbrush for Bigfoot to disappear into, and my vision was well and truly realized.

For some reason some of the PVA glue used to attach the shrubbery dried opaque.  Not sure why.

Bigfoot likes the booty.

You have no idea how proud I am to have painted the eyes.

Bobbi Jo faced down her father a minute longer, then took off running after her lover, losing herself in the underbrush.  She really thought he would have taken learning that he was going to be a grandfather better. 

'L'amour' from GregB - 'It All Depends On The Caption'

"I've found a solution for the local teenagers, love..."

In past Challenges I have mostly ignored the bonus theme rounds.  So far this year, I've stuck with it, but this one was difficult.  Couldn't really find anything too creative, or more challenging, the time to do much that was creative.  But I did find these two Wargames Foundry sculpts from their "Darkest Africa" range.  How can it be love - "l'amour"? Well, from my point of view, it all depends on the photo caption...

"THAT is an indecent proposal..."

"I repeat, sir, that I'm NOT interested..."

"I do so enjoy sport hunting Madhists on the Khartoum battlements dear.  The blue Nile is lovely at this time of year..."

You see? With photo captions, you can just do whatever you want.  Here are a couple more photos of the figures in question - I believe the lady with the double-barrelled gun is "Mrs. Capstone", and the chap is "Mr. Poirot" - both 28mm sculpts from Wargames Foundry.

In addition to garnering whatever points I can scrape in this bonus round, I can see these figures playing a part in a pulp game, or even interesting characters in a Sudan game (or other colonial-themed table adventure). 

Not much more to say, other than happy Valentines everyone!

'L'amour' from MarkO - 'French Cantinière'

The L'amour round was a good excuse to start on some of the 'civilian' elements for my Napoleonics. Beginning with this Cantiniere figure from Westfalia Miniatures. Cantineires were not exactly civilians of course, but rather auxilairies to French combat units working to supply them with drink and food, and also helping to nurse the wounded. Quite a few were killed or injured on the battlefield in these roles as a result. If things got desperate they would sometimes fight too, as this lady is getting ready to do loading her musket. There's some great information about Cantinieres at www.cantinieres.com.

This Westfalia figure is wearing a military jacket, which she may have picked up or made somehow, as early Cantineirie of the First Empire did not have official uniforms. Typical clothing would probably be more like the following pictures. Over time military uniforms in schemes complementing the unit they were attached to became standard though, typically including a braided Pelisse jacket, and large hat to protect from the sun.

Here she is next to a Perry Voltigeur. Theoretically Cantinieres had to be the wife of a man in unit they were attached to, though actual enforcement of this varied. And L'amour required no such formalities for many French post revolution I'm sure!

 

'L'amour' from EdwinK - ‘Give pounds and crowns and rubies, but not your heart away’

 
There was once in a kingdom a family, now much reduced in status, who had loyally served the crown for some 700 years. Although the position held by the head of the family was now a sinecure, it was the custom that on reaching the age of 16, that the eldest son should present himself at Court to make homage and give account to the king himself. 

It came to pass that when one son performed this duty the king’s daughter fell deeply in love with him – for he was fair, strong of limb and well-spoken. Many an afternoon they spent together in the palace gardens, and they soon pledged their troth for one another. But the princess knew that her father would never allow the match. 

“Your family is ancient, but poor. You must show yourself worthy of my hand. Go abroad, win fame and bring treasures beyond my father’s dreams back with you. Then he must allow us to be as one. I will wait for you my love!” 

So the young man went a-questing. He fought many a villain and many a demon. And he gathered all the treasure he gained into one fabulous hoard. Finally, after ten hard years, he had enough wealth to impress even the king. He sent word to the princess: the reply shook him. 

“How lovely to hear from you. I often think of those foolish, carefree days of our youth. What games we played! Much has changed since we last met. My father died two years after you decided to go on your travels and I became queen. Naturally, my advisers recommended I find a suitable consort. In the end I married funny old Duke Berthold (remember him?). We have three fine children. You must visit some time.” 

The hero sat surrounded by his wealth, the letter in his hand – until he and it crumbled away from age. 

These are 28mm treasure tokens from Ristul’s Extraordinary Market (sold in the UK by Bad Squiddo Games). They are full of great details – magic swords, war hammers, potions, crowns, jewels and, above all, GOLD! They will come in nicely for Frostgrave. 

When I was painting them the line ‘Give pounds and crowns and rubies, but not your heart away’ went through my head and I had an epiphany – “This what I can do for the L’amour round!” So here you are – for never was there a tale of more woe than of that of love.