From TamsinP: 15mm Swiss Halberdiers (64 points)

From Tamsin:

Is there any sight more certain to inspire terror in the hearts, minds and bladders of medieval Austrians, Burgundians, Italians, pretty much anybody in medieval Europe than a phalanx of Swiss halberdiers using both hands to wave their big choppers at you? What's that? Oh, yes, a phalanx of Swiss pikemen holding their huge poles with both hands and pointing them threateningly at you. I'll give you that one, but you'll have to wait a little while for me to present any of them here! 

Figures are (as usual) from the Donnington New Era range. These were very nice and quick to paint up. The colours of all the cantons at Morat are represented here in this group.

For the basing, I figured that with so many troops on such a narrow base, that the larger rocks I'd used for the crossbowmen bases would be a bit too much. Instead I used coarse ballast here, but may have added a bit too much.

I'll not murmur a word on Tamsin's opening paragraph other than to say that I look forward to seeing the rest of her Swiss contingent, waving their huge two-handed pole-arms - or not. Actually, this whole topic makes me want to cross my legs...

Nice work Tamsin! I quite like the splash of colour from their quartered livery and I think your groundwork looks great  - nothing heavy handed there.

These Swiss halberdiers will give Tamsin 64 points.

Also, Tamsin has raised her points Challenge Par from 800 to 1600.  Bravo Tamsin and good luck! 

Since there have been a few people who have done the same I will be adding an upward arrow (⇧) on the points roster to denote those who have increased their challenge Par or a check mark (✔) for those who have met their goal. I know I may have forgotten some of those who have increased their Par so please send me in a note to remind me.

From BenG: 20mm Napoleonic British Rockets (16 points)

From Ben:

Here's a small entry I completed just for the hell of it. I bought this set on a whim ages ago and haven't actually painted any of the figures a) because they're butt-ugly, and b) our rules don't cover rockets! I'll check with the rules gurus to see if any of the big January games I haven't been involved in have special rules for rockectry, or else I'll have to make some up. I like the idea that any green troops or cavalry would have to undergo an automatic morale test to see if they are spooked by the hissing and screaming of the rockets on the first fire. Also some sort of randomised targeting that can even result in friendly fire would be the go, too! 

I like to add a little cotton wool to the end of artillerymen's portfires to give a little more detail, though I've learned not to add it til after the varnishing process. I've added it before spraying on the varnish but it collects in the fibres making a bit of a soggy mess!

The mold lines were pretty severe and required a bit of cleaning up, but the firing figure's face is pretty much obscured by the line. The set is an early HaT production which were only a slight improvement from Airfix's gnome-like sculpting, but I think they'll do for a novelty stand!

I dunno Ben, I think they turned out really well. I love smoke from the portfire - nice touch! I believe that when we've used rockets in the past we virtually had an equal chance of the opponents being able to choose the target, which made them quite fun (well, for me anyway).

These two rocketeers will give Ben 16 points.

From MikeP: 20mm WWII Soviet ISU 122 Assault Guns (26 points)

From Mike:

Here's my entry #5.  These kits are from the Italieri ISU 122 Fast Assembly Kit, which gives you two of these Russian bruisers, each in 9 parts.  No little bogies to cut and glue on, no flexible tracks to try and melt together. 

The only drawback to this kit is that it doesn't include decals, so I tried my hand at handpainting some slogans found on a website of Soviet posters.  One says "Cut the bastards!", the other says "Fight to the Death!".  I chose them because they were reasonably short, but I still ran out of space on the hulls.  Oh well.

The Challenge rules require that entries are based, so I stole heavily from Sidney Roundwood's amazing WW1 bases and cobbled together some bases that have an urban theme, suitable for a Fall of Berlin game which I hope to do when I get a bit more kit.

Two firsts for me with these models. They are the first tanks I've airbrushed, using Vallejo Russian Green, as I slowly work up the nerve to use my airbrush.   It was reasonably successful, and nice to get away from the mess that brushwork sometimes makes of vehicles when the paint bunches and clumps. The second first was using pigment. For the tracks and lower hulls I used Vallejo 73109 Natural Umber from their Earth and Oxide kit.  It was fun to use but in retrospect I think the "less is more" rule will apply.

Great work Mike! Congratulations on your two 'firsts', you did a very fine job with both the airbrush and pigments. I also really like the 'Roundwood' bases you created for them, though truth be told, I only require basing for figures that clearly require them (my bad for not being more explicit in the rules). 

These two monsters will give Mike a base of 24 point but I'm adding a few more for the bases and abreiviated slogans.

From JohnM: 'Clever Boy' Viking and Fleming & Ronin #19 (32 points)

From John:

Just 3 figures up next. I recently had a small contest on my blog entitled "A Clever Boy", it entailed answering two questions about some Flemish Mercenaries, I had painted earlier for the Painting Challenge. The winners were David K and Curt C as detailed here in this post.

David asked for a SAGA Viking and Curt wanted a Fleming. Unfortunately I had neither, but I had two Saxons that would do. For David, we have a Viking Bannerman, the latest rendition of SAGA has special rules for Bannerman, so I hope David finds it useful. For Curt we have a Flemish Captain, bearing the arms of the town off Saint-Simon in Picardie, part of historic Flanders.

And finally we have the price of admission to the Painting Challenge: one 28mm Samurai. I am by no means a free hand painter, so I had to pick a family with an easy to paint Sashimono. I was always intrigued by Okudaira Sadamasa's leadership in the seige of Nagashino Castle. Oda Nobunaga was so impressed he gave the Sadamasa the honour of changing is name to Okudaira Nobumasa, thus becoming part of his family. If I remember correctly this seige is retold in my favourite Akira Kurosawa film, Kagemusha.

All the photos are extreme close-ups with many blemishing, but I am hoping the recipients find them of good wargaming standard.

Very lovely stuff John and thank you so much for the figures. These are waaaay above 'wargaming standard', and I'm afraid I don't really deserve any 'clever boy' moniker, but I'll happily take both the kudos and figures and run! 

BTW, you seem to be getting on well with your new camera - those macro shots turned out quite nicely.

This fine trio of figures will give John 32 points.

From StefanosS: 28mm Napoleonic Italian Infantry (117 points)

From Stefanos:

Here I is my completed 2nd Btg of Italian Kingdom, 1st Line Regiment.

22 28mm figures, almost all are from Crusader miniatures, the two wounded from Offensive Miniatures. Fanion is from Flag Dude

1 French Voltigeur in greatcoat (see top image) by Perry Miniatures.

Lovely work Stefanos. We've had a lot of Napoleonic Italians entered during the Challenge which is a nice change of pace. I've not seen a close-up of Crusader naps before but they look quite nice - the sculpts have an almost Foundry look about them.

This battalion with their lonely voltigeur and banner will give Stefanos 117 points.