From SidneyR: "The Mole of Versailles", 1688 (25 points)

And, as Challenge X draws towards it's finale, here's another in my terribly self-indulgent series of the "Characters of Laarden".  The base is comprised of three French engineers and a French grenadier, steadily advancing a sap towards the walls of a Flemish town.

I've always had a sneaky love for the spade-wielders of the seventeenth century, either besieging a town with lines of circumvallation or, less commonly, digging defending saps to challenge the besiegers.  I think that groups of engineers, miners and sappers always make a great addition to seventeenth century tabletop battles, so often providing the target of an attacking force in the game.

The figures here are a mix of manufacturers, being Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry.  I tried to add some extra greenstuff features to one of the engineers, just to give that soldier a defiant, jaunty look.  For the "Mole of Versailles" himself, I used a Wargames Foundry figure, depicted in robust siege armour, supervising the siege workings.

The gabions are from Front Line Wargaming and Colonel Bills, and paint up very well in a variety of earthen shades to match the uniform of the engineers.  And, since this is part of the set of the "Characters of Laarden", they have their own collectible card to add to your collection!

For the points, I think this is fairly simple.  Four 28mm figures, which makes for an extra 20 points to my total.  Which, fingers crossed and hopefully, gets me to my target for Challenge X of 450 points!  Woohoo!!

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By Paul:

What a lovely little vignette Sidney! I love the basing and the dynamic fell to the piece as a whole

Take some bonus points for all the extra goodies for a total of 25 points