From MilesR: Pirates and other Stuff (325 Points)

 This post is a bit on the "variable side".  It has been a while since I submitted a regular post but work has been a bit of a bother.

First up is one of the funnest things I've painted in a long time - a French faction for Firelock Games  "Blood and Plunder" - with ride, of course.  This is the starter set and provides 24 figures and a Captain.  All in glorious 28mm scale.

First up are 8 Flibustiers.  I decided to use the cast "ship deck" bases for these figures and was please with the result.  It did take some work to flatten out the bases.

 8 Milices de Caribes - primarily a second line type of unit

4 Marins or French Sailors - these guys are the point for ones boarding party.

 4 Boucaniers - sharp shooters to some extent.

And, finally, the Captain complete with flouncy yet stylish hat.

 Now no Pirate faction would really be complete without a sweet ride and these French "gentlemen" have a very sweet one indeed - a Brigantine, which is the next step up in ships from the Sloop I finished earlier in the Challenge.

 While ornate in design, she is fast, draws little water and packs 8 guns.

The model is a cast resin hull with metal and laser cut detail parts and was a blast to put together.  The flag was downloaded from the Firelock Games website.

 Here she is loaded up with French crewman

 Another shot - can't wait to get these guys on the table for a game.

Next up are 8 28mm Taliban figures from Empress miniatures - I was a few short for what I really needed for last year's "SOCOM and Sorcery" game and wanted to fill out the roster.

As with all Empress figures these are superb.

I thought these lads might need a place to stay so I built them a house.  This model is the "mud-brick house" plastic kit from Renedra.  Usually I really like the products from Renedra, especially their bases, but I found this kit both hard to assemble and difficult to paint - I just couldn't get a good texture.

 Still, it's a very sturdy terrain piece and I can use it as a guide to build other types of buildings.

 Also from Empress is a standard 28mm HUMVEE with a .50 cal machine gun.

A very nice model that was a snap to paint up.

 Lastly there are 4 Dire Wolves from Acheson Creations.  Very nice models.

Who doesn't need more Dire Wolves in their collection?

So here's the tally

37 28mm figures/wolves = 185 points
1 Vehicle = 15 points
1 terrain pieces which filled 75% of the 6" cube = 15 points
1 Ship = I'll leave that the Curts discretion

Curt:
The ship is a good bit bigger than the Sloop which weighed in at a fair 85 points - perhaps something in the 100-125 point range?

From Minion Tamsin:
What a fantastic entry Miles. That brigantine is the dog's! Or should that be "le chien's" as it's a Frenchie?
If Curt gave you 85 points for the sloop, I reckon 110 points for this somewhat larger ship. Which takes your total for this submission to a stonking 325 points.