'Fellowship' from StefanK: The Unicorn Club

For this theme round I've held back a couple of miniatures I painted at the very beginning of the painting challenge. Those figures are from CoolMiniorNot's board game SMOG - The Rise of Moloch and are representing a couple of members of the honourable Unicorn Club.

The Unicorn Club is a secret society of ladies and gentlemen gathering their powers to tackle down the forces of evil (vulgo the Nemesis) and hamper the return of Moloch a demonic world destroying creature of unspeakable cruelty.

Some of the gentlemen are inspired by Imperial literature like brave Peachey Carnehan from The Man who would be King (above, left hand side).

Others are inspired by pure fantasy like Mr Fox (above, right hand side).

Anyway the game comes with an incredible lot of wonderful figures. Unfortunately I didn't dare to go all in on Kickstarter so I'm missing the expansion The Wheel and the figures from it. Darn, it's not released for common buyers yet!

The figures are made from the usual semi-flexible board game plastic but nevertheless cast crisp and clear with a wonderful amount of detail. Unfortunately some of the faces appear rather flat so some of the figures proved difficult to paint in that behalf.

As said the club consists of men and women. Thus I was eager to paint a couple of honourable damsels as well to contribute something to Sarah's Choice finally.

After all it was really great fun to paint these figures, They are well-detailed and full of character. Fortunately the Kickstarter campaign provided enough figures to live on for many painting sessions.

As usual for CMON games SMOG is played on board tiles rather then real wargaming terrain. Thus I was on the horns of the dilemma of how to base the miniatures. They had those mandatry cast on discs below their feet but I wanted to have them more flexible and not arranged for a certain type of underground. Thus I cut and grinded away as much from those bases as possible and replaced them with clear acrylic disks. It was a dirty and labour-intensive job but I'm very happy with the result nevertheless.

So that's it for the last bonus round and Sarah's choice then. Next week I present my ACW troops which saw action in Hamburg and maybe I'll finish the Curtgeld orc I digged out of my lead pile. Anyway the challenge is heading to it's home straight and I'm really curious about seeing what you other fellows have left in their quivers.

Cheers
Stefan

'Fellowship' from StephenS: Guards! Guards!

It would not be a challenge if I did not add to my growing collection of figures based on characters from the Discworld novels, written by the late Terry Pratchett. A favourite of mine has always been his 'Guards! Guards!', a tale of four nightwatchmen regarded as a bunch of incompetents that accomplish nothing (a fairly accurate statement) who come together to take on a dragon. Despised and ridiculed by all, the fellowship they show in the face of increasing dangers in this and further novels, makes for very amusing reading.

From L to R: Corporal Nobbs, New recruit Carrot, Captain Vimes and Sergeant Colon

The miniatures are from Micro Art Studio, and are quite large for 28mm scale. A pleasure to paint. They are not quite finished, I will need to go back and add some more highlights, but the sand in the timer has alas run out. The bases are also from Micro Art Studio.

Cheers,

Steve

'Fellowship' from StuartL: No Man Left Behind

For the final bonus round of the challenge, I was scratching my head a bit as I searched through my minis boxes until I stumbled on some Warlord Games promo figures and some spare Germans I had picked up from a friend.

Being a soldier must be a tough experience and, for all I love playing wargames on the tabletop, it is one that I am glad I have never had to live through. To go out and face the enemy, with death mere seconds away must be terrifying. To do all that without a weapon, to go out into the worst of the worst and pull the wounded back to safety is something else altogether. The bravery and sense of duty of the medics who were present in every conflict is astounding. So, what better way to represent fellowship than the people who would rescue the injured and wounded regardless of the risk or what side they were fighting on.

The large base contains two pairs of figures by Warlord games. Two of the single models are also from Warlord and the chap aiming his rifle is by Artizan I believe. The half-track is a Tamiya kit, but isn't a part of the entry, it's just there for decoration. Sadly I don't have a snow effect mat I could use for the pictures, hence the spring green background.

All of the figures are painted with Vallejo colours, Feldgrey for the uniforms and great coats, and a mix of White and Light Grey for the helmets and smocks. The snow effect is also from Vallejo. The tufts on the bases are from War World Gaming.

I have a 1000+ point Bolt Action army of these models to paint, so these figures will serve as test pieces for when I actually get round to it.

As two of the models are pairs, I am not sure how to score them. 2 figures per pair, 1 figure or some other formula? Going for the lowest score, there are 5 models, for a total of 25 points and a point for my Squirrel collection.

'Fellowship' from TamsinP: Once In Every Lifetime

When the various bonus round themes were announced, this one was a no-brainer - I had the figures and they were ready to go. I also knew that they'd be fun to paint up and might evoke fond memories for some of my fellow Challengers (mainly the Brits I guess).

So, without further ado, let me introduce four of Scumbag College's finest student housemates (and pet):

For those who have never encountered these fine fellows (and rodent), they are the cast of "The Young Ones", a British light entertainment* show which first aired in 1982, running for two short seasons of six episodes. It was quite a risky show for the BBC to produce, but became a firm favourite of every teenager (and most adults) I knew.

* Originally touted to be a sitcom, the BBC told them that the comedy budget was all gone, but there was plenty left in "light entertainment". A brief rejig of the bid later, the show featured bands (Motorhead, The Damned, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Madness [twice] to name but four) in 11 of the 12 episodes and a lion tamer in the other one.


PRick ("the P is silent!")

Played by the late Rik Mayall, Rick is a wannabe-radical sociology student sticking it to Thatcher and speaking out for "the kids". He has a delusionally high opinion of himself, ias "The People's Poet" and hates Neil.

Oh, and he's a big, big Cliff Richard fan...

Despite his affectations of anarchism, socialism and class struggle it turns out that he is actually the son of fairly right wing Tories.

Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye

Played by Nigel Planer, Neil is the morose, hard put on hippy Peace Studies student of the household. Despite doing all the cleaning, cooking (seemingly limited to making tea, cornflakes and lentil stew) , shopping and other housework, Neil is hated by all of them and frequently the subject of violent outbursts.

Like Rick, Neil is the son of well-to-do Tories from Twickenham who are very disappointed in him and would much prefer him to be in a nice sitcom like "The Good Life".

Neil avoids sleep "Because, like, it gives you cancer, man"

Surprisingly, Neil is actually one of the more sociable of the housemates, having at least three friends that we see at various times.


Mike "The Cool One"

Played by Christopher Ryan, Mike is the suave, sharply-dressed ladies man* and undisputed leader of the household. He isn't actually studying at the university, as he has blackmailed the Chancellor to get grants and his degree(s).

He is generally quite laid back and stays out of arguments, unless it amuses him to join in. He is quite fatherly towards Vyvyan, and is seen trying to teach him how to tell the time.

Mike is a conman from a very poor background who never wants to go back to that life. He sees himself as something of a future mob boss.

* He does reveal in one episode to Vyvyan that he is still a virgin.


Vyvyan Basterd

Played by Ade Edmonson, Vyvyan is the psychotic, violent  medical student who absolutely detests Rick. He is probably the most intelligent of the four and is seen to be quite skilled with engines, electronics and electrics.

He is also a budding pharmacist/chemist as we see with one of his inventions:

[Neil is going over whose food is whose in the fridge]

Vyvyan:  My potion! Don't forget my potion!

Neil:  What potion?

Vyvyan:  It's a potion I've invented that, when a person drinks it, he turns into an axe-wielding homicidal maniac! It's basically a cure, for not being an axe-wielding homicidal maniac! The potential market's enormous!

Neil:  [Notes Coke can in fridge] Is this it?

Vyvyan:  Yeah! I put it in a Coke can so no one would drink it by accident!

Neil:  [with hammy foreshadowing] You know, I just bet, a bit later on, someone does drink that, and becomes an axe-wielding homicidal maniac!

Rick:  O yes, I think so too! That's just the sort of crazy unpredictable kind of thing that happens around here, isn't it? [all are ignoring Rick] I said "Isn't It?" [still no reaction from the others, Rick pouts]

Vyvyan is undoubtedly the most sociable of the housemates, with many similarly psychotic medical student friends.

He genuinely respects and looks up to Mike, and acts as his "enforcer".

Yes, I did paint it on!

Vyvyan also has a pet...


Special Patrol Group (SPG)

SPG was Vyvyan's psychotic Glaswegian hamster, named after the somewhat infamous unit of the Metropolitan Police). He has a sexual predilection for rats.

They have a love-hate relationship - we see SPG doing things that could kill Vyvyan (such as plugging in the TV set he has just swallowed to hide it from the TV licence man) which usually provoke a violent response.

The housemates are 28mm from Studio Miniatures. A friend of mine was asking if anyone produced them; a week or so later Studio Miniatures released them. I knew that I had to buy a set for myself. I do hope that they will release sculpts of some of the other character that appear during the series, particularly the Balowski family (all played by Alexei Sayle - "Jerzei" the landlord; nephew "Alexei Yuri Gagarin Siege of Stalingrad Glorious Five Year Plan Sputnik Tractor Moscow Dynamo Back Four"; son "Reggie" the international arms dealer; "Billy" the lunatic; "Tommy" the drunk; "Brian Damage" the escaped convict; and "Jester" and jester). Or just Jerzei after drinking Vyvyan's can of Coke from the fridge...

SPG was adapted from a Warbases rabbit. The resin urban bases are from TT Combat.

'Fellowship' from TeemuL: Three Trolls

It would have been quite easy to pick up the Fellowship of the Ring for this theme round, but I already two or three of them. I had several other options as well, but in the end I decided to stay in Middle-Earth and paint a group of models I bought some time ago, but haven't painted yet.

Here they are, Tom, Bert and Bill around their camp fire.

I started from Zandri Dust basecoat in order to get them a nice, stony feeling. Aghrax Earthshade added to the feeling. I pondered about earthly colors for clothes, but decided to get some colors, but quite pale and dirty to fit the theme. The campfire came with the set, I tried to make the trees a bit burned as well as the roast. Object Source Lightning was in my mind, but I was happy with this, so I didn't want to mess it up.

The big question of course is, are the they still trolls or is sun already shining...?

Scoring is tricky, they are 28mm monsters, that's sure, but they are tall. The one standing straight is 65mm from top of the base to the eye level... So larger than regular 54mm infantry. And then there is the campfire... About 40 points for the whole lot?

'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...