From DallasE: 28mm Norman Cavalry (40 points)

Dallas sends in some reinforcements for his Norman collection in the form of these four mounted confreres.

These are 28mm Foundry castings with the addition of Crusader shields - nice work on the shield devices, Dallas!

This quartet will give Dallas 40 points to add to his tally - just pipping fellow Conscript Greg. Well done, these will be a great addition to the rest of your Stormin' Normans!

From JuanM: Late Roman Command Stand - Salute '06 Arthur & Mordred (10 points)

Many will recognize this vignette submitted by Juan as being the Arthur vs Mordred giveaway from Salute '06. It was sculpted by Mark Copplestone specifically for the show.

Juan has cleverly reposed it to represent a command stand for his Late Roman army - a Praepositus Vexillationibus (Commander of Detachments) and his loyal Bucellarius ("Biscuit-eater", bodyguard) for the Fourth Century AD.

Great job on the armour on these two - the detail is very nicely accentuated.

This pair will give Juan 10 points to add to his total. Very lovely work, Juan!

From IanW: Macedonian Command & Casualties (74 points)

Ian sends in this group of nine Macedonian command figures plus thirteen casualties.

From Ian:

'Finally got these photographed but not before the cats got at them!!!! The Command figures was part of 400+ figures a friend gave me just before Christmas when he found out I was unable to work through illness and painting is one of my few activities. As such these are really a Seleucid Command but work well enough. I think they are Essex and must have been bought 25+ years ago. I have never been a fan of rider and horse being separate and one of the bases highlight why. I was carless with the glueing and it looks odd. So I have a figure to re-position and a lance to repair, joy of joys. Overall I did not have as much fun painting these as the previous figures though they painted up fairly quickly.'

'As for the dead I just can't remember the supplier, shame as I want some more and a mate collected them for me at Reading. These will pull double duty for Impetus (the numbers on the base are for their Strength and hitting power, whilst in Field of Glory the counter itself represents a mix of disorder and lost troops. I have 13 of these as shown and need twice as many at least so will get some more next con.'

These two groups will give Ian 74 points. Great work, Ian! Hopefully you can keep the next batch away from the cats. They must Persians (har, har, har)...

From Curt: 28mm Napoleonic French Dragoons, 18e Regiment de Dragons (240 points)

I've been plugging away at this regiment of French Dragoons since the beginning of the Challenge.

These are 28mm Perry plastics which I very much enjoy working with and highly recommend. At first it may seem a little daunting putting them all together, but once you get the process and a rhythm they assemble pretty quickly.

Their flash pink facings aside, 18th Regiment of Dragoons were very much a meat-and-potatoes 'working' cavalry regiment. In the early Empire period they participated in many of the major engagements (Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland) and then from 1808 to 1813 they saw hard service in the Peninsular campaigns.  They missed the Grande Armee's destruction in Russia, but were recalled to Germany where they were burned-out during the 1813 and 1814 campaigns for France.

This is the first time I've tried doing eyes on an entire unit...

I love painting Napoleonic cavalry but I find its the trumpeters that often make me 'snap my crayons'. Nonetheless, as French cavalry go, Dragoon trumpeters are pretty plain as they usually did not go overboard on reverse facing colours, gold braid, etc. but the ubiquitous chequered lace is always a challenge. Later this year I plan to do-up a Hussar regiment and I'm girding my loins for painting its trumpeter as those buggers' uniforms are insane.

While I was in the midst of assembling this lot I knew I would be running out of gas on painting Dragoon Green once these were done. So I broke down and commissioned my third regiment from a painting service. I hope to have that unit ready soon, touch them up ('cause I can't help myself) and base them to match this lot. Then I'll have a full brigade of the blighters, 72-figures strong, which should look the business arrayed on the tabletop.

Again, here's that loon Ney, leading the 18e and 1er regiments to Glory and some sticky end...

This unit will give me 240 points for the Challenge. Yep, if I did another ten like this I'd really be making Kent sweat...

Next up will be an assortment of casualty/unit stands, Norman archers and Anglo-Saxons.