So we have reached the end. We started out 30 people. 15 Gamer’s pledges vowing to finish at 50 models in a legal minimum 1,500 points 2nd edition army. Also 15 Painter’s vowing to take their efforts to the next level on considerablt smaller batches. Here is wave 2 of the #40k2ndAC IV for for the last time. We have 10 entries in this wave. The flag above the badge denotes where the participant is currently operating, while a small terminator honours logo means that the participant has been honoured by his peers for a previous entry.

For each entry, the finishing point – the whole army as it ended up with bonus models and what not – is posted followed by the starting point submitted last year before starting the challenge.

The job is done.

Success!  It is an amazing feeling to have completed my 4th army challenge, this time with a whole new army – Orks!  Adding to the interesting twist of an untried army, the new challenge subdivision of the Painter’s challenge and the addition of subgoals helped keep the 4th iteration of the challenge from feeling like just more of the same.  Painting a smaller army to my best ability was a really enjoyable test and I think I have my best looking army so far to show for the effort.  The subgoals also inspired me to try new ideas I wouldn’t have otherwise added to my army and helped me grow in the hobby.

This month’s entry was small in model count but big on details.  Additionally I had two finish my two unfulfilled subgoals this month – Faction specific terrain and a Hand painted banner.  For my army’s warlord I painted the most famous Ork of all – Ghazghkull Mag Thraka.  He was a quagmire of details and even though I spent a ton of time trying to elevate every part of the model I feel like I could spend another several hours shading and highlighting little disparate bits.  The other four minis were Ghaz’s faithful banner bearer Makari and a retinue of odboyz to accompany the warband in battle.  In game the oddboyz can bring Ork specific wargear and are also necessary so you can take the elements of an army that extend beyond boyz mobs.  For example a Mekaniak is required in your army if you want to field any vehicles. 

So only five models to paint this month but each one would have a different color scheme.  Even though Ghaz is infamously of the Goff clan, I want my eventual Ork army to have mobs from every clan.  To add some flavor from each clan to the first portion of my army, I thought I would vary the oddboyz tribal allegiances as well.  Hopefully my painting makes this obvious but the Mek is from the Evil Sunz, the Runtherd is a Snake-bite, and the Painboy is a Death Skull.  I didn’t intend for them to match all of the non-Goff mobs (and Scorcher) I painted as part of my challenge army but it was a happy accident I only realized while lining everyone up for an army picture today.

My two last subgoals were a mixed bag since they were the only part of the challenge where I wasn’t completely satisfied.  I was happy with the Ork hut that I built.  I feel like it looks just like the ones pictured in old battle reports.  There are also larger Ork buildings currently under production for future use.  If there is a Season 5 of the army challenge, hopefully my pictures will feature a whole Ork village in the background.  On the downside, my first attempt at a hand painted banner was the part I was least enthusiastic about.  It did turn out as I had envisioned it, a Death Skulls banner that looked pieced together from multiple looted enemy standards while also containing a prominent skull and painboy symbology.  While I was able to put all of those elements into the banner, I need to work on the techniques that will make the flat 2D image look more realistic and textured.  I do plan to keep practicing!

In past months I have talked about how I have wanted to paint an Ork army for many years.  Now that I have the first 750 points completed I can’t wait to add more.  As a bonus I did find time to play a game from the Genetic Park global campaign against Valhallan Winter and it was awesome.  The special setting and rules of the campaign combined with the joy of playing my long dreamed of ork army for the first time was a great experience.  Even though it is only 750 points the army functions well so far as a whole.  The Goff mobs can advance on the enemy with fire support from the Death Skulls, while the Scorcher and Boarboyz can harass the enemies flanks.  I am champing at the bit to get my orks on the field again – I think Wachtmeister and Valhallan Winter are going about to block my messages as I keep pestering them about our next chance to play another game in Genetic Park.  I also have some fine tuning of the army to work on in the off season – adding decals, banners, and some tufts/static grass for the bases.

Thanks to all those who have followed along or who are just dropping in now to see the results.  Thank you to Dr TV for hosting this challenge for the 4th time and I look forward to more in the future if the good doctor can bear it.  Great job to all those who participated, even if you didn’t make it to the end.   Congratulations to all those who finished, especially those breaking the Curse of the Wulfen.  It is an honor to have my miniatures featured beside so many great painters and gamers every month.  Most importantly I now have the start of another great looking army to play with.  See you next time!

Subgoals Completed – Hand Painted Banner – Death Skulls Painboy, Faction Specific Terrain – Classic Ork Hut

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka – Adamantium Skull, Kustom Blasta, Ork Mega Armor – 180 Points

Krookcracka Narlax – Death Skull Painboy – Doc’s Tools, Flak Armor – 26 points

Snarkar Muzzlebusta – Evil Sunz Mekaniak – Flak Armor, Mekboy’s Tools, Plasma Pistol – 27 points

Vraz Snuzgrogg – Snake-Bite Runtherd – Flak Armor – 18 points

I’ve managed to get all of my models completed this month – three Pink Horrors are the only ones worth any points. However, as they don’t have an armour save, but instead split into two Blue Horrors when killed I’ve also had to paint up another four models in order to field them! Skin is not my strongest painting suit, so they’re not amazing, but I’ve managed to keep the contrast up (on the Pink Horrors in particular) so they look pretty good at tabletop distance!

I’ve also managed to complete the diorama base – although whether this merges too far into ‘faction specific terrain’ I will leave to your discretion! Having punched all the roof tiles out individually last month all I had to do was paint them, which with a decent round of drybrushing has given me a nicely contrasting roof to the grey stone and black marble of the temple.

The biggest thing I’ve struggled with the whole challenge has been the display background. I’ve not painted anything 2D since school and somehow I’ve just not managed to find the confidence to even try and sketch the outlines of what I wanted to achieve. In the end I ran out of time and found a decent quality photo of what I wanted. It wasn’t quite the right colours – I wanted something with some purple in it to match one of the theme colours in the army – so I pushed it through a few filters in Photoshop then had it printed. So there’s no painting involved, but I have done a bit of work to it!

Anyway, everythings done, and deep in the jungle the mystical chanting of a sorcerer can be heard summoning strange eldritch beings into existence to continue the long war against the corpse emperor and his mindless lackeys…

Models Completed – Month 6

3 x Pink Horrors (105 points)

4 x Blue Horrors

Subgoals Completed

Build a Diorama Base – ruined temple of Tzeentch

Create a scenic backdrop for the army

Tom

Finished, in all its might, a truly vast horde of Valhallans. How the hell am I going to take photos of all this…
This month I finished my pledged units, 2 heavy weapon squads, a Griffin, an infantry squad with special character and my converted Stormtroopers. I’ve especially enjoyed working on these old stormtroopers, there is something about kit bashing with broken models to bring them to the table top with a unique pose. Plus the ability to make a Stormtrooper Rocket Launcher team and flamer trooper, options with rules but no models, was a special treat. In the future I’m going to be making tons more of these guys.

The custom character I made is an old NCO who’s been around long enough to pick up some fancy tricks, the classic common man vs the horrors of 40k. I converted him using a spare helmet that I hollowed out and added to a commissar’s arm, the chest plate is from the old skeleton horsemen upgrade set of early warhammer fantasy.  

For bonus units, I knocked out a second griffin, a lascannon heavy weapons squad, a Skulz tech priest, 15 Frateris militia, a Vindicare (properly winterized) and 2 thunderer siege tanks(IG Vindicators). Many of these models were odds and ends I had in process, added in to tie a nice bow on this phase of my Valhallan army.
Huge thank you to Dr. The Viking, all the work and gaming effort he puts in has had a huge impact and allowed me to paint more troops for this 6 month challenge than I have in the last 3+ years. A big congratulations to everyone else for making it, seeing everyone’s progress on discord was a ton of fun!

Now to dolecoat this…
PledgeGriffin 1- hull heavy flamer- 140 pts
Valhallan Infantry Squad 2-  Senior Sergeant Karbyshev, Grenade launcher -145Valhallan Heavy weapon squad 1- 3x Autocannons- 108 pts
Valhallan Heavy weapon squad 2- 3x Missile Launchers- 150 pts
Stormtrooper Squad- Hot Shot laspistol & sword, Flamer, Missile launcher, Crazed- 195

BonusGriffin 2 – hull heavy flamer- 140 ptsThunderer Siege Tank 1- 150 ptsThunderer Siege Tank 2- 150 ptsValhallan Heavy weapon squad 3- 3x Lascannons- 150 ptsVindicare Assassin- 215 ptsTech-priest Enginseer- Stormbolter, poweraxe, power armor- 35 pts
15x Frateris Militia- 12 laspistol/autopistols, Autogun + Handflamer, Sword and primitive shield, Frateris Standard- 93 pts
Final Month Total- 1,671 ptsFinal month total models- 71

Subgoals Completed-Custom CharacterPlayed a game with painted models (month 6)VALHALLAN 5TH GUARDS REGIMENT

40K 2ND AC IV ARMY LIST
1st Platoon Command

Valhallan Command HQ- Captain with Boltpistol & Sword, 2 Guardsmen with Plasma guns, 1 Missile Launcher Team- 120 pts
Chimera 3- hull heavy flamer- 140 pts (Bonus)

Primaris Psyker Champion with a laspitol- 70 pts 
Commissar Plasma pistol- 44 pts (Bonus)

1st Platoon Battle Line

Valhallan Infantry Squad 1- Bolt pistol & Chainsword, Melta gun -110 pts

Valhallan Infantry Squad 2-  Senior Sergeant Karbyshev, Grenade launcher -145 pts

Valhallan Infantry Squad 3- Hand Flamer & Sword, Flamer- 114 pts

Chimera 2- hull heavy flamer  – 140 pst

1st Platoon Additional Units

StormTrooper Squad- Hot Shot laspistol & sword, Flamer, Missile launcher, Crazed- 195 pts

Chimera 1 – hull heavy flamer- 140 pts

Griffin 1 – hull heavy flamer- 140 pts

Hellhound 1- hull heavy flamer- 165 pts

2nd Platoon Command

Valhallan Command Squad- Lieutenant with Bolt pistol & powerfist, 2 guardsmen with melta guns, 2 guardsmen with lasguns- 84 pts

Commissar with Bolt Pistol and Powerfist- 52 pts

2nd Platoon Battle Line

Valhallan Heavy weapon squad 1- 3x Autocannons- 108 pts

Valhallan Heavy weapon squad 2- 3x Missile Launchers- 150 pts
Valhallan Infantry Squad 4 – Bolt Pistol & Chainsword, 104 pts (Bonus)
2nd Platoon Additional Units

Leman Russ Battle Tank 1- Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters – 205 pts (Bonus)

Leman Russ Demolisher Siege Tank- Lascannon, 2x Plasma Cannons – 250 pts (Bonus)

Hellhound 2- hull heavy flamer – 165 pts (Bonus)

3^rd Platoon Command (Bonus)

Valhallan Command Squad 3- Captain Chenkov of Valhalla, Grenade launcher, Commlink, heavy bolter team- 165 (bonus)

3rd Platoon Battle Line

Valhallan Infantry Squad 5 – Bolt Pistol & Chainsword, Melta- 110 pts (Bonus)

Valhallan Infantry Squad 6 – Bolt Pistol & Chainsword, Grenade Launcher- 114 pts (Bonus)
Valhallan Infantry Squad 7 – Laspistol & Sword, Melta- 108 pts (Bonus)
3rd Platoon Additional Units

Leman Russ Battle Tank- Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolters – 205pts (Bonus)

Griffin 2- hull heavy flamer- 140 (bonus)

Valhallan Heavy weapon squad 3- 3x Lascannons- 150 (Bonus)

Extra units
Valhallan Infantry Squad 8- Plasma pistol & Sword, Flamer 112pts (Bonus)
Valhallan Infantry Squad 9- Bolter, Grenade Launcher- 113 pts (Bonus)
Thunderer Siege Tank – 150 pts (Bonus)

Thunderer Siege Tank – 150 pts (Bonus)
Allies7x servitors- 5x Powerfists (servo Arms), 2x Heavy Bolters, Multimelta, Heavy plasma cannon- 143 pts (Bonus)
Tech-priest Enginseer- Stormbolter, poweraxe, power armor- 35 pts (Bonus)
Preacher- Laspistol & Sword- 11 pts (Bonus)
Frateris Militia- 12x laspistol/autopistols, Autogun & Handflamer, Sword & primitive shield, Sword & Frateris Standard- 93 pts

Vindicare Assassin- 215 pts (Bonus)
Total- 4,665 pts (including 497 pts of Allies)Total Models- 209 (161 models, 12 tanks)

Holy terra! It’s the final month of the challenge and somehow I managed to get everything finished, including all the odds and ends I’d been unable to complete during the other months.

First up is the Icon Bearer. I was unable to find the icon he came with (not sure I ever even had it) – so modelled and 3D printed my own replacement. It’s pretty basic but you can’t go wrong with a giant pointy Chaos star!

Second is the Sorcerer to accompany the Thousand Sons squad I painted last month. I tried out multiple different colour schemes, but in the end went for a neutral grey cloak and kept the focal point on the snazzy yellow helm / thing above his head. I’m pleased with how it turned out – models with unique colour schemes can sometimes be a pain to figure out and make fit in with everything else.

Next is one of my sub-goals that I punted from March – a banner for the Juggernaut Lord. This is the first time I’ve ever done one completely freehand. I did a banner for some oldhammer Skaven last year, and found that painting using dots, and adding lots of splats and plenty of grime, is a great way to cover up a banner that is otherwise fairly basic / not great.

This one didn’t come out too badly I think, although the spiky teeth at the bottom of the skull are basically completely obscured by the rider’s helmet now the banner is attached. I definitely should have checked what the banner looked like while it was still just a pencil sketch… 

Fourth – My final sub-goal, a scenic base for a squad. I decided to do one for the Plague Marines I  painted in April, since I liked how this squad turned out the most. I’ve made plenty of terrain in the past but never a scenic base like this. The base is made of thin MDF, with foamcore over the top, which has holes cut in it for the models. The foamcore was based exactly the same as the models themselves, and the background is some AI Art hastily cooked up and printed out at work. Frankly it was rustled up very quickly, and I’m just happy there were no disasters at the last minute. 

And finally! The main models I was due to paint in this final month were Predator and Vindicator tanks. I have a big soft spot for the Rogue Trader / Second Edition rhino-based tanks, but they do look a bit weedy next to modern rhino chassis’, so I wanted to bulk them up a bit. I modelled and 3D printed a custom dozer blade for each to help with exactly that. I was pretty nervous that the gloss black paint scheme I’d used for most of the infantry in this army wouldn’t work that well on armour. I used a couple of AK Interactive weathering products to help out a bit, and went crazy with the splattered blood on the dozer blades (although it doesn’t show up at all well in the photos). I’m quite pleased with how they turned out in the end, I wanted them to look evil and menacing, and don’t think they’re too far off what I had in mind. 

Overall the challenge was great fun, besides a couple of crazy last-day-of-the-month marathons to get things finished. With the minis I painted for the challenge and others I did last year, I now have a pretty huge force (by 2nd Edition standards) of painted 2nd Ed. Chaos stuff, an army I honestly could have only dreamed about as a kid. Big thanks to Dr. The Viking for running the show, and everyone else who was following or taking part – many of the other projects for the challenge were extremely inspiring and humbling. Top stuff!

Mark

=======================

Points for this month:

Army Icon, The Flesh Banner – 55pts

Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer with Power Axe – 59 points
Chaos Predator with Autocannon and 2x Sponson Lascannons – 180pts

Chaos Vindicator (Space Marine Vindicator datasheet cost: 145 pts)

The end of the challenge is here, and I can’t believe these past 6 months have gone by so quickly. Likewise I still find it hard to believe, even though I’m looking at the minis, that I’ve got another 1500+ pts of Guard to add to my army. 

This month’s slice is all about that armour, adding some heavy firepower to the ranks of infantry. In the planning stages of the challenge, I decided to do at least three of the tanks that were in my box at the moment, hoping to maybe do a fourth and a fifth if time would allow it. It was also part of the plan to have a long overdue first go at painting with an airbrush. And having the airbrush at the ready, I was planning on using it for some of the terrain I would be doing as one of the subgoals. 

For starters I will say that I indeed did get the airbrush out and going, priming some tanks and terrain before getting the first colors on some of the terrain. Doing this I learned why many people swear to the airbrush. It really makes a lot of things easier and cheaper…if you can get it to work, that is. For some reason I kept struggling with it, even though I did my best at troubleshooting, youtubing and the like. In the end I decided to feth the airbrush and go back to basics with the good old reliable brush. 

So what I did get done was a Hellhound, a Leman Russ Battletank and the least 2nd. edition Griffon you can get (new hull and printed mortar). At first the Griffon was a wonderful addition, with a little help from a fellow guardsman in the challenge, but it ended up being a replacement for the tank intended, as time became short and I didn’t get the other build finished. As I “only” had to do the three tanks this month, I originally had several ideas that I wanted to try out, while playing around with the airbrush. These ideas however went straight out the window along with any time I had left (and the airbrush), as I found myself scrambling to get the tanks even table ready. They are however table ready, and hopefully they will see a table and some action soon. The details will come at some point in the future, if I ever manage to muster some courage to do another fight with the now dreaded airbrush. 

Regarding terrain, there was really only one thing that I knew I had to do, space cacti, the very definition of 2nd. edition terrain. But…as it so often happens when one jumps down a rabbit hole, more projects emerged and suddenly I found myself using more time on making terrain than painting minis for the challenge. But let’s be honest, I didn’t do it all this month. I obviously started prepping the different projects a few months back, as my actual pledges started decreasing in numbers, leaving me with time to do work on getting a table’s worth of terrain. At first I had planned 3-4 cacti, but before I even got paint on any I had around 15-20 pieces of different terrain sitting on the table. As time went by I realized I wouldn’t come close to finishing it all, so I decided to focus on the cacti and a couple of other smaller projects. 

The polystyrene balls were covered in glue and fine sand, to give a bit of texture before getting painted by the airbrush. The spikes were first painted with a red spray and were later given an orange drybrush just to add some more color. Likewise I gave the cacti a bit of yellow drybrush, to make them pop a little more. 

The jungle trees aren’t exactly 2nd edition, but they’re some of the first official GW terrain (not including cardboard) I remember from back in the day. And painting a mix of jungle fighters and desert raiders, I decided that they would fit perfectly on my table along with the cacti. But not wanting to do more work than necessary, I went for the quick and easy solution, using a light primer and two contrast paints. I’m really happy with the colors of these, and even though there’s always stuff that I could improve, they’re done for now. 

I hope to finish the remaining pieces of terrain and thus the board, over the coming months (not counting the summer), and will obviously spam the 2nd edition group with pictures once I’m done. 

Well, this is the closing comment for me in this challenge. Shout out to Hans for getting us all to do it yet again, and to all the truly brilliant painters and fellow 2nd edition geeks in this party. You guys and this community are the best, and as always I will miss our talks and foolery once this is over. 

This is Commander Mørk Signing off, “For the Emperor and the Screaming Camels”

Slice

Hellhound @ 165 pts.

Leman Russ Battle Tank @ 205 pts.

Imperial Griffon @ 140 pts. 

Subgoals

Paint three vehicles in one month.

Paint a faction specific piece of terrain.

Here we are in the final month in this challenge, and it certainly was challenging! I was forced out of my comfort zone to try new techniques and was able to work on older models that the modern hobby left behind. My ultimate section was a group of Eldar Pirates with a few bonus pirates and Fire Dragons snuck in at the end.

Eldar Pirates have long been a fascination with me, I appreciate how the developing history of Warhammer 40k miniatures as a product mirror the in-universe explanation. The first Space Elves line were entirely pirates before the Craftworld model line was created, explained in the story of Warhammer 40k as the Imperium only initially encountering pirates before making contact with the Craftworld Eldar with their unique culture. Therefore, I kept the Eldar Pirates unit to those early Rogue Trader Space Elf models.

Within the game of 2^nd Edition Warhammer 40k, Space Elves seem like an odd unit. What they really offer is variety, unlike Guardians they don’t need to take a basic matching weapon. However, that mostly means they can mix shuriken catapults with close combat weapons, which Guardians can do with some limitations but Guardians also get better access to melta guns and flamers. Only the Pirate Captains, actually a Character, can bring potent firepower and I think these characters are the other main draw of Eldar Pirates. With great access to Wargear cards and a solid stat line means a fairly lean force of Pirates can become a threatening coterie of corsairs with plenty of characters to lead them. Exarchs are their main competition but have a prerequisite of costly Aspect Warrior squads.

Bringing small units of Eldar Pirates is like bringing veteran Guardians while the storytelling of having pirates aid your Craftworlders or raid your enemy is excellent flavor for a battle. Plus their variety and backstory lends itself to conversions and wild paintjobs.

Fire Dragons are like Dire Avengers were I have plenty of history with these powerful orange space elves. In almost every version of the unit, they behave like a guided missile sent to destroy a tough opposing unit as they get wiped out by the counterattack. Similar to other Aspects, practicing how to use them is essential to getting the most out of the delicate unit. More than any of their peers, they absolutely need to kill their target without too much overkill since they only ever get one shot. Additionally, they absolutely need to be within their short range. Practice getting them in the correct position and they represent a sizable haymaker for your opponent as his Land Raider suddenly dies much sooner than he planned.

Points:

124  Eldar Pirates x5 – Shuriken Catapult, Lasgun, Laspistol x2, Pirate Mighty Hero w/ Shuriken Catapult, Shuriken Pistol, Digi-lasers

95 Eldar Pirates x5 – Chainsword, Shuriken pistol x2, Laspistol x3, Pirate Hero w/ Power Sword, Shuriken Pistol, Digi-lasers

113 Eldar Pirates x5 – Hand flamers x4, Power fist, Power Sword, Laspistol x2, Pirate Champion w/ Meltagun, Powerfist

84 Fire Dragon Squad x3

Challenge: Game Token

For my game token challenge, I decided the battlefield effect that most deserved to be represented was the Eldar psychic power Eldritch Storm. The power was perfect, nothing could occupy the area under the template and it stuck around on the table for multiple turns. A roiling storm of psychic might was the perfect challenge to depict in miniature.

Figuring out how big it should be took a little decoding but finding a 6 inch dome was a little tricky. I tried children’s play balls, dog toys, and more before finding a party favor container that fit the purpose. If I had to guess, I think the container is meant to resemble a popular pocket monster ball for kids parties. Regardless, it was a 6 inch dome I could paint into a tempest of lightning. Using far too many dark blues and purples that didn’t appear well in photos, I then added freehand lightning bolts to complete the effect.

On the table, the dome is perfect for representing the twisting vortex of psychic power that blocks movement and shooting while flinging anything inside to the outside. Here it is depicted next to some Fire Dragons to show scale.

­­­_____

Here is the culmination of my participation in this series of challenges!

I learned so much during my time in the challenge, like how many identical sculpts of guardians I can paint. Well, I *can* paint 80 or so but any more than 20 at a time really drains the momentum from your hobby time. Instead, I broke up the monotony with other units and bright colors that aren’t yellow. For example, Aspect Warriors. The Eldar miniature range is a venerable one and while that means many collections are relevant, the main treat was trying my hand at old infantry models. Our psykers like Warlocks and Farseers only recently received new sculpts so the biggest departure from my modern hobbying were the original Aspect Warriors and Space Elf Pirates.

Another facet of the challenge I appreciated was showing love to old models in my collection. I’ve accrued plenty of player’s discarded models but hardly had the time or opportunity give them attention. A motley assortment of figures painted by different hobbyists and in varying degrees of chipped and scraped paintjobs from decades of loving owners could finally be brought together into a cohesive force. Ever the documentarian, I actually took footage of the original paintjobs as a way to preserve the creativity and care their previous owners placed upon them. I’m only the current steward of these models, hopefully someone in the future can see my quaint creative decisions and while I hope they grant me grace I understand if my work is washed away to allow these warriors to continue to fight the enemies of the Eldar!

Thank you for putting on this challenge, Dr. The Viking, and thank you to everyone reading along with me for this journey. Here’s to the history of this hobby and the community and stories we build along the way.

-Slice of Dice

We made it. Finale time! Boy was it close. I mean real close. Well, for the bonus models anyway. I did manage to finish the actual required models right at the start of June (a whopping 2 models)!

I managed to do 3 bonus models, 2 of them fairly involved, and one of which I bought 2 weeks into June!

Let’s start with the actual original pledge, 2 Warlocks! I had already done 2 earlier so I knew what I had to do. The only real difference here was a cool leopard skin cloak I was able to paint up for the one, which was a neat way to make him stand out over his fellows.

And then we moved into bonus models. First up was a Farseer, the classic sculpt which to me is timeless. I love it and the detail all holds up today. I got to try my first free hand ying and yang which was…. not easy. But in the end I was quite happy with it. I decided to paint his cloak in a nice purple colour, and keep the red / white Saim-Hann colours going for his under robe / helmet and armour as usual. 

Next up was the big one! The Avatar of Khaine. I was so excited to paint this model, and while I had his parts in the original big lot of Eldar I bought, it was missing an arm and some bits were cut off. So I bought a 2nd hand one, stripped that, and got painting. I followed the old painting miniatures guide for the most part, but gave him a deeper charred looking flesh which in the end I was very happy with. I started with just a leg and then when happy, moved on from there. The glowing lava took a few attempts at different methods of trial and error, but got there in the end.

This model is also where I got my freehand “banner” in. I did ask in the Discord and the vote was, crotch banner counts! I did my best to recreate from the Codex the same runes/script he has on it. The hardest part in the end was those bloody tear drops! Took a couple of attempts to get them right. Also another dang ying and yang, which this time having to paint on an uneven surface was even harder to pull off. 

Also snuck in my game tokens, 3 flame markers. Nothing super special here, though the first I ever made myself! I actually tried using flock and milliput, which failed terribly. Luckily I had enough cotton around to make some classic flames. I put them on 28mm bases and I think they will make good little markers to show someone who is all lit up! This would give me my third and final sub goal finished.

To end the month, and the challenge, I got my hands on a still sealed Fire Prism! Just so happened someone a couple provinces over was selling it, I saw it in the middle of June and pulled the trigger. I didn’t think I would actually get this done but I pushed it hard and got it all ready for the finale! The airbrush was clutch on this, I couldn’t imagine painting this tank without one (or any tank for that matter)! The metal gun is also kind of hilarious as it weighs a ton and tips the whole tank back. I had to drill an extra hole on the back for the flying stand so it would be more stable. This was my first time without freehanding, as I went with the decals it comes with instead. 

I thank Dr Viking for this awesome challenge, getting me to paint something I wouldn’t have dreamed of otherwise. Getting the full shot together for a group photo had me feel like I was looking at a picture out of a bat rep or something. I can’t wait for the next one 🙂

The final points breakdown is a whopping 2323 points! And that is without even really going deeper on wargear… A super illegal army for the record and something I imagine any Eldar player would try and field anyway ;). 

Avatar of Khaine – 300

Exarch (Warp Spider) – 110

Farseer – 176

Fuegan – 176

Maugan Ra – 179

Warlock x4 – 264

Dark Reaper Squad – 201

Fire Dragon Squad – 168

Guardian Squad – 76

Striking Scorpions – 130

Warp Spider Squad – 123

Eldar Dreadnought – 205

Fire Prism Grav Tank – 215

The final month is done and dusted, but sadly I did not manage to get the pledge complete. I started the month off with printing out and painting bunch of terrain. Then I got my hands on a Harlequin jetbike canopy and went to town to make a Harlequin Dreadnought, following the excitement I grabbed one of my Warwalkers to turn into a Death Jester Warwalker.  I also planned to do a couple of bunkers and have an Imperial Guard Command Tower kicking around here somewhere. Needless to say, I was quickly running out of time without having actually painted any pledged models. Spikey Cacti had been next on my list but had to sit this one out.  The Solitaire and Great Harlequin painted up pretty easily, but I hit a wall with the Great Harlequin with a banner.  I had some pretty ambitious ideas for this model. I started painting it in the closing few hours of the pledge, but I just couldn’t get a result I was happy with, after 2 repaints of its coat, and one repaint of the banner at a little past midnight I decided to pack it in.

I made a damned good effort, painted up some amazing models I’ve owned for 20+ years and had a blast whilst doing it. Being part of the challenge, and seeing the amazing work of the other participants has been fantastically inspiring, and I am definitely keen for the next one. I have learnt two important lessons from the challenge. 1 I’m going to have to do up a backdrop, probably more than one at that. 2 I need to manage my time much better. I struggled with this throughout the challenge because of my hobby blog (linky below). I update it weekly, and didn’t want to leave blank updates, so my stuff would appear on the monthly challenge first. Instead, the first weeks of a month I’d paint something else, over the 6 months of the challenge I painted a 2,000pt High Elf army, about 1,000pts of imperial Agents, a table worth of Frostgrave Terrain as well as falling down a 3d printing hole with starting my Amazons for Warhammer Armies Project. Usually in the last week, often days of the month I’d then turn to the Harlequins which forever left me in a stressed out mess of my own making. I definitely want to come back for, so figuring this out is something I really need to do.

Big thanks and kudos to Dr The Viking for running the challenge and all the effort he has put into it. All round an amazing effort that I am glad to have been able to participate in.

This month pledge:

Solitaire         110

-Harlequin’s Kiss
-Handflamer

Great Harlequin (incomplete)
-Shuriken Pistol
-Powersword

Great Harlequin (incomplete)
-Shuriken Pistol

-Banner (freehand banner sub pledge)

Harlequin (Incomplete)
-Powerfist

-Shuriken Pistol

Bonus Models:

Warp Portal (faction terrain sub pledge)

12 Trees

Ruins

Harlequin Dreanought (incomplete)

Harlequin Warwalker (incomplete)

Total points finished in the challenge: 1576

My Facebook blog of hobby goodness:

https://www.facebook.com/ThisWayMadnessLays

—][— Power is back online. We have had no signal from the others as to the reason why, but we are now advancing to support in case they have gone and got themselves in trouble. —][—

• Vox call from Tank Commander Ishmael Creth, leading the armoured support for Catachan XCVIII Regiment, taken D-Day of the Nedirid Incident.  

This month I got round to painting the heavy mobile support for my force in the form of a Proxy Leman Russ battle tank. This model is a DUST warfare walker, which I reposed and kitted out with some additional firepower and accessories. Again, I can’t see Jungle Fighters going to battle without wanting to make use of as much storage capacity for supplies as possible, and the idea of a walker rather than tracked tank makes sense when manoeuvring though heavy Jungle. 

Due to points constraints I could not add any cool additions or vehicle upgrades without losing something else in the list so decided to settle on the ‘standard’ Leman Russ for the XCVIII Regiment Red Company’s 3rd additional unit.   

Leman Russ Battle tank  – 205pts 

Still for this final slice that’s the most points that a single model has cost me across the whole challenge! 

With the tank finished it was time for the battle of the Nedirid Basin and what would come to be called the Nedirid Incident. 1500points of the Imperium’s Finest vs 1500points of sleepy robots…what could go wrong! 

The Necron force stuck to the classic 2nd ed. ‘codex’ so wasn’t exactly spoiling for choice in terms of options, but it was a solidly built force with a couple of Lords, a squadron of 3 Destroyers and a fair number of moderately sized Necron units. 

The Catachans deployed across the table in a thin line, with the Terminators front and centre hopping to provide a mobile fire base and shield to the others, and the Leman Russ on one flank with the Storm Troopers on the other. The Necrons responded with a similar set up, lined up across the table. The final act was the Ratlings infiltrating behind the outpost. The Catchans then got to use their barrage ability due to the Leman Russ, and while failing to hit the intended target, the blast did disable a pair of the killer robots. 

The Necrons took the first turn and advanced across the table, feeling confident the humans puny weapons could do them little damage, and the scarabs poured across the table towards the Leman Russ, aware that without them disrupting the tank, it could cause them some problems they would not have many answers for. In response, the Guard started to take defensive positions, apart from the Terminators who strode forwards confidently and the Ratlings that took position within the abandoned comms bunker. Opening fire, it was the Terminators and some lucky sniper shots that then managed to put down a handful of the Necrons, the rest of the fire proving ineffective. That is, apart from the Leman Russ which when confronted with the scarabs poured all of its fire into them, with Lascannon, Battle cannon and finally some lucky heavy bolter shots destroying all the small creatures before they could get into range and disrupt the tank. 

Turn 2 and the Necrons continue their advance, shots cutting through any IG units in LOS and only the presence of a Commissar keeps a couple of units in the fight. The remains of the Catachan units targeted start to try and take cover behind the advancing Terminators, and anyone lucky enough not to be in the open stays that way, hunkering down. Again the Leman Russ causes the Necrons problems taking down a number the machines, but the rest of the fire is pretty ineffective. 

Turn 3 sees a number of the downed Necrons rise back up again, the troopers hard work undone, although a number do also appear to phase away. Pouring Gauss fire into the terminators who are the closest target of the majority of the necrons, the first of the brave warriors is taken down but the rest of the squad hold firm. The Destroyers have flanked the guard at this point and start to pick off the heavy weapon teams on the right flank. 

The remaining guard troops charge the foremost Necron, to allow the Terminators to target the undamaged squads further back in an act of insane courage. The remaining storm troopers also advance bravely, the flamer trooper lighting up and taking down two of the machines single handed. The assault cannon terminator fails to do any damage, but the combined fire of the remaining storm bolters cut through another Necron squad and the Leman Russ appears to be struggling with its gun sights as only the Heavy Bolter lands any hits this turn. The charged Necron slays two guardsmen before falling to the combined attacks of the Jungle Fighters.   

Turn 4 and the Necron Destroyers fly across the rear of the guard battle line, homing in on the HQ squad, an assassination attempt clearly planned. The others either move up to firing positions, or charge those unfortunate troopers too close to their robots. In a hail of fire, the HQ squad is decimated with the Comms man, Psyker (who had failed to do anything so far) and battle standard all falling to the fire, but Colonel Holido ‘Steamin Hound’ Hickore emerged unscathed. The Necron Lord and his retinue lay into the Storm Troopers, killing a number of them and Commissar Harkat finds himself alone as the remains of the squad he is leading are killed. 

In response, the Catachans look to target as many of the machines as possible with their firing options. The remaining heavy weapons teams finally got their eye in with a number of kills (or at least take downs) and the Leman Russ proves its worth with the Necrons centre decimated by the tank, any any of them still standing are cut down by the Terminators. 

In the end, the Necrons failed with their Assassinate mission, while the Guard took down enough of the Necrons with heavy weapons fire to score the win with their Engage and Destroy mission, despite suffering heavy casualties across the board in return! 

And that’s it – the end of this 2nd Edition challenge and with it the completion of my Catachan Jungle fighters, now battle hardened and ready to fight more campaigns in the future! It’s been a blast taking part in this years competition and a great motivator to get a force painted up from start to finish. The sub-goals acted as a great incentive to try and bring out a greater narrative element to the project and I hope anyone who took the time to read my entires enjoyed the tale of Trooper Karbeiss Gravers (who survived the Nedririd Basin, holed up in the bunker with the rest of his squad) and all of the Catachan XCVIII Regiment, Red Company, Blue Platoon.

With that, the Challenge is wrapped up and I just have to say a massive thanks to Dr. The Viking for all the time and effort he has put into hosting the C0wabunga Challenge! Its been pretty crazy being involved this time around having really enjoyed reading the last three, being a part of it all and this time has been a blast! The other guys in the challenge have been great as well chatting away over on the Crown of Command discord and also over on Instagram. Its been great seeing all the other excellent armies come together as well! 

Well, thanks for reading and for anyone interested to see what other Oldhammer/Middlehammer shenanigans I am up to, you can find me at @ad80_Herohammer over on Instagram, thanks for reading! 

The past few months have been a total shit show for me personally. Private life, work life. I have dropped 22 pounds (10 kg) during this period. I rarely delve into my own life here, but I think this goes to highlight something: I pushed on through and I have completed this challenge. I am not gonna pretend this was anything but hard work and will power. But that is what it takes no matter what the goal is. Was it fun? Sometimes. Was it a chore? Absolutely sometimes. At the end of the day it shows what I have known for some years now: this challenge is all about planning. Those who make it usually have either a concrete plan or a plan in their minds.

The sixth month sees me complete a 10 man tactical squad bringing me up to 20 tacticals in the army. I would like to have had a different heavy weapon/special weapon for this squad, but I have reserved those for future devastator squads.

There was so much that I didn’t manage though. I wanted to finish a lot of bonus models: A “deathwing power armour” squad. A chaplain in terminator armour. A couple of assassins. A dreadnought. A rhino. All of it can safely wait till the next time. I already know what the next entry will be on my part: a painter’s pledge with all the characters.

One bonus model I did manage to finish is the land raider. It was an old banged up model that I bought years ago. Originally, the previous owner had built it for his Orks. The assembly is pretty wonky, and there is not a lot of nice stuff to say about that part. I guess it has been campaigning a lot with the Deathwing, and lots of field repairs has seen to it looking banged up. I took inspiration from this with regards to painting it and tried for the first time ever to do the “hairspray/salt” weathering thing. If you don’t know what that is YouTube is your friend. I think I managed.

As my final sub goal I completed this set of Terminator casualty gaming tokens. I guess I will use them to mark any spectacular Terminator deaths in game.

This is your friendly neighbourhood Viking out. Whether you were a guest of this challenge for only a few months or all the way, I am deeply grateful for your participation. Anyone who ended up with more painted models than they started with is a winner in my eyes. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

– Change is the only constant

Dr. The Viking