From JohnM: 20mm WWII German Pioneers (28 points)

From John:

WW II German Pioneers

My previous submission had a section of Pioneers in Kubelwagons and a Panzerknacker team in a captured universal carrier. Since Chain of Command is a skirmish game,  some ambulatory figures were needed. I had to search around, the fact that AB figures have disappeared off the market because of a copyright squabble has made it a little difficult. Needed were figures that could represent mine laying teams, demolition teams, flamethrower teams, wire cutting teams as well as the tank hunters and a leader. All the Pioneer teams in Chain of Command are 3 figures except for the Panzerknackers who have 4 figures (2 tank hunters and a LMG team). You can also field a Pioneer Squad of 6 figures and a Junior Leader. 

So I needed a variety of figures. After some searching I came across CP Models, at first I felt that they looked a little odd, they are the absolutely the opposite of the short grunting figures that a lot of 20 mm manufacturers produce. Britannia figures are a good example of this. PSC and AB miniatures are somewhere in between while the CP Models and TDQ Castings (sold on the same website) are quite slender, but fortunately almost the same height. I now quite like these figures, look at the photos of the single figures, do they not portray the weariness of war! My upcoming British Paratroopers, Commandos, and Engineers are all from TDQ castings which are very similar to CP Models.

Anyway I should say that 3 of these models were done before the challenge started, so I can only claim 7, a small submission. But the good news is that the French Légére are almost done.

Great work John. These CP models are very nice and do show a weariness in their posture which is refreshing (though the one fellow above looks like he's clog dancing...) I managed to get a bunch of AB models before they became scarce and they are pretty amazing. I hope they become available again soon so you can try some out.

These German pioneers will give John 28 points. Well done John and I look forward to seeing your upcoming French Legere.

From GregB: 28mm 40K Rogue Trader Imperial Guard Roughriders (110 points)

Greg finishes a wonderful nostalgia project which takes us back to the heady, simpler days of 1980s era Games Workshop.

From Greg:

I have already done one Rogue Trader project during the challenge, and I am more pumped for this one.  I am very excited to submit ten 28mm Imperial Guard Roughriders from the Rogue Trader era.  Many of us have projects or collections that go on and on for many years, but for me this one is special - I've been working to get this squad together since 2007!

It was in 2007 when I first started to acquire some surplus boxes of plastic Rogue Trader-era Imperial Guardsmen - a major nostalgia interest for me.  There were some really great eBay scores for me that year - whole boxes of 36 plastic guardsmen, some unpainted officer figures etc. In the midst of these was a set of three Roughrider torsos. As I worked to assemble and paint my other troops (see here for an example of them in action), I resolved back in 2007 that I would keep my eyes peeled to eBay to try and assemble enough spare parts to put together a Roughrider squad! 

Little did I suspect just how long that would take…

The roughriders were a Rogue Trader-era creation, basically an option to mount an Imperial Guard tactical squad on horses.  After all, the horse would surely still be part of many worlds and cultures among the numberless, teeming masses of the Imperium of Man. Some of these horses would be used in the Imperial military.  

The Roughriders were armed identically to a tactical squad - lasguns, one grenade launcher, one lascannon - but with a twist.  They carried lances equipped with exploding tips.  I think an actual exploding lance tip would be daft for a real cavalryman, but it fits well in the 40k dystopia.  In game terms, it gives these troops quite a punch when they charge - for one turn, at least :) 

The Roughriders have carried on in the GW fluff over time, and I think they are still an option for Guard players today, although the models are now OOP. The Roughriders became space huns - the "Roughriders of Atilla".  The Tallarn-style guardsmen (desert themed troops) also got Roughrider models.  Ultimately Forge World took the baton - the grim Death Riders of Krieg are quite marvellous figures (if you can afford them), while the Tallarn troops got alternate Roughriders who essentially rode space camels called "Mukaali".  I don't think many current GW players bother with Roughriders as a selection for the table.

When I set out to get a squad of Rogue Trader Roughriders together in 2007, I didn't think it would take too long.  I was wrong! The Roughrider bits - special legs and torsos, including a special dude with a Grenade Launcher, and some guys wearing bush-cap style headgear - did not pop up very often on eBay.  It would be a torso here, a few legs there…and sometime I ended up with the wrong part.  Did you know GW had two separate types of "rider" legs - one for horses, and one for motorcycles? Me neither…anyway it was not until 2013 that I got enough bits together to do the proper squad! 

The lance arms are courtesy of Victoria Lamb - thank goodness for her awesome work, as the GW originals did not actually have proper lances (much less cool ones with exploding tips) and I wasn't sure how I was going to swing that, but Victoria Lamb's stuff is amazing. Consistent with my other Rogue Trader guardsmen, I slapped a "current" lasgun into the back stowage of the riders.  It would have been cooler to sculpt a strap for the guns - but I'm no sculptor…

Even getting the horses together was a challenge, as GW's horse sprues have changed over time. The current plastic horses are too large (and a bit too silly). Again, I had to watch and wait on eBay for the parts to come up.

Once I had all the bits together, it took a little while to assemble them. I started building them in November last year, and finally painted them for the Challenge. Even with the excellent Victoria Lamb bits, these are not particularly glorious figures - they sit awkwardly on the horses, no natural riders among them, that's for sure. A cavalry enthusiast will find these to be just awful!

But it is a genuine nostalgia thrill to have these fellows finished.  Hopefully they will pop off some of Dallas' Rogue Trader Orks the next time we play some old school 40k.  

Awesome post Greg! Now, these lads spark a bit of 40K nostalgia to be sure. I clearly remember their lances with exploding tips - brutally fun. As you say, it smacks of that dystopian vision of the 40K universe. No Operational Health and Safety issues here, nope, now move along before someone sets their lance down wrong and blows us all into next week.

This squad of IG horsemen will give Greg 110 points, which includes a little extra for the mods, bits & bobs. Well done!

From KentG: 28mm Napoleonic Old Guard Chasseurs, Light Infantry & SYW Artillery and Commanders (333 points)

The struggle for the top points positions continues. Not wanting to be out of the mix Kent sends in this great entry of Napoleonics and Seven Years War figures.

From Kent:

This next submission is a mix.  First up we have 24 28mm Old guard chasseurs in campaign dress, they are Front Rank real nice figure to paint - real clean lines.

Then we have 18 28mm light infantry, well actually they are a complete mix of bits and pieces all front rank bar one, after two and a half years of painting this commission it's all that was left so here they are.  

Next we have 6 28mm British command figures for SYW the are Foundry I think once again trying to finish up a long standing commission job. 

I have to say I don't like the faces on these lads looks like they've been hit by a truck.

Last but not least 2 guns and crew once again British SYW 28mm Foundry, this almost brings me to the end of my first batch of undercoated figures.

Today I started basing the next batch which will include Russian naps, modern Americans and insurgents, Dark Age Saxons and Scots and who knows what else.

Beautiful work once again Kent. Naps will always have a soft spot in my heart, but I'm also a sucker for a well-formed tricorn and those SYW guns and crews are absolutely marvellous - bravo!

These horse & musket (and cannon) lads will give Kent an impressive 333 points, allowing him to narrowly slip past Andrew and into the lead. It also places him within 91 points of his Challenge points target. Well done Kent!

From AndrewS: 20mm Nubian Archers (128 points)

Andrew rallies from being tipped out of the leading position and submits these excellent Nubian archers to regain his standing.

From Andrew:

Knowing my good buddy and rival in this years madness Kevin has snuck up behind me like a stealth bomber and dropped a large payload of very nice Vikings, its serves to keep on my toes and stay focussed on the task in hand. So, I have managed to complete the last 4 units of Nubian Skirmish Archers for the Nubian Army. This army is huge but I am almost half way through on presentation of these.

As with the previous submission each unit comprises eight figures for a total of 32 (20mm) all from the Hat range. These represent the skirmish elements for the 3rd and 4th divisions of the Nubian army I am building. As the Mad Padre described the distinguishing of the units wonderfully these guys come equipped with colour coded “Willie Whackers”!! this really raised a smile when I read it and it has stuck since.

The bases are the same larger ones as before so removing the need to split bases and have gaps I used the wider bases. These are in two sections as when they form part of the later Egyptian army they are half the size in Hail Caesar. I continued with the informality and added some rocks to these bases so as to be depicted in the rough terrain areas these types excel in and ensuring they match with the existing forces.

Wonderful stuff Andrew. I'm delighted to see that the Challenge is prompting the completion of not only beautiful single figures and vignettes (i.e. Anne & Sidney) but also of full armies (i.e. Millsy, Kev and yourself). Warms the cockles of my heart, it does!

These archers will give Andrew 128 points which will indeed give him enough to pop him back into 1st place in the points standings. Nicely done LOKI!

From Curt: 28mm Post-Apocalyptic 'Metro 2033' Neo-Soviet Militia (25 points)

I thought I'd mix things up a bit and add a few more figures to my 'Metro 2033' themed post-apoc collection. This here is a group of Lead Adventure Neo-Soviet militia, known as 'Igor and the Red Gang'.

I really enjoy the character of the models from Lead Adventure Miniatures. They're almost cartoonish in their features but they still retain a disturbing sense of lethality about them - how fun is that!

Like my other stuff for this project I've gone with an ash-waste style groundwork punctuated by bits of shattered red brick. The bases are a bit over-stylized but its seems to work with the figures.

I decided that the LMG gunner should exhibit a bit of sartorial flair with a jaunty polka dot neck scarf thrown over his shoulder...

...and the older bearded fellow with the long-barreled RPK-74 is sylin' & profilin' with a pair of gold-rimmed Armani sunglasses....

...whereas the more taciturn, cigar-chomping section leader proudly retains his cossack jodhpurs with their distinctive red piping.

Finally, I thought for this submission that I'd add something new to the setting and so finished a resin debris terrain piece I had recently ordered from Armorcast.  

This chunk of resin portrays an abandoned wreck of what looks to be a Ford Ranger (or perhaps more appropriately, a Skoda light duty truck). It's a very nice single-piece casting with loads of interesting details to pick out. It painted-up quite quick. I added some of the broken brick motif that I use with my figure bases to help tie them together. To finish it off I dug out out my MIG weathering powders and went fairly heavy on the poor beast, especially with the dust, thinking that anything abandoned in a post-apoc setting would be under a heavy coating of grime and dust. 

A great set of figures which were loads of fun to work on. This group of old Cold Warriors will give me 25 points to add to my total.

Not sure what's next. I really need to get my 'vehicle' entry sorted, but I feel a short visit back to the heat of Indochina may be in order...