From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic Prussians & WWII British and German Markers (100 points)

From Ian:

In an attempt to clear most of the in progress stuff off my desk I give you a mixed bag. 

I got a load of painted figures via Dave D at blog con. All were 6mm Adler but I field smaller units that Adler pack them in so I needed to paint up extra command for them. For the French I painted up five figures per battalion for a total of 20 figures. I had already painted the Voltigeurs before the challenge so these also don't count.

I also got a load of Prussians with enough loose left overs to form six battalions and I have stuck to my usual 2 battalions with colours and one without. So for these six battalions I claim just four figures, the standard bearer!

The 7th Line Regiment was a bit of a problem as I neither had the flag nor ink in the printer so I took another regiments and added the green to the flags, a little faffy but you know how it is.

The 26th Reserve Regiment was just generic Baccus flags as I could not find a flag for them. 

The Baccus Landwehr though are all painted by me (except the dead trooper), these have a compliment of 24 line figures and four out front skirmishing. After the long break on doing 6mm infantry it was really good to get at them again and they seemed to come on really quickly. 

These are the first Baccus Landwehr I have painted up and I really found them a breeze to paint. I have another nine in hand so I can look forward to getting these painted up for the Waterloo game.

All told I have finished off 26 Battalions between the Prussians and French during the Challenge which is a good number to have got through and I am nicely ahead of schedule painting these up.

Almost to the end of the Sniper Reminders for a bit (I really want a break) but these are just for the fun of it. Four each of the Black Tree Miniatures Desert Rats and Africa Korps. on the deluxe sized bases. 

The Brits are working their way through a mix of mines and wire, the little mine sighs I cut out of some spare ASL mine factor counters and added to a bit of balsa. 

The Germans won't be fully finished in the Challenge as I want to add some more bits to the bases but I need to source them and all four bases are presents for a pair of good mates.

Nice score Ian and kudos to you for the wonderful job in getting these new levies integrated into your burgeoning 6mm collection.

Alright, wow, that makes 108 6mm figures and eight 28mm figures for a grand total of 100 points (with a little extra for the great work with the 6mm flags). With this entry and the points from the bonus round you will exceed your Challenge goal of 1066 points. Well done Ian!

From IanW: 28mm WWII 8th Army and Afrika Korps Infantry Markers (80 points)

From Ian:

Here we have eight boys from the 8th Army all looking rather grubby with all that dust and heat. These are Black Tree Miniatures and whilst they have good detail they are missing the usual rifle slings that normally make BTM stand out. 

Other than the lack of slings they still are rather nice and were reasonable to paint up.

The Afrika Korps, on the other hand mostly have the slings (one pose out of four did not) and all have the traditional Y webbing. I struggle a little with the goggles and due to lack of time had only a short period to touch and retouch them up, not helped by a roaring cold that made detail work hard as I could not hold my breath LOL.

I have a further four each but the bases are not finished and need another four plus hours work so will do them when I am back from a very busy four days away (yes I am all excited, just one more sleep to go).

Well, you did a great job Ian, even without having to hold your breath for the detail work. I particularly like the 8th Army lads and your pebble groundwork seems to work very nicely with these desert-themed markers. 

These sixteen figures will give Ian 80 points. Well done and I hope you had a great time at your ASL tournament.

From IanW: 28mm WWII German Sniper Markers (55 points)

From Ian:

Last entry for a couple of weeks as work kidnaps me!!!! 

Here we have eleven Blacktree Miniatures WWII German Infantry and again are based on the Sniper Reminder bases. 

Typically nice figures with loads of extra detail. I especially like the camo helmet covers and bareheaded figures.

Sorry the images are not that great but I have not the time or resources to do good ones this time

Still playing with the snow but was a tad disappointed with the results on a couple of these who may get a bit of reworking but I just don't have time at the moment as I am dashing off with work for nearly two weeks and will have little painting time when I come back for a few days  :-(

You all may be a bit relieved as I move onto some other figures for a bit, though I have some more WWII but they will be from the desert though I should also have my first Winter War figures waiting for me when I get back so they may jump the queue.

Great work on these markers Ian - you'v got these down to a cottage industry for yourself! I quite like your snow basing. The only thing I'd suggest, and I think I had the temerity to mention this with Alan's winter Huns as well, is that the underlying grass should be yellow as it would have largely gone into winter dormancy before the snow flew. 

These eleven markers will give Ian 55 points. Well done.

From IanW: 28mm WWII Soviet Sniper/Casualty Markers (55 points)

From Ian:

In trying to bounce back into it I offer you eleven 28mm figures. All are Black Tree Miniatures except I think the guy kneeling with the fur cap, he I think is a Artizan Partisan.

Typical of Black Tree, these are great sculpts with very nice faces to fork on. Lots of little details to pick out and realistic poses. 

I actually have painted up thirteen figures but the other two will have to wait as they are being based a little different, the clue to one is on my blog LOL.

Having had Deluxe Materials Scenic Snow effects for Christmas I was keen to have a play. It's quite easy to use though can be a bit time consuming and I recommend a mask as some of the effects happen to be a micro-fine dust that is great for frosting.

I have had a lot of fun with these guys and have another twelve German's to add which will be started soon.

Great work Ian. I've always really liked your Second World War figures and these don't disappoint (and you are a veritable one-man industry with these handy Sniper/Casualty Counters!).

These eleven markers will give Ian 55 points. Well done Old Boy.

From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic French & 28mm WWII German (89 points)

From Ian:

So what have we here? I went back to the meat and potato of my work over the last year and a half and painted up yet more French 6mm. Five Light Infantry bases of 28 men and one Line base with yet another 28 figures for a total of 168 infantry or half the number of the last two submissions. The reason is that the rest of the French that I own will be French allied troops and I won't buy any more Baccus till the new French are released (two weeks then LOL)

Quite a basic paint job really, primed in Ultramarine blue then painted over in Dark Blue with a Vallejo blue wash added. I was going to do the usual Nut Brown Ink wash but they looked to nice and bright to do that so have left these alone. Overall I am quite pleased with them and feel they are the best last entry from me this year.

Also included is a 28mm Black Tree German that I painted with the others but never varnished as I want to put it on a larger diorama base that I have yet to do. That's for later. The figure even has detail underneath which is rather daft but then again I did paint that as well. 

I took a picture of his face as again not sure why I painted in the eyes as they are unlikely to be seen but I did. I even did the eagle on his chest, I must be barking!

So as I offer my last figures to the challenge I wish for all of you great things for the rest of the year, especially you Curt, as none of us can really fully appreciate the work you have done over the last three months, so a very big thanks for that.

Now for a few days off, of course what I mean is a few days sorting out the £70 of Adler I had yesterday and painting up a few test buildings before doing the whole lot of my Spanish buildings for these French to fight over.

Wonderful final effort Ian! While I've always liked your WWII stuff it's your 6mm work that always gets my vote. Beautiful work.

This final entry will give Ian 89 points to close his climb up the roster. This will allow him to achieve his second points target of 2K. Bravo Ian! Thank you, it's been a pleasure to have you participate in the Challenge again. Now start planning for next year...

From Ian: 28mm WWII Sniper Markers & 6mm French Napoleonic Hussars (65 points)

From Ian:

First up three of the last four bases of Sniper Reminders the last one will wait for more urban fun.

First two Japanese bases, one with a MMG the other a knee mortar with two crew. All three are the last models from the Warlord box, I have a pair of spare heads if anyone needs any.

The other is a Russian Blacktree sculpt, as you can see loads of detail.

Next up is changing down a scale or two. Here I have five regiments of French Napoleonic Hussars, all 6mm Baccus. This completes my French Hussars for the time being, though I need to replace the Irregular at some point. These are (front to back left to right) 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th and 10th Hussars. After York, ASL and the Superbowl all in the same day I was unable to paint for three days, though I did a bit of basing work. Thursday was the first day I could grip a brush well enough to control it so the Hussars were done through three sessions between Thursday and Saturday morning. Based up over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning and the break did me good as I was really into painting these.

Now back to the WSS for Matt. The last two regiments of infantry and a start on his cavalry. I have some of my own 6mm sitting waiting final prep and these will follow on once these are done but I also have eight bases of command of my own that I will do in breaks between Matt's stuff.

The 28s are very good but I particularly like seeing your 6mm work. The ragged lines of charging hussars is really effective on the large bases and so is the layered groundwork - very nice.

These 28s and 6s will give Ian 65 points. Well done!