From BrendonW: 28mm Villagers with 50 Shades of Filth (20 points)

Brendon sends us these wonderfully vile villagers for our appreciation.

From Brendon:

The manufacturer of these figures is Gripping Beast. The man with the shield is a plastic Saxon with a head from another GB plastic set. The angry village mob perhaps need a flaming torch to complete the 'lets git Dr Frankenstein!' look as they try and break down a door. They are a part of the GB baggage blister for the Saga 'Escort' mission. 

After completing them I think there may be room on the base to place a barrel of mead. That will give them courage and something to fight for. I wanted them 50 shades of filth looking and I think they are close to that. 

Those Bernard Cornwell novels really create an image of filth in my mind when it comes to Dark Age Britain. Only 1 more large base to go and I will have the 3 bases required for the mission. Excellent!

Wonderful 'local colour' Brendon (in fact, he had one of his image files titled 'Stinky Peasants Back' - perfect).  I like the idea of adding a cask of mead to the base, or perhaps some local loudmouth haranguing them into action.

These poor unfortunates will give Brendon 20 points to add to his total. Nice job!

From TamsinP: 15mm Swiss Halberdiers (144 points)

I'm getting a bit of deja vu here. Didn't we do this around a year ago? Nonetheless here we are on Christmas eve with a horde of Tamsin's Swiss demanding to be registered on the points chart. Really, who can deny them?

From Tamsin:

Is there any sight more certain to inspire terror in the hearts, minds and bladders of medieval Austrians, Burgundians, Italians, pretty much anybody in medieval Europe than a phalanx of Swiss halberdiers using both hands to wave their big choppers at you? 

What's that? Oh, yes, a phalanx of Swiss pikemen holding their huge poles with both hands and pointing them threateningly at you. I'll give you that one, but you'll just have to settle for these halberdiers as I won't be doing any more Swiss pikemen - 256 of the blighters is more than anyone can handle!

Figures are 15mm from Donnington Miniatures New Era range. These were very nice and quick to paint up (these took just 2 days to paint and base). The colours of all the cantons at Morat are represented here in this group.

Like I said, deja vu. That's 72 wee Swiss on the make - very impressive Tamsin. These lads along with the other 184 makes for a very impressive sight. Well done!

This unit of halberdiers will give Tamsin a very tidy 144 points. Great work Ms. P and Happy Christmas!

From AlanD: 28mm Citizens of Hurricane (45 points)

Alan's been a busy lad as he adds more new citizens to his town of 'Hurricane'.

From Alan:

Here are the latest inhabitants of Hurricane. Figures are mainly from Wargames Foundry, with just the young guy foolishly about to draw from Great Escape Games. I'm really enjoying painting these guys. The Foundry figures I think were sculpted by Mark Copplestone, and are full of character, and the newer ones from Great Escape mix in perfectly.

My favourite is the reporter, and I'm interested to see that even in the 1880s whenever a reporter was talking to somebody there was always some other bloke standing gormlessly in the background. 

My painting elves will have other tasks for the next week or so, so this is probably it from me until the New Year. Merry Christmas to everyone, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014.

Yes, another great set of additions for Hurricane - lovely work Alan. Like you my favourite is the reporter - great face on that fellow and I love his open notebook. 

This group of citizens will give Alan 45 points. Well done and Merry Christmas!

From EdwinK: 28mm Santa (7 points)

Edwin sends in this wonderful Santa, who by looking at him, would seem more at home in a B-25 than a Christmas sleigh.

From Edwin:

I owe it to the kindness of fellow painters.  I casually observed on the Facebook page that I thought that North Star's Christmas freebie (28mm) would make an nice entry in the non-combatants' round and Paul Brewerton promptly offered to send me one.  Of course, I later put in an order to North Star of my own, so I've an extra.  I shall have to put on my thinking cap to see what I'll do with that one.

As we see, Santa is armed and determined looking.  Those Sky Pirates could stoop to anything...

Excellent work Edwin! Is that a DFC that I see pinned on his chest? Very suitable I think. 

This grimly jolly (is that even possible?) St. Nick will give Edwin 7 points. I know he should be 5 points, but it somehow seems churlish to score less for Santa (and besides, he's due at my house in a few hours...).

From LordH: 28mm British Officer (10 points)

Lord Hill enters the fray with this fine Napoleonic figure depicting Major MacLean of the 73rd Foot. 

From LordH:

I've come to realize that my Henry Ford approach to painting might be a quick way to paint 400 figures but it won't add much to this great competition until March! I'll therefore be trying to submit some completed figures just to get on the board.

Here is Major John Maclean, killed whilst commanding the 73rd Foot at Waterloo. Terrible pic - but it's like the end of the world outside and thus no light even at miday. A measly 10 points I think! Really enjoying seeing all the great entries -  Well done!

Excellent work LordH! What make is the figure? Nonetheless, Mr. MacLean will be a great addition to your mammoth project. 10 points it's true, but you now have a place on the scoreboard - welcome to the Challenge and Happy Christmas!

From BenG: 20mm Napoleonic Italian Light Cavalry (68 points)

Ben comes back with some more Napoleonics this time its Italian light cavalry.

From Ben:

Here are the pictures of my latest unit, the 3° Cacciatore a Cavallo, or 3rd Italian Chasseurs a Cheval. 

The figures are a mix of 3 different sets; the horses are from the Italeri French hussars set, the riders from the Italeri French light cavalry set and the heads form the HaT infantry set.  

The horses that came with the figures have the wrong shabraques and just look plain odd to boot, while the hussar horses are just lovely sculpts and very animated, but also most importantly have the right saddle furniture.

The original figures' heads suffered from a lack of chins, so rather than have a whole regiment of in-bred looking twits, I've given them a more manly looking head transplant.

Ben, you've done a wonderful job on these fellows. I quite like that trumpeter - very spiffing uniform. The head-swaps look seamless as well - and they now all have manly, swarthy, latinate chins!  Bravo!

This fine unit of Italian chasseurs will give Ben a base of 64 points but I'm topping it up to 68 in light of his mandibular modifications.

From DaveD: 28mm Mexicans (90)

The good ladies of "Neuva Tranquilidad" were shown as part of the the first challenge theme and here we have the men from the town. Armed with a variety of weapons to defend thier homes from any aggressive Gringo's. 

28mm Wargames Foundry once more - funny what happens when you a get a more sensible pricing regime - they got more tempting. A fairly simple colour scheme which I have broken up with some variety on the poncho's. 18 figures in this group as one was completed pre-challenge as a test piece. This means I can start the remaining adobe buildings to complete the set after the challenge ends in preparation for a "Magnificent Several" game.

I set myself a hefty pre Xmas target as January is going to very lean (probably just bonus round entries) as I have to knuckle down and do some serious amount of  exam revision, so pleased to have got a decent amount done and under the belt. Time for a move further out west next I think.

Merry Xmas to one and all the wonderful band of challengers!

Wow, superb work Dave! I like your use of bright colour on an otherwise fairly restrained palette. I quite look forward to seeing the town of Neuva Tranquilidad develop over the coming months.

This group of Tranquilidadians will give Dave 90 points. Great stuff Dave and a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

From AndrewS: 28mm Games Workshop Troll (23 points)

Andrew breaks from his historicals and delights us with this wonderfully vile troll.

From Andrew:

Today is my final entry before I break off for the festivities, This was another of my EBay shinyitis moments, I don't know why I bought him but you can bet he was cheap!! 

I don't often delve into the world of fantasy painting and monsters but have been known to do the odd bit. This was a complete joy to paint lots of fun and plenty of crisp clear detail. Allegedly this Troll is a 28 mm miniature, yeah right!! the blighter is a full 50 mm from foot to eye, His foot is nearly as big as the 28 mm dwarf he is stood on. Yes I had a spare dwarf and decided to fit that into the diorama as well. There just has to be a story about this somewhere!! 

Again I have gone heavily into the base work for this and created a swampy marsh area to compose them in. If this qualifies as a beast then please accept this as my first entry into that category.

That is a very cool troll Andrew! I have to laugh as he looks like he's just about to have a terrific sneeze! Perhaps he's allergic to dwarfs. I really like his skin tone and you've done a very nice job on the groundwork as well.

This fine fellow and his poor dwarf victim will give Andrew 23 points. Great work and Happy Christmas Andrew!

From AlanD: 28mm Miss Lily and her Girls (15 points)

Alan continues to build upon his Western town of 'Hurricane' with these three lovely ladies.

From Alan:

The population of Hurricane is steadily growing. Inevitably, the girls from Miss Lily's Oasis demanded my attention first, so here they are. Miss Lily is the redhead packing heat; I'm open to suggestions of what to call the other two.

Miss Lily is from the set of armed civilians put out by Great Escape Games, the other two are from Wargames Foundry. Giving them a sandy base didn't seem right, so I fashioned some bases from 4-Ground boardwalks which I think look more the part.

Excellent work Alan! Miss Lily looks to be quite the firecrackers and I really like how you've done their bases to fit with the towns planking/floors.

Hmm, the brunette lass looks to be a Phoebe Parker to me...

These three spirited girls of 'Hurricane' will give Alan 15 points. Well done!

From JeremyM: 28mm Festive Dwarves (15 points)

Jeremy debuts with this entry to celebrate the season.

From Jeremy:

Here are three 28mm drunken dwarves from Reaper Miniatures. My original plan to paint the Reaper 'crazy cat lady'  fell through this week, and being stranded in Winnipeg I had to take what I could get from the local stores. 

I'm really happy with my drunken Christmas dwarves as they enjoy a holiday beverage. I tried Secret Weapon snow basing material and was fairly happy with the results. 

Considering the majority of my paints, washes, primer, varnishes etc is back home I'm really happy with my 'on the road' paint job. Happy holidays.

Nice work Jeremy. You've done very well with these chaps considering you're on the road without your hobby supplies. 

These three festive dwarfs will give Jeremy 15 points. Well done and Merry Christmas!

From GregB: 28mm Victorian Gentlemen Adventurers (10 points)

As some may know, Greg, PhilH and MichaelA are in the midst of a duel to see who can accumulate the most points in Victorian-themed figures. Michael and Phil have made their initial claims* and so Greg enters the fray with these two fine gentlemen adventurers.

From Greg:

I am adding Victorian civilians here and there to add flavour to my Sudan games. The one chap looks like the captain of one of the steamers that would have plied the Nile river.  

The other fellow I imagine as one of the numerous civilian carpetbaggers, profiteers or nitwits that would have had the means and motivation to travel to Africa in the time of the British Empire.  

The fact that the ship Captain is quietly grasping a revolver behind his back makes me imagine he does not wholly trust this other fellow. Many plots justifying a Sudan game seem to emanate from these two figures...

Great work Greg! I quite like that captain with his service revolver quietly held behind his back. One can never be sure of these odd Johnnies that show up on the Nile, wot?

These two chaps will give Greg 10 points to add to his Victorian Duel. Well done!

*On a related note: Some of you fine people may think that this Mr. Awdry chap to be a thoroughgoing, straight-ahead fellow, but I think not. No, I think he is a wily bounder, a sly cove to be sure. I don't know if any others noticed during the recent Theme Bonus Round, but in Mr. Awdry's description of his three gypsies he presented them as 'Victorian Gypsies'. Yes indeed, Victorian gypsies... Oh, I'm sure they are gypsies but I ask Mr. Awdry, what precisely makes these three lovely ladies 'Victorian Gypsies'? I did not see a pith helmet amongst them, not a Zulu knobkerrie, not even a demure screw gun. What are we missing? Hmm, I sense something distinctly sly in this supposedly quiet, unassuming fellow. Shenanigans? Perhaps. We must be vigilant...  ;)

From FranL: 15mm Modern North Korean Infantry, Armour and 28mm Non-Combatant

This is a classic Francis entry: a shed-load of 15mm with a few outlier morsels thrown in for seasoning.

From Fran:

The pictures were hastily taken after clearing a shelf of Christmas ornaments in the front room!

Here are fourty-nine 15mm  modern North Korean infantry from Khurasan Miniatures (picked these up when they came out earlier this year), this challenge will be mainly 15mm modern with a few 28mm thrown in here and there.

You also see a 15mm North Korean Armoured force consisting of 10 T-55's (a full company), 4 BTR-60's (including the command variant), a ZSU-23-4, 2 Gaz jeeps and a Mercedes for the General, the command tanks all have crew figures (7). I have started basing all my 15mm vehicles...I think it protects them but also highlights them?

Some Rayonian vehicles were sacrificed and repainted to add to the Korean forces and one Korean vehicle was omitted as it will be used as a challenge entry.

This is it apart from support weapons Khurasan will release next year, maybe Red Dawn 2?

....the 28mm female from Copplestone Casting is the non-combatant entry.

Whoa, like I said, that is a shed-load of minis! Interesting project Fran. Who will be the opposing force for this? South Koreans and Americans I presume? I'm looking forward to seeing how this all develops.

Too bad you were late with the fine Copplestone lady as I can only give you 5 points for her. Otherwise, she along with the North Koreans will give you a very tidy 218 points. Very impressive work all the same Francis!