Normans and Submarines and Man Flu... oh my!

I've got a virus. It *could* be man flu. I feel like hammered sh1t. As a consequence the photos attached to this post are serious contenders for some of my worst ever miniature photography. Please just bear with me, the items shown do look better that this in real life, honest....

One more project "complete" this week with a final point of hearthguard added to my SAGA Normans, bringing me up to a solid 6 points plus options. Unlike almost everything else around here these only arrived last Sunday so there's an element of the unreal in seeing them completed. I was spurred on by the copy of Age of the Wolf that arrived with them though so perhaps not such a surprise?

These were started during Paint and Chat with some lads from the AHPC and the genial atmosphere saw them more than half done in one session. Nice!

The Kingdom of Britannia fleet continues to swell with completion of all the submersibles as well. All that is left to do now to close this off (OK, for the time being) is a couple of fliers. I'm not 100% sold on the colour of the ocean but I needed something that would contrast with the blue of the hulls so I deliberately overstated the green a bit.

That's it for now. [cough][sniffle]

Cheers,
Millsy

Another Dystopian Wars - Kingdom of Britannia Update

Not quite so much progress to report as last week I'm afraid. Having said that, the aircraft carrier appearing below is a BIG bugger and took the equivalent of three capital ships plus some more in terms of effort to complete.

All that's left to do now is a couple of bombers and some submersibles. All things being equal I should be winding this project down next weekend.

Cheers,
Millsy

Dystopian Wars - Kingdom of Britannia Update

Week one of the push to finish my Kingdom of Britannia fleet for Dystopian Wars has been most profitable. I've finished a large chunk of the surface force which is really pleasing as I thought it would take another week at least to reach this point.

Here's some shots of everything finished since last Sunday's kick-off post...

One battleship, two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, three support cruisers, nine destroyers and nine frigates. I'll do that math for you... 27 surface craft in total!

In the end it's all about the heavies so here are some close-ups.

The only slightly disappointing aspect is the blue on the hulls doesn't match the existing stuff. It's a bit darker and I suspect that's because I used a different colour and have run out. Coupled with zero notes and a dodgy memory of the original process and this is what happens. No matter, I'll just update the original hulls to the darker blue which I prefer anyway as it happens.

Next week... carrier, aircraft and submersibles!

Cheers,
Millsy

Next up... Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia

Right.... so time for the next big project "finishing" effort. As discussed last post this will be an all out assault on all the remaining Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia naval miniatures. I've just bought a copy of the simplified Fleet Action rules and we're discussing a big name in about six weeks so I'm seriously motivated.

Most of this stuff I picked up at CANCON earlier this year for an absolute song. It hardly even qualifies as lead pile it's been here for such a short time! I've spent some time this weekend prepping and will finish that stage today hopefully so I can paint through the week. We're due a load of rain thankfully so I won't be able to do any prep so best be done before hand. I love painting while it rains so I'm quite looking forward to it!

Here's everything I've got to do...

That's not the easiest to see due to the black undercoat already applied to some stuff so here's a quick list:

1 x Fleet Carrier and tiny fliers
1 x Battleship
2 x Hood Battlecruisers
3 x Cruisers
9 x Destroyers
9 x Frigates
1 x Submarine Wolf Pack
2 x Scout Planes

That's quite a lot of stuff but it paints up relatively quickly and is a nice diversion from all the infantry painted of late.

I'm planning on continuing with the same colour scheme. For those who have not seen my previous stuff, here is what my existing force looks like...

Roll over and play dead.

4th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Wrap Up

Wow, what a ride! The 4th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is done and dusted for another year. It's actually a full three months long but looking back it always seems more like three minutes.

Curt is a living legend (at least of the blogosphere) and deserves truck loads of kudos for putting the event on. When Sarah finally decides she's had enough and throws you out there's always a bed for you at my place mate.

This year there was a total of 60 participants from all over the globe battling it out and producing some truly amazing entries in terms of quality, quantity and breadth. I finished a pretty creditable 9th on the points tally which is an improvement of 4 places on last year. It's not really about that for me though even though it is fun to be a bit competitive. What's more important is sharing the fun with all the other amazing participants and seeing all their wonder and inspiring work.

Some highlights of my challenge...
Final ranking: 9/60
Points total: 1948 (beating my initial target of 1250 and just short of my revised 2000 target)
Bonus rounds: Submitted for all seven and snuck home for a win on the final Last Stand round.
Achievements: Painted something like 250 x 28mm miniatures and a swag of other stuff. That included a complete Dystopian Wars Britannian fleet and also an entire 2,500pt Warhammer Fantasy Battle army (that one inside of a month!)

Not bad at all and I'm pretty chuffed with what I achieved. Here's a quick visual recap...

A fair chunk of Dystopian Wars

My favourite entry, Kemmler and Co

2,500 points of Undead in one month :-)

Watch out Cromwell, Rupert's coming for you!

I'll show you where the Iron Crosses grow!

They call him the Cereal Box Kid

And lastly my winning entry from the final bonus round, The Retreat from Moscow in 28mm. Cheers to everyone who voted for me. I was very flattered and a little surprised to take the podium given the quality of the opposition.

And that's it. When I list it out like it makes me wonder where I found the time. Just putting the list together took a good 20 minutes alone. Now it's time for a breather from the painting desk and maybe a little something medicinal to tide me over the depression from it being all over for another year.

Thanks for looking and please leave a comment or three!

Cheers,

Millsy