From ChrisP: 15mm WWII Soviet Tank Company (105 points)

From Chris:

This is a Soviet Tankovy Company, in 15mm ready for a mid war tournament next month. I worked out a white-wash technique using blister pack foam which I am pretty happy with, so I used it again on these.

First up, we have 7 T-34s, as well as a spare 76mm turret. These are all old (quite old) models from Battlefront, comprising a mix of obr 1942 T-34s, some with solid road wheels, others with spoked wheels. The command tank is the hero, Marya, mainly because she looks cool!

Next is a single Battlefront T-70, which will be the Company Commander for the company. Nothing really different about this tank, simple whitewash and a chap poking out of the turret!

Lastly, there are ten T-70s from the Plastic Soldier Company. I am unashamedly a Battlefront fanboy, owning a ridiculous amount of their stuff, from early war to Vietnam! So, I had mixed feelings about the PSC tanks. Yes, it allowed me to get twice the number of T-70s for the same price, and the quality actually is not to bad to be honest. Am I swayed away from Battlefront? Well, given the nostalgic qualities of making plastic kits (so many memories of fingers stuck to Bristol Bulldog wings), I enjoyed pulling them out of the box.

In a head to head shot of the Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company vehicles, I can tell the difference, but to be honest, I don't mind too much. 

Next? I really need to get on to painting some 15mm Auzzie Anti-tank for a tournament tomorrow....

Great work Chris! I really like the dappled frost/whitewash effect. I'll have to remember that packing foam idea... Good luck in your tournament!

This company of Soviet tanks will give Chris 105 points with a few points extra for the commanders.

From Curt: 28mm Spanish Civil War Light Mortar Teams (20 points)

A few more figures to add to the SCW collection. Here are two mortar teams, armed with 50mm 'Valero' light mortars. 

The Valero mortar (designed by infantry Captain Vicente Valero de Bernabé y Casañez) weighted in at about 7 kilos and had a maximum range of around 500 meters - though it could be used at very close quarters if need required. Overall it was a very robust and successful design. In fact the WWII era British 2" mortar was a licensed copy of the Valero  model which remained in service until the late 80s.

While these 28mm Empress models are excellent (Paul Hicks sculpts, I believe) it's interesting to note that the gunners' poses are not entirely accurate. This particular mortar was not fired automatically by dropping the shell down the tube but rather utilized a firing trigger located near its base.

A well preserved example of a Valero 50mm mortar. You can see the curved trigger where the barrel meets the baseplate.

Nonetheless, these quibbles aside they are great figures to work with. This entire range from Empress is just spectacular in my opinion - such great character.

This pack has been purposefully sculpted to be fairly generic so the figures can be used for either Republican or Nationalist. I have grouped them by uniform colour to represent a mortar team from each of the combatants.

These two teams will give me 20 points.

From TamsinP: 28mm Norman Archers and Crossbowmen (101 points)

From Tamsin:

For my 5th entry, here are some 28mm metal Normans from Conquest Games. There are 12 archers and 8 crossbowmen in this group. Unfortunately for me in terms of bonus points, only one had a shield to hand-paint.

These were primed black with Vallejo polyurethane primer, then got a heavy dry-brush of Iraqi Sand and a lighter dry-brush of Pale Sand. I did this as an experiment to see if the dry-brushing after priming would provide natural highlights under the paint. It seems to have worked quite well.

Basing for these was again done before priming, this time using a mix of coarse and fine ballast in Reeves modeling paste. That was definitely much easier than what I'd done for the Vikings and Saxons.

Now I've just got to assemble and paint a load of mounted and dismounted knights and some other foot troops to go with them for my Saga warband.

Very nice Tamsin, these will certainly give your Normans some long range punch (if the Normans needed more power on the tabletop). 

These twenty missile specialists will give Tamisin 101 points (another added for the painted shield of their captain). Well done, now its time for us to see some mounted Milites...

From RayR: Four Versions of Ronin #34 (35 points)

From Ray:

My 7th entry are 4 Wargames Foundry Ronin/Samurai figures, I bought these on Ebay a couple of weeks ago, there was another figure, but Fran pinched it for his entry into the Challenge!!!

I originally just painted up just one of the figures for the Challenge (the second figure in the group), he is supposed to represent Miyamoto Musashi 1584-1645 I chose this figure because he was unarmored and I also chose dull whites and browns from a picture of him I found online.

But as I enjoyed painting the figure, which was my first ever Samurai figure. I painted up the rest, then I thought it would be a little different if you now chose which figure you want for the Challenge. The rest I'll be selling on ebay.

So Curt, which one do you want???

Very, very nice Ray. Though I quite like your Musashi and the lad with the pale magenta kimono, I think I have to go with the fellow who's sporting a chap's head as a fashion accessory ('It's all the rage in Osaka, you know...'). 

Ronin #34 and his three alter egos will give Ray 35 points. Thank you very much Mr. Rousell!

From BenG: 20mm Late Roman Command Stand (32 points)

From Ben:

Here's my Late Roman command stand for Comitatus rules, featuring an infantry commander, his bodyguard (or comitatus) and his signallers. They are metal 1/72nd Newline Designs figures which are beautifully sculpted and brilliant to paint. The only drawback is that there aren't too many poses to choose from in the range offered.

My Late Antiquity project has enough Romans for the moment, so I will start concentrating on the Gothic forces next.

My next entries will probably be more Napoleonics from the Borodino IV Corps; Italian Conscripts of the Guard, Italian artillery and the Joseph Napoleon Regt.

Great job Ben! Your shields look very nice and I really like the weathered, campaign look of the stand overall.

These seven Late Romans will give Ben base of 28 points with another 4 added for the shieldwork. Well done.