From AndrewS: 20mm Nubian Warriors ( 200 points)

Well it's high time I made another submission so here are another 3 Nubian warbands.

There are a total of 48 x 20mm figures here and they are like all the previous submissions finished with unit distinctions on the loin protectors, stippled shields and plenty of spear conversions. 

This is the penultimate batch so I have almost completed the entire army, I cant say much more as in truth it has all been said with previous submissions.

Ah, I could be wrong but I get a sense from Andrew's uncharacteristic brevity that we are seeing the early signs of Paint Challenge Fatigue (PCF).  I really don't blame him as he's put in a titanic effort these past three months. With this entry Andrew's total will weigh in at 3298 points. Astonishing.

These may seem like old hat to you Andrew but they're as impressive now as when you first debuted the army. Lovely work.

200 points for you, Mr. S.

From BenG: 20mm Napoleonic British 12th Light Dragoons (64 points)

From Ben:

I managed to get these finished before the deadline and boost my score, so these are definitely a bonus!

These are actually part of Strelets' Egyptian Campaign range, but they'll be doing service in my British Peninsular War army. The only thing which indicates the earlier period is the queues which the riders sport, but as they are the only Tarleton equipped British light dragoons in 1/72nd, they'll do until HaT get their act together and finally release their British cavalry for their Peninsular range.

Strelets figures are rather chunky, but fit in well with the earlier HaT range like their 8095 French infantry. Even the horses are chunky, looking more like Welsh pit-ponies rather than English thoroughbreds! The figures are rather characterful with expressive faces and dynamic poses.

I was always reluctant to invest in Strelets figures as they look so ugly unpainted, but rather surprisingly, look great painted up!

You're right Ben, they look very good indeed - you've done a wonderful job on them.  The poses on these figures are very dynamic. I quite like posing of the two fellows slashing with their sabers. It makes me cringe to think of the poor infantry who are the subject of their not-so-tender attentions.

These eight troopers of the 12th will give Ben 64 points. It's wonderful to see you building some distance from your initial Challenge goal - well done!

From JohnM: 20mm WWII German Panzer Grenadiers & Gestapo Officer (44 points)

From John:

I am playing a solo game of CoC now, I just wanted to get my new British Paratroopers on the table, as well as getting a better sense of some of the vehicle rules. So essentially it is an Attack on an Objective scenario and one of the supports that the Germans selected was a squad of Panzer Grenadiers in a SdKfz 251/1.

Well I had the half track done but as I was playing the game I realized I did not have any PzG figures available in case the troops decided to leave their halftrack! Could not have that of course, so went to my reserve box and found 10 PSC 1/72 figures that would do. 

The PzGren's are well equipped and have two LMG teams. They need to be as in the last photo you can see through the smoke an approaching section of elite British Paratroopers. I must say I like painting small units of figures, you can put the time in but I have to say the collar flashes were a challenge.

I have also included a Gestapo Officer from SHQ Miniatures. I am not sure why he has a monkey on his shoulder. But the figure itself certainly gives off a bloodless psychopathic look. I am hoping to put together some rules for him, somewhat similar to the Commissar rules in the Soviet list.

Great work John! After painting a kabillion 28mm Napoleonics these small, discrete units must come as a breath of fresh air to you. I really like the 'combat photos' of the new lads in action (though I have a sense it's going to end badly for them). 

The less said about the Gestapo officer with the taxidermic hedgehog on his shoulder the better...

These eleven figures will give John 44 points. Good luck in your solo game John, may the best man win!

The Votes are in for the 'Favourite Character' Bonus Round

I have to admit, the past two back-to-back bonus rounds almost did me in but the extra work was more than compensated by the superb turnout of entries. Honestly, I feared that this theme might have stymied the participants, as they had already identified some of their favourite heroes and villains in previous rounds, but they rose to the occasion with a wonderful selection of personalities from both history and fiction.  We were treated with everything from electrifying Fembots to the dour Bernard Montgomery, from Maximus to Chief Buffalo Hump. Just reading the explanations for the Challengers' choices was as interesting as seeing the miniatures themselves.

Below are the voting stats leading up to the top place finishers:

As we can see, running up to 3rd place are two excellent and very diverse entries. One is MichaelA's wonderfully dynamic gladiatorial scene from 'Gladiator' (again, the magic he can fit on the top of a CD is amazing...),

The other was Jeremy's excellent rendition of 'The Dude' from 'The Big Lebowski'. The rug tied it all together. Fabulous work Duderinos!

3rd Place was taken by Anne with her excellent pairing of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. In recognition Anne will receive 25 bonus points to add to her tally. Congratulations Anne, well done!

I was honoured and delighted to share 2nd place with MartinN (Nick) with my take on Patrick O'Brian's adventurers, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. 

As you can see below, Nick's WWI vignette displayed once again his amazing skills with both brush and basing.  We will both receive 50 points to add to our roster totals. Congratulations Nick, beautiful work!

First place was deservedly taken by DaveD with his fantastic 'The Duke', all in glorious 54mm. I thought Dave did a wonderful conveying the personality of the film icon and I look forward to seeing this large-scale project develop, figure-by-figure, until we are treated to an environment to rival his superb 28mm town of 'Serenity'.

Dave will receive 75 points to add to his already impressive point total AND he will also receive this set of three Napoleonic French Mineurs from Kawe's excellent 'Westfalia Miniatures' range. Congratulations Dave - Bravo!!

I should have all of this round's bonus points reflected on the roster within the next day or so...