From FranL: 20mm WWII Soviet BT-7 Light Tanks (60 points)

As I mentioned in Ray's opening entry both him and Fran have been exchanging smack-talk for weeks regarding how they will trounce one another in the Challenge. Ray has had his first crack and so here now is Fran's first entry into the fray.

We have here six Soviet BT-7 light tanks that were very prevalent in the early stages of the 'Great Patriotic War'. 

These are 20mm (1:72) Pegasus Hobbies plastic kits.  

Very nice work, Fran. Did you use an airbrush for them? The paint-work is very smooth and even.

These six tanks will give Fran 60 points.

From RayR: 15mm FIW French Infantry 'La Sarre' and Goldilocks' Bane (89 points)

As many of you may have noticed in reading our hobby's little corner of the blogosphere in the weeks leading up to The Challenge, Fran and Ray have had a little grudge-match regarding who will be the better man to come out of 3-months of painting. Neither has spared any bile or vitriol in goading each other. Both have stated that they could care less who else actually wins as long as he pips the other. Well, today we have Ray with his opening salvo and Fran, I know, will not be far behind...

Here we have a very nice unit of 28 figures depicting the Regiment 'La Sarre', a French battalion which served during  the French and Indian War. 

I notice that one of the colours is 'faded' and I'm wondering if there is some back story to that?

These are 15mm Esssex castings. 

Ray's second entry rides the edge of the Challenge parameters, but I'm going to let it in - I can hear Fran, like this bear, gnashing his teeth from a continent away... So we have here a Cave Bear which would be very suitable in devouring any of Juan's recent models.

This is a Steve Barber 28mm model

So altogether this group will net Ray 89 points. Welcome aboard Ray! Fran, you may give fire...

From KentG: 28mm WWII British (140 points)

Kent has shifted gears and sends in this excellent group of WWII British models. I'll review them with you in succession. First we have a 6 pounder and its 2 crew.

Next is two groups of infantry, 21 total.

A Piat team of 2 figures.

And a Mortar team of 3 figures.

Great work on these models, Kent! I quite like the groundwork. (As I think you can tell, I have a thing for groundwork...)  I'm not sure on the figures' manufacture but perhaps Kent can tell us  later in the comments. This submission will give him 150 points. Great stuff Kent!

From GregB: 28mm Soviet Trooper with ATGW Launcher (7 points)

Greg has sent in this small entry to bridge the gap to his next Napoleonic Austrian contingent. To me this is simply a modern soldier in a chemical suit with a big-ass missile launcher. Nonetheless there is more to this than meets the eye but it hurts my brain to transcribe right now so I'll let Greg give you the straight goods:

Some back story on this specific figure: The figure is from Eureka, but the launcher is actually a MILAN launcher from Mongrel's BAOR line. this fellow will join my platoon of Soviets in NBC gear - known with affection as the "Chemical Commies" - have seen action against all sorts of foes, from West Germans and British to zombies. 

Eureka has a whole range of Soviets in NBC gear.  They also have Bundeswehr in NBC gear, but in that funny way that only figure companies can manage, the special weapon "eras" don't line up.  The armament of the NBC riflemen - the Ak-47 - is almost timeless in that they look right in any time from the 60s to the mid 90s.  But the anti tank missile they did for this line, the AT-3 Sagger, is a very early model - by the late 60s was mainly found among the arsenals of many client states, while the Soviets themselves moved on the stronger systems. 

The Eureka Bundeswehr, on the other hand, are set hard into the late 90s kit. So the two lines of figures from the same company don't match up (aargh!). 

I find the modern ATGW launchers all look the same, so I converted the Soviet NBC Sagger troopers a little bit and put the MILAN launcher on the base. 

Comparison with a Sagger trooper.

So while anti-tank missiles won't be that much in demand against Zombies, this will come in handy against Dallas' West Germans...

In order to shut him up about these freakin' missiles systems I'll give Greg 7 points for this stand. Nice one Gregster!