PeterA: Royal Marines at Reidy's Reef (64 points)

Progress has been slooow but last week I managed to get a bit more done. Sarah's Balloon has kindly taken me Reidy's Reef, where the challenge is to produce something with a nautical theme. Initially I had no idea of what to do but inspiration struck when flicking through 'Red Star, White Lights', a wargaming scenario booklet set in a Cold War gone hot setting. I had got hold of this as part of a project I started during last year's Challenge, set during a late-Cold War invasion of Norway (inspired by the TV series 'Occupied'). One of the scenarios has a small group of troops from the Royal Marines' Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre attacking a Soviet ammo dump. Perfect - this would be another unit for my Norway project and, being Marines, are suitably nautical for Reidy's Reef. It also allowed me to indulge in some nostalgia watching some old episodes of the BBC documentary 'Behind the Lines' (about a selection course for the M&AW Cadre) on YouTube - what's not to like about seeing big, hairy men running around in sub-zero temperatures in a pair of budgie-smugglers?

Anyway, on with the miniatures. These are all 20mm Liberation Miniatures and are from their range for the Falklands War, so have got kit like M16s, L4A4 LMG (aka Bren gun) and CAR 15 carbines - perfect for late-80s Cold War. They have been painted in a similar fashion to my figures from last year - mostly white snow suits with the odd DPM item for a bit of interest.

First up is the team leader, with obligatory moustache (very authentic - check out Behind the Lines!).

Then there are two 4-man sections:

Finally a couple of shots of the whole unit:

So I am slowly making my way around Challenge Island on Safari, but hopefully I will be able to finish off a few things that will see me tick off a few more locations. Progress so far:

So 8x20mm figures = 32 + another 2 for the prone GPMG gunner, plus the 30 points for the location, makes for a total of 64 points and gets me just over half-way to my target. I don't want to head on to Burch's Bluff just yet, so I think I shall be summoning the good Lady Sarah's aerial services shortly!

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I don't know about the rest of you, but I could have gone without seeing that first picture or the attached reference to "budgie smugglers".... cringe....  Then again as the guy that keeps posting creepy Kingdom Death monsters, I don't know that I really have any valid right to complain about cringe worthy subject matter....

Onto the actual figures....  The figures themselves look good and have lots of cool little details to add interest.  I like how you have added mixed bits of camo and other colours in here to break up the white and add contrast and interest to what could otherwise be a pretty damn boring colour scheme (straight white).

-ByronM

From PeterA - 2nd Post - A Norwegian Leopard and some Modern Brits (60 Points)

For my second entry today I have some figures for my Cold War in Norway project, inspired by the TV series 'Occupied'.

This is set sometime in the late '80s/early '90s, a time when the Norwegians were equipped with the Leopard 1A3. Although this Revell kit is of the Leopard 1A5 I am quite happy keeping my inner rivet- counter suppressed, especially when it came in a kit with a Leopard bridge layer at a 50% discount! I see this big cat as part of the Norwegian brigade North, fighting in deep snow, so unlike my Challenger, I avoided the pigments and just went for snow effects in the running gear and in places on the hull.

To finish off, I have completed a second section of British infantry, as well as a 3-man platoon command element (the rest of the HQ and the third section are still in the painting queue). Like the first section, they are in a mix of DPM and snow coveralls and are all from Liberation Miniatures.

HQ element

Fireteam A 

Fireteam B 

All together 

So 11 figures and 1 tank in 20mm should net me 59 points, to go with the 80 for my Bolsheviks, making a grand total of 139 points to add to my total, which is nearly half-way to my Challenge target. It's now time to focus on getting my entry together for the 'Mercenary' Bonus Theme for Saturday - maybe I'll actually make it this time!

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Another splendid entry Peter. I'm blown away by that Leopard Tank, I really love the camo pattern and the weathering effect you have employed. No rivet counter here so I don't have a problem using a very similar tank to represent another (heresy to some, I know). Sometimes you just have to paint what you've got and hope no-one notices! I'm throwing in an extra point for the camo bringing this entry up to 60 Points. 

Lee

From PeterA: 20mm Cold War Brits (47 Points)

This is my first time in the Challenge and so I had obviously planned out carefully the figures I was going to paint. But then I saw a squirrel, or to be more precise, the Norwegian drama series Occupied on Sky TV - about the Russian occupation of Norway in a bid to control the latter's oil and gas reserves. So that got me thinking about a what-if campaign set in Norway, with the Russian hordes out to grab fossil fuels (hopefully) being seen off by an assortment of Norwegian and NATO forces. So, the plan went out the window and my first submission is the start of the British sent to support the Norwegians.

First up is a winterised Challenger I - which to the best of my knowledge would never have been found in Norway. My justification is that lots of NATO equipment was stockpiled in Norway during the real Cold War so this represents the Brits mothballing some Challenger Is in Norway after they introduced the Challenger II, 'just in case' the Reds come calling.

This is also the first time that I have used weathering pigments (Dark Earth by AK) and I clearly have a lot to learn! The tank is a Revell 1/72 plastic kit and the commander is from Liberation Miniatures.

Alongside the Challenger is an 8-man infantry squad, again by Liberation Miniatures. They are in a mixture of DPM and winter gear, with Body Armour Chest Rigs.

Sorry about the rather pony photos - still trying to work out how to best use the camera! Anyway this should get me off the board and net me 47 points, and also gets me going in the Squirrel side-challenge. 

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Welcome to the Challenge, Peter!

Very cool entry, literally. I have a soft spot for 20mm/1:72 as a gaming scale as it seems the perfect compromise between the often table-absorbing 28mm and the sometimes too small 15mm scales. 

I've always liked the design of the Challenger and I think your's looks great. Weathering pigments take a bit of getting used to, but I think you application really conveys the heavy winter mud that these beasts would grind up. The Liberation minis look quite nice and I like your snow effects on the bases - very effective. 

I've not heard of the 'Occupied' series, but it sounds very interesting and I will be actively trying to source it 'off the coast of Tortuga' (as we can't easily get SKY here in the Colonies). 

47 well-earned points for your Challenge debut. Again, welcome aboard, Peter!