From AndrewG: A Few Pulp Era Bad Guys (25 points)

As we begin to wind down on this year's challenge, I'm now just focused on finishing up whatever is still sitting on my painting desk from the beginning of winter. There's a few small war band bits and bobs to do for various games, including these nefarious looking chaps.

This crew consists of five metal figures from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures - specifically the Weird Menance line (PWM). I first saw these figures way back in 2003 when I attended Historicon. I had signed up for one of Bob's Rugged Adventures games and he was playing a scenario from their China Station campaign. Needless to say the game was great fun and I picked these characters up expecting that I would eventually use them for something. Unfortunately, they went into storage and, well, here we are.

Interestingly, I had originally painted them in red cloaks to stand out, but then changed my mind and repainted them similar to what appears on the Pulp Figures website. As such one might notice a slight red tint in the clothing. Overall, they were a quick job, and they'll do nicely for some interwar skirmish games we have planned for this year.

Very simply, 5x 28mm figures = 25 points

___________________

Great looking cultists, Andrew. These Bob Much sculpts are so wonderfully characterful and your paintwork really does them justice. I think you were right to eschew red and go with purple (Nyarlathotep will be pleased). Well done!

- Curt

From the Saturday Minion: Last saturday of regular service!

 Hoi there,

 Yes people this will be the last regular Saturday before the "Open Season" of the final Challenge week starts this Monday. So what does the crew have in store for you this day? Well I will tell you kind Challengers:

- Teemu is on a roll with two different posts regarding Civilians and very small undead.

- MarkG goes choochoo with a train! 

- PeteB has a lovely vignette to show us.

-  MarkE goes on sale with some cans of fizzy pop!

Let's dig in everyone !

 

Sunday crew checking in

 It’s time to display the continued hard work from the Sunday crew .

I am up early this morning waiting on  the strains of “Grandad! Grandad ! “ as we have my best bud over for the weekend . So it’s a gentle early coffee while I process this weeks entries, before I am hit with the whirlwind . 

 

Yesterday my bud and I went to the ruins of the 900 year old Augustine Priory near us looking for and talking about history.  The remains  of the east window are still impressive nearly 500 years after Henry VIII and his  dissolution.

 Gisborough Priory from 1119 . It became  one of the richest monastic foundations in England. It had grants from the crown and bequests from the de Brus of Scotland - yes those Bruce’s . 

 The remains of the East window stands high over the town and can be seen from all around it . It’s rumoured the “Black Monk” can be seen crossing the site at certain times of the year , though that may be when alcohol has been taken .

Stone from the ruins lies all around - we had some in the garden 30 years ago.

We then got to revel in France having its derrière handed to it by Scotland in the 6 nations rugby . My voice may be a bit hoarse this morning after a 50-40 point game 😆

Scotland 50 , France 40 😎

 

Anyway that’s enough of my rambling - well apart from I have more Bolsheviks up my sleeves with luck this week .

To entertain you this weekend we have :- 

Matt has Wolves from Space

Mike has a bag of mixes

Adam is Horsey

Paul has something not brown , but grey 

Lee has his winter finished 

Ray had come over all Donnybrook - 

Phil has Paras 

And I am sure there will be more along in due course ! 

From the Saturday Minion: Gearing up for the end-sprint?

 Hoi there,

Today we will be going easy and lazily into the weekend and the them round but before we have a look at that here's the offerings of the Saturday Scoundrels for you all to enjoy. 

- Teemu has a green-theme going today and what a nice mix it is!

- JP returns to Ancient times with some Marian Romans and Ancient Saxons

- Edward kicks off his 6mm Waterloo painting with some very small horses.

- MarkG continues down the long road of Civil War 

 And who knows what the crew will throw in more this day? 

Have a good one people! 

 

 

 

Monday Funday

Spoons - Romantic Traffic

Monday again and time for some more OMM. This time it's something from the New Wave of the early 1980s and one of the best Canadian bands of that genre at the time - Burlington, Ontario's own Spoons.

Gordon Deppe and Sandy Horne dated when they were students at Aldershot School in Burlington and formed the band with a couple of friends. Their debut studio album "Stick Figure Neighbourhood" came out in 1981 and was engineered by none other than Daniel Lanois, who you may see in a future instalment of OMM. The next year saw the release of their breakout disc "Arias & Symphonies" which featured three Canadian top-40 hits.

The video I've linked above was released by the band in 1984 on the soundtrack for the film "Listen to the City." To me this is peak New Wave from the '80s with all of its keyboards and synthesizers and faux-British-accented vocals, plus some solid rock staples like the "doo doo doo" chorus and handclaps. Plus check out those hairstyles, absolutely epic. The TTC setting for the video is very nostalgic for me too as I rode it a lot when I lived in Toronto in the early '90s.

Now on to the painting...

• Norm brings out the big guns for his Napoleonic Austrians!
• Jez with "assorted" Landsknechts!
• Aaron presents a Star Wars Legion bada$$ and some tiny Ork APCs!

Have a good week all!

Dallas

Sunday crew checking in

Here we go again , I am well on the mend following my bout of lurgy last week  . I have a fresh ground coffee in hand while I work my way through the Sunday crews endeavours , over 3000 points worth to entertain you .

 

Paul’s Production line is still producing 

Ray has taken wing and wants a second bite 

Tim’s Saxons are late 

Adam is building a Balkan park 

Darrell has his archers 

Graham and Ian have points bombes 

Lee abandons things 

Tim gets his teasers on

And more besides .

On a plus  I have finished my posting for this week and am cracking in with some extra stuff today .

We are well into the home straight for the challenge as we cross into March , so keep those brushes twirling people . 

Have a good one you lot .

From the Saturday Minion: A Journey to the West!

 Hoi There,

 

Another Saturday has sneaked up on us and we will be having a nice and quiet start of the wekend with:

- Teemu who trevels both to the Eastern Front and the Wild West of the States

- Christophers embarks on a journey of Odyssean  proportions to Ancient Greece.

- Peter than takes us back to the USA with some more Wild West in a grand scale!

- Mark takes us back East with some more excellent  Czechoslovak Legion. 

 Come on Saturday Scoundrels get those brushes going! 

 

Blue Monday

Northern Pikes - Wait for Me

It's Monday again and time for your weekly dose of old man music from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I was going to post something from an American band today but my feelings are a little too raw from Canada's overtime loss in the gold medal hockey game this morning. So we will enjoy (not New Order, but rather) some Cancon from Saskatoon's own Northern Pikes.

The band formed in 1984 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan by Jay Semko, Merl Bryck, Bryan Potvin, and Glen Hollingshead. They released two independent EPs before Hollingshead left the group in 1986, being replaced by Don Schmid on drums. Their first record for the Virgin label was 1987's "Big Blue Sky" which spawned the indy hits "Teenland" and "Things I Do for Money". The video I've linked above is from their followup "Secrets of the Alibi" (1988) and I think it's among the best of the band's catalog.

While Merl Bryck (crush object of some of my female friends back then) left the band in 2006, he was replaced in the lineup by ex-Grapes of Wrath guitarist Kevin Kane, and the Pikes still tour. I saw them in 2021 at a multi-band show with the Jim Cuddy Band (he of Blue Rodeo) and 54-40. They were great, but it wasn't the first time for me. Check this out:

That must have been obtained on their 1991 tour, probably at the Keystone Centre in Brandon, Manitoba (don't be too hard on me, it was 35 years ago and I was 19 years old!). That's the centrefold of their "Snow in June" CD, released in 1990.  

Anyway on to the painting. This Monday we have:

• Plague Marines, modern US infantry and Great War French from DavidB!
• Post-apoc and Dark Souls from GavinB!
• Austrian Napoleonics from NormS!

Although this post won't appear until early Monday morning, I'm writing it on Sunday afternoon and the sad from the game this morning persists. However a bunch of the locals are getting together on the ODR to "skate away the sadness" and I'm looking forward to that.

Have a good week all.

Dallas

From the Saturday Minion: Something for everyone!

 Hoi there,

 

The Saturday crew has done their utmost best to bring you all a brilliantly divers set of entries. 

- Mark forges on with his Russian Civil War project 

- Martijn has more WW2 French troops in store for us.

- Teemu is on a roll with flying carpets, Eldar and Peninsular troops

- JP has a fitting finish for his Ancient Germans.  

- Peter goes large with some archers

So get it while you can people and be inspirated!

 Cheers Sander

 

Monday Again!

The Clash - Gates of the West

OK all, it's Monday again and that means more old man music. This week it's one of my all-time favourites - "the only band that matters" - plus a couple bonus tracks from the two frontmen's post-Clash projects.

What can you say about the Clash? Formed in 1976 in London by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer (we won't mention the previous band Joe was associated with), the classic lineup also included bassist Paul Simonon (he taught himself to play the bass in three weeks!) and drumming genius Topper Headon. Their eponymous first album was released in 1977, followed by "Give 'Em Enough Rope" in 1978. But their magnum opus was certainly "London Calling" released in 1979 and named by Rolling Stone as the greatest album of the decade (the 1980s that is). Infused by ska and reggae as well as rockabilly and traditional rock 'n' roll, every song on this record is a banger. The song linked above, "Gates of the West", is from the band's 1979 EP "The Cost of Living", released just about seven months before London Calling.

London Calling was followed at the end of 1980 by a triple (!) album (sold for the price of a double album), Sandinista! Although I personally love half of the songs on Sandinista!, a lot of it is half-baked rubbish (the "dub" versions of other album tracks for example) and although the band had always been "political", the triple album was even moreso. The album was followed in 1981 by "Combat Rock" featuring the charting US single "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"  Unfortunately the answer was the latter, as after a half-hearted 1982 release (of which the less said the better) the band broke up for good. 

But the animating minds of the Clash, Strummer and Jones, carried on! Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite in 1984. After a time that incarnation broke up and in 1991 Jones formed its successor "Big Audio Dynamite II" releasing their debut album "The Globe", which spawned this hit:

Big Audio Dynamite - Rush

Joe Strummer wasn't idle either. He formed a group called the Mescaleros and they were also great!

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Get Down Moses

(You might recognize that tune from its great cover by ska band the Interrupters). Sadly Joe Strummer died of a congenital heart defect in 2002. He is missed! 

So if you've made it down this far you're probably interested in the painting this week. First off an apology from me, SteveA's Space Marines were a late entry last week and I didn't get to them, so they're first up this week. Next are some very nice Austrian Napoleonic mounted officers from NormS. And that's it, an easy start to the week - a short week for many of us in North America as today is a provincial holiday in many provinces as well as Presidents' Day in the USA.

Have a better one!

Dallas

From the Saturday Minion: another shinig new day in the Challenge!

 Hoi there,

 

Yes yes, it's Valentine's Day, the perfect day for your loved ones to show you they love you by leaving you alone so you can paint figures just the way you want it!

The Saturday crew has some lovely stuff in store for us, amongst this is:

- Teemu revisits an old love

- Mark just loves his Russian Civil War project

- Martijn has not just found 1 new love but 2! 

- JP sure loves his Cimbrians 

 

For the rest of you: open the paintpots and get those brushes cracking and paint paint PAINT!

It's Monday Again! And That Means More Old Man Music!

Squeeze - Another Nail in My Heart

OK so it's Monday again and another dose of old man music for you. Today it's one of my all-time favourites - Squeeze. It's always surprising to me how many people have never heard of them given how many good songs the band have produced in their long career, but if I can introduce anyone new to their amazing music I'm happy to do so.

Squeeze was formed in the mid-'70s in Deptford, southeast London, by vocalists and guitarists Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford. The band was part of the British New Wave scene. The Tillbrook and Difford songwriting partnership produced a TON of great music - this is one of my favourite songs of theirs, a good friend put it on a mixtape for me in about 1986. But you'd recognize a lot of Squeeze songs - "Pulling Mussels (from a Shell)," "Cool for Cats," "Black Coffee in Bed," "Hourglass," "Annie Get Your Gun" (which was shortlisted for this post), "Tempted" (with vocals by sometime-keyboardist Paul Carrack), etc. Tillbrook and Difford have been compared to Lennon and McCartney and I wouldn't dispute that. Glenn has a remarkable singing voice too.

I saw Squeeze play live at the Salt Shed in Chicago in 2023 and it was one of the best rock shows I've ever seen. There are two schools of thought regarding live rock performances. The adherents of one school want to hear the songs like they sound on the album and on the radio. Those of the other school love "noodling" and alternate arrangements of the familiar hits. I have to say that I am of the first school (although the Police's live show made a good argument for the other) and the show that Squeeze put on suited me down to the ground. Glenn and Chris's voices were top-notch, the playing was outstanding, and every song sounded just like it did on the record. Amazing show!   

So now onto the painting... this week we've got some great stuff:

• Kingdom Death (but safe for work!) from ByronM
• A miscellany from DavidB
• Spiffy samurai from JezT
• Terrifying Tyranids from SanderS, and
• Vietnam NVA, USMC and civilians from HayesR

Enjoy the week!

Dallas

From the Saturday Minion: An eclectic mix today!

 Hoi There,

 Another Saturday has come round and apart from some excellent entries from the regular Saturday crew we might also see some other terrain oriented posts today.

- We have some excellent Napoleonics and Warmaster figures by Rafa 

- Martijn shows us his brilliant Roman Cataphracts

- Teemu has painted up those excellent old GW figures of Lumpin Crooks fighting Cocks.

- Mark is back with some salty Russians for his Civil War project 

Perhaps there will be more posts but we will have to wait and see.

 

 

Cheers Sander 

The Friday Minion - ITMA

 Yes It’s That Man Again . Our Antipodean minion Millsy is down with the lurgi , having rolled a 1 on his saving throw -  must be a brave lurgi if you ask me . 

So after the promise of a Whip Round , or was it to be Roundly Whipped I am not sure,  it’s Dave D rounding up the cats today . Just remember I am on GMT - you know the proper time , non of this fancy being ahead or behind malarkey.

Let’s see what the Friday crew have for your entertainment. 

We have Alan’s Reivers and Goths 

Aaron has a bazaar if randomness 

Stuart shares his best friends .

Geoff has his Amazon - or are they Aztecs 

Kent’s Barins war have a host of colour 

Steve gets his kit bash on..

And whatever else we may turn up .

Friday crew I will update the point tally later in the day .

I am off for a game today with MartinC . My Bolshevik’s against his . He is obviously a counter revolutionary Right Socialist revolutionary ,  I think we saw buttons with imperial eagles on his greatcoats - where as mine are Left Socialist Revolutionary we are true to the revolution, MartinC’s imperial running dog lackeys will be put up against the first wall we find… 

My Maxims are ready comrade , maybe I will add another mound of spent cartridges 

Game set up 

Thursday Sub-In for Minion GregB

Blue Rodeo - Head Over Heels

Minion Dallas here, subbing in for GregB as he's in sunny southern climes. I hope you will forgive me for using the space to talk about more old man music :-)

I don't often post live performances here (mostly because of quality of recording) but at the same time, it's kinda boring to just look at an album cover. So here's Blue Rodeo performing their song "Head Over Heels" in 1993. For me this is peak Blue Rodeo. I've seen them live a number of times and they've always put on a great show. The song I linked is one of my favourites of theirs, it was the sixth (!) single from their fifth studio album, "Five Days in July." To me it's a perfect representation of the band's alt-country-rock style and sensitive, poetic lyrics. 

The band was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Canada by high-school friends Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor. After spending some time in New York City, the original lineup was finalized with the addition of keyboard player Bobby Wiseman, bassist Bazil Donovan and drummer Cleave Anderson. Their first album, Outskirts, was released in 1987 and was a big part of my teenage years. I still remember listening to the album's monster hit single "Try" on the radio when closing up at Bonanza restaurant, my first job. 

Blue Rodeo is truly one of Canada's musical treasures. Cuddy and Keelor have been recognized for countless awards in their over-40-year career, including a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters' Hall of Fame, eleven Juno awards, etc. They are legends, no doubt, and were my late wife Pam's favourite band for sure. I hope you enjoy their music too.

Now to the painting... this week I'm proud to present:

• Some Age of Sigmar commissions from Millsy!
• A miscellany from DaveD with some great painting and a scratchbuilt boat!
• Napoleonic Austrians from IainW!
• Some Epic Bohemian Pike & Shotte from Curt!
• Snowy (not the dog) fantasy units from JamieM!
• A few MCP heroes (and villains!) from RhysH!

Have a great Thursday everyone and I'll see you again on Monday!

Dallas

 

From DaveD - Wednesday Substitue

 I am doing substitute duty today , looking  after the Wednesday crew as Sylvain is away for a break .

Have a great time in the Rockies Sylvain . I suspect there will be a lot more snow than last time I visited a couple of years ago .

Ok Team Wednesdsy - let’s see what you have got!

There is a definite whiff of the oceon so far with ships from nations across the globe from Peter and Adam .

Robert wonders why 13 pieces on tank turret l 

Bill turns up the brightness to 11 with his Maya .

Bruce is raising new Vampires and more besides 

And that’s just the teasers .

Team Wednesday I will up date your points through the day .

Monday Mania with a Social Conscience

World Party - Ship of Fools

Back to "old man music" with this absolute classic from one-man-band and musical genius Karl Wallinger. He was born on 19 October 1957 in Wales. As a boy he completely absorbed the music of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and the Kinks... his musical career began as a keyboard player but he first became known as a multi-instrumentalist member of the Waterboys, contributing significantly to their 1985 hit "Whole of the Moon." After leaving the group, Wallinger's next project was World Party and its first album "Private Revolution" (1987). The video I linked above is from that album and reflects Wallinger's world-music style and social conscience. Private Revolution was followed in 1990 by World Party's masterpiece album, "Goodbye Jumbo", with its two hits "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box."

Wallinger's music was obviously influenced by the Beatles but he was an inspiring songwriter and musician. "Way Down Now" obviously draws inspiration from "Sympathy for the Devil" but it's by no means a pastiche. The energy of World Party's recordings and videos is really unmatched and his social message is especially relevant today. Sadly Wallinger died in 2024 of a stroke, at his home in Hastings.

Now for the painting... this week we have a swell Gendarme standard bearer from JezT, a buncha cool Greeks from RobH, unexpected Ultramarines from SteveA, and a great deal of WW2 infantry and vehicles from DavidB!

I hope you enjoy the posts and I'll be back Thursday with some more old man music when I sub for Minion GregB.

Dallas

Sunday crew checking in

 It’s come around again and it’s time for me to grab my breakfast coffee and survey the work of the Sunday crew .

Time for some morning contemplation..

 

We have another packed day :-

To Sir from Paul. 

Green skins from Mike 

The jungles are Jangely from Adam 

Youngsters from Phil 

Ray retreats 

And Ian gallops on 

The Snowlord makes a visit to Sunday .

And I am sure there will be more .

I have a decent weekend of painting , with yesterday going well and a good session planned for today 

February sometimes sees a dip in output - so keep those brushes twirling ! 

Have a good one people 

It's Monday Again!

Bahamas - Lost in the Light

So on the recent Costa Rica trip my companion liked to play music in the morning. It was quite nice to listen to it while we got ready for the day. So one day I put my own music on, and she asked if I ever listened to any "modern music" - ouch. So I trotted out this banger.

Afie Jurvanen (known professionally as "Bahamas") is a Finnish-Canadian who was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1981. He's released seven studio albums. Bahamas' musical style could probably best be described as folk rock or "adult alternative" (eww). It's very melodic and mellow for the most part. While his music has been nominated for a buncha Junos and other awards, I'd never heard of Bahamas until the financial services company I work for licensed "Lost in the Light" for a television spot. When the commercial was unveiled to the staff I was blown away. To me it's one of those songs that can just bring you to tears, it's so lovely. The female backup singers particularly are fine. I hope you enjoy it.  

Anyway, on to the painting. There's only one lonely post for Monday, but it's a great one with some nice variety. You know if it's Byron there's gonna some disturbing content from Kingdom Death, but it is leavened here with a charming little mole from Badgers & Burrows and a very nice piece of terrain. 

Have a great week.

Dallas

From the Saturday Minion: Squirrels Galore!

 Hoi there,

 

Today the Saturday Scoundrels all seem to have gone squirrel hunting, with most of them showing several different subjects within their posts, save for some diehards who keep relentlessly working their main projects. So what do we have in store? 

 - Kristofer goes boom with some excellent artillery

-  JP throws in some more Ancient Germans in the mix

- Pete goes large with the Romans in 54mm

- Rafael goes small with some Warmaster Lizardmen 

- Mark continues into the colourful side of the Russian Civil War

- Teemu Squirrels all over the Challenge with a delightful smithering of hobby goodness.

 

Enjoys today's crop people and have a good weekend!

Cheers Sander