From TamsinP: 15mm Pirates (48 points)

'Avast! Strike your colours and be silent know before I make ye settle your abaft on a knobbly belaying pin and I send ye all yelping to Davy Jones' Locker with a stove-in dungbie. Savy?'

Ok, that's all the rude Pirate Speak I've got...

From Tamsin:

Aaaaarrrggghhhh! My pirate, errmmm, buccaneer army is off the marks with this entry.

The main troops of the buaccaneer army in FoG:R are "other buccaneers" (Musket*, Impact Foot, Average, Warriors), "ordinary buccaneers" (Musket, Sword, Average, Medium Foot) and "veteran buccaneers" (Musket, Sword, Superior, Medium Foot). These 24 figures are clearly very, very veteran. In fact, they are so veteran that they are skeletons! To distinguish between the different types I've decided that the "other" will be 3 to a bse with 1 firearm and 2 melee weapons, "ordinary" will be 3 per base with 2 firearms and 1 melee weapon, leaving the "veteran" which I'm doing as 4 per base.

The figures are 15mm from Rebel Minis and were great fun to paint. I started from a white primer washed with warm grey ink to help show the details, then shaded the clothing using acrylic inks. After sealing the inks with a spray of matt varnish to prevent them bleeding, the belts, scabbards, wood and basecoats for metals were painted, followed by another wash with warm grey ink. The metals were then painted and the bones highlighted.

With hindsight the second ink wash should have been brown or sepia and the highlighting of the bone should have been a more yellow-white. However, as they are in the sun soaked Spanish Main, the bones would be somewhat bleached, wouldn't they?

I'm pleased with how the inks have worked for the clothing - they've given a nice faded look, with the warm grey wash giving a grubby "out of the grave" appearance.

Tamsin, that is a very cool unit of ragged & bony-assed troops. I love the various muted colours and I particularly like the fellow who has his head firmly tucked under his arm - very sensible, I think.

These 24 sea dogs will give Tamsin 48 points. 

'Yo Ho Ho!'

(Um, that last bit is meant to be 18th century speak, not 21st century...)

From KentG: 28mm WWI German Stormtroopers (25 points)

Okay! Lets get the show back on the road! I've adjusted everyone's points totals to reflect the recent bonus round and we've had a bit of a shakeup amongst the top ranks, with Andrew taking the lead once again. Not to be deterred Kent submits this excellent group of Great War German trench raiders to close the gap.

From Kent:

We have 5 28mm German storm troopers manufacture unknown. sadly when I'd finished these guys i found one more which now i must paint the same which is all good except the helmets which because there was so few I just made up on the spot. 

I'm busy working away at 7 different lots to try and keep the wheels of war rolling. but thought  hey lets pop these fellas out at the end of a 4 hour session.

Great job Kent. I really like the splinter camo on the helmets and the dull steel of the one fellow's breastplate.

These five stormtroopers will give Kent 25 points. Nice job!