From MartijnN: Württembergers, Saracens and Lannisters (140 points)

I have been far less productive than I would have liked this Challenge. However, I have not been completely idle. I finally had the opportunity to finish some models and, equally importantly, take some photographs.

First up are some Saracen infantry. These are from a Saga Warband set from Gripping Beast. They are metal, and the only infantry unit in the warband. I have had these for ages, and finally prepped them for this Challenge.

They came out okay, although they will not win any prizes. I used Quickshade Darktone on them, and as a result they are a bit... well, dark. But they will do. I will probably give them another coat of varnish when the weather improves, because the matt varnish I used (AK ultra matt) is very matt indeed (duh), and for these troops I am not too fond of that. Most of the shields are LBM transfers, but I didn't have enough of those so I painted some by hand. I am sure you won't be able to tell the difference. The rest of the warband are all cavalry, I will try to finish some of those before the end of the Challenge.

Next, the final company of my Württemberg infantry regiment for Sharp Practice. I have put off painting these for a long time, and I am glad they are done. Actually, they are rather a joy to paint. I mostly used contrast paints, like on their comrades done earlier. They are Piano Wargames miniatures that I 3d printed myself, and they are lovely sculpts. I think I have overcured them though, for they are rather brittle. And of course, when I took one of the NCOs off off the painting handle when it was completely finished, I broke off the bayonet...  It went flying through the room and for the life of me I could not find it. By now, it will have vanished into the vacuum cleaner I presume. I may try to replace it with another bayonet, but that is a very fiddly process. At least it broke off rather cleanly, so with a little imagination he is now simply carrying his musket without the bayonet. But a frustrating experience it was!

Finally, I have a regiment of Lannister Guardsmen from the A Song of Ice and Fire starter set. These are rather nice figures. I kept the uniforms "traditional", with lots of red and gold. I spent a little more time on these, using coloured washes and some drybrushing and minor highlighting over mostly contrast paints again, and I am fairly happy with these. 

I have prepared more ASOIAF figures, most of the remainder of the starter set, so I hope to get some of those done as well. We'll see how it goes.

So there we are. Scoring is simple:

28x 28mm foot @5 = 140 points

And 3 squirrels, if I remember to fill out the form!

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Martijn you may have been taking your time but you've done a fabulous job on all three of these sets. Your Saracens look the business (and who doesn't love good old metal minis) - I especially appreciate your freehand work on the shields. I'm often lazy and resort to decals so I applaud your great job! The Wurttembergers are very fine as well and I'm sure a welcome addition to your Sharpe Practice force. The fellow who is sans bayonette is simply a little slow in getting his extracted from his rusted scabbard, nothing to note here, carry on! :) Finally, those nasty Lannisters look wonderfully ostentatious in their red and gold livery. The extra time you put into them really has paid off I think. Very well done my friend!

- Curt & Huck