The Hills Hobbyists' "Army Challenge" Thread ... and stuff

[triple_double_U]

Howdy, and Welcome to the Hills Hobbyists' "Army Challenge" Thread.

Essentially this is the place where we can upload our photos of the hobby work we're doing for the Challenge (and other bits as well).

The "Challenge" is a 200pt per month army building,basing,painting challenge. It begins in May, and the aim is to complete a 1500pt army. By the end, all Fantasy armies will play in a round robin tournament, with only completed models able to be used.

As well as posting pictures of your monthly painted models, it would be good if you could write some stuff down too. Such as what you plan to paint next month etc. Also, why not throw in at the start an Army list for the force you plan to use by the end of the Challenge. I know it will change a bit, but it might be good to look back on, or to keep a record.

So, without further ado, I give you the 2012 Hills Hobbyists' "Army Challenge"
Gentlemen, start your painting!

[Foxtrick]

This could be an ample situation for me to start my first actual army :-)

[triple_double_U]

Welcome aboard, the more the merrier!
Though it might be difficult to get over for the tournament side of things

[Notgoodenough!]

Points completed after 1st Month, a lot of WIP in here but some of us undertook large projects and some had a busy month, looking forward to seeing how these turn out next month!

Name	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	Month 7	Month 8	Total	To Schedule?
triple_double_u	WIP	384	WIP	417					801	+1
Foxtrick	0	0	0	0					0	-800
Notgoodenough!	WIP	WIP	WIP	192					192	-608
MotherRussia	WIP	WIP	WIP	WIP					0	-800
BenSquig	410.5	60	WIP	WIP					470.5	-329.5
Someone2040	110	WIP	330	WIP					440	-360
Quarkonium	WIP	WIP	WIP	WIP					0	-800

Note: Half points awarded for miniatures started before begin date of challenge
Points will be awarded for Work In Progess (WIP) upon completion of whole unit for ease of calculation

[MotherRussia]

Well helllooooo! I will be doing a 1500, mostly converted Chaos Dwarf army for the challenge. My final list is pretty much decided though there is still room for some mixing and switching depending on my own indecision. I'll be updating this original post, colour coding my list to show what i have finished assembling and then painting, but anyways, heres the listy list:

Sorceror-Prophet ~270

Daemonsmith ~100

18 Infernal Guard w/ Fireglaives ~340

20 Infernal Guard w/ HW & Shield ~280

32 Marauders w/ Flails ~200

3 K'daai Fireborn ~170

Magma Cannon ~150

So thats the list for now! Bold text means they're assembled (at time of first post nothing is assembled), and a fancy pants text colour change means they've been painted. I am lookin forward to this, should be loads of fun, and the motivation is fantastic!

-MotherRussia

[triple_double_U]

Not entirely sure on my theme yet. But here's what I've got so far
- The Feast-Hunter Tribe. (or similarly Feast-y Hunt-y) – A wealthy tribe of Ogres, led by a Slaughtermaster who take to the high slopes of the Mountains of Mourn in search of the great Mammoths, and other enormous monsters. They hunt and slay these great beasts and return to the lower tribes where they sell their meat to the tribes to use in their great feasts.
The prey they seek are more than a match for a lone hunter, so the slaughtermaster has gathered together some hardy, mountain folk to track and bring down the large game.
The Mournfang Cavalry flank the intended prey, making sure it is herded where they want it. While the maneaters, all experienced hunters, scout out the prey and track it. The rest of the force follows, driving away other beasts also intent on the kill. The Stonehorn is there as backup, if the prey turns to fight its way out, the Stonehorn is employed to force the beast onwards (one way or the other).

[triple_double_U]

Hobby Plans
- Bases will be suitably rocky and snowy.
- skin will hopefully be a mix between 7ed Ogre skin (the grey one) and the fleshy version found in the 8th ed book. I’d like to have white tattoos, but not sure if they’d get washed out on the pale-ish skin.
- Pants and cloaks will be various shades of dirty brown.
- Banners will be animal flesh (preferably the minotaur standard).
- Not sure about fur for the Mournfang and Stonehorn. Either a browny/grey like wolves to hide somewhat in the snow, or a reddy brown colour (scorched/dark flesh – or whatever the new equivalents are)
Not sure about the symbol. I like the idea of a white mountain with a stylised ironfist at its summit (because most of the ogres have ironfists, and they like being up mountains). But not sure how this ties in with the general theme of feast-meat-hunting. Unless I make it an offshoot from another tribe………

[triple_double_U]

Army List
Slaughtermaster
8 Bulls with ironfist
5 Ironguts
2 Mournfang Cavalry with ironfist and Heavy Armour
2 Mournfang Cavalry with ironfist and Heavy Armour
3 Maneaters with additional handweapons, Scout and Stubborn
1 Stonehorn
It looks bigger than it sounds (manily because the stonehorn and mournfang are enormous!) – though somewhat fragile
My first 2 months painting will be Bulls and Ironguts. This should come in at a little over 400ish points (I think) when completed. And will knock out the boring bits early - hopefully

p.s. sorry for the multilple posts, I couldn't post it all at once at work because of their data restrictions....

[BenSquig]

Hi all, (Edited and Updated 24/05/2012)

As discussed, I'll be tidying up all the loose ends I can find. Getting as much done as possible while trying to remain on-task and not get distracted by other NEW armies and models.



Updated: 1730 points on the slate!

Unpainted:
Added: Dark Elf Plastic Sorceress L2 - Dispel Scroll, Guiding Eye - 185pts - Finished
Added: 2 Plague Censer Bearers 32pts - AssembledUndercoated Highlighting
40 Skaven Slaves with 2 Command & Slings - 120pts - Have been basedUndercoated Highlighting
2 Rat Ogres & Packmaster - 88pts - Have been basedUndercoated
Poison Wind Mortar - 65pts - Have been basedUndercoated
Warpfire Thrower - 70pts - Have been basedUndercoated
Isabella Von Carstain - 90pts Part of the GW Marion Painting Club Challenge for this month.

Finish Painting:
2 Rat Ogres & Packmaster - 88pts
5 Clanrats - 22.5pts
2 Plague Monks (Std, Mus) - 29pts
1 Stormvermin - 8pts
6 Dark Elf Crossbowmen w/ Standard - 66ts Finished
Dark Elf Master BSB w/ Banner of Nagarythe, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Additional Hand Weapon- 219pts Finished
11 Dark Elf Executioners w/ Mus, Champ - 150pts Finished
3 Leadbelchers - 129
1 Butcher L2 w/ Berserker Sword & Terrifying Mask of EEE! - 185
1 Plague Priest L2 w/ Plague Censer, Portents of Verminous Doom & Chanelling Staff- 176
7 Gnoblar Trappers - 17.5

Plus a bunch of stuff I could build:
5 Cold One knights
Skaven Warlord (or Plague Priest)
Warlock Engineer
Doomwheel conversion – Plaguewheel
4 Tomb King Chariots
Prince Apophas
10 Tomb Kings Skelingtons
Necrotect?

Still ironing out the nitty-gritty

[triple_double_U]

I don't envy you those slaves...

[BenSquig]

I'm going to work on them a bit each month. Basecoats here, drybrushing there, washes when I can...

First up are the loose-ends of the Dark Elf army - Crossbows, Executioners, BSB and the new, on-foot sorceress.

[Notgoodenough!]

Averland Army Requisitioned by a Witch Hunter:
1 Witch Hunter (Possibly a magic item, armour?) - 55+pts Finished
1 Battle Wizard lvl 2 - 100pts Finished
1 Master Engineer - Finished
1 Warrior Priest - 72pts Finished

20 Swordsmen, command - 170pts Finished
10 Crossbowmen (Detachment) - 90pts Finished
5 Knights, command - 250pts Assembled

20 Greatswords, command - 250pts Finished
5 Pistoliers, command - 110pts Finished

1 Hellblaster Volleygun Finished
1 Steam Tank - 250pts Finished

[Notgoodenough!]

You may begin painting gentlement, 200 points a month or there abouts, throw pictures up whenever and post how many points you painted so I can keep a tally and remember "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

[BenSquig]

Finished off 6 Crossbowmen. 70 Points!

[triple_double_U]

Wow, you didn't waste any time Ben.
Good stuff

[triple_double_U]

Day 6:

After a productive night's painting I have finished the skin (minus Tattoos) on my Bulls and Ironguts. Which leaves only pants, weapons, armour facial hair and basing before I reach my target for the end of next month. I'm painting all of my bulls and ironguts rather than just what I need for the 1500pt list so that I don't have to go back later to finish them. All in all this equals 799pts (but only 564pts of these will be used in the tournament).

[BenSquig]

Good progress!

Hey how did you get the thumbs rather than full images?
Edit: Nevermind, 'attach' the image directly. Have altered first pic in the interest of load times.

[Notgoodenough!]

Here's a trial of a greatswords let me know what you think.

[Notgoodenough!]

Also I like your ogres skins will, the basing will look cool with the big rock when they're done.

Ben I think we already new your army looked awesome, but nice work starting so soon, loving the banners too, I'm not looking forward to painting my banners.

[triple_double_U]

You've probably picked the wrong army then if you're not looking forward to banners...
The Greatsword looks good. I'm not sure if the slashes in the pants need a bit more depth to them though. THe feathers look good (green will be good to tie all the units together a bit too)

I'm not sure what colour to paint the bases... I want to go for a darkish, bleak, windswept landscape with quite a bit of snow (something you'd expect to see at the top of a mountain)