From Curt: 28mm Norman Warlord, 'Tancred de Hauteville' (30 points)

Well, as I suspected, administrating the Challenge is absorbing a good deal of my hobby time. Not that I'm complaining, as its great fun chatting with everyone as their entries come in, but it has cut down on how much I can get ready for submission. Anyway, that being said, I have been grinding along and have just finished here my Norman warlord for my SAGA force. 

I've been reading the Jack Ludlow series of books describing the Norman de Hauteville family. They were large band of brothers who gained fame in Italy first as mercenaries then as powerful warlords. Its a good read and has helped keep my interest up as I slowly work through my Norman warhost.  

So in homage to the patriarch of that family here is Tancred de Hauteville charging on his warhorse with one of his 12 (!) sons acting as his banner-bearer. 

The Norman castings are 28mm Gripping Beast whereas the casualty figures are from Old Glory. There are a few slight conversions but nothing earth shattering. In addition the shields benefit from LBMS treatment and the banner is also an LBMS transfer mounted on foil. I clipped the edges of the foil to make it a little more visually interesting.

I've also snuck in a couple shots which include my Anglo-Dane warlord 'Heldrid' who is set to meet Tancred in a head-on smack-down. I just look at the Anglo-Dane and can hear him growling, 'If you think you've got something, well bring it...'. (Tim, note 'Heldrid's' redux bloodied long axe.) :)

This group will net me a modest 30 points. Onwards and upwards, eh? Currently I'm splitting my time between a fresh regiment of French Dragoons and more Normans - but more on that later.

Happy Christmas Everyone! 

From ChrisP: 28mm Napoleonic British Casualty and WWII Greyhound (11 points)

Chris is just about to go on vacation and so wanted to get some entries in before he left. Here is a Napoleonic British casualty and a M8 Greyhound armoured car.

The casualty figure is a 28mm Perry sculpt. Chris has done the facing colours to go with his upcoming 69th Lincolnshires. Very nice! The pose of the figure really reminds me of that famous but controversial Spanish Civil War photo by Robert Capra of of the Loyalist being shot. Chris will be using this stand for 'Lasalle'.

His second entry is a 15mm M8 Greyhound scout car from Battlefront Miniatures. Chris used a gel pen to put in the 'F 22' markings (Fox Company, 2nd Troop, 2nd vehicle).

I'm giving Chris 6 points for the Greyhound and 5 for the casualty, so 11 points total. 


Enjoy your vacation, Chris!

From TimB: 28mm Great War Highland Infantry (70 points)

One of the big guns in the Challenge to date has been Tim and he provides a parting shot before Santa arrives with this fine unit of 14 Great War Highland infantrymen.

These are 28mm Renegade miniatures depicting Scottish troops in early war uniforms (no covers for the kilts, tams, etc).

You will notice the rags over some their faces. This was an early (and desperate) effort to resist the effects of German gas attacks. It is said that many men urinated in their kerchiefs as the ammonia helped to neutralize the agents in the chlorine gas - pretty grim stuff.

These lads will give Tim a further 70 points to his tally, putting him firmly in the lead. For now.

From Miles: War of 1812 US Regular Infantry (90 points)

After being first through the breach Miles comes back with his second entry to the Challenge. This time with 18 figures from his upcoming 1812 US Regular regiment.

These are 28mm Knuckleduster miniatures.  One can see my Viking on the right urging the 'Ghost Warriors' to get some colour and join the rest.


Great stuff Miles! Look forward to seeing the whole unit ranked-up ready to project their Manifest Destiny. This group will bring Miles 90 points.

From JuanM: A Roger's Ranger from the French and Indian War (5 points)

Juan has come in with another great entry, focusing again on the French and Indian War, with a soldier from the famous Roger's Rangers who were an independent Colonial militia unit in British service.

This is a 28mm casting from Galloping Major Wargames. Juan is 'auditioning' this line along with Conquest to see which he wants to concentrate on for his upcoming project. 

I quite like this fellow's lugubrious face - very characterful.

As a alternative suggestion, for a completely different style, Juan, you may want to check out Tom Meirer's Thunderbolt Mountain range of 1/48 scale castings. Its a very small range, but the sculpts are very beautiful and sinewy - I have a few and can attest to their quality. They might be nice just as stand-alone presentation figures.

Juan has been splitting time between this project and painting Sci-Fi stuff (heaven forbid) but says he has to start picking up the pace. This lad gives Juan another 5 points to his roster. Well don, Juan!

From ChrisP: 28mm Napoleonic British Artillerists and Wellington (70 points)

Building up momentum from his Spartan hoplite, Chris sends in this entry: a battery of Royal Artillerists and the Man himself, Christopher Plummer! Damn, I mean Stephen Fry, er, I mean the Duke of Wellington...

These are Victrix plastics that Chris has swapped out the heads from the artillery box for those from the infantry set (he found the stock ones from the artillery box too heinous to bear using). Unfortunately the guns were built and painted earlier so they do not for scoring but they look quite nice nonetheless.  

I like how the battery looks grouped all on one base. 

The Wellington figure is from the Perry's metal range of 1815 Napoleonics.

Nice work Chris! This group will net him a solid 70 points as we head into the holidays.

Next up for Chris is the 69th South Lincolnshires, a battalion of Hanoverian Landwehr and then on to Thirty Years War Spanish tercios. I'm looking forwards to seeing all of this over the coming months.