'Fellowship' from TomM: 'Here lies Balin, Son of Fudin'

The Fellowship bonus round, the climax of the challenge I have been working to...

Because in this years theme, what else could I work towards....

Of course, to that end I painted them all, drawn from various metal sets instead of the plastic or classic metal sets.  Including a second Gandalf the Grey just for completeness sake, it would be silly to leave one spot open.

Because, this was also the perfect time to finally paint that limited edition Balin's Tomb that came out 15 odd years ago.  It has named places for all the members of the Fellowship, so to recreate their positioning from the movie.

Of course, that also meant all the fellowship members got a paint job for this round, hauling from the plastic version, bought for the Challenge specifically

While I have 9 infantry models for 45 points, I have no clue for the tomb how much that scores...

'Mercenary' from TomM: The Way is Shut

For the mercenaries bonus round, I decided on not picking a force that fights for money or lands.

No, these fight for gaining their eternal peace!

When Rohan mustered to aid Gondor, Aragorn and his companions went to look for reinforcements in the most unlikiest of places.  The oathbreakers of Dunharrow, traitors of the previous age, linger here in eternal torment.

So they where made a deal: fight for their king and regain their freedom.

I painted up as such 20 warriors, who came in the recent Battle of Pelennor Fields set, and led by the King of the Dead.

That results in 21 models, and a nice bonus entry for the tally...

'Sport' from TomM: 'Quickly, take him down!'

The Sports bonus round was something I initially planned to skip, as it wouldn't fit in my Lord of the Rings theme.

But then I remembred that hilarious // cringeworthy moment from the Two Towers movie.

When the Uruk Hai prepare to blow up the Deeping Wall, the lines open and under loud cheering a berserker with torch runs up.  In a style like the Olympic Torchbearer (is there a bigger symbolism of sport?) he runs into the powder and explodes the wall.

So to that end, I indeed painted up the figures for just this moment: the berserker and some Uruk Hai cheering him on his way as he breaks ranks...

So for this bonus round entry, I finished as such 15 infantry models, good for 75 points to the total...

'Reconnaissance' from TomM: Faramir and his Rangers

Time for the first AHPC bonus round this year, and it's Reconnaissance as a theme.

And this theme was right upon the MESBG alley, as they have a lot of scouting troops, from Warg Riders to Dunedain... 

I chose to paint up Faramir in his Ranger uniform, a role he preferred over that of full combat leading captain.

Though if it where up to him, he would rather just read books then go to war altogether.

Joining him are four of his Rangers of Gondor, who guard the paths towards the White City of Gondor and gather information on the movements of the enemy.

The models are once again from the Games Workshop range, and was released back in the day with the Two Towers edition of the game for Faramir, while the plastic rangers came from a far later edition.

So my modest contribution to this bonus round is 5 models of 28mm scale... which should be good for 25 points.

'Monstrous' from TomM: Daemonettes of Slaanesh

The fifth and final bonus round this weekend, and the theme is Monstrous.

While initially thinking about some big beastie or the likes, in the end I went a different route altogether.

Because what is more monstrous then a psychopatic, murderous, rip your guts out, cougar driven squad of Mother in Laws... I mean Daemonettes of Slaanesh.

To be integrated into my 40k Legion afterwards, these lovely ladies will soon be summoned on the table to cope with the usurpers of my throne...

These bonus rounds where great fun, even though there where some hard nuts in them to find inspiration for :-)

'Childhood' from TomM: Tijl Uilenspiegel

A bit of a special set of figures for this round, as it is the limited edition entry set from the past Crisis wargame show we organised at TSA. 

And it is a character that has a great influence on school children of my generation...

The models, sculpted by Paul Hicks, where available in two different manners on the event.  Tijl was the model that was in the goodie bag, and at the event you could buy the remaining two in a special commerative box with a printed scenic base.

Originally a trickster figure from German medieval folklore, later versions set him in the days of the Dutch Revolt against Spain.

Born in Damme near Bruges, Tijl joins the Dutch cause against the Habsburg rulers together with his girlfriend Nele and his best friend Lamme Goedzak.

At first a goodhearted prankster playing jokes on the Spanish, over time he becomes a hero and symbol of the Revolt.  he even cheats death, rising from the grave before his grieving friends, promising them more adventures to come as they embody the spirit of the Low Countries.

This folkloric figure was the inspiration for a series of graphic books, named "De geuzen" (though the names where changed a little) and even a cartoons series in the early 80s, though there he was more a green dressed, flying, magic wielding leprechaun then a symbol of revolution... but yes, together with his actual book, he was seemingly everywhere in the 80s and 90s... which, as I am from 1978, is full on in my childhood, hence why I picked him.

'Music/Musician' from TomM: Music of the Apocalypse

For this Bonus round, I went to the power of pink once again.  I was rummaging through Lead Mountain, when I realised that I didn`t have that much of "musical" models at all lying around, and then I found three ancient Noise Marines.

Equipped with all the typical instruments to ply their trade, being to rip your eardrums to pieces, I dug up a Blastmaster, a Sonic Blaster and a Doom Siren marine.

Still from the all metal era of Games Workshop (bar the backpacks), these would suit the bonus theme perfectly, so I sat down and painted them up the past weeks.

I went for more colours to make them curse and look extravagant compared to my more normal pink and black scheme to really make then stand out on the table as the elite of Slaanesh's followers, using olives and blues for additional extravaganza.

And that is another 15 points basic to the tally, resulting in the goal I set myself, being 750 points, being reached, woop woop woop!!! 

'BFG' from TomM: Dawi Zharr Earthshaker

The second bonus theme, and this time it`s all about big guns.  And if there is one thing I love gaming with, it's... big guns.  or even bigger guns.

For this entry, I took a true classic Games Workshop model of the loveliest race ever created: the Chaos Dwarfs.  I`m just a huge fan of their Babylonian style and their silly big hats.

The Earthshaker was in it's days one of the biggest models in the various ranges, and it was a truly devastating weapon.  Not because of the damage it actually did, but because, well, it caused earthshakes and cut down the speed of the opposing army by half as a result...

The cannon comes with two crew (well, three, but my commander seems awol) carrying what I tended to call the "holy shell of Naggrund", aka the ammunition for the gun itself.

So points wise, sans bonus, this is a 20 point entry consisting of two crew and a served weapon if I am correct...

'Flight' from TomM: Dwarven Lord

Well, Bonus round time it seems, with the theme being Flight... right, so I had to scour my collection for something that actually had wings and could be used for the contest.

And I found something that was in a blisterpack after purchase at Salute... in 2011

 (yes Ray, that`s the Pikachu hat year indeed).

A Dwarven Lord on a batwinged Sabretooth tiger, from the 15mm.co.uk range of HOT.  I got a couple of Dark Dwarf cultists from that range as well it seems (I think, they where out of the blister already) who I`ll be painting up for this year of the AHPC as well, just for completeness sake.

You see, 15mm isn`t my "scale" for fantasy, being not much played at the club (or anything else in that scale for that matter), though for next year (yup, I`m already stacking up boxes for version 9...) I`ll be dabbling a lot more in the scale as my Fire and Sword army finally needs painting, as I purchased them weeks after... that game actually launched.