From ChrisP: 1:285 Modern Air, Armour, Land & Submarine!! (150 points)

As you can see Chris has turned the heat up on the Challenge with producing a veritable invasion force in modern microscale.

From Chris:

First up here we have some USMC Armour. A platoon of 4 M1A1 Abrams tanks, and an understrength company of 10 M60A1 tanks (should be 14), upgraded with Blazer Reactive Armour.

Then we have the LAR Company, with it's 10 LAV-25 along with their dismounted infantry. In game terms, a LAV can't transport infantry, but is better in Firefight (actually one of the best in the game).

fThen we have the support elements for the LAR, consisting of 2 spare LAV-25's, 2 LAV Mortars and 4 LAV TOW.

On to the Infantry!

First up we have the infantry Command elements, 2 LAV Command and 1 M577 with a Battalion XO out front.

Then we have the grunts, 20 bases of USMC infantry armed with M16s and good intentions. They are in a representation of MOPP suits which they invaded Iraq in, but have been based pretty generic so that I can use them for Iraq, or for defending Germany.

Then there are the Infantry Support Weapons. Front rank is two Scout-Snipers, then 5 Dragon ATGM teams behind. Behind them is 4 Stinger MANPAD teams.

But of course, the Marines need a sweet ride. For all your amphibious assault needs, you have the AAV-7, an enormous amphibious vehicle. One is from Scotia, the others are from GHQ.

Lastly here are some random support elements, this time 2 HMMWV, a 1 M109 SP Howitzer and a ground mounted Avenger Missile System.

Below we have 2 shots of a US Coastguard Helicopter, which will be used as an objective/cool looking thing for our moderns game. The model is a plastic kit from Tamiya, and is slightly smaller at 1/350th scale. I do love the colours, so I can handle it being a little small!

Next up is some real support for the Marine landing party. This takes the form of a Trafalgar Class Attack Submarine! This is a 1/350th scale plastic kit which I simply couldn't resist when I saw it. A little converting, plus a made base with some putty to make breakwater later, we have a sweet as support weapon! Initially designed to defeat enemy submarines, the Trafalgar class was equipped to be able to fire Tomahawk Cruise Missiles out of it's torpedo tubes! Which is ridiculously cool. As you can see from the scale shot, it is enormous! 

Wow, that is a shed-load of little models Chris - very impressive. That submarine is 'da bomb' (and I'm sure it carries a few as well). For this entry Chris gets 150 points.