From SamuliS: Panzergrenadiere, vorwärts zum Siege voran! (62 points)

Time to get myself on the scoreboard as well. And probably in the highest position I will ever be in the Challenge after this point!

Being a clever man I'd decided to start my Christmas holiday early to have some painting time when the Challenge started. However the missus caught wind of this cunning plan and my calender was immediately booked full of Christmas shopping and visits to various Kitchen renovation companies, so getting these done took a bit longer than I expected. I'd hoped to be able to use the whole starting day to paint these then and grab the lead for just a fleeting moment, but alas that was not to be as I only got in a few hours of painting with all the tasks bestowed upon me.

This is my fifth time taking part in the challenge and going back to 2012 I started my first challenge with Flames of War German Grenadiers, which were actually the first 15mm infantry I ever painted. So as a homage  to those humble beginnings I decided to paint up some more German infantry. Luckily my work has improved quite a bit during the time.

The old Grenadiers have gotten pushed to the back of the storage space, with most of my other German LW troops a few years ago as the paint job isn't really up to the standard I want on my table nowadays so I haven't been playing German lists for a while outside of Early War which I've painted later on. With a tournament coming up in the end of January where we are bringing a list from both sides and can switch up to allow for Red vs. Blue games at all times. So perfect excuse to paint up some new troops and restart my LW German force. I'm starting of with a single platoon of Panzergrenadiers with Panzerfausts and a Panzerschrek team coming in at 31 miniatures which should give me 62 points. All Battlefront minis. Mostly quite good, but there are a few with slight casting problems that do show on the minis even after my cleaning efforts.

One reason I haven't gotten around to painting Germans too much is that I find painting camouflage on 15mm infantry a massive pain. It never really seems to look correct on that scale. Single colour uniforms are just so much nicer to paint up. Still Grenadiers in camouflage smocks are iconic to the German Late War look so I had to man up and get these painted. Definitely not a faithful representation of the Splittermuster, but looks good enough from a regular gaming distance. After these it's time for some FlaK and then I can get to the tanks, which really are the main thing for the list I'm building!

With these out of the way it's time to leave for Christmas celebrations. A busy weekend ahead as we are spending Christmas at our relatives and traveling between a few places so no painting time until next week I'm afraid. At least I've got a few books with me with suitable hobby subjects.

With that I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May your gift sacks be full of lead and plastic! With a Secret Santa gift in my pile from another mysterious gamer, I can't wait until it's evening ;)

Here in Finland using Reindeer isn't the sole right of Santa Claus. There are even Police Reindeer!

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Okay, I'll bite Samuli, why on earth does that Reindeer have a police 'waistband'? And perhaps the other, more pressing question: Is the Reindeer firearm certified? I love the whole idea of wildlife being able to shoot back. 'Gee, nice red hat Mr. Hunter. Thanks for standing out so well. BLAMM!!'

Anyhoo. Lovely work on these figures Samuli. I remember your first foray into this scale four years ago and so it's great to see you back at them again. I agree, camo in 15mm is a bit of a grind, but you've done a brilliant job with these lads. I look forward to seeing the upcoming flack and armoured units.

62 points for you sir! Enjoy your Christmas break Samuli!