From DavidL - More East Africans--and Some Mini-Samurai! (258 Points)

My WWII East Africa project rolls on.

I finished up my Allied contingent with a third squad of Punjabis and a 3-inch mortar team (all Perry)...

...and a rag-tag squad of French Foreign Legion from Perry, representing the 13e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère, suitable for use as allies or in small-scale skirmish scenarios.

But what I was most excited about was finally getting to lay my brush down on my Italian tank forces. Behold the mighty horde! (Play this tune in the background to add to the sense of awe.)

Who doesn't love tankettes? They're just so damn ridiculous. I don't expect them to last very long on the table, but they'll look comically wonderful while they're there.

Clockwise from the top left: Warlord, Shapeways, Empress

The Warlord tank crew add both a sense of scale and provide a bit of a story of a tank squadron that has lost its way.

Model by Blitzkrieg Miniatures; commander by Warlord

The tankettes also provide my M13/39 with a real sense of scale, making it seem like quite the behemoth.

The M11/39s in East Africa went straight to the front and so retained their European camo/paint scheme.

And no early-war Italian force would be complete without a menacing Lanciafiamme flame tank...

Model by Warlord

Also on deck this week is the beginning of my 6mm Sengoku-era samurai project. I was inspired to give historical 6mm a try after admiring the superb Baccus sculpts on display in previous Challenges, and I chose "warring states" period samurai after the release earlier this year of the excellent (if grievously typo-ridden) Banzai! rules from 2D6 Wargames.

I'm modeling my forces around the great sequence of battles at Kawanakajima, fought between the consummate warlords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.

I'm starting with ashigaru pike levy, primarily, as those will comprise the bulk of both armies. I was pleased with how quickly they paint up, although I was disappointed that Baccus doesn't offer the option to order these guys without pikes. I'd much rather have them carrying bits of broom bristle rather than the impossible-to-straighten and oh-so-bendable cast metal pikes. Ah well.

Takemata and Yasuda clans, plus dispatch riders.

Here's the command stand for the Takeda army; I'm waiting on delivery of some transfers before I tackle Uesugi.

Behind the command stand: Takeda's "Red Guard" and the Obu clan.

I did a bit of micro-conversion work on Shingen's helmet, as he wore a distinctive white fur crest. I also did my best to paint the centipede on his personal standard (uma-jurushi). I know from my days of painting Epic 40K that at this scale it's as much about the impression of something as it is about trying to get it "perfect."

And that's it for this week! Next time: hopefully loads more 6mm samurai and maybe some Malifaux too...

ByronM: Wow, what a way to end to day, a surprise points bomb!  Truly remarkable stuff here David, both in quantity and quality!

The Punjabi troops are really well done with a very used dusty look and feel to me.  They look like they belong in the fight, and the same applies to the French.  You colour and contrast on them is great.  I also really like the Italian tanks, they look stunning, like most Italian made things.  The only problem is that again, like most Italian made things they will likely have more quirks that good features and only start on the odd days of even months (I have an Italian motorcycle, I love them and hate them)!  Who wants to place bets that they die before firing any shot in their first game?  

Lastly the samurai are amazing for 6mm, especially the little command stand you did up for them. Top notch stuff!  

With that, we end another Wednesday, and David earns a massive 258 points!