From DaveD - Naval Brigade and Guard Skirmishers (95 points)

I have now moved onto to the new Brigade for the operation around Suakin. This saw the Guards Brigade enter the the campaign. So to start I have the skirmish elements on sabot bases. I am using these to give me some options as there can be a number of skirmish units in the game - so I can use 3 4 - 5 - 6 figures per base (and fill in with bush/rocks as needed) depending on the size of the overall game. I also think they have an appeal on the less regular shaped based.

 

12 Skirmishers for the Guards Brigade. (Perry Miniatures)

Plus a root in the lead pile recently revealed some classic "Old School" Connoisseur Naval Brigade. I intend my Naval Brigade units to be made up from a range of manufactures and dress - just to give some diverse interest. These appeal to the early  teen in me - which is when I first saw these in the flesh! 

So altogether 19 x 28mm foot.

I am occasionally working on a naval gun team, with the guys pulling the Gatling gun and limber - got a good bit of conversion work to do on it to get it how I want. But for inspiration I occasionally watch this:

I worked for number of year with Petty Officer "Smudger" Smith who competed in this a number of times in is Navy Career... he always said it was "The" hardest thing ever! and to prove it he would wave at you with a missing half finger - removed by the gun carriage!

Here we are, jumping from one shell crater to another, admiring the sights of Dave's work. Fabulous stuff. It's great to see the Guards' arrival on the scene. I like the sabot bases with the rock and bush inserts - very clever. The boys from the Naval Brigade are excellent as well. I quite like their cutlass bayonets and round hats. 

 95 points to add to your daily tally, but wait, there's yet another on the horizon...

From ChrisH - Yu Jing and a few more Z hunters (50 Points)

Well as I thought I am running out of time to paint due to work commitments. But I have a few miniatures from the Infinity universe and a couple of post modern Zed Hunters to add to the ones from before.

To be honest I have barely had time to look at the fabulous eye candy that keeps appearing let alone make a comment. I was asked to come up with more points well I think that I may be able to get to 900 but little more. Points wise 10 X 5 = 50. Just got a new phone so using it this time. Hope you all like them, I do.

Great work Chris! I quite like the purple armour of the Infinity rankers juxtaposed against the white of the heroes. Did you freehand those hexes on their bases? If so, yikes, that takes more than a bit of discipline! Also, who makes the Zombie hunters? Those are nice looking models as well.

50 more points for your final push to 900!

From DaveD - Sudan - 10th Hussars (241 points)

Here we have the arrival of the last major cavalry unit for the imperial forces - the 10th Hussars. These are my old favourite 28mm Connoisseur Miniatures on a mix of various manufactures horses. The 10th had more grey horses when first deployed so I have added in more than usual. They provide a nice contrast to the 19th as these have khaki tunic and blue pants with yellow belts. One figure had a spot of casting trouble with the right arm and I have remade that with the soldering iron  and added a pistol into his hand as if firing the starting pistol. 24x28mm Cavalry

So that gives me the 9th Bengal Lancers,19th Hussars and 10th Hussars, so i thought you might like a group shop.

That leaves a small 12 figure unit of Egytian Lancers and a company of 6 figures of Mounted Infantry left to finish all the mounted elements.

I have also just topped-up the Mounted Mahdists lead pile as they head toward their final total of 100 camel...... now has anyone seen the Mahdi...

Beautiful work Mr. D!  It's wonderful to see 'The Chainy 10th' (their nickname due to their unique chainmail epaulets) getting some love. The brigade shot is terrific - you can't argue with the majesty of that mob.

As we can all see Dave has begun the saturation bombing in earnest now as I see we still have two more entries of his on the horizon. 240 points with another added for the starting pistol. Magnifique ! :)

From JasperO - WWII Bren Team (28 points)

I'm definitely not one who could be described as a 'disciplined painter', which is undoubtedly confirmed by the fact that two months into the Painting Challenge, this is my very first contribution. I tend to constantly flick from one painting project to the next, jumping back and forth and perhaps finishing some of them, some time. Because of that, I had lots of semi-started projects by December 20th, all further along than a base coat. Oddly enough, this challenge has caused me to work on some of those, and even get them finished. Satisfying indeed, but not valid for the challenge. In short, excellent planning all around... And me a publishing professional, go figure...

In the meantime, I have several projects on the boiler for the Challenge. These five, in complete contrast to everything above, I started last weekend and finished today. They're the start of an English platoon for Chain of Command and a mix of Crusader and Artizan Designs figures. Really enjoyed painting them!

First, let me welcome you aboard the Challenge Jasper - it's wonderful to have you with us. 

I think many of us (myself definitely included) can more than sympathize with the feeling of inertia from flitting around from project to project, slowly chipping away at the whole, but feeling like you're getting little done. Nonetheless, you've done a fabulous job with these 'week long' models.

I particularly like your shading (do you use a dip method?) and really appreciate the addition of the unit and rank patches (freehand?). It does such a nice job in finishing the models. I too like working on the Artizan range, as they generally have such distinct folds and planes to their sculpts, which really aids in their painting. They also have a lovely, reassuring heft to them, which really means nothing but appeals to my weird, deep-seated 'heavy is good' sensibilities.

You've really done them justice here, Jasper. I'm going to add a few more points for the shoulder markings and rank chevrons to tip you up to 28 points. Wonderful work! Keep up the steam, as I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing to see more of your work.

From BenitoM - Fallschirmjager Supports (107 Points)

Despite some hurdles (real life!) my FJs project continue progressing and finally I can post some of the support units that I've been working in over the past two weekends.

In any case, here are the latest contributions:

Mortar and HMG support stands

These models belog to the Warlord range. The HMG is positioned .in the edge of a forest ready to ambush any Allied unit falling within its sights.

Next we have a combat engineer assault  team with LMG pair, an additional ammo carrier and a junior leader commanding the team.

These minis are from Artizan. This brand's models area bulkier than the average Warlord model, but I just tested on a table and do not stand out significantly when viewed at a distance. I'm using Artizan models to add variety of poses to myFJ unit.

(3) A junior leader and prone LMG team for my FJ section dressed in winter gear, both from Artizan.

And here you can see the complete section, mixing Warlord and Artizan models... can you notice who's who? I think they match nicely.

Infantry with MP 40s, again from Artizan. The more I paint models from this manufacturer, the more I like them.

And last but least, the second armour support (the previous was a Hetzer): a Stug III in a colour scheme than can be used fora any scenario from late 43 onwards. This was done with the help of airbrush fence-master Alfredo, from my gaming group.

Lovely work Benito!

I feel that Warlord has suffered from lack of quality control and consistency within their ranges, but I think these figures mix very nicely with the excellent Artizan models. I like the tree stumps with the MG team and your winter figures continue to impress. That StuG III is a lovely lump of kit. I particularly like the single-tone camo - as you say it will be very good for the '43 campaigns, especially those in Italy.

You're now well past the halfway point to your target Benito. Well done! Now, you have the push to the finish! 

From DaveD - Sudan - Medics and Signallers (85 Points)

The collection is well enough progressed that it needs time spending on items of table dressing , and also pieces that can be used to drive scenarios. Often I hear that the Sudan games will be very one sided with the imperial just blazing away until the Mahdists run away or are dead. Well if that happens to my mind it is down to poor scenario design. To even the playing field the Imperial players will a have range of things to think about from , time constraints, ammunition, water, casualties to get to safety, communications to set up or protect - protection of civilians , and medals and honours to be won (that will keep commanders from co-operating too much!) 

So here we have some of those items - some bits were started pre challenge and have been finished so wont score.

First up

New additions to the field hospital - the tents were kindly supplied by Millsy as one of our side bets last year - all done now , cheers mate.

The two civilians -one in MCC Eggs and Bacon colours ready to defend himself with cricket bat against the Fuzzy Wuzzies - are pre challenge starters and are by Wargames Foundry

 

5 figures and two casualties. scoring all Perry Miniatures

The whole field hospital is now complete

Next I have a couple of sections of signallers with Heliograph kits

 11 figures altogether - again Perry Miniatures

These chaps with a  small protection unit , should provide a tempting target for the Mahdists and a challenge for the Imperials to protect....

Now how did Corporal Millsy sneak his way in to these...

I love these little vignettes as they elevate what is a good tabletop experience to a great one. Those tents are wonderful and I've always had a soft spot for those Perry signalers and heliograph engineers. Such character! AND we have a cheeky cameo by that intrepid soul, Corporal Millsy with his Savage Spade of Doom. 

From MartinN - More 15mm Caesarian Romans (30 points)

I'm still alive and slowly beavering away on my 15mm Late Republican/ Caesarian Roman project for Impetus. Not much progress was made but I felt a sign of life was due.

First are a base of Germanic Skirmishers who will fight alongside my Romans as allies. As my mate ChrisS went for Germans as opponents for my Romans I decided it would only be logical for me to incorporate a few Germanic allies into my army. Probably from a tribe on loggerheads with Chris' band of unwashed barbarians. Nothing wrong with letting these uncivilised animals kill each other before sending in the legions to mop up afterwards, eh?

Miniatures are Forged in Battle again and I'm still impressed with the quality of their offerings. It wasn't till I was almost done with these when I realised I had painted their shields in the colours of my favourite football teams arch rivals. No harm though, this way it will only be easier to sacrifice them for the greater good I guess. Fortuna wills it.

The next base is of no real combat value in Impetus other than to be attached to another base in order to depict the unit to which the General is attached to. I would have loved to include a pair of Lictors (no, not the Tyranid ones from 40k) carrying their fasces to symbbolize the high ranking status of the general but unfortunately I wasn't able to track some down in 15mm. Well, at least not till the base was finished and I happened to stumble across *these*. Next time I'd say...

The General is supposed to depict Gaius Iulius Caesar, but in all honesty I don't see much of a resemblance here.

In order to not make it look silly when attaching the base to a unit of infantry I opted for a rather static pose with these miniatures.

So, that's it for today. All in all this entry should give me another whooping 30 points towards my goal but unfortunately not enough to catch up with ChrisS in our little side duel.

Stunning work Nick!

Same as last time, I initially looked at this entry without looking at the title and thought they were very fine 28s. But no, they're 15mm. Wow. Just wow.

I really like your German auxiliaries. They have that wild, untamed look, but yet the green of their shields ties them all together nicely. I also really like your Caesar command base.  I could immediately see the resemblance with his grey cropped hair and the regal purple of his armour. The decision to keep his base relatively static in pose is a good one, especially as he will be spending a lot of his time attached to infantry units.

Lovely work Nick!

From DaveD - Ethan Edwards "The Searchers" 54mm (10 points)

As things have in general been a bit dusty on the paint table with work continuing on the Sudan stuff I  wanted to do something a bit different with some strong colour. Here we have another Andrea Miniatures 54mm Cowboy - its the classic John Wayne from the "The Searchers". The film itself can be somewhat dark an disturbing - you just never know if he is going rescue Debbie or kill her...

And by special request from Millsy - a group shot of the 54mm Cowboy collection - shoot out anyone?

 Right ho - back to "dusty" things....

I love this whole large-scale cowboy diversion, Dave. You always do such cracking work on the figures and The Duke here does not stray from the rest. I especially like his face and his jeans - such great paintwork. It makes me want to watch the film again. Brilliant.

It's also wonderful to see the figures from the previous Challenge getting good press again. That Butch and Sundance set is still one of my favourites.

Well done Mr. D!

Will the Minions Bring the Moves?

Okay Saturday Team, let's see what you've got.

Just to start the ball rolling, we have Dave Duking in out in 54mm, Benito with more of his lovely FJs and then Chris takes us to Infinity and beyond - then we'll see if the levy breaks with more of our fine Minions' work.

Stay tuned!