From AlanD: 15mm WWII Scottish Infantry & German Ferdinand Tank Destroyer (80 points)

From Alan:

Yes! Here's yet another project!

 

As any visitor to my blog know, I'm a huge fan of the Battlegroup series of rules. I've been loving playing Battlegroup: Kursk over the past year or so, and am also very keen on building up some forces for Overlord and (especially) Fall of the Reich.

 

To this end, I present my first platoon of 1944-5 Tommies. This is made up of a HQ base with PIAT, a 2" mortar and three rifle sections. In Battlegroup British rifle sections can choose to detach their Bren groups, so I've put them on separate bases. The platoon is from the 15th (Scottish) Division, with shoulder flashes supposed to suggest the red lion rampant in yellow circle of the Division.  

Figures are from SHQ and Peter Pig.

Here's an intimidating hunk of resin to strike fear into the hearts of Soviets in Battlegroup Kursk.

I was at my local vaguely friendly model shop when I spotted this Ferdinand from Battlefront and decided to add it to my German troops for Kursk. Despite the characteristic Battlefront price causing me to wince slightly($18 AUD), this was quite a satisfying beast to whack together and paint. 

However, given that these objects aren't cheap, I really think Battlefront could make a bit more effort to make the pieces fit better, and in the case of the Ferdinand supply hatch covers (round) that actually fit the hatches (square, in the case of the commander)

. 

Anyway, grumpiness aside I'm quite looking forward to seeing this get pinned by Soviet artillery or run over a mine the first time I try to use it. 

'Vaguely friendly model shop', heh-heh, that made me smile. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big booster of my local hobby shops, but I have to admit that in my travels I have left some establishments wondering under what dank bridge did they manage to recruit the troglodytes 'working' the front desk. This being said it IS nice to see the product in the flesh, as it were.

Both the figures and the Ferdinand are excellent Alan. I'm quite intrigued by the basing of the infantry. Is that something recommended by the rules or a something of your own design?  It reminds me of the countless photos showing troops moving cautiously down the flanks of roadways.  Very evocative stuff. The camo on the Ferdinand is also well done. Shame about the hatch mixup - the beast must have rolled out of an Alsatian factory supplied with Schindler quality parts...

These jocks from the 15th Scottish and the Ferdinand will give Alan 80 points, enough for him to reach his second points target. Great job Alan!

From SeanS: 20mm Hundred Years War Archers (80 points)

From Sean:

These 20 1/72 scale plastic figures are meant to represent a portion of the army of Treyine in the Talomir Tales campaign. Treyine is supposedly 100 years war England in flavor. This bunch comes from Zvezda English Infantry of the 100 Years War, Zvezda Medieval Peasant Army, Airfix Robin Hood and Strelets Military Order Warriors for the two footmen.

I have been futzing around with these figures for what seems like months. I have to say that painting the 28mm figures feels like a breeze compared to these. I cut out the final dry brush over the ink wash as I didn't feel it was going to add anything. I also experimented with both Burnt Umber and Sepia washes and I like the variety. The varnish step was a little more problematic and a couple of the figures came out ultra shiney. I was able to knock that down with some Vallejo Matte Varnish, excellent stuff. I will do a post on my blog with comparison shots when the figures are released to be put up there.

I hope you all enjoy my very first non themed entry. I'm hoping it will not be my last.

Lovely work Sean. I really like the varied poses of these figures, especially the fellows who are in the midst of nocking and drawing their longbows. I also like the muted effect you achieved with the two washes, it really reinforces the grubby nature of the period. 

This gaggle of archers will give Sean 80 points. Great job!

From LeeH: 28mm Cowboys & Challenge Desperado (75 points)

From Lee:

At last I have another submission. This consists of a dozen characters from the ugliest corner of the wild wild west...one of which is my entry figure for the challenge. 

I bought these models at Blog-Con in Nottingham last year which was hosted at Wargames Foundry. Being surrounded as I was by all those packets of shiny metal figures my self resolve didn't stand a chance and I left with a big bag of models and no clear reason why I bought any of them!

Thanks to the Painting Challenge I have actually managed to put paint on metal to pretty much everything I bought on that day, and you never know, I may even get to game with these at some point. This bunch of wild west bad'un's have great character and were a real pleasure to paint. I would have submitted these a few days ago but when I finished I realised I only had eleven figures in my gang. The twelfth man was still on the run in nout but his undercoat and was found in a hideout behind the water bottle on my desk. 

Another Characterful Challenge Desperado!

I hope you like them (and your wild bunch figure) and now I just have to make that last big push to get my final few figures finished so I can reach my target of 600pts. 

Wonderful work Lee! There are some really fabulous characters in this lot and I really love my Challenge Desperado. With that hefty dragoon pistol he's toting he should be able to put some serious holes in his adversaries (or make some very loud bangs).

This lot of gunslingers and Wild West riffraff will give Lee 75 points. Nice job Mr. H!

From PeterD: 28mm War of 1812 British Artillery & Command Stands (125 points)

From Peter:

I've got a bunch of odd bits that I've worked on over the challenge that I am submitting as one War of 1812 smorgasbord.  The enclosed pictures are of

• 9 Royal artillery gunners using the Victrix plastic set.  I like the Victrix artillery set, but am going off the Victrix experience as a whole.  The unit of infantry that I'm finishing off was a real bugger to assemble and paint.

• 2 Victrix 6 pounders from the plastic box set.  They went together ok, but a tad fiddly.  

• 2 metal naval guns from Brigade Hobbies picked up at the same time as the Meese.  I believe that these are an 18lber and a 12lber.  From what I can tell, fortress guns in North America often came on naval carriages (that is certainly the case at Louisbourg). 

• A US command stand including a General and a Light Dragoon escort (both on horseback).  These are modified from the Perry French Dragoon set.  The general has his lapels trimmed off and a Victrix infantry officer head.  The dragoon was modified as with my earlier unit of the 2nd Light Dragoons.  I really like the plastic dragoon set.

• A British command stand including a General and an Aide-de-camp from the Canadian Fencibles Regiment.  Again, these started life as French Dragoons.  I trimmed the lapels down but not off to represent the British officers' coat which frequently had a triangle of coloured lapel showing.  The general's head came from the Perry British infantry box and his aide de camp sports a Brigade Hobbies round hat (the ex-Victrix Royal Marine Hats).  The round hat was apparently the very height of fashion with the beaux sabres on the Niagara in 1813.  Much like the Dukes of Hazard hair and moustache in 1990s Biloxi I imagine. 

For the artillery, I opted to mount the gunners on one base and the pieces on a separate base so that I could switch the weaponry around to suit.  

I've had a good laugh at your CSA uniform.  In solidarity with your coming out, I enclose another entry in the "dumb looks from the past while in uniform" challenge. The year is I think 1976, my scout troop was one of the few to wear kilts, and yes that was a lot of hair.  

The only good thing is that given what was fashionable at the time, this picture would likely be more embarrassing if I was wearing pants.

That picture of you is wonderfully dorktastic so I heartily welcome you to the club, congratulations! I must say I get a bit of vertigo looking at the photo as you're pretty much upright but that building in the background looks like it's in the midst of a crash dive or being slowly dragged away by a Cthonian (who must be just off camera).

Great work on the artillery and command stands. I quite like those naval guns on their deck carriages. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to manoeuvre one of those monstrous things in uneven terrain. I have a box of the Victrix guns in the wings and I'm looking forward to giving them a go after seeing yours.

These guns, their crew and the mounted officers will give Peter 125 points. Well done!