From DaveD: 28mm Sudanese Ansar Tribesmen (437 points)

Dave brings out the big guns with this huge points entry.

From Dave:

Having completed my initial point target (600) or the Challenge , it seems to have got the paint well and truly flowing. Having completed a Sudan "caravan" as part of the challenge, this has go me interested in the Sudan project again. So the return to the Sudan is well and truly up and running. Fortunately I had already "de-sprued" a box or several - ok lets say 10 - of the 28mm Perry Ansar, it was time to crack on and assemble a bunch of them, mix in a few of the metal casualty and command figures and lets see what happens. For this next phase I decided to do several larger units of early Beja - you get about 26 out of a box. So here we have the first of them. Given the sheer number to do, these are very much a "paint the unit" rather than the "individual". You know the saying - quantity has a quality all of it own..

This one is made of 85 figures and 4 prone casualties. The flags are from The Virtual Armchair General.

Those of you taking part in the Facebook group will have seen the progress of these over the last month. They are airbushed in a mix of two shades of brown, the hair and weapon black base completed. Then the whole figure is given a dark black.brown wash, cloth is painted in range of 5 different shades in a random combination. This is then given a lighter wash. The flesh tops are then highlighted in a thin dark earth colour. Spears and shield highlight wood complete and then a good coat of a gloss varnish - which is just a personal thing as I think it helps a bit to keep these figures together over the year and it fills out joint problems etc. A matt varnish over, do the metals and base up.

... more along shortly. 

Oh , and new points target 2250...

Whoa! And with this entry Dave has picked up Millsy's gauntlet and drops his own points bomb... Absolutely amazing stuff. The photos are brilliant and really show these tribesmen off well.  I like that off in the distance we can see what is coming over the next few days...

These Ansar will give Dave an impressive 437 points and notice he has picked the same revised points target as KevH. The game is truly afoot! Well done Mr. D!

From ReneV: 28mm WWII American Infantry (125 points)

Hi all,

My next entry are some 28mm US infantry figures.

They are from different brands (see if you can guess which is what) and are intended for my US infantry Chain of Command force. In spite of the fact that most players seem to have a knack for the Brits or for US para's I decided early on that both for my German and US Force I would be aiming for a standard infantry platoon and add ons.

Because my buying pattern for this force was a bit strange this entry is mostly composed of support troops. A .30 Cal machine gun, 0.50 Cal machine gun a sniper team, a forward observer to call in the battalion mortars, a platoon commander and bazooka team and part of his first squad (rest got lost with the wrong map and no compass).

Combined to a total of 24 figures.

Also included in this entry are 4 resin pieces that serve as Jump-Off points used in the game. Since I don't even know if they are worth any points I am of course counting on Curt's generous nature.

I thought about including his city of residence on one of the signs but given that I cant find any explanation whatsoever to justify the name in a Normandy setting I decided against it.

Excellent work Rene. I don't know if I've ever seen a .50 cal deployed as a support weapon - pretty ferocious stuff! 

Phil can well comment on my meagre nature as I didn't give him a single point for his excellent shell impact markers. So I regret that I can't score your Jump-Off markers, but they do look very good. In regards to your comment on having signs pointing back 'home' this was actually fairly common near the front. For example, one sign would be pointing 'Caen 8 Miles' and another, the opposite direction, 'Regina 4228 Miles' (yes, I checked on the distance). :)

This force of American infantry will give Rene 125 points. Great job!

Form TamsinP: Waste Reprocessing Ship 'J Peasmold' (15 points)

From Tamsin:

Just to prove that I am alive and still painting, here's a single spaceship which I painted up as a break between batches of pirates.

This is the J Peasmold waste reprocessing ship from Ground Zero Games. As you can see, some convoy traditions still hold in space, even though aromas can't travel through vacuum - the convoy leader, L.A. "Tex" Mallard, has asked "Septic Sam" to back off another 10 AU as the smell was getting intense.

I decided to go with base colours followed by a dirty grey wash for this ship. I think that has given it a nicely grungy look.

Oh well, back to painting pirates....

Eww... You gotta love science fiction. In science fiction you don't have to explain why you'd have a ship transporting crap across the cosmos when you could simply vent the stuff out into it. Then again, perhaps it's legal tender on some planet starved for fertilizer and methane. 

'Sooo, how much does this sh*t go for?"  Literally.

The J Peasmold will give Tamsin 15 malodorous points which will also give her enough points to claim victory in her duel with Ian and Burkhard to see who could get to 1066 points first. Bravo Tamsin!

From BenG: 20mm Gothic Archers & Roman Skirmishers (30 points)

From Ben:

Here's a couple more stands of light troops for my late antiquity project; 1/72nd scale Newline Gothic archers and Miniart Roman skirmish troops.

The Newline figures, while very well sculpted and cast, all show the same pose, bar one. The look a little uninspiring as a group, somehow. I've jazzed them up using the brush bristle technique I used last year for bowstrings, which, after a little cursing, I managed to pull off.

The Miniart figures have the opposite problem to the Newline figures, though. Wonderfully dynamic poses with woeful production values! I persist with them because they're the best in this scale for historical accuracy and realistic, dynamic poses. 

It's a pity Italeri can't pull off similar poses; some of their figures, while showing excellent production values, are cursed by bizarre poses and historical inaccuracies.

You've done a wonderful job on these Ben. I find it very interesting to read your commentary on the various manufacturers as I'm woefully ignorant of the plastic figure industry. Nonetheless, I understand what you're saying about the mono-pose of the archers, but I think you've done them great service in adding the bowstrings (and the addition of that one variant pose really tips the balance for the stand as a whole).

These Gothic archers and Roman skirmishers will give Ben 30 points, with a little added for his extra effort for stringing those little bows. You're now within sight of your Challenge  points target. Great work!

From Millsy: 28mm English Civil War Royalist Cavalry - Sir Tyldesley's Regiment of Horse (101 points)

From Millsy:

I think I may have overdosed on the works of the Evil Empire. This weekend I was faced with the choice of yet more Space Marines or I could turn my hand to something different. In the end it proved to be a bit of a no brainer and so I got stuck in and finished off Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment of Horse for my ECW project. The army is quite large, close to 260 figures already and I'm planning a bit of a royal review when done soon.

Sir Thomas Tyldesley was a stout Royalist and long term supporter of King Charles and was present at Edgehill. He raised regiments of foote, horse and dragoons. He continued to fight through all three civil wars and at times served under Prince Rupert. He never once surrendered to the evil crop headed rebels and his light was only extinguished in 1651 when we was finally killed in action at the Battle of Wigan Lane. Today his memory lives on through re-enactment by Sir Thomas Tyldesley's Regiment of Foote.

These are Renegade Miniatures from their lovely ECW range which is unfortunately currently unavailable. Luckily I bought enough to make two units well before that happened. The remaining figs are currently also in progress and should appear here presently. These paint up a treat, with plenty of prominent detail and nice poses in the riders. The command are particularly nice with nice chunky sashes and a Dutch coat for the trumpeter. If I have a gripe at all it's that the horse poses are very similar with the exception of the head position. Still, it's a minor quibble and they rank up well.

I've painted these in my usual style - horses with a black undercoat and riders with white undercoat. The black base gives plenty of help with the reins, etc. on the horses and also a nice dark coat colour for the various browns and greys. I love painting horses and tend to go a bit mad for variety but the result is worth the effort. The riders are base coated in a variety of colours before a combination of dip and inks for shading with highligts to finish off.

Next up, Rupert's Lifeguard AND Regiment of Horse.

Ah, we haven't seen much ECW this Challenge so this is a nice change of pace. Lovely work Millsy. I've always liked the Renegade models for this period so I hope they come back again soon. Wonderful work here. I particularly like your horses - nice variety of colours which keeps things interesting.

Tyldesley's Horse will give Millsy 101 points (the extra pip is for the lovely banner). Well done & God Save the King!

From KentG: 28mm Modern Taliban Tribesmen & 15mm WWII German Panzerknacker Teams (110 points)

From Kent:

First up 28mm Taliban insurgents. Seventeen of these. This finishes off a commission. They are Empress Miniatures figures. Lots of fine detail and easy to paint.

Next up are twelve 15mm Battlefront miniatures they are panzershreck teams for an up and coming competition. I used the Bolt Action how-to paint SS for the paint scheme - seems to have worked alright.

Great work Kent. The Taliban figures are very well done - I particularly like how your choice of colours reinforces their irregular nature. I also think you've done a great job on the dot-pattern camo on the SS troopers.

These figures will provide 110 point to Kent's mounting points tally. Well done!