From ChrisP: 15mm WWII American Infantry & Vehicles (373 points)

So as we head into the last hours of the Challenge my inbox begins to 'ping' like a German sub running the straights of Gibraltar...  Life is good! (And thank goodness I took the day off.)

From Chris:

So, remember when I decided to repaint my whole 15mm US army? Well, I forgot. Which was good (I went a bit loopy there), but I remembered that I hadn't quite finished!

This is the last of my repainting, there are a few vehicles which I need to do, but all the infantry is done, plus most of the vehicles. All figures are battlefront.

First up is the third rifle platoon. Exactly as the other two, one command base, 9 rifle bases and a bazooka team. Nothing really to say about them!

Next is a mortar platoon, with 4 81mm mortar tubes. A full platoon is six, but I couldn't for the life of me find the other two mortars. They are liable to be lost in the move I would expect. They will probably turn up tomorrow no doubt...

Then onto some artillery. First battery is made of 4 105mm howitzers, with staff team, command team and observer.

Supporting them is a battery of T19 105mm howitzers, which is the same cannon, but this time bolted onto a M3 Halftrack! Offering mobility, but due to the extra weight, poor cross country ability and the limited traverse offered by the mount, the T19 was a stop gap measure before the arrival of the M7 Priest. Cool model tho.

The big guns are 155mm, crewed by African American soldiers. With the US army segregated in WW2, the African Americans were often relegated to supporting roles (transport, artillery) rather than combat roles (with exceptions). By all counts, they performed admirably and with heroism, in spite of the army's segregation policy. The 104th was supported by one such battery, so I chose to represent them.

In case any nasty German fighters appear, there are four Anti-Aircraft halftracks. 2 are the M15, with a 37mm autocannon and twin 50cal, the other two are M16, with Quad 50 cal. By the time they entered the war, the Luftwaffe was all but gone, so the terrifying firepower was turned onto ground targets....

The US army was well equipped with the Jeep, and here are six for various purposes, recon, command etc.

A mixed bag of vehicles, a T30 75mm GMC, a Greyhound and a British Priest round out my 15mm painting.

Oh, and a 1/144th scale P-38 Lightning! Invasion stripes hand painted by me, they are less... vibrant in real life, my camera had a hissy fit with the colours. Doesn't help that the weather is naff.

For all those who have thought I have just recycled the same infantry, perhaps put them in a different order, hoping you wouldn't notice (shame on you for thinking that), here is a group shot of all the 15mm US I have painted...

Whew! That is an awesome amount of work, Chris. I particularly like the T19 Halftracks and the African-American 155 gunners. Very, very cool.

For his efforts Chris will get a very well-earned 373 points for this entry.