From AdamC - 15mm WWII Panzergrenadiers for Flames of War (132 Points)

So these guys are part of that self same set of miniatures I got from Battlefront as part of the Ranger program.  In this case I did get enough men for a Panzergrendier or Grenadier company of two platoons.  In fact I had enough officers to do the company commander and 2ic stands with and with out Panzerfausts which is handy when one gets in a pinch with points.

 There are a total of 67 figures here (no I didn't make an error on the points I will explain.

The 2iC with Panzerfaust option... I like this aggressive take on the allies all by myself stance.  2iCs often get killed early in local games...

 Same fellow but this time without the tank killing device.

 While the sergeant directs traffic the private with the faust takes it easy...

OK the man in the centre is my Co with out panzerfaust option but I painted him a few weeks ago he matched up nicely but since he was painted before the Challenge he doesn't count.

I love this officer... clearly things have gone horribly wrong and he his cocking his pistol so he and couple of loyal troops can set everything right, or at least die in the attempt.

 Every one but the officers is wearing smocks I tried to do a camo pattern.

 Some times I think it worked out reasonably well in other cases it didn't.

 I tried to add a little color to the derbies it blue window frame and green bottle do stand out.

 The camo here is very clear... the men going Rambo with the MG42 fired from the hip are among my favorites.

Another good look at the camo also a great photo for highlighting every thing wrong with these bases (and the painter may be partly to blame).

 These Cobble stone bases one the other hand are great I would buy set containing just these any day.

 Battlefront didn't give me enough bases so I built some of my own... I tried to make them look similar to the rest of the company but...

 you can only do so much with  a plain base I did try using the left over hole filler pieces to add help them match and I think it worked OK.

 Rear view shot I do like the cobble stone bases... wish the set had more of those.

From Curt:
You have been busy! Great work Adam, I really like your dot pattern camo and again your own bases look the best of the lot. (That officer cocking his Luger looks to be a hard, hard man...) 

At 132 points this one is a bit of a points bomb and you've more than doubled your previous score - Well done Adam!

ClintB: 28mm Mahdi Cavalry (100 Points)

Yes this is entry 2 for today. I just might get one more done. Here we have 10 28mm Perry Miniatures Cavalry for the forces of the expected one! I hope to have a couple more of these done for the bonus round but if not next week.

Even the Mahdi needs cavalry to fight the Egyptians and here are the first batch of 10. As you would hope from Perry miniatures they are all very different and packed full of character. Indeed you could make a backstory for each one if you chose.

So closer up we start with some leaders.

While I do not see these as war leaders but they could easily be religious leaders. In fact the one on the right is not even armed while the one on the left carries a sword but perhaps that's more a badge of rank.

The 4 Regular Cavalry.

They are all armed, come with rifles and some with swords and a couple have both! Some have the recognisable patches as they were sculpted on while others do not. Most of these cavalry are also armed with 3-5 Javelins including the ones with guns. After-all there is no such thing as too many weapons!

Another 4 more Cavalry.

Hopefully you can see these are another separate 4 horseman. Again they have a variety of weapons, both swords and guns but with no Patches this time. I have kept the bases very simple just desert with a tuft or two on the cavalry slotta base.

Right that's entry 2 so now just have to finish entry 3 within the next 18 hours or they will go in the following week!

From Curt:Whoa, beautiful work Clint! I like the mottled pattern you did on the side of the bases and the backdrop you've used for your photos is brilliant. I really look forward to seeing this project develop further over the next few months. Bring on the Mahdi hordes!

From AdamC - US Intelligence and Recon Platoon + Others (42 points)

So the story behind these figures is I volunteered about a year ago to be a "Ranger" for Battle front.  They sent me a bunch of plastic figures that and a few vehicles (you saw the StuGs already) that they say mirrored what was in the "open fire set."  I hope this was not the case as I found I was far short of a US Para platoon or company.  I did have enough Germans for another project and enough US for a good I&R platoon.  This was good since I have discovered recently the I&R platoon is a very handy unit for the USA in Flames of War and having troop dedicated to portraying them will be nice.  The troops are mounted on the Urban Bases (more on these latter).

So there they are 2 infantry Stands, a Bazooka stand and an LMG stand as well as two command stands.

I like the they troops have a variety of weapons I&R platoons tended to have lots of firepower.  

 They get to ride in Jeeps so having a bunch of .30 cal LMGs is not an issue you can switch out your regular infantry stands for up to 3 LMG stands I always take at least one.

 Again troops in Jeeps have no problem carrying a bazooka and  the Platoon leader is the phone to HQ while his sergeant looks at the map.

 Carefully picking our way through the rubble strung streets of some French or German town

 The premade bases are a great Idea but I really didn't find them like working with them.

 The miniature bases stand out too much a problem I might be able to fix...

The bases them selves really lack something to my eye as I look down on them... I may need to just cover them with some flock but having painted them it seems a shame.

 I put together this extra command stand to use with my Para forces if I ever want to field Major/Captain Winters form Band of Brothers.  The stance just reminds me of a an image from the series./

 This rear shot didn't come out quite so well.  US uniforms are oh so exciting...

Another example of the basing that I think still needs some work.  I am pleased with the figures but the bases... I won't get these again and I am glad I didn't pay for them.

The other day I made a US Infantry list with a sniper only to find I had not US snipers... This will fill the gap.  They were supposed to be part of to additional LMG Stands but the 4 men making up the LMG stands went together so badly I scraped them and put these two salvageable figures together as a sniper team. (For those who are wondering they were prone).

 I didn't have any more pre-made bases so I did up my own... and your probably not surprised to hear I like it a lot better.

The sniper takes aim using a fence to steady his aim while his partner watches his flank.

From Curt:

Great work Adam! While the socket bases Battlefront provides are ingenious they can have the look of a bad hair replacement. I'd suggest using a texture gel like that offered by Liquitex or Golden. It's acrylic (so takes paint), fast drying and does a marvelous job in filling gaps like these. (Actually,I find these bases are excellent for mixing mix small dabs of paint and ink...). As you say, the best of the lot is the log one you did yourself! 

Well done!

From ChristopherS - Anti-Aircraft Artillery (self propelled) Platoon (32 Points)

Adding to my 15mm FOW American Tank Company is an Anti-Aircraft Artillery (self propelled) Platoon consisting of 2 M15 CGMC and 2 M16 CGMC halftracks. In the new version of FOW air power is positively deadly and if your running a tank company you really must have air protection or you run the risk of being wiped out.

I did the vehicles with some battle damage and had some fun with the weathering which is my favourite part in painting vehicles. I lost two crew members for the guns and looked all over, but cannot find them (Grrr). I'll just consider the platoon short staffed waiting on replacements.

Hmm so 4 vehicles and 8 crew members should put me at 32pts for the platoon if my calculations are correct. For sure not a points bomb, but perhaps a mortar shell. The vehicles are all from Battlefront.

Thanks for viewing!:-)

From Curt:Oh wow, these are excellent Christopher. I really like the weathering on the sides and uncarriage of these halftracks - suitably grimy to reflect their push to the borders of the Reich.

I have to tip a hat to the folks at Battlefront for being able to generate commerce from pretty much any model. From my understanding these special AA units spent the majority of their war in the rear areas or shooting at suspected sniper positions as by 1944 there was virtually no Luftwaffe left to defend against (not to mention that almost every US vehicle had a .50 cal mounted on it anyway). 

These four vehicles and their crew will give you 32 points. Great work Christopher.

From AlanD - More 28mm Saracens (70 Points)

Along with the pretty boring looking Saracen archers, I also finished a unit of 8 Saracen warriors and 4 nobles this week. First up, the warriors.

All the figures are from Black Tree Design. Although the number of poses is a bit limited I like these figures a lot. The faces in particular are very nicely defined and easy to paint.

As always, the shields are hand painted. 'Shield decals!' he scoffed.

The spears are harvested from my trusty broom. For those interested in making broom bristle spears, there is a little tutorial on my blog.


Next up are four noble figures. I particularly like the guy in mail.

Tamsin and I are trading heavy blows at the moment in our race to 1500 points. This lot should give me another 60 points.

From Curt:

Ooh, pretty shields (and with your 'decal' comment you've just volunteered to do my Roman shields, smart@ss)! Awesome work Dux and I appreciate the link you provided to your brilliant spear-harvesting tutorial. (I'm off to the local DIY store after I write this...). These Black Tree castings are brilliant - I especially like how you've painted the exposed faces. Very characterful (and not one looks like Bob Dylan which is a bonus). :)

These chaps will give Alan a base of 60 points but I'm adding a few more for the more over-the-top hand painted designs. Great work!

Form ClintB - "Bob" the pony! (7 points)

For my first entry today (there may be 3 in all if I can get my finger out or maybe less!) I have "Bob" the pony NOT "Bill" the pony as this is not a LOTR miniature. It is a Foundry pack mule to go with my wild west collection or maybe my 28mm ACW, who can guess at this stage maybe even Back of Beyond.

This really was a joy to paint and was done mostly during the hours of darkness and then highlighted when in full light. Originally it was to go with some "Mountain men" as it came in the same blister pack but is such a versatile subject it really can be used for any period from Romans onwards including fantasy dungeon crawls. Although earlier might be an issue due to the axe!

That's it for "Bob". Cheers for looking guys.

From Curt:

Bob is a great mini, looking very stoic and hard working. As you say he's one of those figures you can use in a multitude of settings.  I'm going to give an extra two points for the heavy load Bob's carrying. Nice work Clint, now give the good chap some oats.

From BrianB - 15mm Deep Ones (6 Points)

I've been working on a collection of Mythos creatures in 15mm so when I came across these Deep Ones from Khurasan miniatures they were quickly added to the pile. These three were primed and ready to go at the start hopefully I'll get to the other seven later in the Challenge.

I kept the painting straightforward with a basic green with purple accents on the fins. I've always liked Khurasan's sculpts and these are good examples. Nice clean details that are easy and quick to paint and poses that are animated and full of life.

Three 15mm spawn of Dagon should net me 6 points.

From Curt:

Ah, it's great to see some Cthulhu stuff roll out for the Challenge. Wonderful work Brian. I didn't know that Khurasan did these in 15mm - very, very cool.  I particularly like the figure who is positioned forward on his (her?) right fist and I also think your choice of using purple tones on their dorsal ridge is a good one - it provides a great contrast to their green scaly bits. I look forward to seeing the other seven!