From StefanosS: 28mm Napoleonic Italian Infantry (117 points)

From Stefanos:

Here I is my completed 2nd Btg of Italian Kingdom, 1st Line Regiment.

22 28mm figures, almost all are from Crusader miniatures, the two wounded from Offensive Miniatures. Fanion is from Flag Dude

1 French Voltigeur in greatcoat (see top image) by Perry Miniatures.

Lovely work Stefanos. We've had a lot of Napoleonic Italians entered during the Challenge which is a nice change of pace. I've not seen a close-up of Crusader naps before but they look quite nice - the sculpts have an almost Foundry look about them.

This battalion with their lonely voltigeur and banner will give Stefanos 117 points.

From KevinS: 25mm Great War British Mark IV Tanks (30 points)

Kevin from Digger's Home opens his climb on the points roster with these two excellent British Mark IV tanks from the Great War.

From Kevin:

I've finally produced a finished product from my paint table: two Mark IV tanks - one "male" and one "female". Both are 25mm metal castings from Wargames Foundry.

I have many half and three-quarter finished items in production, as well as a lonely Samurai so stay tuned... 

Excellent work Kevin! I really need to get my Mark IV done but I became stimied on the detailing - nevertheless Kevin's given me some great suggestions so I think I'll have to drag it out and give it a go.

Also, I've asked Kevin for a couple more larger images of these two beasties, so make sure to come back later to check them out.

Mr. & Mrs. Tank (Gedit? 'Male' and 'Female' tanks... <sigh> ...never mind.) will give Kevin 30 points. Welcome aboard!

From GregB: 15mm WWII German Infantry (106 points)

From Greg:

My latest submission continues with the 15mm WW2 stuff - this time I switch over to the German side.  There are two platoons of German infantry - one of Peter Pig castings, the other of Plastic Soldier Company figures.

The Peter Pig castings are lovely to work with.  The platoon pack gives you a little of everything you need to model a 1944-era German grenadier platoon, including MGs, a Panzerschrek team and Panzerfausts.  The little details impress - like the chevrons on the NCOs.  I am not wild about the "carrying" pose of the MG34 - it seems popular with figure sculptors, more so than I suspect it would have been with real German troops - but overall these were a lot of fun to paint.  I tried to give them the light green piping of Panzer Grenadier troops.

The PSC figures were rather the opposite.  I have to say up front that I am a huge fan of PSC, and I enjoy watching them ruthlessly re-price the 15mm WW2 market at the expense of the incumbents like Battlefront.  Competition = good for gamers.  Their 15mm armour models are lovely - fun to build, fun to paint, and look great on the table. 

But I cannot say the same about the infantry.  The detail on these is very, very soft - it barely survives the application of a base coat, and fades further with each layer of paint. And I don't really use a lot of layers.  The poses are odd - the guy throwing the grenade looks like he is trying to match some kind of yoga pose.  The riflemen are strangely compressed. 

I suspect the larger scale figures might be nicer, but these 15mm figures are nearly flats, and are far from fun to paint.  It's good to finish the unit, but this will be the only PSC unit in my 15mm collection.

The bases on the PSC guys are from Litko, and on the Peter Pig guys are on spare Battefront bases. 

Awesome work Greg and thanks for the comparison opinion between the Peter Pig and PSC  figures - I'm sure it will be helpful for others considering these for their own collections.

These two German platoons will give Greg 106 points allowing him to fight his way back into the top 10 points standings. Well done.

From RayR: 15mm Williamite War in Ireland Jacobite Cavalry (52 points)

From Ray:

I've been a busy boy, for this entry I'm crossing the Irish Sea back to Ireland, for the Jacobite Parker's Horse who fought at the Battle of the Boyne. Believe it or not the figures are from Essex, flags by myself and bass from Warbases. 

This is my last Jacobite Horse regt, for the battle, if and I'll stress, if I decided to do any more Horse regts, they'll be for Aughrim. 

I've got a few odds and sods nearly ready for the challenge, so hopefully I'll get them finished this weekend, including a few 28mm figures, that'll please James!!

That is quite a sharp unit in their grey and black, very nice Ray, and congratulations on getting all the cavalry done for the Battle of the Boyne!

Parker's Horse with their colours will give Ray 52 points. I'm looking forward to what you have for us in 28mm...

From ChrisP: 28mm WWII Australian Pacific Theater Infantry (210 points)

Here is another big entry from one of our points leaders. Chris sends in this impressive force of WWII Pacific Theater Australians.

From Chris:

So, some more stuff from me. This time it is half a platoon of 28mm Australians in the Pacific War. The Australians fought in Africa in the Second World War, most famously holding Tobruk and the right flank at Alamein (doing very well both times), before being redeployed to the Pacific to counter the Japanese advance into Papua.

In the Pacific theatre, the Australians fought bravely against the impossible conditions and the tenacious enemy, battles over the Kokoda track have become legendary for the Australians.

These guys are from a bit later on in the conflict, due to their heavier weapons in the form of Owen SMGs, Bren Guns (rather than a Lewis) and the bush hats! It is an interesting historical argument about the famous Australian slouch hat. Certainly in Africa, the Australians only wore their slouch hats when in the rear, they knew full well how good a helmet was! But in the pacific war, the large tin hat often rattled, fell off or generally made a whole host of annoying noises which would give their position away. So much so, that (from what I have read/researched) that they often wore the slouch hat rather than the helment. Historical arguments aside, the slouch hat is just cool!

These miniatures come primarily from Brigade Games, and are not too bad- some had very frustrating mould lines (and on the photos I see I missed some. Sigh), but overall have good quality of kit etc, so I am happy. A few others come from Artizan and the Boys ATR is from Warlord Games' Chindits range.

On to the troops- First up is the HQ, of an officer (looking dapper in his brown kit), a rifleman and the Radio Operator.

The next is a Combat Medic, with a sculpted armband mainly so that I could tell him apart on the gaming table! He still has a side arm, the Pacific War could be a savage and brutal affair, where the red cross was not enough to save the medics.

Squad One is 10 diggers, one has a Bren Gun, the forward scout has an Owen SMG and the rest equipped with an Enfield, bayonet attached!

Squad Two is equipped the same as the other squad, Bren, Owen an a lot of pointed steel.

The Third Squad is only a half squad, and come from Artizan not Brigade. The Sgt has a Thompson SMG, along with a Bren Gunner and 3 Riflemen. Artizan do have some very blocky faces....

A sniper and his spotter.

First up for the support units is a 2" Light Mortar team, capable of putting fire quickly on target, used to knock out bunkers or strongpoints, as well as being able to fire smoke rounds to cover advances or retreats. The mortar was still very useful, even in the jungle, but these two still have an enfield at the ready!

A Vickers HMG team of 3 men is part of the support for the force. Watercooled, with a high rate of fire, the Vickers was essential in defeating the wave attacks that the Japanese used in the later parts of the conflict. The HMG team comes from Brigade Games, the third member of the team is from Artizan, and has a Thompson SMG.

Light Anti-Tank Support comes in the form of a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle. Woefully inadequate against the Germans, the Boys was however a match for the lightly armoured Japanese tanks. When push came to shove, the Boys was also pressed into use as a bunker buster. Boys gunner from Warlord, the A gunner is from Artizan.

Lastly, some heavier Anti-Tank support, in the form of a 2pdr AT Gun. Much like the Boys, the 2pdr was rendered obsolete against the heavily armoured German tanks, but was more than capable of knocking out the Japanese tanks. Plus it looks damn cool!

I agonised about what to do with their bases, ideas of aquarium plants and other such things, but I opted to keep it simple, so that I could show off the models a bit better.

Brilliant stuff Chris! I've always liked the modular look of the 2pdr - a great design. What rules are you using for these? 

These Australians will give Chris 210 points, bypassing James and moving into first place.