From DaveD: "I'm with the Band" 25mm Napoleonic French Cuirassier Regimental Band (180 points)

Dave sends in this marvellously quirky yet very cool entry depicting the regimental band of the 1er Regiment de Cuirassiers.

These are 25mm models sourced from Mirliton in Italy. If you enjoy historical vignettes I recommend you check these guys out as they have some very unique kits in their stocklist.

Dave worked with the kettle-drummer so his arms were better posed. Lovely stuff. The painting of the crestwork is brilliant as well.

These seventeen musicians will give Dave 170 points, but I'm going to place it at 180 for the uniqueness and the detail work on the kettle-drummer. Beautiful work, Dave!

From KentG: 28mm Normans (385 points)

Kent sends in this excellent later-period Norman force composed of both cavalry and infantry. First up is a nice large unit of twenty-one armoured cavalry.

Again, Kent does some beautiful free-hand painting on the shields - bravo!

One of these fellows was painted prior to the challenge and so cannot be counted for scoring.

Next is a unit of twenty-two normans on foot (including one monk). One of these figures pre-dates the Challenge and so will not count for scoring.

Finally we have another unit of eight norman cavalry, but these are men-at-arms in lighter padded armour.

All of the figures are from Black Tree, except the monk which is a Perry casting.  This impressive group will net-in 385 points for Kent. Very impressive work, well done!

From TimB: 28mm Norman Crossbowmen (50 points)

These very fine Norman crossbowmen come from Tim who is back to painting after being away working on other related projects.

These castings are from the excellent 28mm Crusader Miniatures range.

These are the vanguard of what will be more Normans to come so stay tuned. These lads will give Tim 50 points to add to his total.  Nice work!

From ChrisP: 28mm WWII Americans in Winter Gear (40 points)

Chris sends in this very nice group of eight World War Two American infantry in winter greatcoats.

This was an impulse buy for Chris but he says he had a great time painting them up. He especially liked how the medic turned out.

These are 28mm Artizan figures.

Chris used 'snow' flakes from Gale Force 9 for the bases. It looks good, but Gale Force has a Hollywood perception of snow - it doesn't look fluffy like that. Believe me, I've shoveled tons of the stuff. Its smooth and typically hard packed - like cake icing. It looks like this (taken of my backyard today, -42 with wind chill):

The finer nuances of snow aside (how can you tell this is currently on my mind?), this group will give Chris a nice and tidy 40 points. Great job, Chris!

From FranL: 15mm 'Dictator, Israelis, Jeeps and Mercedes' (160 points)

The headline of this post sounds like a song title with a bit of attitude... 

With these forty Israelis, casualties, soft vehicles and dictator Fran thought he might be pushing the envelope a nudge with its 'historical' component but I'm more than willing to have it as an entry as I think we've seen variations of this 'theme' for the past 30 or so years.

These are 15mm Peter Pig models from their 'AK47' range.

Fran had to cut down several figures to get them to fit properly in the jeeps. Well done, they look very good.

The gold merc is a nice touch...

With this group I'm awarding Fran with 160 points. I understand he will be following-up with more on a similar theme in the future.