From ChrisP: 28mm WWII Australians (50 Points)

Chris sends in this very fine set of WWII Australian infantry for upcoming games of 'Force on Force'.

Take it away Chris:

First up, is an Anti-Tank Team comprised of one cobber with a Boys AT Rifle, and one cobber with a good old SMLE. The Boys miniature comes from Warlord Games' Bolt Action range (he is really a Chindit), the rifleman is from Artizan.

Next up is my first half squad, comprised of 3 riflemen with SMLE, one NCO with a Thompson and one gunner with the Bren Light Machinegun. These guys are all from Artizan.

Next, is two spare chaps! The rifleman will be used as the spotter for my Sniper team, the NCO with a Thompson... Not sure what I will do with him! Again, these are Artizan.

Last up, is a downed Airman from Warlord Games. I painted him up to be nice and bright, I figured that if anyone was going to be clean in the pacific war, it would be the guy who just landed because he had his plane shot out from under him! It also gives a nice contrast to the dark and dingy Australians. The airman will be used as an objective in one of our scenarios.

This downed pilot is brilliant.

I am not that happy with the Artizan models- their faces are a bit ugly for my tastes! Not that australian soldiers should be chiselled gods, but they wouldn't have been as ugly as Artizan makes them out to be! Perhaps there is some feud with australians, a stolen girlfriend of a sculptor in the past? I don't know.

Even with their ugly mugs these lads will give Chris 50 points, keeping him well within range of the Challenge leaders. Well done!

From DaveD: 28mm General Colbert of the Lancers of the Imperial Guard (Red Lancers) & Mameluke Standard Bearer (40 points)

Dave submits two beautiful cavalry figures that have benefited from his usual attentive conversions. First is a 28mm Perry casting depicting a wounded General Colbert as he would have been seen on the field at Waterloo. The British casualty at his feet is from the Elite range.

From Dave:

I remade the cords and rackets so they are loose off the czapka , and replaced his sword with something less chunky, and freeed up all the chunks of metal on the casting the reins, behind the scabbard , the saddlecloth etc  - I must be mad you see...- well more just particular!

Indeed! Second, we have a Mameluke eagle bearer in the midst of being unhorsed - poor chap.

This is a 28mm Bicorne model in which Dave has repositioned and has soldered new reins and loops.

These two (with the casualty) will give Dave a base of 23 points but due to his extra conversion work I'm topping it up to 40 points. Lovely stuff, Dave!

From SteveM: 'The Quick and the Lead' 28mm Female Gunfighter (5 points)

For the portion of the Challenge that is Sarah's Choice Steve has sent in this characterful lady gunslinger.

From Steve:

I picked up some Black Scorpion figures to go along with the Warhammer Historical Old West rulebook I got over Christmas. I was watching "The Quick and the Dead" with Sharon Stone and thought of this figure I had so I painted it up to match. Can't wait for Ellen to go against The Kid.

Sarah was quite intrigued with this figure as she has not seen the movie. As the film also features Gene Hackman and Russell Crowe (two of her favourites) I have a suspicion that it will be on the iTunes roster for this weekend...

This self-possessed lass will bring 5 points to Steve's scorecard. Nice one!

From JohnB: 30mm Old School Napoleonics, 2nd Battalion Vistula Legion (150 points)

John sends in his follow-up to his first entry, the 2nd Battalion of the Vistula Legion. Except for the officer, which is from Scruby, these are 30mm figures sculpted and cast by John.

As you can see John is not much of a documentarian and so I only have this one solitary photo to show you. Perhaps he can send along a few more shots to help decorate this post - hint, hint. In their absence I give you a few photos of John and his figures from a game we had in the backyard a few springs back. (These are 40mm mid-19th century models he had sculpted, cast and painted as well.) You can plainly see John's Italian roots with his hand gestures... 'Mama mia, how did you roll all of those sixes...?'

Like his last battalion, these eighteen willowy lads will give John 150 points to add to his score. Very nice work, John!

From MichaelF: 28mm Viking Warband III (50 points)

With this fine warband, his third to-date, Michael continues to build up his Viking force for SAGA.

The portly fellow up at the top is from Foundry, whereas the rest are a mix of Crusader and Gripping beast. All of these castings are 28mm.

Michael says he just has a half dozen archers left to do and then he'll start into some of the  'extras'. Sounds intriguing and I'm sure they'll be a feast for the eyes.

These boys will give Michael another 50 points to add to his total. Great job!