Painting Challenge Submission #8 - The Dogs of War at last!

The Alcatani Fellowship march forth, accompanied by the beautiful and dangerous Lucrezzia Belladonna. These are all old metal figures from GW's "Dogs of War" range. 

My eighth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was an exciting one (well, for me, at any rate), as it kicked off painting for project which has been "in the works" for quite a while! Here we have the mercenary pikemen of The Alcatani Fellowship accompanied by notorious hireling sorceress Lucrezzia Belladonna. These are all old metal figures from GW's "Dogs of War" figure range for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. These are very, very old figures, more than 20 years old. 

The "Dogs of War" were a faction GW released for their Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, comprised of mercenary units and characters from the region of Tilea in GW's Old World fantasy setting. Sculpted by the amazingly talented Perry twins, the "Dogs of War" were one, in my opinion, of the most creative and most fun factions that GW ever released. GW came out with a wide assortment of Mercenary regiments and characters which could be added on to offer a creative twist to your existing army or could come together on the table as an all-mercenary force. The Dogs of War were the first Warhammer Fantasy army that I ever collected and painted. In fact, I was playing that army at a tournament in Winnipeg when I first met Curt back in 1998/1999.

The classic army book!

Later, I sold that old army and moved on to other things. How foolish of me! But the fond feelings for this old collection never left me, and with the help of, and inspiration from, Dallas, I started to hunt down these old figures on eBay. Not the easiest or most economical endeavor...but by late 2023, I was ready to go! In fact, I thought it would be a primary project for AHPC XIV. But there was just one problem...I moved house mid-Challenge...and so the project was postponed...

But the AHPC is back, and I was careful to put all of my carefully assembled Dogs of War bits aside, ready for this edition of the Painting Challenge...and here we go!

The Alcatani Fellowship

A 24-figure pike block ready for action! Many thanks to Byron for the awesome tray...

A group of farmers who lost their crops and livelihoods (presumably with no Tilean equivalent of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to help them) and were forced to turn to the mercenary life to earn a living, the Alcatani Fellowship represent the more communal, lower-cost end of Tilea's mercenary service offerings. They are lightly armoured, of middling fighting capabilities and the character leading the unit, Rodrigo Delmonte, is a fairly average fighter. For all that, they have one attribute that sets them apart on the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop...they have pikes!

A view of the ranks...nice variety of poses, but it makes assembling a larger unit a bit tricky as you need to find some specific poses...that was easy in the late 90s, but is trickier on eBay today.

The world of Warhammer Fantasy takes so much inspiration from late Renaissance-era Europe, but the pikes were oddly missing from the figure range. They had been in the rules, but you did not see them on the tabletop. The Empire had halberdiers, swordsmen, spearmen...but no pikes. The Dogs of War changed all that. Many of the initial wave of the "Regiments of Renown" were pikemen, and any Dogs of War army would be built around two or three of these pike-armed regiments. 

This one figure holding his helmet came among the blister packs...I thought it was nice to have one non-conformist in the ranks...they are mercenaries after all...

This was so fun because even very established players had seldom encountered pikes on the table. The rules reflect the effects of the weapon very well, but this would take even established Fantasy players by surprise. The pikes are particularly murderous against cavalry (as you would expect), and so it was always great fun to encounter Brettonian players, with their insufferable and unstoppable knights (which often have special rules compelling them to charge any target they can reach), have their faces fall off as their stupid noblemen charge right at the pike blocks and directly into oblivion. 

A solid core unit for a "Dogs of War" army. 

This solid 24-figure block of Alcatani pikemen is a great basic building block for a mercenary force - modest in their fighting ability, but murder with their pikes. You can try and wear them down with missile fire - and thus sparing other, more dangerous fighting units from that effect - or you can charge right at them...and see how you like eating 24 pikes before you ever get to strike a blow...these fellows will serve as an excellent foundation for my renewed Dogs of War collection. 

Lucrezzia Belladonna

"What a lovely day for a ride..."

All Warhammer Fantasy armies must wield magic in some way in order to be successful, and the mercenary armies of Tilea are no exception. While the rules allowed for you to simply designate any of the (at the time) widely available different human spell-casting figures as a hireling wizard for your mercenary force, the Perrys did sculpt one Tilean-specific figure - the alluring and dangerous Lucrezzia Belladonna. 

Lucrezzian rides at ease...but her magic skills are not to be trifled with. And say, does this drink taste a little funny....?

"The most beautiful woman in all Tilea, and some say even the Old World, is Lucrezzia Belladonna. She is also the most dangerous to know! Lucrezzia is a renowned sorceress and rumored to be an arch-poisoner and mistress of many assassins!" Lucrezzia has been married seven times, as suitors from across Tilea, and even the Old World, are drawn to her, um, significant assets. I think she should do the trick for the "Lust" bonus category - a means whereby AHPC participants can score extra points. 

A super-fun sculpt to paint up!

Lucrezzia is a powerful wizard and fun special character to use as part of a "Dogs of War" army, and I thought it would be great to have her as part of this nostalgia project. This is a tremendous sculpt, with all sorts of great details. I took a fair bit of extra time with this figure in an effort to capture these details...I got some of them, maybe not so much others, but this is a fun, unique miniatures and I'm glad to have Lucrezzia Belladonna in this collection.

That's all for submission number eight! Thanks very much for reading, and please continue to check out the AHPC XV main pages for more submissions! 

Painting Challenge Submission #7 - "Epic" Imperialist 30 YW Cavalry

Imperialist cavalry from Warlord Games' "Epic" Pike & Shotte range.

My second submission for this week returns to my nascent 30 Years War project. This is a regiment of Imperialist Cavalry. The figures are all from Warlord Games "Epic" Pike & Shotte figure range.

Caracole, anyone? Sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Warlord Games has a way of taking a great idea, and only executing on 3/4 of it - but even when they stumble, they often keep pushing through and improving. And I see the Pike & Shotte "Epic" range very much through this lens - of all their various "Epic" efforts, the Pike & Shotte stuff is, IMO, far and away the very best, and the cavalry frames really deliver.

Close up of the command base...

When you get a calvary box, you get three frames that contain multitudes, everything from the "horse" to dragoons (mounted and dismounted), to a few cuirassiers, as well as some commanded shot, an officer/ensign and two different types of artillery! Three frames of that is pretty great, as far as I'm concerned...

Another close up showing various bits of armour, swords, and a couple of awesome pistols!

Cavalry for the 30 Years War period is fascinating. I love the huge honkin' cavalry "pistols" these guys carried, and am intrigued by the idea of these units who ride up, and try to shoot the pike blocks enough to rattle them before charging in. I love the mix of armoured bits, swords, sashes and - of course - pistols galore!

Some jaunty feathers on some of the caps! Although the other chaps have helmets...

The banner is from the handy sheet that comes with the box...it is, supposedly, an Imperialist banner, but...well, I'm just going to go with that, as I still don't know a lot about the flags from this era. 

You can see a few "fusils"/muskets in addition to the pistols - so much shooting!

These guys were a lot of fun to paint, and I hope to add another couple of cavalry units to my budding Imperialist forces before this edition of the AHPC concludes!

Deployed in line, ready to advance!

That's all for submission #7 - stay tuned for more, and please continue to visit the AHPC XV main page to see tremendous work from hobbyists around the world - including many fellow Conscripts!

Warning Flags and Vending Machines!

Taking a short break from the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to post a couple small terrain projects - terrain doesn't count in the Challenge anyway. First up are some warning flags for the Chemical Commies.

I designed these on the computer (finding a suitable Cyrillic font was the biggest challenge), printed them, and based thm on washers. The basic design was cribbed from a Ron Volstad illustration in Osprey's "Elite" volume #12 - "Inside the Soviet Army Today."  

Of course, "today" does a lot of work in that title - the book was published in 1987, but is perfect for what I need it for, since our 28mm Cold War projects are set in the mid-'80s to mid-'90s.

The other quick project was a couple vending machines. These I got from Meeplemart last year,  I gave these quick paintjobs and they'll be great as scatter terrain in our modern and sci-fi gaming. Above you can see a Jokaero using his digital digit to select a soft drink.

"Electrolytes - they're what plants crave!" Of course you gotta have a Brawndo machine. I printed off the graphics and glued them to the machine, turned out all right I think.

"The Thirst Mutilator!"

The last machine didn't have a ton of surface area for clever graphics...

...so I stuck some on the side. I'm not that familiar with the Fallout franchise but the graphics are great.

Lastly we've got a cigarette machine. I choose "Kool" branding for the unit. You used to see these in bars and pubs all the time of course but no longer. Fortunately in our past- and future-gaming worlds nobody suffers any ill effects.
 

Painting Challenge Submission #6 - 10mm High Elf Heroes for Warmaster

High Elf heroes for "Warmaster" - 3D prints, mostly designed by Forest Dragon.

My sixth submission to Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was modest, featuring a small collection of High Elf heroes in 10mm size, mounted on round bases to serve as characters/heroes for the game "Warmaster". These are 3d prints, most of them (although not all) designed by the amazing "Forest Dragon".  There is a mix of warrior-type heroes and mages, a cadre ready to lead a High Elf army into battle on the table. 

Valiant mounted High Elf warrior, leading the cavalry to battle!

"Warmaster" is one of the very best "specialist" games GW ever released - the bones of those rules went on to serve as a foundation for a number of very, very popular rules. Plus, they are just great to play on their own. Those rules are so awesome in terms of how to mix the actions of the different troop types, of heroes and of magic. Heroes and magic have an impact, but cannot carry things on their own - but for all that, you can have a lot of fun with the hero figures!

When you have the right sceptre, one can read AND ride into battle!

GW's original line of metal 10mm figures for Warmaster were incredible, and for the most part are now very hard to come by. But holy smokes, have the 3d printer ever filled the void! Not only can you find equivalents...the current 3d prints are functionally even better IMO. These character figures are all 10mm, but they are just...they are amazing! All sorts of wonderful little details one can take a stab at with their brushes!

A mounted "not-Tyrion" - another fine 3d print!

Does 3d printing have ANY weaknesses? Well...these resin figures do kinda maybe break if you drop them on the floor...one can say that about ANY figures, I suppose, but there have been, let's call it, "V2 requirements" after encounters with the hardwood floor in my house. No matter how much I swear, it seems you can't always fix broken figures...but here we have, at last, a group of non-damaged 3d prints!! Re-painting broken 3d prints is massively f*cking frustrating super-rewarding but it all works out in the end.

Floating on a cloud, but carrying a flaming sword...ready for whatever comes up!

I have strips and strips of 3d-printed High Elf infantry and cavalry waiting for their turn under my brushes...one of the 10 "top priorities" I had lined up for this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Will they get any paint this year? We'll see...but I'm glad to get these heroes finished off at last. 

This fellow could be a mage, or some kind of sword-master type hero as well. 

That's it for submission six - as ever, thanks for reading, and remember to check out the AHPC XV main pages for all the latest work!

Painting Challenge Submission #5 - Sons of Horus Devastators

Sons of Horus Devastator Marines - classic resin figures from GW. 

With my fifth submission to Curt's AHPC XV I continued to focus on clearing out some projects from the old "I am going to finish that project, no really, I am" pile. A futile endeavor, perhaps, but every little bit helps, and this little palette-cleanser comes from that pile. This is a group of Devastator Marines (i.e. carrying heavy weapons) painted in the stirring colours of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Warmaster's own Sons of Horus. These are multi-part resin figures from GW's Forge World subsidiary/division/whatever it is called now.

View of a couple of the Marines, showing the weapon and the embossed legion crest on the shoulder.

In the "Age of Darkness" there are a lot of scary things! Things that will trouble even the superhuman Space Marine warriors! Fortunately there are all sorts of scary heavy weapons for them to carry around. And no need to spread them out or anything...better to have them running around in groups. Right? I mean, if shooting one thing with a big laser cannon is good, then shooting it with five must be better - much wiser to be certain you will cook that what needs to be cooked...

This fellow looks to be tracking a higher target...given all of the terrifying stuff stalking the battlefields of the 30k universe, I'm sure he won't be short of targets...

These heavy-weapon-toting Marines are known as "Devastators" in the game, and these particular ones are carrying las cannons, so they are focused on wrecking vehicles and assorted heavily armoured gribblies to be found in the 30k setting. These guys will augment a five-man squad that is already in my collection, bringing it to 10 Marines (all with the consistent green on the armour, soothing the OCD monkey in my head), ready to really wreck some sh*t in the name of The Warmaster!

This guy looks to be appreciating the after effects of one of his shots...you can also see the spare energy cell for the weapon hanging from the back pack - a nice touch on these classic Forge World sculpts.

"Take aim lads...for The Warmaster!"

These particular Marines are wearing Mark III plate, probably the best design that GW ever came up with for the Horus Heresy setting. These kits have since been re-issued as multi-part plastic kits - twice - and the plastics are pretty nice, but can't match the grim, cold, merciless air of this mark of power armour. They look even more terrifying with the lascannons. 

Thanks for reading - and as always, be sure to check out AHPC XV for all the latest, including much awesome work from fellow Conscripts!

Painting Challenge Submission #4 - Imperialist Pike & Shotte Regiment for Thirty Years War

Imperialist foot regiment and officer base - figures from Warlord Games' "Epic" range.

My initial submission's to Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV touched on a familiar theme - GW's "30k" setting. My fourth submission switched gears rather significantly, although the number "30" still makes an appearance...for this post we run the calendar back about thirty-thousand years (give or take) to the early 17th century in Central Europe an the conflagration which would come to be known as the Thirty Years War. This is an Imperialist/Catholic Infantry Regiment comprised of a solid pike block and a pair of supporting musketeer groups, along with a command base. The figures are resin sculpts from Warlord's "Epic" Pike & Shotte figure range.

Weapons leveled, ready to receive the charge!

The Thirty Years War has interested me for a long time, but I never quite titled into it - but I finally succumbed earlier this year. These figures provide, IMO, a satisfying "block" look for the pikemen while still offering many fun details to pick out. I tried to paint these in such a way that they look mostly uniform, but still have variance in different hats/caps/bags etc in order to provide a bit more of a varied look that seems more appropriate for the period.

Another view of the pike block.

A single frame provides the entire foot unit with 80 models all together. 70 of the figures are in strips of 10, and then 10 individual pikemen with their weapons forward to provide a bristly-looking front rank for the pike block. The strips are clever, providing a nice, compact look to the formation. The cavalry/artillery box is great too (stay tuned for more on that), and the collection has been augmented by a few specialist units in plastic-resin. Really the only thing I don't like is the "Epic" brand name...for grognards like me, "Epic" is the 6mm Horus Heresy game from GW, and nothing else :)

View showing some of the rear detail. 

When Warlord released these figures, they also did a re-issue of their "Pike & Shotte" rules which appears to be intended to be specific to this scale, but in fact provides some very useful updates to the rules - changes they just sort of skate across pretty quickly but are actually very important, particularly the idea of the mixed pike/shotte unit just like this one, making it much more clear how units like this would act/perform on the tabletop - an oversight, IMO, in Warlord's original "Pike & Shotte" rules. 

Musketeers ready to support the pike...I tried to mix up some of the hat colours. The fellow in the red hat is probably some kind of dangerous independent thinker...

This project is definitely a "slow burn" one for me - and with the advent of "Never Mind The Matchlocks", I might just try out 28mm for kicks - but I'm hoping to get a good start on a decent Imperialist/Catholic force during this edition of the Challenge, while saving the hopeless Protestants for Challenge XVI. My ambitions are modest here - looking more to run smaller games featuring rear-guard actions and other such encounters, as opposed to hoping to run White Mountain or anything like that. I figure a few blocks like these on each side, along with some cavalry and supporting guns will do the trick. 

Rear detail of the musketeer figures.

I also still have a lot to learn about this period - for all I know, I put the wrong flags on? These seemed like Bavarian Catholic League flags...I think...but whatever. We have chaps with pikes, and other chaps with muskets...let's go!

Mounted officer & Imperial ensign. 

Lovely little details on these figures.

That's all for the fourth submission! Thanks for reading, and as usual, be sure to check out everyone's excellent work over at the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge page!

Painting Challenge Submission #3 - Thousand Sons Librarian and Rhino APC

Thousand Sons Librarian Consul and Deimos-Pattern Rhino APC - models from GW.

For my third submission to AHPC XV I stuck to GW's "Horus Heresy" setting as I continue to try and clear off some projects which have been sitting in the "pending pile" for weeks - or even months - leading up to the start of the Painting Challenge. For this third submission we have a Rhino APC and a Librarian Consul, both painted in the colours of the XV Legion Astartes, the Thousand Sons. The vehicle is a multi-part plastic kit, and the foot figure is a multi-part resin kit - both are from GW.

It's not a fancy ride by the standards of the Space Marine Legions, but it is still the first vehicle for the Thousand Sons in my collection!

Some esoteric markings on the door...probably safety instructions, and nothing to do with using spooky powers or anything like that...

The Rhino is the classic APC of GW's Space Marine forces, and this plastic "Deimos pattern" of the vehicle is very much a loving homage to the original plastic Rhino model kits of GW's much earlier days. I had built this model back in the summer, determined to paint it promptly but...of course I did not, and it sat there on the shelf for months. 

View showing the iconography of the Thousand Sons on the vehicle. I was pretty sparing with the markings (I find the Thousand Sons tanks in the GW/Forge World books to be a touch too whacky/busy for my liking and prefer to keep it simple).

My collection of Horus-Heresy-era Thousand Sons has, up to this point, comprised solely of infantry models. This is mostly because it grew out of the infantry-focused box game "The Burning of Prospero" (which I highly recommend) so I would add infantry and characters, but never got around to painting any vehicles for them. No doubt my Sons of Prospero will be pleased to have the opportunity to at last catch a ride on the table!

Love the post of this sculpt...he is about to unleash some warp fun on you!

The character figure is a "Librarian Consul" from the updated "Age of Darkness" range. This figure was intended to be generic in that he has no specific markings for any of the particular factions in the setting so you could paint him up for any Legion. In the 30k setting, "Librarians" are not mere civil servants checking books in and out - they are powerful adepts skilled in manipulating the dangerous energies of the warp. This fellow has the trappings associated with Space Marine Librarians...fancy armour, fancy cloak, a helmet with some slight extra fluff, and esoteric bits like old keys, a spooky old hard-cover leather-bound book, and, naturally, a couple skulls...because they...help...or something.

Big, pimped-out cloak? Check! But I really love the spell book chained on to the power pack unit (which has some further embellishments of its own as well - like I said, awesome sculpt). 

I love the figure - he has a "beakie" helmet, awesome! - and had already painted one of these fellows for my Loyalist Imperial Fists. Given that the Thousand Sons are noted for their preponderance of psychic-power practitioners (what could go wrong with that?), I thought I would paint this second figure to join them (and take his place with the other, legion-specific psyker model for the XV Legion). 

"I foresee...getting a ride for once! About damn time!"

That's it for this submission - stay tuned for more, and be sure to check out the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog for all the latest, including the tremendous efforts of other Fawcett Avenue Conscripts!