From PaulJ: 28mm WWII British Paratroopers (296 points)

Evidently Paul has not been idle these past few weeks...

From Paul: 

Presenting my 28mm WW2 British Airborne force.  In fact, this project was the main reason for my acceptance Alan's dare to get into this painting challenge in the first place, so that I could start and actually finish a new army.  I must admit that I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with these guys, but it has been very satisfying to build and get a new army onto the table in  a short period of time.  Initially this force was planned for Bolt Action, but what you see here has been re-tweaked to comply with the historically correct orbats used in Chain of Command rules (which I very much like).

The force as shown comprises 54 figures - 3 x 9 man Airborne infantry sections, a Platoon HQ which includes snipers, a PIAT team and a 2inch mortar (proxied by the prone Bren gun team until I get the figures).  The support elements available are a 5 man Vickers MMG team, a 5 man Light Howitzer detachment, a 3 man Sapper team with a Flamethrower, a medic (already submitted for the Hero bonus round) and a Forward Observer team.   I still have another infantry section and a two man PIAT team to come as reinforcements...plus a big chunky Churchill Mk VII Heavy Tank!

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions on tackling the signature camo denizen smocks, which I found somewhat daunting.  I really appreciated the advice and quite like the end result, though they came out darker than I had originally intended.  I spent quite a bit of time on the basing too, and have tried something a bit different.  All Officers and Senior NCOs have yellow flowers on their bases to help indentify them.  Similarly, anyone not armed with a trusty Lee Enfield .303 rifle has a small white rock on the base.  That should make it easier to pick out out the stens, brens and other special weapons on the table.  Models are a combination of Bolt Action and Crusader - the latter are a bit chunkier but not overly so and I think it adds nice variety in the force.

And so my Red Devils are ready for their first outing on the table - watch out Jerry!

Yes, its Para Monday! This is really awesome work Paul. The denison camo looks very good though I'm sure many of us would like to see some close-ups in an upcoming submission. I particularly like the howitzer team and the mix of berets and helmets. A classic force.

These paras will give Paul a very impressive 296 points, enough for him to meet and exceed his Challenge target of 500 points. An amazing effort Paul, congratulations! 

I look forward to the future additions to this collection including the promised Churchill.

From MilesR: Challenge Desperados - Mexican Villagers (65 points)

From Miles:

Below is my entrance “fee” for the competition. Since my painting skills pale in comparison to most of the other participants, I thought I would attempt to make up for a lack of quality with quantity - so please accept this group of 10 Mexican villagers acting in defence of their humble abodes. The figures are very old 28mm Foundry castings that I gelt from my friend Ernie’s (Architects of War) collection. Ernie’s personal unpainted lead pile would rival most major manufactures.

The group is a bit eclectic and consists 7 armed peasants, a gunslinger in chaps, a leader with a sword (El Hefe) and a dozing guard. The probably will not pose much of a threat to any “Wild Bunch” but maybe, just maybe, they be able to convince that bandit gang to move on to the next village….

Wow, great work and very generous of you Miles. These old Foundry sculpts are great. I really like that they are villagers as they can be used for Magnificent Seven type scenarios. Lovely.

These 10 brave Mexicans will give Miles 65 points. Well done and thank you again!

From KentG: 28mm Modern American Infantry (105 points)

From Kent:

Here is my next batch of figures 21x 28mm Modern Americans? I think. Not sure if I actually painted them correctly. I hope so. They have been in the pile of figures for I don't know maybe two years, I think they came out alright.

Good job Kent. I'm no expert on modern gear so not sure about their uniforms either. They certainly look good to me. 

These 21 figures will give Kent 105 points. Well done.

From JohnM: 20mm WWII British Paratroopers (48 points)

From John:

British Paratroopers:

These 20 mm figures were a bit of a challenge. I have never painted personal camouflage in the past, and the dennison smock that the these paratroopers took me 3 goes before I had it right. I am sure they could be done better but for war gaming they look OK. I will get better on my next go with them. 

The figures are from TQD castings, and really they are quite nice. Beautifully proportioned, with lots of neat stuff, my only complaint are that they are on slotta bases. I had to hack off the slots for the Senior Leaders as I base them on nickels, rather then pennies, but I used the supplied bases for the men. 

The faces are just great, although I think I have to work on the mustache on the chief. 

I have ordered more figures as I have decided that I will do a whole platoon for Chain of Command. 

The proportions are a bit wrong for a paratroop section as I was short of rifles, but that will be corrected when new supplies arrive. We have two senior leaders, a Piat Team, a Bren team, a 2" mortar team as well as troops with rifles and SMG's. It is funny how all the little imperfections are missed until you photograph figures, but I have always found it a challenge to go back and fix things.

Great work John! You've done a very nice job with the dennison camo. I have found giving the camo a light was of Agrax Earthshade really helps to tie the various colours together. Try it out on a test figure and see what you think. 

Are some of these fellows using captured weapons? The LMG team looks like they're firing a MG-34 and the leader a MP40?

Slotta bases on 20mm? That's just cruel. I really wish manufacturers would drop the use of slottas as they're just so restrictive. Not everyone wants to be proscribed to a certain design of base. Makes me crazy.

These paras will give John 48 points. Nice job!

From TimB: 28mm Feudal Japanese Warrior Monks & Napoleonic French Artillery (110 points)

From Tim:

The Monks

These are for my second Sohei Buntai for Ronin. All the miniatures are from the Assault Group. I am currently putting together TEN 400 point buntai for a campaign/tournament I am hosting in JUST THREE WEEKS! This is a bit more than 400 points worth - I am still tweaking this force..

The Grand Master and his two Senior Sohei.

Four Sohei with naginata

Four Sohei with yumi (bow) though one has hair, which is annoying because I'm pretty sure all monks shaved their heads... When it first arrived I thought I might add a bit more of a cowl with green stuff to cover the offending hair... but I didn't... call it laziness.... or call it panic - because I still have three more buntai to finish in the next three weeks!

Some figures that I thought I might use as initiates. Again, some of them have hair.... maybe they're SO new to the order they haven't had a chance to shave their heads...? 

The Gunners
 This might be a bit of a shock to those that have followed my blog a while or have known me personally…
 French Napoleonic Line Artillery from Perry Miniatures....

I've been playing Neil Thomas' Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe and really enjoy it. I noticed he had a set of rules for the Napoleonic Wars, and figuring it would be about the same I picked up a copy. It being quite similar to the other rules I thought it might be fun to play and not a lot of stuff is required. I have half a British force already, so I thought I'd pick up enough stuff for a French force to oppose it.... and I happen to be ordering stuff from Perry Miniatures for the Ronin campaign... so I ordered this gun and crew....

I really know next to nothing about the Napoleonic era - and even less about the French. I find the myriad of different uniforms and combinations of equipment a bit dizzying at times... but after studying the sample on the Perry website, a few Napoleonic Line Artillery plates I was able to find on the web, and Curt's fabulous example - right here in the Analogue Hobbies Napoleonic Gallery! I sloshed some paint on these fellows and hoped for the best...

Hopefully the results and my cavalier and purely amateurish attitude won't offend any of the hardcore Grognards out there...

You've made such amazing progress on this feudal Japanese project Tim. I'm sure you'll get it done for your deadline. We'll definitely need pictures of the entire set-up as it will be very, very impressive.

I almost fell off my chair when I saw the Napoleonic gun team as I know how much you loath the idea of collecting Napoleonics. Great work! The green for the gun carriage can be tricky but your's looks terrific. Great job!

This collection of feudal Japanese and Napoleonic French will give Tim 110 points.