From Kerry T - Men in Black (260 points)

A belated Nadolig Llawen to you all from here in NZ where the weather's warming up nicely and the Vallejo's getting lumpy.

It's great to be in such good company again for this my third challenge. I've really enjoyed the previous two, not only because I really enjoy painting, finding it relaxing but being part of a supportive and encouraging community for 3 months. The quality and variety of stuff produced by you lot never ceases to inspire.

As is usual my butterfly tendency and my "oh look shiny" predilection means I'll probably be all over the place as usual. I'm hoping but not promising to knock off a few mounted units in my continued slow- burn Italian wars project. I think this might be my main focus again this year. I made a good start over the Christmas holidays preferring to paint horse flesh in large numbers knocking off about 72 horses. I hope by doing this it means I might be able to manage about a dozen riders/ week in the coming weeks. I suspect a few blokes all called Norman are also likely to feature prominently and also hopefully some terrain.

Well, finding myself at the front counter at the moment I feel drawn to the right to the history section, though I suppose this entry could have equally been titled overdue and returns though looking at my blog reminds me that I bought some of these figures at the Partizan show last year. So men in black eh? There's no Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones on show I'm afraid, these Men in Black strutted their stuff just after the 10th Century

Hashim Black Guard Cavalry with accompanying infantry

I started collecting both an Arab army and a Crusader army I think as long ago as 2011when I saw them at Salute. At the time my oh look shiny gene got mesmersied by the Arab Cavalry produced by then Musketeer Miniatures (now Footsore Miniatures) and somewhere along the line I decided to blur the boundaries and stretch it to include the Reconquista. As a boy I recall being enthralled by the movie El Cid ( That's El Cid as in Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - or El Campeadour, by the way not the modern day El Syd as in Roundwood of this parish!)

Artizan Designs Figures from Northstar

My collection is now made up of several manufacturers' figures but I think my favourite Arabs are those from Artizan Designs and sold by Northstar. The raised detail on the sculpts just cries out for paint.

The large shields are a favourite of mine

All my infantry are 24 strong based in 6s on 60 x60mm bases

To date the Black Guard component of my Arab army has 2 x 12 figure cavalry units and I probably won't add Moor ('scuse the pun, sorry, couldn't resist) along with 3 x24 figure infantry units. I've decided to paint each with a distinctive headscarf or sash colour, for no plausible reason, this is the third I have, the others are in red and green and the last and final infantry unit which I plan to acquire soon will be in yellow for no good reason other than ease of recognition on the table.

Shut that door

Thus in summary

12cx 28mm mounted at 10 points each = 120 points

24 x 28mm Foot at 5 points each = 120 points 

History book bonus @ 20 points

Total 260 points

1 squirrel (actually a Squirrelefant if there were such a thing)

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Kerry. You spoil us with this beautiful bit of brushwork. I too have a soft spot (head?) for all things Islamic from the 10th C up to the Great Siege of Malta, so this stuff is wonderful to see. Your choice in colours is great, as the punchiness of the red is set off nicely by the grey-blue shields and cloaks. Lovely work and I look forward to seeing more from you over the next few months.

- Curt