2020 Advent Calendar: Day 2

 Today we leave the winter atmosphere of northern Europe for the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Let's open the second window in this year's Advent Calendar.

This guy is a new recruit for my Sea People army. I gave him a light skin color (as for his companions), and his clothes follow the basic blue / red / white color scheme (very french indeed :)). But this time, I wanted to use both light blue and dark blue, as can be seen on Egyptian bas-reliefs.

A closer look:

And even closer, to see this guy among his people, composed of fierce warriors with bronze weapons.

Figures by Caesar, who are the masters of anatomy in 1/72.

That's all for today. We're still at the beginning of the calendar...

2020 Advent Calendar: Day 1

 Hello, dear fellow readers!

After a lot of activity during Orctober, it seems that I needed a break before posting anything new on this blog. A break during the whole of November... but I wasn't inactive. After focusing on a single project, I decided to paint any figure I wanted, just for the pleasure of melting colors, as many colors as possible. And here we are, I now have enough figures, single or groups, to show you something different every day... and the timing is perfect, since we are in December, so this year, you will find an Advent Calendar in these pages.

Remember that an advent calendar is a way to help children to wait for Christmas... I hope it will work :)

Let's start with the figures for Day 1:

These guys are Swiss halberdiers from the 15th century - exactly the sort of men that fought against the army of the Duke of Burgundy. So let's say that, in this winter atmosphere, they are looking for food in the woods around the city of Nancy, in 1477.

A closer look:

It looks like they eventually caught birds for dinner today.

Hope you like them (the guys, and also the birds) :)

See you tomorrow for the next image.

Orctober's battle: Empire vs Orcs

 How did it all end like this ?

Hum, let's go back to the past for a moment.

Today's the last day of Orctober, the month when Orcs (and their relatives: Goblins, Trolls, Uruk-hai...) try to sweep the world. In order to help them to win, painters all over the world focus on painting reinforcements for the green horde.

I was one of these painters in 2019, and completed a nice HOTT army as you can see here.

But this year, I thought it would be fair to help their opponents, and have the opportunity to display a large battle. So I chose to paint a human Empire army, inspired by Warhammer Fantasy Battle.It also was an occasion to paint historical Renaissance figures in a Fantasy frame.

The painting period started at the beginning of October and just ended yesterday - here you are the list of posts related to this project:

- episode 1: Explaining the challenge + halberdiers

- episode 2: More halberdiers

- episode 3: Artillery

- episode 4: Knights and fanatics

- episode 5: Fire power part I

- episode 6: Fire power part II

- episode 7: Army complete

 Now it's time to show the different units all together. These guys represent the army of Talabecland. They are led by the Duke of Talabecland himself. Their provincial colors are red and yellow. They're ready to defend a small village in the north of Talabheim.

After a long wait, the Orcish horde was here, ready to attack. The defenders were swiftly overwhelmed...

The worst job for a Goblin:

The duke himself is trying to stop the Warg riders.

Even the birds could see how desperate this fight was.

Will Talabecland be destroyed by these countless attackers ? Has this army been painted in vain ?

Hope you like them all (even the ugly ones :-D) !

Orctober challenge, episode 7: army complete !

 Dear fellow readers,

I am more than happy to tell you that the Orctober challenge - painting a 1/72 Empire army - is now over, and that I have reached my goals :)

In the previous episode, I explained that I had one element of knights and one general element left to paint.

Let's start with the general, and his companions:

First of all, the general. This mini represents the Duke of Talabecland. He wears a black enameled armour, as do his horse. He's wearing a red and yellow dress, since they are the colors of his duchy.

Next, an officer, in charge of the artillery on the battlefield: purple dress (something different, at last :)) with red and yellow facings.

Last, the standard bearer - always necessary on the battlefield. He bears a simple regimental banner and not the great banner of the duchy which should have a black eagle as coat of arms.

Now, let's have a look at the knights:

These are Dark Dream Studio Renaissance knights painted as Reiksguard, that is knights in full armour with red and white colors. These minis are absolutely wonderful in my opinion, and a real pleasure to paint. The armor in particular are full of nice details, as you can see on the close-up below:

The next picture shows my two elements of knights. The riders on the left are made by Miniart (see episode 4 for details). Regarding the sculpture, you can note how different these figures are.

The progress table confirms, the job is done !

Troop type	Number of elements	figs per element	Number of figures	painted figures
General (Knight)	1	3	3	3
Wizard	1	2	2	2
Knights	2	3	6	6
Halberdiers	2	4	8	8
Longswords	2	4	8	8
Arquebusiers	2	4	8	8
Fanatics	1	4	4	4
Bombard	1	4	4	4
Total	12		43	43

If you remember what I explained in episode 1, I primarily had 41 figures to paint. The total of figures was increased to 43 after I decided to have two wizards on the magician element, and three figures on the command element.

On the other hand, I already had 8 Longswords painted in 2017, so I've painted 35 figures this month for the Orctober challenge. As I usually paint around 120 figures per year (that's not a lot, I know), I must say that a good, though lonely challenge is a good way to stay motivated. 

Is it over ? Not completely (no, I'm not thinking of basing them, I know I have to, just like all the other figures, one day maybe).

Orctober is a month dedicated to Orcs, and I painted a complete Orc army for the 2019 Orctober challenge. This time, I wanted to paint opponents for the Orcs, so tomorrow, with the probable help of my daughter, I will take pictures of the whole army standing, then in a fight against the Orcs.

See you tomorrow :)

Orctober challenge, episode 6: Fire power part II

 The second fire wizard is painted, my wizard element is now complete:

As expected, the second wizard is less impressive than the first one (at least in my taste): the poe is less dynamic, and the fire effect created over his head is not a success, even if I added some flames, as some of you advised me.

This conversion is based on a monk from Redbox set #72086 Russian War Monks.

I've also painted the last three Arquebusiers, so that the mercenary element is complete too. No uniforms here, but a common color scheme: green / red / white and some black.

Here they are, side by side with the Talabecland Arquebusiers;

Only two days left, and still some guys to paint, but the end is near:

Troop type	Number of elements	figs per element	Number of figures	painted figures
General (Knight)	1	3	3	0
Wizard	1	2	2	2
Knights	2	3	6	3
Halberdiers	2	4	8	8
Longswords	2	4	8	8
Arquebusiers	2	4	8	8
Fanatics	1	4	4	4
Bombard	1	4	4	4
Total	12		43	37

The three knights should be finished this evening, and I will have time tomorrow to focus on the command group: 

- An armored general on horse (maybe the duke of Talabecland himself)

- A flagbearer - an ordinary flag; in the future, I will have to replace him by a great banner, but I still haven't found the right figure - a conversion will be necessary

- A foot officer, with a purple dress.

No time to lose! Hope you like today's delivery :)

Orctober challenge, episode 5: Fire power part I

 Hi everyone! No, I've not been lazy, and no, I didn't start 4 other projects before completing the Orctober challenge.

Here you some new troops, for the Empire army! Let's start with the Arquebusiers.

I have been sticking to the color scheme chosen in episode 1: red and yellow for a Talabecland unit, black socks and jacket. The figures once again come from Redbox and Dark Dream Studio sets.

I've chosen a very different color scheme for my mercenary arquebusiers, mostly red and green. The test shot figure comes from Redbox set #72099 Italian Infantry (set 1) - maybe the fact that they were Italian influenced me for the color scheme :)

Last but not least, I've finished the first of my two Fire wizards, and I must admit that I am quite happy with the result.

Contrary to what my son thinks, this guy is not trying to perform a COVID testing on his enemy, but he is launching a fireball at him (yes he's studying biology at the university - my son, not the wizard).

As some of you have guessed in episode 4, this wizard is a slight conversion of a Hät celtic druid. I tried to represent a warm light on his face and robe due to the fireball.

Hope you like them :)

Oh, and the progress table:

Troop type	Number of elements	figs per element	Number of figures	painted figures
General (Knight)	1	3	3	0
Wizard	1	2	2	1
Knights	2	3	6	3
Halberdiers	2	4	8	8
Longswords	2	4	8	8
Arquebusiers	2	4	8	5
Fanatics	1	4	4	4
Bombard	1	4	4	4
Total	12		43	33

If you compare with the previous posts, you will realize that the total number on figures to paint has increased - now I need 43 figures instead of 41. The reason is that I will paint 2 wizards for the wizard element, and that I've at last chosen the figures (and the color schemes) for the general element: 1 mounted general, 1 foot aide-de-camp and 1 foot flag bearer.

10 figures to paint, and 5 days to go => I go back to the cellar right now.

See you soon (I hope :-) ).