From DavidB - The Tanith First and Only (105 points)

Sequoia scouts from earlier in the competition to show how much fun I've been having with DG kit.

This will be an experience, as I am not currently home. I WAS supposed to be on vacation, but some details due to weather and employment has me elsewhere this evening. Since everyone else who had vacation did huge point bombs...I had to at least get one in for the week!

I took these Wed when we were getting pasted with snow and they seemed to be yellowed a touch. But since home is across the state, they will do for now! ;)

These fellows are a security force from the water logged world Aleutia. It is mostly water and boggy land with a climate similar to the Pacific Northwest. With volcanic activity and an otter-like indigenous population, it has little value save for rare earth minerals. The fellows above are charged with protecting employees and equipment of the mining corporation exploiting the mineral rights. With the native population, environmental radicals, foreign intrigue,  shoddy equipment, and substandard wages...it gets a little rough at times.

These are the latest fireteam for the Scifi skirmish I play with my kids. I used Games Workshop, Warlord Games and other bits to alter the original Defiance Games kit. I rather like the hard hat vibe of the Bretonian helmets to reinforce they are miners...we'll at least the security for!

I also painted up my modest collection of the Tanith "First and Only"! I don't read much beyond current affairs and history anymore, but I still make time for Dan Abnett and his scifi military fiction. The Tanith were being raised as their first Imperial Guard Regiment when Chaos forces destroyed their forest world.

Col-Commissar Gaunt was only able to save the light infantry and the rest perished with their world. They are expert light infantry and never quit. The are filled with sneaky stalkers and crack marksman who are always ready to go to " Straight Silver" as last resort. 

Doctor Dorden fills the command squad and will have a better bedside manner than the Catachan medic! 

Colm Corbec is the XO of the Tanith Ghosts. He helped Gaunt find his way with the men, most of whom blamed him for the fall of Tanith.

Milo is the troops mascot and survived Tanith by being assigned to play the Tanith Pipes for Gaunt. The men think of him as a good luck token. Besides the plasma gunner, Mad Larkin the sniper fills the squad. Larkin is quite mad and only believes what he can see through his rifle scope. He has ended many enemies with his long-Las rifle.

I like the mixture of troops, but GW didn't see fit to include a flamer nor tread fether with the Tanith. Feth and Gakking are two favorite epitaphs of the Tanith. I also can't seem to find Gaunt anywhere...perhaps he is lurking with the rest of Tanith someplace.

PS: The Grass Snakes are presently 1-0 as Orks didn't really do that good in the jungle. It went pretty bad for the Orks. The Badger, the Lurker, and Lt Millsy all survived, with Lt Millsy being responsibile for the new clearing left by a vortex grenade which took out a mega-nobz squad.  I'm told they must now defend an Urban Jungle from Orks next...

Well David, even with travel and weather, you still find another 105 points to toss on the pile! Very impressive.  Again, your conversions are entertaining and very well done.  A wide variety of parts that I would have never considered combining myself.  I can imagine them unloading all available ordnance on the radicals and foreign trouble-makers.  Well done!

And it's very neat to see some Tanith First and Only painted up.  I have never read those particular books, but I am a huge fan of Dan Abnett and the way he brings the 40k setting alive.  Very cool to see these Tanith troops, and I hope they can join the Catachans in their purging efforts against the Orks!

From SamuliS: Regiment Prinz Maximillian (72 points)

Yet more Saxons, this time the first battalion of Regiment Prinz Maximillian in their yellow facings. Easily distinguishable from the previous Regiment Rechten as they have brass buttons, when the good folk at Rechten have white metal buttons! Definitely easy to spot from an arms length away when playing ;)

So another 18 miniatures finished. But what is it that I hear, AB miniatures being worth the points of 20mm's now! Bloody hell, might actually make reaching my target possible! So it seems I have netted 104 more points from my previous entries than I had thought! I'll leave it to the point gods to decide my faith and alter the results as needed :)

This one is the last of the yellow faced units that I have to do so I'm finally done with my most hated colour to paint! Hooray! After this it's only struggling with one shade that doesn't seem to cover even itself. White and yellow just seem so horrible to paint up always. I received some reinforcements which included casualty figures, too bad most of the sculpts weren't really usable in a unit and I'll just leave them for casualty markers.  The blood splatter didn't turn out very well though so I might just have to go back and cover it up if I don't start liking it soon.

Next Saxon unit on the line is Regiment von Steindel with two battalions. That will be the last of the line infantry from the 1st Saxon Division. Unfortunately Fighting 15s can't supply Light and Grenadiers until sometime in March so I'll have to wait until then to order more. At least I have enough minis for all the 12 line battalions so I'll be painting them until other minis are available.

Great to see more Napoleonics marching in to the Challenge.  The sculpts from AB do set the bar, and your painting skills definitely bring out the best in them.  I hope you celebrate your liberation from painting white and yellow - although I suspect, the hobby gods being what they are, you will suddenly end up with a project where you will end up once again with these exact colours...

As for the back scoring, I'll see if my ace spreadsheet colleagues can help me figure that out, but in the interim, here are another 72 points for your efforts!

From SanderS - More khaki drill...(296 points)

Hoi - Let me start by saying I think this post is my best shot at something we have come to describe a "points bomb" in this hallowed campaign that is the Challenge. Anyone who reads the rankings can see I am still miles away from my point target of 1500 points and will need to push it down to the floor to make this mark before the Challenges End.

So with no small amount of glee I can now present most of what is my Khaki Project for this years painting. All these figures are 1:72 Great War figures,most of them from HäT the exceptions I will call out. Let's start with my Emhar Mark IV male tank. A model that has stood assembled and primed in my cabinet for YEARS and now I have found an excuse to paint him up, gaining me 12pts.

Next up is a platoon of ANZACS or Diggers. They are HäT early war/ Gallipoli ANZACS and I have given them the white over red patches of the 8th Battalion. Why this unit? Well this is due to the brilliant ANZACS series. An Australian  TV series available on DVD and on YouTube, and it follows some of the 8th Battalion's troops from the very beginning of the War, through training, Gallipoli and the West Front. I did some head-swaps to include some regular army soft caps and some sun helmets just to liven them up a bit. These 20 soldiers are good for 80 points.

Next up are some support stands. An 8th Battalion mortar and two 2nd Machine Gun company Vickers HMG's. Six soldiers are worth 24 points

On to some ALH, I have a small unit of the 4th Australian Light Horse and these dismounted troopers and horse holders will be added to them. Another 10 trooper squad is prepped and based but will not be in time for this post. These 8 troopers are worth another 32 points, I am not counting the horses since they do not have riders.

The pride and joy of this batch of figures are 3 bases of Late War Artillery. I have intentionally left any unit markings off, so I can use them as any  Commonwealth Nation's artillery. there are two artillery pieces (White Metal from Early War Miniatures) and 12 crewmen. Two of those (the tank-crew carrying the box of ammo) are from Emhar the others are all HäT figures. 12 crewmen and 2 guns should earn me 64 points.

The last supplement to my Allied Great War armies are these 21 Late War Highlanders. The colour scheme is that of the London Scottish Regiment or something, which I have first seen in the Warhammer Historical Great War rulebook. Adding another 84 points, these Highland laddies bring the grand total to a whopping 296 points in total unless I am mistaken.

At the moment I am painting Napoleonic units for the next entry but I am not sure it will be finished next Friday. I am also pretty sure I am not entering the next Bonus round since I could not come up with a good idea. Oh BTW: Millsy all Antipodean personnel are wearing brown footwear in the colour Valejo Germ. Cam. Black Brown 822 from our catalogue ;-) 

Cheers Sander

Great work Sander! I would indeed say this is a "points bomb", and a very impressive one at that. Usually I am a sucker for the WW1 tanks, but in this case my favourite is the artillery, particularly the piles of shells - great work marking them up. And this batch overall is fantastic, I'm sure they will look great on the table. Well done - and 296 points for you!

From Christopher S - 28mm Almoravid Berbers (100 points)

With the addition of combined spear and bow Berber units I now have enough units to field a Basic Impetus Almoravid army which is quite nice! However, I  plan to grow the army further as my opposing Spanish Christian army is already quite large and the Almorvids will need to grow to match them which will of course open up even more gaming possibilities.  As we all know armies are never really finished.

These Berbers were painted using the same earthy palate as the rest of the army with some green to tie them altogether. The shields and banner were hand painted to keep the look I wanted. The figures themselves are a mix of Artizan, Gripping Beast

I have more Almoravids on the way, but I think some horse and musket might creep in between first, but I'm not sure yet.

So a total of 20 figures in 28mm scale should give me 100pts. and move me ahead of Nick in the Bavarian Challenge for now and increase my standings in the Bronze to Steel challenge as well.

"Armies are never finished" - exactly! Well said! Enough of this "I've finished a project" stuff!

Once again Chris you are blowing us all away with your incredibly skilled brushwork.  The colours are muted and bright, all at the same time.  The banner is beautiful, the shields look wonderful. And while I am really enjoying the the progress on this force, I'm hoping you do get a bit diverted into some horse and musket stuff, as I'm sure the results will be spectacular as well...

Another 100 points for your Chris - keep up the great work!

JamieM - FoW Soviet Naval Chaps (108 points)

These have been sitting, stuck to bases but with no basing done, for an absolute age.

Flames of War is a great "portal" game for people who don't play historic wargames (like me). I've learned a huge amount more about WW2 than I did before. And I know that some of the details are unrealistic (artillery on the table) and they can make some of the rarer units seem commonplace, but thanks to them, I know my Tiger from my T-34, know roughly how good each tank was, who fought whom and where and know a great deal of the background of individual units through the briefings they provide.

One of the forces that really struck me was this one, the Soviet navy, all dressed up in navy uniforms.

My understanding is that they were pressed in during the early German advances and they were given guns, but no new uniforms (these came later, when they looked more like your traditional Russian troopers). They were clearly effective as they earned the nickname "the Black Death" from the Germans and were loathe to give up a position once they held it.

Not the most exciting of paint jobs, black base, dry brushed with successively lighter greys (then a black wash where this was too bright, then more highlighting when this was too dark, then a black wash when this proved again too light, etc.......) and natty blue trousers for the commissars, so the troops know who to shoot if they rebel!

54 total figures across the bases and they'll go alongside a few other bases I painted to make an early war company.

Great work Jamie! These fellows look great, and I can sympathize with your description of the process of painting black - it's too light, then too dark, then too light...I've been there many times! And you describe the experience of Battlefront very well - there is a lot to pick at, and they can be a frustrating bunch, but overall they really do facilitate a lot of interest - and gaming - in the periods they opt to tackle.  And while artillery on the table is dumb, the overall game is a fun excuse to push toy soldiers around and blow stuff up!

These Soviet naval lads will be part of just such an exercise, I'm sure.  Well done Jamie! That will 108 points for your score!

From SamuliS: Black Plague survivors (30 points)

A total switch in subject with 6 survivors of the Black Plague from the new Zombicide! I had already promised myself not to get any more Zombicide stuff as I already have one whole shelf full of those darn boxes. However when I saw them come out with a fantasy themed version I was almost immediately sold. Seeing some Monty Python and the Holy Grail characters coming in as well as some of the monsters I just had to go all in on their Kickstarter once again...

All the backers received the core game as a christmas gift and to make up for the rest coming 3-4 months late and only sometime in June. The core mechanics stayed the same, but enough has changed to actually improve the Zombicide experience. At least I find this much better than the original seasons.

The sculpts are quite nice, though the plastic does cause some issues. Weapons weren't exactly straight and while I did manage to fix most of them with treatment in boiling water followed by straightening of weapons and dipping in cold water, the knights sword slowly rolled back to the original rolled position after a few hours. As these will really just be board game figures I wanted to keep the paintjob fast and simple. So limiting myself to size 1 brush at the smallest (except for painting the eyes) and only doing a wash and a single highlight I managed to pull these off in a few hours. Nice and simple, and definitely much better looking on the board. I didn't really do any basing as I'm switching them to clear bases when I get an order in. Just some blood and goo splattered on the ground to break the monotonous grey base.

With the two entries out of the way it's back to painting. Though I won't be having too much time for that this weekend with some heavy terrain work taking all my time. A friend of mine bought a house 500 meters from my place and we are tearing down a few walls and building a new kitchen there. With beer and kebabs on offer I figured I'd lend him a hand.  After that I'll have to see about trying to speed up my painting even more to try and reach the 1000 points. It would be embarrassing to miss my goal for the first time in the four editions of the challenge I've taken part in. Though this time I haven't participated in any themed rounds, and it's unlikely that I will. So I guess I can blame the lack of bonus points then if I don't succeed ;)

Great work Samuli.  "I had promised not to get any more..." is a sentiment I myself have often attempted, but I never seem to stick to it myself, glad to see others breaking it as well.  These figures look really interesting, and the results are excellent. Hilarious combination of genres and settings!  The problems with the plastic must have been a bit frustrating, but they don't show in the results.  As for your points total, I'm sure you'll get there...

From GillesW - Drowned in a glass of water! (102 points)

Hi everyone - The title say all ! I have few figures ready for posting this week, and so few points gained.  The rower is slowing, so where is the lash ?

I had planned to paint some different stuff for this week - ok I almost did it - but nothing is based and flocked (lazy frenchjester!) at least I have done more dots on the brown camos of my Marines.

I just been able to "finish" more support weapon for my marines with a Medium machine gun in a "John Rambo"style. The tripod carrier is just running after him.

Of course, when I read the rule book on the USA, I learned that the medium machine guns need three crew, so I'm still missing one crew man. I should read before painting (stupid jester!).

A small addition of heavy mongol cavalry from Essex Miniatures, Donnington Miniatures and Old Glory ranges , as usual I have cut off the lead spears to avoid the "spaghetti" effect .
I painted them with a black undercoat followed by a zenithal light of "The Fang" spray from Games Workshop, then I put an " Agrax earthshade" wash from GW to obtain a dark blue armour, I'm not sure that it can be seen on the pics.

 some ancient archers for my greek cities army:

some of them are coming from my never ending" give them a second life!" project, sprayed once more and repainted.
then two bases of Mycenian swordmen from Magister militum biblical range undercoated on their cardboard and forgot in a box.
I'll use them as change in case I lose a base of spearmen, all my spearmen are double based for an ease of use during the games.

a different test of skintone and one more time the cows paid the toll....
stay tuned......

Great work again Gilles - I find each week I am starting to look forward to the historical variety in your submissions!  From the Pacific in WW2, to the plains of Eurasai, to the ancient Greek city states.  Very cool! I love the heavy cavalry, and the cow hide shields on the swordsmen look great.  As for the MMG team, don't worry about what the rule book says - I'm sure a hard working two-man crew will work just fine with the MG on the table...

That is another 102 points for your Gilles - I do hope you avoid the "lash" on the boat this week...