From FranL: 20mm WWII Soviet BT-7 Light Tanks (60 points)

As I mentioned in Ray's opening entry both him and Fran have been exchanging smack-talk for weeks regarding how they will trounce one another in the Challenge. Ray has had his first crack and so here now is Fran's first entry into the fray.

We have here six Soviet BT-7 light tanks that were very prevalent in the early stages of the 'Great Patriotic War'. 

These are 20mm (1:72) Pegasus Hobbies plastic kits.  

Very nice work, Fran. Did you use an airbrush for them? The paint-work is very smooth and even.

These six tanks will give Fran 60 points.

From RayR: 15mm FIW French Infantry 'La Sarre' and Goldilocks' Bane (89 points)

As many of you may have noticed in reading our hobby's little corner of the blogosphere in the weeks leading up to The Challenge, Fran and Ray have had a little grudge-match regarding who will be the better man to come out of 3-months of painting. Neither has spared any bile or vitriol in goading each other. Both have stated that they could care less who else actually wins as long as he pips the other. Well, today we have Ray with his opening salvo and Fran, I know, will not be far behind...

Here we have a very nice unit of 28 figures depicting the Regiment 'La Sarre', a French battalion which served during  the French and Indian War. 

I notice that one of the colours is 'faded' and I'm wondering if there is some back story to that?

These are 15mm Esssex castings. 

Ray's second entry rides the edge of the Challenge parameters, but I'm going to let it in - I can hear Fran, like this bear, gnashing his teeth from a continent away... So we have here a Cave Bear which would be very suitable in devouring any of Juan's recent models.

This is a Steve Barber 28mm model

So altogether this group will net Ray 89 points. Welcome aboard Ray! Fran, you may give fire...

From KentG: 28mm WWII British (140 points)

Kent has shifted gears and sends in this excellent group of WWII British models. I'll review them with you in succession. First we have a 6 pounder and its 2 crew.

Next is two groups of infantry, 21 total.

A Piat team of 2 figures.

And a Mortar team of 3 figures.

Great work on these models, Kent! I quite like the groundwork. (As I think you can tell, I have a thing for groundwork...)  I'm not sure on the figures' manufacture but perhaps Kent can tell us  later in the comments. This submission will give him 150 points. Great stuff Kent!

From GregB: 28mm Soviet Trooper with ATGW Launcher (7 points)

Greg has sent in this small entry to bridge the gap to his next Napoleonic Austrian contingent. To me this is simply a modern soldier in a chemical suit with a big-ass missile launcher. Nonetheless there is more to this than meets the eye but it hurts my brain to transcribe right now so I'll let Greg give you the straight goods:

Some back story on this specific figure: The figure is from Eureka, but the launcher is actually a MILAN launcher from Mongrel's BAOR line. this fellow will join my platoon of Soviets in NBC gear - known with affection as the "Chemical Commies" - have seen action against all sorts of foes, from West Germans and British to zombies. 

Eureka has a whole range of Soviets in NBC gear.  They also have Bundeswehr in NBC gear, but in that funny way that only figure companies can manage, the special weapon "eras" don't line up.  The armament of the NBC riflemen - the Ak-47 - is almost timeless in that they look right in any time from the 60s to the mid 90s.  But the anti tank missile they did for this line, the AT-3 Sagger, is a very early model - by the late 60s was mainly found among the arsenals of many client states, while the Soviets themselves moved on the stronger systems. 

The Eureka Bundeswehr, on the other hand, are set hard into the late 90s kit. So the two lines of figures from the same company don't match up (aargh!). 

I find the modern ATGW launchers all look the same, so I converted the Soviet NBC Sagger troopers a little bit and put the MILAN launcher on the base. 

Comparison with a Sagger trooper.

So while anti-tank missiles won't be that much in demand against Zombies, this will come in handy against Dallas' West Germans...

In order to shut him up about these freakin' missiles systems I'll give Greg 7 points for this stand. Nice one Gregster!

From DallasE: 28mm 1980s American Infantry in MOPP (120 points)

My good friend Dallas from Winnipeg sends in this great entry of 1980s era American infantry in MOPP suits. (aka 'Mission Oriented Position Posture' - wtf?! 'Position, Posture'? Good grief, can't these military guys ever speak english?) 

These lads are 28mm Eureka Miniature castings. I particularly like the amber effect Dallas used for the gasmask lenses - very cool.

Dallas, Greg and the rest of the guys from The Fawcett Avenue Conscripts use stuff like this to play alternate history Cold War scenarios, FutureWar scenarios (Gun Schwarm, FuturKom, SpaceKrieg, etc.) and that perennial favorite: surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. 

This group of 24 will give Dallas a very respectable 120 points. Welcome to the Challenge, Dallas!

From TimB: 28mm Great War British (40 points)

Today Tim sends in a unit of eight Great War British Tommies in early-war uniform (I've always liked the soft caps of the 'Contemptibles').

The new lads with their other pals and The Guv'.

These are 28mm Renegade castings which have a nice beefy look to them.

This group will give Tim 40 points to add to his climbing score.

From JohnM: Napoleonic Prussians '4th Pomeranian' (130 points)

John presents his opening salvo with this fine entry of Napoleonic late-period Prussians depicting the 4th Pomeranian Regiment (IR21)

These are from the excellent Calpe range of 28mm miniatures. 

John tells me that the figures for this unit were acquired over two purchases and he did not realize that the uniforms are slightly different between the two lots. Both depict a British-supplied uniform but the details regarding the lace and cuffs are slightly different.  So he decided to paint the two styles different facing colours to differentiate the two battalions, red and green. In the future he will get another 24 castings so he can properly fill-out both battalions and have them fully represented.

The basework is excellent on this unit and I particularly like the pose of the colour bearer - him charging with the colour lowered is very dynamic. Flag is by the excellent 'Flag Dude'.

John tells me that 26 of these were done after the Challenge start-date (one stand of skirmishers predates the rest). So, this gives John a tidy 130 points - Bravo!

From SteveM: 15mm WWII SSF Platoon 'The Devil's Brigade' (246 points)

Steve sends in a fine unit of Flames of War infantry depicting a platoon from the famous 'Devil's Brigade'.

These are 15mm Battlefront miniatures.

The 1st Special Service Force (or 'Devil's Brigade') was an elite formation composed of Canadian and Americans who were specially trained for operating in very adverse conditions.  They gained particular notoriety for their service in the Italian campaigns, especially in the mountainous regions of that country. In my work I've had the pleasure of meeting several veterans of the SSF and they were all very gracious yet still very impressive and martial in their bearing - 'Hard Men' as they say.

This group of 82 figures will net Steve 246 points. This shoots Steve to the leading group - well done, Old Boy!

Next for Steve is a German Sturmkompanie and then onto some figures for 'Force on Force'.

From KentG: 28mm Early Imperial Romans (129 points)

Kent comes in once again with another fabulous group of Early Imperial Romans and a base of slingers. (If it was during Caligula's reign that would be a base of 'Swingers'. Har, har, har.)

These are 28mm Wargames Foundry castings. Lovely groundwork, especially on the slinger stand. I quite like the high contrast effect of the dark greys and the foliage.

This group has 27 figures but I'm awarding these casualties 2 points each (basically as half figues), so that gives Kent 129 points. Excellent work.

Kent tells me this is the last of the Romans and now he's on to painting 28mm WWII British. More on that soon!

From GregB: 28mm Napoleonic Austrians (100 points)

Greg follows up from his Syrian T55s with this excellent battalion of Napoleonic Austrians, the IR#27 'Styria'. 

These are venerable 28mm Wargames Foundry castings. This unit is 40 figures strong but Greg tells me that of these only 20 figures fit within the timeline of the Challenge.

Greg and I are getting together later in January for a weekend gaming blitz. One of the games we'll be doing is Vandamme's assault on the Pratzen heights. This battalion will serve as one of the six battalions that made up IR#23 'Salzburg' that were part of the Allied position on the Stare Vinohrady.  

Greg's Austrian collection is beautiful so it will be a real treat to have it out for a big game (well, big for us anyway).

These 20 figures will give Greg 100 points to add to his score. Great work Greg!