From KevH: 15mm ECW Earl of Essex Command Stand & Crusader Infantry (68 points)

From Kev:

Here is my current entry for the challenge. Not really had much time for painting this last couple of weeks. I have a lot of sculpting to do at the moment. First up we have a 15mm Essex Parliament command stand.

This is the opposite CinC for the Royalist Charles 1st I did earlier. This is the Earl of Essex and Staff. 3 mounted and 1 foot with another hand painted commonwealth Flag. (Jeeze, I hate how Essex sculpts the flag onto the figure!)

Also we have some more Crusaders. This time a mixed unit of Crusader medium infantry. Non Military order, a few French and germans. Warriors to the front with bows to the rear. Converted flag bearer with suitable banner.

This may well be the last of the Crusader force, I may add the odd unit at a later date. I will try to concentrate on the Saracens now. 1/72 Strelets figures.

Two wonderful entries Kev! Your high-contrast style is again making its magic with these fellows. Essex's banner is gorgeous and I'm very impressed with the shields of the Crusader front rank. Lovely, clean brushwork.

The Earl of Essex and this unit of Christian infantry will give Kev 68 points, which includes a bit extra for the finely wrought flags and heraldry. This entry will see Kev past his second Challenge points target of 2250 points. Great work and congratulations Kev! 

It looks like there will be a tight race right to the finish for all podium positions in the points standings. Many of us will be on the edge of our seats at we close in on the finish line in 23 days!

From AndrewS: 28mm F&IW Coureur des Bois & Huron Indian Allies (100 points)

From Andrew:

This submission is 14 Coureur Des Bois and 6 Huron Indians all from the AW miniatures range. 

The Coureur Des Bois are a very nice set of figures from this range with a good variety of equipment on the men, the only downside is there are only three poses available. 

However with some different coloured clothing and ensuring that they are well mixed, I have managed to make the whole force look as I hoped.

Last up the Hurons are nice sculpts and there are a wide variety of poses available, only one figure in my opinion has issues due to its separate arms that can only be put in one position, and a lot of work has then to be done with green stuff to make them fit properly. 

Although warpaint comes in handy to disguise any issues. I have liberally applied a red and black colour scheme to the warpaint. I really enjoy painting these Indians as my research has shown that they used a wide range of colours so it does allow me some freedom as a painter to go with the flow.

Beautiful work Andrew. I like that you made each and every figure distinct, either by varying pose or through use of colour. While the French frontiersmen are great I have to say that your Hurons, resplendent in their fierce warpaint, are my favourites in this submission. Wonderful figures.

These warriors of the forest will give Andrew 100 points. Well done!

From IanW: 28mm Viking Herdman & 6mm Napoleonic Marshals along with Assorted Flunkies (21 points)

From Ian:

Finally something different. 

OK lets start with the Griping Beast 28mm plastic Viking from their Viking Hirdmen boxed set. I wanted to do a test figure and it was an excuse to do something a little different.

Clean up and assembly was mostly straight forward though the belt pouch and knife was a bit fiddly. I can see doing all 44 getting tiresome but the reward would be a great mix of poses and weapons so I will have that in mind when I get at the test.

Went with a straight forward shield design to keep this simple. I also went with a black primmer to make the chainmail more realistic, overall I prefer the darker finish for these.

Dropping back to my usual scale I have finally finished the new Baccus command figures, a bunch of Marshals and other hangers on.

These are certainly an upgrade on the old Baccus command and have some nice detail and a much wider mix of poses. However I still prefer the Adler as they have a lot more detail (that extra mm or two really helps) and though these are sturdier I will take the risk with the Adler breaking.

Quite easy to clean up and paint though some of them have a real issue with mould lines, but overall nice clean casts. I have based them loosely on images I have of commanders and ADC's I just hope I don't get slapped for doing this

My Napoleonic Pedant/Prat referee jersey's in the wash so you're safe... ;P

Ooh, that Viking sample looks very, very good Ian - I think you can go straight into production with these! Would this project be for SAGA or do you have something else in mind?

I agree with you on all counts with the new Baccus command figures: they are all very nice but I'd still put the nod to Adler's range. As you say that extra 1-2mm makes all the difference. All this being said I think you've done a marvelous job on these models. Your excellent basing gives them a Peninsular War feel about them, what with the larger gravel elements.

This lonely Viking and the posse of Napoleonic command officers will give Ian 21 points (with a bit extra for the shield and being in the vanguard).   

From GregB: 40K Imperial Fist Space Marines, Dreadnought, Rhinos & Terminators (120 points)

From Greg:

I'm continuing to round out my sci-fi Space Marines from GW's Warhammer 40k line. This submission includes an officer, a group of scouts, and a dreadnought. 

The officer is a plastic kit from GW - the only change I made was to use a spare "beakie" helmet to help him fit in with the other Crimson Fist marines. Otherwise it is a very similar kit to the one Byron submitted recently. I've marked a "III" on his knee pad to represent his company. He carries a storm bolter (heavy automatic rifle of the dark future) and a scary power sword. 

The scouts are a mix of new plastic models and two metal models. They are nearly all armed with sniper rifles, save the one fellow carrying a rocket launcher (one supposes to "snipe" vehicles perhaps?). I really like the look of these oversize, scary sniper rifles, although I'm not sure how well the idea of light infantry fits in with the ominous feel of a Space Marine chapter. But they are fun models - between the rifles, the optics, the cloaks, a lot of fun details to paint. 

The dreadnought is from GW's current line of plastic kits, armed with an assault cannon (high velocity rotary cannon of the dark future), a power fist for smashing things/people, and a little bolt gun under the power fist. The dreadnought armour units give the Space Marines even more "oomph" on the battlefield. They are powered by the will of a severely wounded marine who is essentially entombed in the suit…how grim, very suitable for the setting.

The Forge World is continuing to fire up here in Winnipeg. Here are three more vehicles for my Crimson Fist Space Marines - two "Rhino" APCs and one "Razorback" APC. These are all plastic model kits from GW. 

My Crimson Fist marines are mostly Rogue Trader era figures, but these models are from GW's contemporary range. I really, really enjoy them, and they scale up very nicely with the old Rogue Trader figures. 

The Rhinos are very basic, capable of carrying ten marines into the fighting. The Razorback is a kind of hybrid vehicle, designed to carry some heavy weapons to support the Marines, but at the expense of room in the troop compartment - it only carries five Marines. The vehicle is often associated with command roles, and to reflect that I mounted the little command bits on this particular vehicle, along with a twin-barrelled heavy laser cannon to help deal with nasty bad guys. 

My Crimson Fists have gone from walking to having a few different "rides" to choose from now - enough APCs to carry 35 of them into a firefight. Watch out Orks! 

Finally, here is a squad of 28mm Terminator Marines from the Crimson Fist Chapter. The figures are pewter models from Games Workshop. These are old school Rogue Trader era models - not quite the original Terminators, but close. 

The Terminators represent the elite shock troops of a Space Marine chapter. The armour is very, very tough and reinforced, allowing the Marines to carry heavy weapons into firefights. They are also equipped with "power fists", heavy armoured gloves sheathed in a power field that allow the Marines to shatter armour, bulkheads and other enemies of the Emperor.

There are enough Terminators here to form a five-man squad, with an option of a heavy flamethrower or rotary-barrelled cannon as a squad support weapon. There is one sergeant figure (the fellow with the sword) and three regular grunts. The shoulder insignia were hand painted once again - mixed results, but not terrible.

These models are long out of production, and were acquired in bits and bobs over Ebay. These days GW has very nice plastic Terminator models. They are quite beautiful - bigger, more action-oriented and they have all sorts of extras to choose from. But these old Rogue Trader models are beauties. 

This represents the end of my Crimson Fist build up for now - my collection has gone from 20 assorted infantry models to almost 60 marines complete with command, vehicles and support. How fun! That is why these painting challenges are great - they get you moving in a direction, and off you go!

Wowza, that is a heap of Space Marines Greg! These guys look brilliant (I think those hand-painted shoulder insignias look ace). I like that in your text you describe their functions and roles - for the uninitiated it gives a bit of context to the various figures and models. Well done. 

This wide selection of marines and their vehicles will give Greg 120 points.

From PaulS: 28mm WWII Soviet Infantry (85 points)

From Paul:

Here are 17 more additions to the painting challenge. I seem to be on a roll finishing things this week!

These Russians are the first half of a 500point Bolt Action force to face off against the Commandos from earlier in the challenge as well as providing a pool of Russians to feed into the Mythos meat grinder against the horrors of the Achtung! Cthulhu models that have also been dribbling in.

Having a standard bearer seems to be pretty iconic in Russian propaganda, so I decided to steal one of the spare Warhammer Empire army standard bearer arms to make one of my own. I've no idea if there's an in-game use for one, but he adds that little extra touch to the squad. These guys had a lot more time spent on them than the Commandos and it shows (in person). I really need to work on better photography this year... 

Finally we also have a Russian spotter. Originally he was part of a sniper squad, but basing two guys laying down was becoming a pain, so he's now a solo spotter instead.

Beautiful work Paul. The use of the Warhammer Fantasy banner is genius. It really amps up the 'heroic' aspect of the figure. I know I've mentioned this to you in the past but I really like the minimalism of the clear bases. I know they may not be for everyone but I think they look quite elegant (and certainly saves time and money on doing groundwork!).

These Heroes of the Soviet Union will give Paul 85 points. Well done!

From DaveD: 28mm Mahdist Tribesmen (460 points)

From Dave:

Having got so far through the OOB for El Teb with the last 3 submission I decided to take advantage of a few days off and press on with the remaining foot units required. All Perry 28''s a mix of plastic and metal. A little more twiddly bits on some patterns on the clothing and headwear this time though. 84 foot figures,3 mounted and 1 gun. Skirmishers hiding in the long grasses, one rifle warband , one spear armed warband, a captured Krupps gun and and crew, and 3 new mounted leaders including Osman Digna,

And a couple of pictures of the whole army as it now stands. 

A few small mounted elements left to complete for the Mahdists, they are on the preparation table now. The Desert Column is in serious need of reinforcements - I have the lead cleaned and ready to go, and I have my eye on a Nile Steamer. Its been such a busy few weeks I have now run out of bases and tufts! A large restock required.

Phew.. right, off to give the paint table a good tidy up!

Fabulous work Dave! I really like your sabot bases with the terrain inserts - very posh indeed.

The final shots of the entire force are gobsmacking. As you say, now on to their poor opponents!

These lads will give Dave 460 points to add to his tally.