MONTHLY THEMES

The Alcatani Fellowship forms up to receive a charge.
This unit was my "Ride or Die" in last year's Call of the Crown.

This post will explain the monthly themes for Call of the Crown 6. 

As a reminder, participants are encouraged to paint along the theme each month, interpreting each prompt in the light of their particular army. However, doing so is not mandatory. Participants may disregard the themes provided they follow the overall challenge rules and paint a minimum of one legal unit per month and end the challenge with at least 1,000 points of painted models.

Many participants, including myself, find the monthly themes a useful way to:

1. help decide what you're going to paint for the challenge; 
2. draw inspiration about how and/or what to paint; and 
3. organize your challenge into manageable blocks.

Each month also includes a bonus challenge for the ambitious (or insane).

Without further ado, here are the monthly themes and challenges:

1. October - "Ride or Die"
• In our opening month of the challenge, it’s time to paint up your general and his “ride or die” mates—a core unit of reliable troops.
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a 2nd unit of core troops to give your general the entourage he deserves!
  
  
2. November - "You're Special" 
• Pick a special unit for your army and paint it up. You decide what special means for your particular force, but the idea is that it’s a unit outside the typical rank and file and focus on a unit that performs a specialized role on the battlefield.
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a special character to join your army!
  
  
3. December - "Ping! Pow! Boom! Ping!"
   
• What makes loud noises in your army? Was that the Hellblaster sounding off or just the ogres farting again? Pick a unit that makes a racket and paint it up!
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a wizard or magic user for your army!
  
  
4. January - "Make it Rain"
• This could be any unit with missile weapons, Goblin doom divers, a field artillery battery—anything that loves to darken the skies! 
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a battle standard bearer to rally your troops when the skies go dark and all seems to be going against them.
  
  
5. February - "Strange Bedfellows"
• Allies? Mercs? Camp followers? Now’s your chance to paint up a unit who finds common cause with the rest of your army.
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a monster or other terrifying creature who decides to curl up in your general’s bed!
  
  
6. March - "Medium Rare"
• For our final month, let’s celebrate by painting up a unit that’s rarely seen in your faction’s ranks! These might be posh troops who look down their noses at their companions in arms, but could also be a unit that is simply rarely seen on the battlefield; e.g., Grail Knights or the Everqueen’s Handmaidens.
• Bonus Challenge: 
• Paint up a hero—they’re rare enough these days!