AHPC XI - Week Eight - Last Survivour

Time is speeding by in that slow-motion rapid blur timewarp that is the UK's covid Lockdown, and before I know it we are two-thirds of the way through the painting challenge. I'm still plugging away at the Chambers of Challenge bonus rounds, working through a pile of old lead miniatures and revisiting my youth with some old school fantasy figures. I have some historical stuff to work on this week but for the time being here are my entries for week eight of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. 

The Oubliette - Undead Standard Bearer

This old figure is the last survivor of a lost army. The first wargame I played was Warhammer Fantasy Battle, back in the early '90s. It was a logical choice for my group of friends because we were all committed D&D players so trying out a Fantasy wargame wasn't as big a step as it would seem. The first (and only) army I build for this rule system was an Undead Hord which included masses of zombies, skeleton warriors in rusted armour, undead horsemen ready to sweep across the battlefield and even a Zombie Dragon that set me back a lot of money. The thing that made my army stand out was that of my group of 8 friends, I was the only one who fielded a fully painted army. Indeed most of the time I played against entire forces of grey unpainted miniatures (the horror!).

As a group, we only played this system for a couple of years and eventually, we moved on to other games and one by one we sold off our armies, mine included. I regret not keeping a few pieces of this army even if, looking back, the panting was shockingly poor. Then I recently found this model and realised he had somehow missed the cull, and survived in my collection long after his comrades had gone to another home. When I saw the Chamber of Challenge entitled Oubliette, I knew instantly what I was going to paint. 

I actually had four of the same model (no idea why I bought four) so this Grenadier figure from 1991 will go on display with his unpainted companions. Because he's the last survivor, and a reminder of my earliest days of wargaming, I also made a small terrain base for it using some spare resin scenery I bought and didn't use in the last challenge. 

The Tomb - Gothic Vault and a Restless Resident

I can imagine the conversation had by the family of the occupant... "If we build him a really outlandish gothic tomb maybe he'll stay dead this time". 

I bought this excellent resin crypt from Debris of War before the last Challenge but didn't have time to finish it. It is such a nice model that it couldn't stay unpainted any longer. I really like the resin terrain by this company as it flawless and paints up really well. The model is pretty small at 3.5"x3"x4" so it is barely a 5th of a terrain cube...but it looks marvellous so it had to be my entry for this round. 

The figure is a 1984 Grenadier Zombie which I bought on eBay a few months ago. I couldn't let the poor fella go unpainted any more, and while his torn shirt may once have been expensive and fancy, his tattered appearance now made me feel sorry for him.