Forced March is drawing to a close, and I’ve finally finished a unit of miniatures! These are Galacteers, from Hydra Miniatures, and I’ve had them for about fifteen years. In fact, my first posts on this site were some War Rocket ships, Galacteers and Imperials, and I’ve previously painted some Galacteer characters (you can see them at the end). These guys are just the rank-and-file scrubs, complete with a heavy weapon.

Started out by priming them white, figuring I’d paint all the other colors around the white uniforms and just highlight up. Easy, right? Well, yeah. Maybe once upon a time. But these took much longer to paint because I kept fucking up and getting paint on the white parts, so, by the time I got to the white, I had a lot to fix. Damn these eyes!

Still, not too shabby when they’re all painted up, and completing them after all this time means I have no more Hydra miniatures outstanding in the pile of shame. This gives me a feeling of accomplishment I haven’t felt since finishing off my Pulp Figures years ago.

Here’s an image of the squad with all the Hydra characters in the front row. Done!

But of course, I am not the only one taking part in Forced March! Below find the other participants and their awesome submissions. As usual, if I forgot someone or something, let me know and I will certainly correct it. Like any “real life” forced march, I expect some stragglers over the next few days (I might even be one of them!). Be sure to drop by these blogs/accounts and lend your support!

• Simon, from Fantorical, completed a unit of Uruk-Hai crossbowmen (crossboworcs?), some Alien Legionnaires and is working on some Beastmen, both of these from Crooked Dice (a company I wish I could patronize more)
• Dave, from Wargames Terrain Workshop has been busy indeed, with a squad of Star Wars Imperial Scout Troopers, some old-school metal Space Marine Scouts, a squadron of Space Marine Speeders, and some Star Wars Imperial Stormtroopers! Add in some Wookies and a few more Space Marines, and you’ve got a typical month of painting for Dave. The man is a machine!
• Roger, from Rantings From Under the Wargames Table, painted a unit of Forge Fathers (Mantic Squats), and then did a unit of Plague Zombies! Awesome, Roger!
• Azazel, from Azazel’s Bitz Box, paints so much stuff all the time that I’m not even sure he painted anything for Forced March! If so, I can’t find it, so LMK if I’m wrong, Azazel!
• Tom, from Good Ground, painted a squad of Iron Warriors Space Marines!

And the Instagram crowd:

• James, @spoontasticminis has been painting Emperor’s Children Space Marines all month, which more than qualify for Forced March.
• Sabrina, @Uthwulfsminis is working on a squad of Space Marine Beakies that she has dubbed the “Pumpkin Spice” marines. Whether that’s an official chapter name or blasphemous heresy is for the Emperor to decide.
• A newcomer this year, @horridperson, is a hobbyist close to my heart, as they have been working on tons of Star Trek miniatures lately! And even though they said they forgot about Forced March, they painted enough miniatures to make a unit: the Commune, a TOS-era reimagining of the Borg. Very cool! (I need to play some Star Trek miniatures games again).
• @groddsnods did what he does best, converted and painted some Heroclix into a unit of Steve Ditko’s Madmen! This could have easily been an entry for Forgotten Heroes, too…but I’m sure we’ll see more awesome stuff in June!

And that’s another challenge sorted. I was hoping to get at least one more unit done, but that doesn’t seem likely. They might show up a few days into April, though, so check back soon! Monster May(hem) will be here before you know it!