From AndrewS: 28mm Napoleonic French Infantry Battalions (203 points)

I thought it best to have Andrew, our top-ranked Challenger in the points standing, to bring up the rear-guard before I officially close this year's Challenge.

From AndrewS:

For my  final submission I wanted to return to the Napoleonics and go out on a high these should take me over the 4000 point mark if I have done my sums right.

3 battalions of 28mm French and allied forces. These are all Perry Figures with a splash of Foundry to make up the numbers.

First up is a 16 figure regiment of line in greatcoats with flag again the mix of figures has worked well for these.

Next is my Battalion of 12 figures of the 1st Swiss all Perry plastics, playing black powder at the reduced scale we do really works for the smaller table we regularly play on and does save on the time getting a unit to the table.

Finally I present 12 figures representing the 1st battalion of the 2nd Berg regiment a mix of figures, these guys were a touch more work but I think I got the campaign look just right without detracting from the unit as a whole.

Well that is all I have for this years challenge it has been a very good one this year thanks for having me along for the ride.

Ah, it's great that you end with figures for 'The Beautiful Game' - thanks for this Andrew. Lovely work as usual but I have to say that those lads from Berg are very fine indeed. I really like the campaign look of these fellows.

These three battalions will give Andrew 203 points which will be more than enough for him to break the 4K level. Fabulous stuff Loki and congratulations on your First Place standing in the points race - a monumental (and inspiring) amount of work. Bravo!!

On an administrative note: I'm going to be tallying the bonus round and posting my last entry later today. This may be a few hours as I've been up for quite sometime (yawn). Please check back for the wrap-up... Thank you all!!

From AndrewS: 20mm Sea Monkeys (er, People) & 28mm Farm Animals (424 points)

From LOKI:

It’s me again, I am still not hearing the fat lass singing so I am still applying paint with gusto. At this time of year we have to watch for those low flying sandbags and odd fellows in budgie smugglers .

This little lot is the first of the Sea peoples army, these are all Hat 20mm figures making up 3 warbands of 24 figures each for a total of 72 figures.

The first two units have similar colour schemes to denote they will be part of the same division, may not be a completely historical way of identifying the units but it works on the table top for me. The unit leaders are distinguished by a white reed in the front of the headgear.

The third unit is done with a different mix of colours and will form part of the 2nd division.

Also here is the first unit of Lukka Pirates to join my Sea Peoples force, 24 figures from Caesar’s 20mm range I wanted to give these fellows a similar look and make them distinct from the other units, So I went with Black kilts and bright banding on those. To set them off from the rest I decided to put freehand designs on the shields, as my research shows they are likely to have come from Anatolia or outlying Greek states so drew some inspiration from there and set about giving them a unified look. This unit has blue and red grounds for the designs and in total 20 of the group have been done this way.

 

This army should end up being a veritable riot of colour when finished, with all the bright banding and the bronze. All have been based as the Nubians were but without rocks as there literally is not space on a base for that its surprising the room one extra figure on a base takes up.

Finally, here are the first figures that I have completed as display pieces for the new range of figures from Warbases, I have a fair amount more to get completed yet.

These are all 28mm scale miniatures and consists of 2 Shire horses, 3 Highland cows, 2 Soay sheep and 2 lambs, A bloodhound, 3 Nubian Goats and A Bulldog for a total of 14 miniatures.

Ooh! New project, wonderful! These really look excellent Andrew. I've always liked Sea People figures with their whacky head-dress and kilts - a great excuse to go nuts with fun colours, which I see you've taken full advantage of. Excellent.

Love the farm animals as well, especially the long-horned cows. 

These Sea People and the charming animals will give Andrew a very impressive 424 points as he closes in on the 4000 point mark. Amazing.

From AndrewS: 20mm Nubian Warriors (200 points)

From Andrew: 

Well its celebration time with this entry as a major target for this years challenge has been reached.

These last three Nubian warbands another 48 x 20mm figures conclude the Army build. These have been a grind to finish, although not a difficult paint job, I have after all had plenty of practise by now. I really struggled to get these off the workbench, I definitely hit the challenge brick wall in trying to complete them.

I have continued with the same unit distinctions yellow this time and basing as previous entries as well as the usual spear conversions and stippled shields. This was a huge project overall I have painted in excess of 300 figures for it. I am very happy with the finished result though. This means I can move onto another biblical army, but that can wait till the challenge has concluded.

I was really pleased the weather was at least dry today as it enabled me to get the desert table outside an take some snaps of the entire force for everyone to see, I was amazed at just how big this is when laid out and when its opponents are completed will give myself and Kevin a huge game.

Wowza. That last image conveys a very impressive achievement. And the thing is, this force is in addition to the other stuff Andrew managed to complete during these past three months. Amazing.

These last three Nubian warbands will give Andrew 200 points. Enjoy the army Loki, it's a real beauty.

From AndrewS: 20mm Nubian Warriors ( 200 points)

Well it's high time I made another submission so here are another 3 Nubian warbands.

There are a total of 48 x 20mm figures here and they are like all the previous submissions finished with unit distinctions on the loin protectors, stippled shields and plenty of spear conversions. 

This is the penultimate batch so I have almost completed the entire army, I cant say much more as in truth it has all been said with previous submissions.

Ah, I could be wrong but I get a sense from Andrew's uncharacteristic brevity that we are seeing the early signs of Paint Challenge Fatigue (PCF).  I really don't blame him as he's put in a titanic effort these past three months. With this entry Andrew's total will weigh in at 3298 points. Astonishing.

These may seem like old hat to you Andrew but they're as impressive now as when you first debuted the army. Lovely work.

200 points for you, Mr. S.

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 AndrewS: 28mm Napoleonic French Foot Artillery, Converged Grenadier Battalion & Legere Battalion (231 points)

I know Andrew has been very busy being a new granddad (with all the attendant support service and logistics that role entails) so I was surprised and delighted to see these in my inbox.

From Andrew:

I decided to have a break from the endless hordes of Nubians and decided to get some of the French Napoleonic project well underway. Having spoken to Kev about wanting to at least have a brigade completed by the end of the challenge whilst completing the aforementioned Nubians . This entry sees that particular target fulfilled, with three pieces of artillery and crew and 2 battalions of infantry.

First up are three French guns and crews, The crews have been given some campaign trousers to break up the sea of blue and to make them fit in with the existing units of French I have already painted. In total there are 3 Guns and 12 crew all Perry 28mm miniatures. I have to say cleaning these guns up was the devil of a job, and quite possibly took longer to do than painting the piece itself.

Next up is a Combined grenadier battalion for our version of Black Powder, The bulk of these are 28mm Perry figures the exception being the drummer and mounted commander which are Foundry. Once again a mix of great coats and campaign trousers to add variety to the unit, which consists of ten foot and one mounted officer.

The final part of this entry is a battalion of 16 Legere that have been painted to represent the 2nd Regiment. These are a 50/50 mix of Foundry and Perry miniatures again in a good campaign mix of dress. This time I have included a Flag.

Lovely work Andrew. I always enjoy seeing your Napoleonics and these certainly don't disappoint. I quite like the mix of the older Foundry models in with the more recent Perrys'. I really have to do some battalions wearing greatcoats as they give such a wonderful campaign feel. 

This French force will give Andrew 231 points, enough for him to meet his second Challenge target. Bravo Loki and well done!

From AndrewS: 20mm Ancient Nubians (200 points)

Andrew motors right along from his win in the 'Vehicle' bonus round with these natty neu Nubians.

From Andrew:

Now I have cleared a large part of the miscellaneous projects from the painting queue it was time to get back to the Christmas Present from my boys.

These 48 figures are all Hat 1/72 Nubian Infantry, and these have been split up to make three light infantry warbands. I have had do a fair bit of conversion work this time as I have almost used all the standard spear/javelinmen in the boxes. 

Again I have kept the painting to a base colour and highlight over the primer. As I have already shown at this scale two colours can often be more effective than full 3 colour work and certainly at gaming distance there is no significant difference. 

These 3 units will form part of the 2nd Division so I have colour coded the loin protectors, in this case they are all blue and only the pattern and officers cloak to distinguish each unit 

I have also given each units shields a different set of colours, Once again I decided to use the stipple effect to represent the hides, I was quite pleased with the final results. 

A little bit of extra work on the bases give a better overall finish to the whole army, and continuing with the scheme already mentioned before.

I am just at the half way point, now with this project.

Beautiful work again Andrew! I love the hide shields, and the colour-coded loincloths are a great idea. Hm, I wonder if Ray has colour coded budgie smugglers for each day of the week? 

Actually, take that back, I really don't want to know.

These lads will give Andrew 200 points, which includes a few bonus pips for the lovely hide shields.

From AndrewS: 20mm Ancient Briton Warbands (300 points)

Not wishing to be eclipsed by Kent and Kev, Andrew unleashes these three units of Ancient Britons to vault him back into the lead.

From Andrew:

This is the last of the Ancient Britons for now – once again these are all 20mm newline metals, with a couple of Italeri too make up the numbers.

In total there are three lots of 24 figure warbands for a total of 72 figures.

I have spent a fair bit of time with these, and as well as the tartans and stripes, I have gone to town on both the colours and freehand work on the shields to make these a glorious thump of colour. 

I am sure I have a few bolts loose up top myself, as I actually thought doing checked patterns on shields this size would be fun. I soon realized that it was damned hard work but carried on to make every shield unique.

These buggers will be ready to shed some big nose blood in my next encounter on the battlefield with Kev.

I dunno, I'm getting a nosebleed trying to comprehend all the work, skill and speed put into this force. Wow! Beautiful stuff Andrew. Again, as the other Britons you've submitted, these are wonderful. I love the vibrant colours and the attention spent to make them all unique and characterful. Bravo!

These three warbands of Britons will give Andrew 300 points which includes extra for the marvellous shields, plaids and tartan trews. Great job!

From AndrewS: 20mm Ancient Briton Cavalry (104 points)

Andrew switches from giant spiders back to ancient Britons with this fine entry. 

From Andrew:

Another entry staying with the Ancient Britons once again. This time I present two units of Cavalry which concludes the painting of my first cavalry division for the Army.

Both units contain a mix of Newline 20mm figures and Hat 1/72nd figures. In total 12 cavalry

The first unit is the Medium cavalry, I tried to unify them with the shields to a degree, the hat horses are a bad fit for the riders so all have been drilled and pinned to take wear and tear, though they do come with some gruesome trophies of war attached to the harnesses which add a bit of flavour to them.

The second unit is the light cavalry element again a mix of figures from both ranges, plaid and free hand shield patterns to finish them off.

Lovely work Andrew. I like how relatively bright these are with the shields and plaids really being shown to their best advantage. 

These two cavalry units will give Andrew 104 points which includes a few more for the time and effort for the shields and cloaks.