From RobP: 28mm Sudanes, Nuns & French Imperial Guard Chasseurs a Pied (325 points)

RobP, veteran member of the beer disposal unit of the 'Dutch Water-bicycle Detachment', debuts in the Challenge with this stonking entry of Sudanese, Nuns and French Chasseurs. An entry which, I'm sure, will raise the eyebrows of his compatriots MichaelF and JaccoK.

From Rob:

I finally have gotten around of getting some things finished for the Challenge..I have been extremely busy with work the last few weeks and also suffered a major painting dip caused by  being very indecisive about what to paint... However, things are looking up now and since this weekend it feels like I am on a roll again... 

First up are two units of Sudanese Bazinger for the Sudan.. Figures are Perry. I had these still lying around and could not decide on what to paint for the Challenge so  started with priming a lot of different figures from different periods ranging from ACW to Napoleonics to Colonial to  western and WWII.... 

In the end I decided to finish these as a first entry due to the fact it offered me some easy-to-paint figures to get out of my painting dip... Not sure if I have succeeded though... 

Also included are some figures I painted for the non-combattant theme but that i finished too late because I had the dates mixed up... I do not know the make of these figs anymore but they will provide some female addition to the number of clergymen i painted in the past and that litter our gaming table as bystanders etc... Not quite like the Monty Python Nuns of Castle Anthrax unfortunately... 

Finally is a unit of Imperial Guard Chasseurs a Pied; 44 figures in total; all Foundry and two Perry figures in the command stand. Given the size of the unit I painted an extra  command stand so i can split the unit into two for gaming purposes. 

I bought the Foundry figures some time ago as a bargain offer in their ebay shop. They are Michael Percy sculpts and although not as detailed as the Perrys they came out very good after painting.

This entry will put me ahead in the little Dutch side competition and encourage MikeF and JaccoK to come up with some real units as a next entry... It looks like my painting dip is over so there will be more to come.

Holy Smokes Rob! That is a shed-load of lovely stuff. The Sudanese and Nuns are very nice but those Old Guard Chasseurs are the absolute bomb. Wonderful work!

Rob's debut will give him 325 points which I'm sure will make MichaelF and JaccoK scramble for their brushes. Well done Rob!

From TimB: Geeks, Samurai, Poilu...Oh My! (123 points)

Yowza! Here's a cacophony of figures from Tim:

Here are an odd assortment of items I’ve been working on over the last week or so… There are a few other items I’ve finished up (members of the various Ronin Buntai), but I thought I’d leave them for when I have entire Buntai finished.

Three Geeks – from Reaper Miniatures

An old Rogue Trader era Eldar Guardian from Games Workshop (though technically I believe it was Citadel Miniatures at the time)

At some point I thought I’d run an Only War or Rogue Trader campaign for the kids and I thought it’d be fun to have a recurring band of Eldar that pop into situations sometimes thwarting them, other times aiding them, always acting on their own bewildering agendas which will likely make no sense to the players at the time, but may be hinted as later in the campaign...? 

A later Great War French Poilu from FG MiniZ/Forgotten Glorious. 

A while back they’d offered to send a free sample to anyone who asked. The have 1806 Prussians and some American Civil War miniatures – which I’m not particularly interested in – but they also have 1917 French – and the Great War IS something I’m interested in, so I asked for a sample from that line, and the miniature above it what they sent me. Now, I have no other Late War French… so there wasn’t any really need to paint this straight away, but I figured if they were nice enough to send along a mini, I thought I’d paint it up and show it off for them.

A few more Ashigaru Archers from Old Glory - for an existing, previously completed buntai, which I am now having to rejig because it was brought to my attention that I'd totally screwed up on the composition of the Buntai!?

This is another batch of Black Hat Miniatures peasants - so I now have 15 of them!

Three more Peasants from The Assault Group - though the one with the sword looks less like a peasant to me and more like a down-on-his-luck ronin. These as with the Black Hat Peasants above will be going in my Peasant Buntai. 

Two Perry Miniatures Samurai for my Ikkko-Ikki Buntai. 

The banners are Ikko-Ikki banner that I found illustrations of in the Osprey book on Warrior Monks. (I didn't manage to fit the entire slogan on the one...) 

The remaining Ashigaru archers from the pack I used to convert three of to Monk Archers - these will also be adding to the ranks of the Ikko-Ikki!

Finally a Monto Gashira Bannerman for the Ikko-Ikki - the slogan is the same as on the back of the samurai - again I couldn't fit the entire slogan on it. It's supposed to say "He who advances is sure of heaven, but he who retreats will go to hell" - hopefully I got at least half of it on there. It would be terrible if it only said "He who advances is sure of..." - that would seem rather... uncertain...? Actually my calligraphy is probably unreadable to anyone who actually understands Japanese... probably looks like "Bit the wax tadpole" or something...

Haha! Love it. I'm sure there is some 20-something git out there who has this very inscription as a tattoo who thinks he's rocking some hardcore oriental mantra but actually it says, 'I Bite the wax tadpole..'

Awesome figures Tim! There's so much to like there. My personal favourites are the banners, the Poilu and the Heavy Geek with the bottle of Mountain Dew. Classic.

These figures will give Tim 123 points, including a bit added for the lovely banners. Great stuff!

From LordH: 28mm Napoleonic British Infantry at Waterloo - Companies 2 & 3 of the 69th Foot (178 points)

From Lord Hill:

Bit of deja vu now I'm afraid - here are two more companies in square - this time the remnants of No.2 and 3 Companies of the 69th Foot.  As before the figs are Victrix with a couple of Perry arms here and there. 18 men in each company so 36 figs.

Captain Charles Cuyler, commanding Number 3 Company, has lost his shako at Quatre Bras and is wearing a greatcoat slung over his shoulder. He was the son of a general and was promoted to Major in 1817.

Number 2 company had 16 casualties from a nominal total of 54 while Number 3 company lost 35 men from 61 - one of the worst rates for any British unit at Waterloo. Add to these figures the rear echelon men, plus all those charged with carrying wounded officers etc to the rear, and the 18 men shown here might even be too many!

I'm now heartily sick of doing all these redcoats with their endless intricate lace and webbing - I'm going to reward myself with some nice easy Rifles next!

Wow, great work Lord Hill! I really enjoy the historical background you provide for these units as it sets the figures in a wider context. Excellent stuff.

This company of the 69 Foot will give Lord Hill 178 points. Very nicely done - bravo!

From KentG: 28mm Seven Years War British Dragoons & Ammunition Cart (145 points)

From Kent:

This next entry I've been working on off and on for a few weeks now when I needed a break from other painting. So first up are 12 Front Rank 28mm SYW British Dragoons- they were very nice figures to paint. 

Other than a few odds and ends this is the end of my work on three SYW armies nearly three years work.

Then we have a 28mm Front Rank ammo wagon and oxen that will go with the British artillery that i painted earlier in the comp.

So now back to more artillery...

Very nice Kent. Those dragoons are the business (very substantial castings) and the ox cart will provide a nice rural touch to the tabletop.

The cavalry and cart will give Kent 145 points. Well done!