'Fellowship' from PaulOG: Find the Halfling!

I thought I would address this bonus round from the opposite side of the Fellowship theme, while also completing my Season IX Curtgeld.

This is Lurtz, Saruman's first Uruk-Hai Commander - destroyer of the Fellowship of the Ring.  Leading a small warparty of Uruks, Lurtz tracked and attacked the Fellowship in the ruins of Amon Hen.  While Lurtz was both defeated in his mission to capture Frodo and the ring, and killed in encounter, the Gondorian hero Boromir was slain and the Fellowship was broken.

This is a 28mm GW fig in their smaller (and nicer IMO) LOTR proportions.  I have used Vallejo Mahogany Brown as the base for the skin to fit with his dark tone in the movie.  As a Curtgeld figure I have refrained from the basing so that it can match the rest of the horde when it arrives.

Points wise that is 5 points for 28mm fig, plus 20 points for Curtgeld an adding the bonus round 50 points - that's a high yield 75 points for a single figure! :-)

'Water Feature' from PaulOG: Desert Oasis

Noting my DAK project of late, my bonus entry topic probably comes as no surprise: an oasis in the desert is key terrain regardless of what era one is playing.

The obligatory "sun shining off the water" shot :-)

While my immediate use is for 15mm North Afrika, I have endeavoured to keep this scale terrain feature scale agnostic.  It is also the first time I have used resin to attempt a water effect, so this Bonus round was useful in pushing my skills envelope!

SdKfz 222 was painted during AHPC 8 and is for scale only

I have used plastic palm trees, painted and drybrushed to reduce the overly artificial look they tend to have out of the packet. They do look better outside of direct sunlight though.

Size wise, this piece takes up approximately 3/4 of "standard (non-metric) terrain cube" so I suppose that is 15 points + the Bonus round.

'Mercenary' from PaulOG: Charlie Don't Surf!

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese propaganda derided the collective Free World Military Forces (including US, Australian, New Zealand, Phillipines, South Korea and Thailand) as "Mercenaries" in the pay of the "illegitimate cronies" of the Republic of South Vietnam. In this vein, I have used this bonus round in homage to one of my favourite screen characters: Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore - callsign "Big Duke 6" - Commander of 1st/9th Air Cavalry, in Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

Kilgore is fantastically portrayed by Robert Duvall and delivers some of the most memorable parts of the movie including: distributing Death Cards, the 'Charlie Don't Surf!' beach BBQ scene, the Helicopter Assault playing Ride of the Valkyries and the iconic 'I love the smell of Napalm in the morning' monologue.

I have endeavoured to faithfully reproduce Kilgore's uniform from the film, though trying to get his flat jungle greens looking a bit more exciting was a challenge.

"You either surf, or you fight soldier!"

From start to finish I loved painting this figure and attending to detail like shiny spit polished boots, the orangy tint of the Vietnam soil, making the death card in front of him, and of course the pearl grips of his M1911A1 Colt sidearm.

"Big Duke 6" watches his boys in action

In addition to this Bonus round submission, I guess that I have now started a Bolt Action Vietnam force. Maybe just a few of those nice Company B grunts to watch his back in the jungle...  :-)

The sculpt is from Wargames Illustrated's "Giants in Miniature" range

'Sport' from PaulOG: Gladiator Sagittarius and Dux the Spectator

Studio Tomahawk's Jugula is a game that I quite enjoy, though it is quite a different style of Gladiator game. It has excellent resource mechanics and its building tempo feels like an escalating spectacle entertaining the Arena's mob crowd.  I have also historically (and uncharacteristically) won more often against Dux than not with my Ludus Caeruleus (or Blue School) which helps a fair bit too...

So my Sports Bonus round entry is a minor addition to my gladiator barracks with a bow armed Sagittarius, who as a missile armed fighter will add a new dimension to the early stages of the combat before the Gladiators get to melee distances.  Can't recall where I originally got the figure from, apologies.

As all Sports need an audience to jeer and cheer, I have also painted up a characterful spectator figure by Crusader Miniatures. I will use him as my marker for Vox Populi, which in Jugula is a measure of the crowd supporting your Ludus in its endeavours (which adds to your gladiators' performance).

Any likeness to Dux himself sans beard is surely accidental...

...or is it? :-)

2 x 28mm Figs for this Bonus round, totalling 60 points

'Reconnaissance' from PaulOG: DAK Kradschutzen Recon Platoon

The Motorcycle borne troops of the German Army were critical to the effective implementation of Blitzkrieg doctrine - searching out the enemy, seizing opportunities and using their mobility to conduct wide flanking manourvres. They are the essence of a force purpose built for this Reconnaissance Bonus round.


In the desert they came into their own, so naturally I need some in my 15mm DAK force for use with Battlegroup Tobruk and Torch!

Presenting my 15mm Reconnaissance Platoon, comprising:
- 3 Kradschutzen rifle groups of 6 men each,
- 3 Kradshutzen LMG teams,
- Kradschutzen ATR section,
- Kradschutzen 81mm mortar team,
- Motorcycle borne medic,
- Pak 36 AT gun and Kfz70 tow, and
- 75mm Infantry Gun and Kfz 70 tow
(Not shown: Plt HQ which will be mounted in a a Horsch Heavy car that I completed last challenge)

While I am really happy with how this force came out, I had a real love-hate relationship with these follows from assembly onwards, including the myriad of wonderful detail that I felt obligated to give due attention. Glad I persisted, as these will give me a great flanking force with infantry to seize objectives and with some punch to keep away those pesky Armoured Cars and Bren Gun Carriers of Dux's 8th Army.

Overall that is 12 motorcycles, 11 sidecars, 2 tow vehicles, 2 crewed guns, and 42 figs, all in 15mm. If my maths is right that is 204 points plus 50 for the Bonus round, for a total of 254.

I don't drop bombs, I execute precision fires to deliver effects at the determined point of focus :-)

'Monstrous' from PaulOG: The Monstrous '88'

For WW2 Allied tank crews in the Western Desert (and beyond) there was nothing more monstrous than a German '88'. This famous FlaK gun with its high velocity and flat trajectory became one of the most feared anti tank weapons of the war.

British accounts include anecdotes of tankers bailing out after watching a near miss 88 round skip past their machines; they knew the next round would not miss and its effects would be catastrophic.  Cyril Joly in his excellent book Take These Men grimly described the impact of an 88mm round on a British tank:

“As I spoke I saw the flame and smoke from the German gun. In the next instant, all was chaos. There was a clang of steel on the turret front and a blast of flame and smoke from the same place, which seemed to spread into the turret, where it was followed by another dull explosion. The shockwave, which followed, swept past me, singed my hands and face and left me breathless and dazed. I looked down into the turret. It was a shambles. The shot had penetrated the front just in front of King, the loader. It had twisted the machine-gun out of its mounting. It, or a jagged piece of the torn turret, had then hit the round that King had been holding ready – had set it on fire. The explosion had wrecked the wireless, tore King’s head and shoulders from the rest of his body and started a fire among the machine-gun boxes stowed on the floor.”

A British tanker taken prisoner in 1941 is reported to have complained to his German captors that "In our opinion it is unfair to use 'flak' guns against tanks".  Just not cricket apparently!

So for the Monstrous round I present an 88, painted up for desert service in the Africa Korps in 1941.  This is a Forged In Battle model and in Battlegroup terms the unit includes the Gun and 4 man crew, an additional 3 man loader team, and the Sd Kfz 7 tractor team.  Unlike my other DAK units I have made this one a less battered and more recent arrival to the theatre.

I estimate this to total 30 points for the tractor (6), gun (4), 7 crew (14), a driver (2) and the limber pieces (which I costed as another gun sized model for 4 points), plus the bonus points. And that should get me over the line for my extended 600 point target!

'Childhood' from PaulOG: Two Little Boys

Rolf Harris has been a famous Australian entertainer for many decades (lets just forget about his more recent issues shall we?). While I would not say I am a big fan of his, his song "Two Little Boys" has always appealed to me.

Broadly, its a song about two lads who played war together as lads and when they grew up look after each other on the battlefield when one of them in wounded. For those with a few minutes, here is the song:

When I saw these Downed Luftwaffe crewmen by Wargames foundry six months ago I thought of that song but never got around to painting them, but they seemed perfect for this Bonus round.  Here are my 28mm version of Two Little Boys (or "Zwei Kleine Jungen" I suppose!)

2 x 28mm figs = 10 points + bonus round

'Music/Musician' from PaulOG: Orc War Drummer

My entry for this bonus round went through a range of challenges from missing models to me mucking up an order and not getting the figure I wanted <sigh>  Then a mate gave me this...

This Orc War drummer was produced by a small Australian Based company called Inquisition miniatures in the mid 80s.  In those pre-internet days they didn't get out of the Aussie market much and once GW found out about their imitative sculpting style the IP alarms went off. Inquisition no longer trades and hasn't done for a long time.

Anyway, I bought this figure as a young teenager and half painted it. It was then one of those minis I would seem to find everywhere, feel guilty about not finishing and then loose it again only to be haunted by it again a week or two later. This continued until it was lost to antiquity when I moved out of home several years later.  My gaming club mate Marty was offloading some old figs recently and gave me this, which I immediately recognised.  So here, a couple of decades late, is my completed Inquisition Miniatures Orc Drummer!

1 fig in 28mm is worth 5 points plus the bonus round.

'BFG' from PaulOG: FIW Royal Artillery

My entry for the BFG round is an emplaced Royal Artillery field piece to support my British FIW army that I painted in AHPC VII.  Now Alan's French and Canadiens will have to content with bombardment, ball and shot while my ranks of Redcoats advance with cold steel!

I know what you're thinking - 'nice, but is it really "Big" for a BFG Bonus round?' Well big is a relative term and in the FIW campaigns along the frontier, there wasnt a lot of artillery.  Most were emplaced in fortifications or brought up for specific sieges but in general, columns didn't have guns attached.  So dropping a 12 pounder onto the table makes it a BFG indeed!

Figs are by Front Rank and I have used a large sabot base from Charlie Foxtrot models, which gave me the space to do a nice dioramic front with the gabions.    The crew of 5 is for Sharpe Practice - our FIW rules of choice. Front Rank also impressed by providing alternate barrels for the gun carriage.  In the pics above the larger 12 pounder barrel is shown.  Here is the smaller alternative they provide in the pack, allowing me to field it as a 9 or even a 6 pounder.

After time away from painting Lace Wars era uniforms, I found these a bit of a struggle - not sure how I managed 50+ of them last challenge!   In toto thats one field gun (10 points), 5 crew (25 points at 5 points each) and the 50 bonus points for a total of 85.

'Flight' from PaulOG: One Man Dirigible

This screw powered one man dirigible is a VSF delight to battle foes in the Back of Beyond, over the Red Planet or as some sort of diesel punk version of the Gyro Captain from Mad Max 2! I found this kit in the depths of the Man Cave where had lurked since purchase. The Flight bonus round gave me the impetus to give it the attention it so richly deserves.

Swoosh! Dakka-dakka-dakka!

The model is a resin and metal casting from Tobsen Miniatures in Germany, who do some fantastically crazy and wacky stuff: https://shop.tobsen77.com/en/  He also sells the pilot figure. Maxim gun and the backpack/ammo pouches are from my spares box.

If you're going to fly - fly high! 28mm fig on ground for scale only (no points)

I spent an overly long time trying to be clever by magnetising the base for easier storage, to reduce damage and so I can use the flying base for a multitude of other models.  I had mixed results but at least it is serviceable and (mostly) stable - like the machine itself really.  Probably a good height for light plastic models but I'll need some shooter tubing for metal contraptions like this one.  For this submission I also got to use my new light box in anger for the first time - thanks Santa!

The magnetic connection at the base was countersunk into the mdf and came out very neatly.
Watch out for the unexploded ordnance though!

Overall, this is a 28mm vehicle with one full crew figure to total 70 points (including the extra bonus round points).

'Characters/Scene from' PaulOg: 'Helped by a cup of tea'

I had planned and even completed a different character earlier in the challenge with this bonus round in mind but then I finally got hold of this figure to pay homage to one of my favourite ever movie scenes, from the classic 1977 flick "A Bridge Too Far."

In the aftermath of the disastrous initial landings at Arnhem, Major General Robert Urquhart, Commander of the British Airborne Division (played by Sean Connery) considers how things are going:

General Urquhart: Hancock - I've got lunatics laughing at me from the woods. My original plan has been scuppered now that the jeeps haven't arrived. My communications are completely broken down. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea?

Cpl Hancock: Couldn't hurt, sir. [Urquhart accepts his mug of tea]

I try to emulate him when things go pear shaped at work...

So here he is, flanked by a pair of sten toting paras that had eluded my earlier attentions (the jeep was submitted earlier in the challenge so is here to copy the movie set only). 

Tea drinking Para figure by Northstar and is a welcome addition to my Brit Para force, either as a senior commander or an objective marker.

'West' from PaulOG: Centurian Alanus

Presenting Centurion Alanus, Defender of Western Civilisation, Britannia, 1st Century AD.

This is a special edition Warlord model which was came with the pre-order of Hail Caesar, back in July 2011.  I traded the rulebook long ago, but kept the model because I think its a great sculpt- I just didn't have an Army for him to lead!

A little present for the Dux, enjoy mate :-) 

'Home' from PaulOG: Hearth and Home on the Ohio River

Presenting a frontier log cabin and its defenders for our French Indian War campaign: 

Protecting Hearth and Home against a War Party

The Ohio River valley is rugged place where settlers carve out their lives the hard way.  It's a tough existence and every cabin needs protection from raiders, thieves and worse.  So in addition to the homestead, there are six stout defenders (figs by Galloping Major).  Even the Parson needs to take up arms to defend his flock, but my favourite is the balding shopkeeper with the blunderbuss (Indian figures are not part of this round and were previously submitted).

I initially painted this Old Gory resin cabin with a grey, weathered look and while that was realistic it was a bit boring.  I have also been trying to put more colour on my tabletop lately; too many of my figures are drab greys, browns and greens.  So I stripped and repainted it as a more recently built cabin with freshly split shingles and newly hewn logs.  I’m glad I did and like the brighter overall look.  I also added a few sacks, barrels and to homewares from my bits box to give it a lived in feel.

The cabin has a removable roof and the interior has simple but nice detail which I have done in a worn, used style.  I have some furniture but left them out to make it more useable for gaming.  There is only the single door but each side has 1 or more windows from which to present defensive musketry.

Overall a fun project to build some needed FIW terrain for our table, and add an Armed Civilian unit to my Sharp Practice 2 force. Thanks to Alan for the donation of those figures (they only took 5 months to paint up mate!)

"To Arms! To Arms!"

'East' from PaulOG: Millsy of the Naval Brigade

Presenting Lieutenant Commander Michael Mills, New South Wales Volunteer Naval Reserve. Seen here serving with the colonial Naval Brigade dispatched from Australia to the Sudan to give the Mad Mullah a darn good thrashing!  

A renowned adventurer, "Millsy” (as he is known in the shearing sheds of the Outback) naturally could not resist to Empire.  How he lost his leg is unclear but it involves a dromedary, 3 lovely ladies, a fresh spring of lavender, 4 Chinese coolies and an eel.  What is certain is that the prosthesis that the ship's artificer made for him keeps him mobile and on his feet.

From an Imperial perspective, Australia is in the far East.  And Africa is also East of Great Britain.  And the Sudan is in Eastern Africa.  Thats three reasons why this qualifies as an "East” submission :-)  

This entry was inspired on Google chat one morning with DaveD when we discussed the Sudan being Australia's first contribution of military forces outside our own colonies.  This small contribution to Dave's Sudan project will be winging his way shortly.  Congrats on completing your thousand Mahdist foot milestone Dave, and I hope this miniature version of Millsy leads your Jolly Jack tars to victory against them!

Figure is by Artisan Designs - "Colonel Lattimer" from the Mars Frontier Force range.