From LeeH: 6mm WWII Italian Desert Armour & Open Blitz Trucks (30 points)

From Lee:

My latest entry is yet more 6mm North Africa hardware...so not mega points! First off here are five Italian P40 Heavy Tanks. These were in development for several years with the first production models appearing in late 1942. The subsequent loss of the factory making the engines meant that by wars end only 22 had been produced, so inclusion in any army is speculative at best. 

A small number of P40's were sent to North Africa and saw action in Egypt so I've decided to paint up one platoon just to bolster my Italian tank forces. These particular models are from GHQ and as you would expect the quality is excellent with superb detailing. 

Keeping with the Italians I have also painted up four AB41 armoured cars to provide some recon screening for my Italian forces. These are some old recycled H&R models that I stripped for repainting. They have a lot less detail than the GHQ equivalent but at a mere £0.40 each compared to £1.40 for the GHQ models its hard to find fault with them! Personally I mix and match manufacturers based entirely on availability of vehicle types within the respective ranges, price is a secondary issue.

Last up I painted six Opel Blitz trucks (seen in the top photos). These can be used by most German forces and in this case they will form part of a supply convoy for a battle scenario I am working on. 

I've really enjoyed seeing this project develop over the past year. The overall aesthetic of the vehicles, their wonderful rounded bases, desert terrain and attendant game markers (see his fabulous smoke markers here) is wonderfully realized. Well done Lee!

These Italian vehicles and German trucks will provide Lee with 30 points to add to his total.

From MilesR: 15mm All Quiet on the Martian Front Tripods & Union Artillery (64 points)

From Miles:

Some more test mini’s from All Quiet on the Martian Front and a gun and crew from the new 28mm Perry ACW plastic artillery set. First up a pair of Martian Grenadier tripods. These are resin and metal kits and have 15 parts each. The models are very easy to put together and there was no flash. Again these are test kist and may see a little future refinement before hitting the market.

Grenadier tripods are a type of long range artillery for the Martian forces. In test games they tend to be my favorite unit as they can deliver a punch from a good distance away. Each tripod is armed with a pair of launcher that can either fire explosives or black dust. They also have a pair of reaper tentacles for close combat. The one downside is their armor is a bit weaker than most other Martian tripods so they are easy prey from human infantry.

Side view of the models - those reaper tentacles look like nasty business.

Even though the scale of AQMF is 15mm, the Martian tripod models are fairly large with these grenadiers coming in at 4 inches high and 2.5 inches wide. I may end up mounting them on 60mm bases, but that decision will need to wait until the game comes out.

A pair of unprotected Grenadier tripods about to be assaulted by a human infantry company!

Next up, my first artillery battery from the new Perry plastic ACW artillery box. I’ve modeled a Union 10lb Parrot rifle with six man crew. These are pretty generic union paints so they fill in for any type of formation.

Each box has figures to build three guns (with four different barrel options each), 3 caissons, and 18 crew (6 per gun). I really like the box and think it’s both a great value and a good way to build out a fairly massive artillery park in 28mm scale.

I picked up 3 boxes from Ernie on Friday, so have eight guns and crews to use. I’m planning on using the caissons as ammo resupply markers for Fire and Fury Regimental.

Another wonderful entry Miles, and another tantalizing preview of what's to come for 'All Quiet on the Martian Front'. The Grenadier Tripod is very cool, and impressively intimidating next to the 15mm infantry, but I must say I'm not a big fan of the 'eye of Sauron' thing on the front. A bit too overblown for my tastes. I think the model would look more menacing if the 'turret' was turned around with the smooth, featureless carapace to the front. But that's me and I know most will cry me down as a heretic and wish me fed me to the Martian harvest walkers (which I'm sure are somewhere to come in the release cycle).

The Martian Grenadiers and the Union artillery piece with its crew will give Miles 64 points. Great work and thanks again for the preview.

From SamuliS: 6mm ACW Union Mounted and Dismounted Cavalry, Artillery and Command (80 points)

From Samuli:

Back to ACW with the cavalry and artillery units of my force. 2 mounted and 4 dismounted cavalry units and 5 artillery batteries in addition to three more command stands. All of them Baccus again. Great quality all around and a pleasure to paint in this scale. The tiny flags were bit of a pain to paint as Baccus has for some reason decided to sculpt them straight on instead of leaving room for printed flags like on the infantry and on the command flag stands.

I decided to try another background when taking pics of these little guys. This time black instead of the normal light grey or the scenic base I have. 

Seems to work quite nicely and I was a bit surprised that finding good settings for the photos was maybe even a bit easier than with the lighter backgrounds.

Excellent work Samuli! You've done a wonderful job on these. I especially like the dismounted cavalry bases with their integrated mounts and horse-holders. Its also nice to see another (potential) convert to using a black background. I find it does a great job of showcasing the miniatures and not altering or washing out colours.

These very fine union cavalrymen, officers and attendant artillery will give Samuli 80 points. Great job!

BrendonW: Dystopian Wars 'Empire of the Blazing Sun' Raijin Class War Gyro (15 points)

From Brendon:

Continuing on with my Dystopian Blazing Sun Fleet expansion.

Raijin Class HQ War Gyro. Resin and metal, 1:1200, made by Spartan games.

This flying ship of doom also comes with a floating Node Projector thingy token (it appears in/near enemy fleets and the Gyro uses it to shut down Generators). This model comes in the Strike Flotilla box along with models from a previous submission so now the box is completely painted and I am satisfied.

As usual I paint flying craft in my fleet with the Top Side Green, underside light pale blue with pointy and side areas in colours from my Naval vessels.

The underside is an area I paint very plainly as I figure it is not really seen during games. It's interesting and cool that they sculpted the underside to look like a belly that is ready to drop robot subs into the ocean though. But it does mean a little more detail to paint. It doesn't appear to co-relate to any game functionality though.

Ooh, that is quite the beast! Great work Brendon. I really like the look of the wood decking alongside that wonderful shade of green you've used for the armour plating.  Its also nice to see those towers again.

This hefty fellow will give Brendon 15 points. Great job!

From JuanM: 28mm Taliban Mortar Team, Al Qaeda Fighter & Modern US Infantryman (30 points)

From Juan:

Here is another entry for The Challenge. This time, some models from "Empress Miniatures", from their Modern Range. They are a Taliban Mortar Team, an al Qaeda "Freedom Fighter" and my first US soldier with ACU uniform. I have painted them to become part of my "Skirmish Sangin" games.

These are very nice models, clean and really easy to paint. I expect to prepare, soon, a game based in the "Lone Survivor" film/book.

Beautiful work Juan. The Empress range is fabulous and you've really done them justice with these figures. I'm especially impressed with your rendition of the American ACU camo, which can be very tricky to pull off. Well done!

This assortment of modern figures will give Juan 30 points. Great work!

From GillesW: 15mm Libyan Infantry Command (74 points)

From Gilles:

Here they are!

Five command bases for my Early Libyan army. Thirty-seven figures from Essex and Chariot miniatures as usual, too many commanders you would say but a real Mexican army must have more generals than soldiers, truly a wild bunch!

Now it’s time to create an ink “ car wash “ after the jester’s bath for the 12 chariots and their teams.

Very nice work Gilles! Again, I really like how colourful and varies your troops are. The extra time put in for the patterns and headdress really pays off in the end.

These five bases of Libyan infantry command will give Gilles 74 points, enough for him to reach his Challenge target of 500 points. Well done Gilles and congratulations!