From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic Prussians & WWII British and German Markers (100 points)

From Ian:

In an attempt to clear most of the in progress stuff off my desk I give you a mixed bag. 

I got a load of painted figures via Dave D at blog con. All were 6mm Adler but I field smaller units that Adler pack them in so I needed to paint up extra command for them. For the French I painted up five figures per battalion for a total of 20 figures. I had already painted the Voltigeurs before the challenge so these also don't count.

I also got a load of Prussians with enough loose left overs to form six battalions and I have stuck to my usual 2 battalions with colours and one without. So for these six battalions I claim just four figures, the standard bearer!

The 7th Line Regiment was a bit of a problem as I neither had the flag nor ink in the printer so I took another regiments and added the green to the flags, a little faffy but you know how it is.

The 26th Reserve Regiment was just generic Baccus flags as I could not find a flag for them. 

The Baccus Landwehr though are all painted by me (except the dead trooper), these have a compliment of 24 line figures and four out front skirmishing. After the long break on doing 6mm infantry it was really good to get at them again and they seemed to come on really quickly. 

These are the first Baccus Landwehr I have painted up and I really found them a breeze to paint. I have another nine in hand so I can look forward to getting these painted up for the Waterloo game.

All told I have finished off 26 Battalions between the Prussians and French during the Challenge which is a good number to have got through and I am nicely ahead of schedule painting these up.

Almost to the end of the Sniper Reminders for a bit (I really want a break) but these are just for the fun of it. Four each of the Black Tree Miniatures Desert Rats and Africa Korps. on the deluxe sized bases. 

The Brits are working their way through a mix of mines and wire, the little mine sighs I cut out of some spare ASL mine factor counters and added to a bit of balsa. 

The Germans won't be fully finished in the Challenge as I want to add some more bits to the bases but I need to source them and all four bases are presents for a pair of good mates.

Nice score Ian and kudos to you for the wonderful job in getting these new levies integrated into your burgeoning 6mm collection.

Alright, wow, that makes 108 6mm figures and eight 28mm figures for a grand total of 100 points (with a little extra for the great work with the 6mm flags). With this entry and the points from the bonus round you will exceed your Challenge goal of 1066 points. Well done Ian!

From IanW: 28mm Viking Herdman & 6mm Napoleonic Marshals along with Assorted Flunkies (21 points)

From Ian:

Finally something different. 

OK lets start with the Griping Beast 28mm plastic Viking from their Viking Hirdmen boxed set. I wanted to do a test figure and it was an excuse to do something a little different.

Clean up and assembly was mostly straight forward though the belt pouch and knife was a bit fiddly. I can see doing all 44 getting tiresome but the reward would be a great mix of poses and weapons so I will have that in mind when I get at the test.

Went with a straight forward shield design to keep this simple. I also went with a black primmer to make the chainmail more realistic, overall I prefer the darker finish for these.

Dropping back to my usual scale I have finally finished the new Baccus command figures, a bunch of Marshals and other hangers on.

These are certainly an upgrade on the old Baccus command and have some nice detail and a much wider mix of poses. However I still prefer the Adler as they have a lot more detail (that extra mm or two really helps) and though these are sturdier I will take the risk with the Adler breaking.

Quite easy to clean up and paint though some of them have a real issue with mould lines, but overall nice clean casts. I have based them loosely on images I have of commanders and ADC's I just hope I don't get slapped for doing this

My Napoleonic Pedant/Prat referee jersey's in the wash so you're safe... ;P

Ooh, that Viking sample looks very, very good Ian - I think you can go straight into production with these! Would this project be for SAGA or do you have something else in mind?

I agree with you on all counts with the new Baccus command figures: they are all very nice but I'd still put the nod to Adler's range. As you say that extra 1-2mm makes all the difference. All this being said I think you've done a marvelous job on these models. Your excellent basing gives them a Peninsular War feel about them, what with the larger gravel elements.

This lonely Viking and the posse of Napoleonic command officers will give Ian 21 points (with a bit extra for the shield and being in the vanguard).   

From SamuliS: 6mm ACW Union Brigade (85 points)

Samuli switches gears and so sends in this great Brigade of wee Union infantry for an upcoming Gettysburg project.

From Samuli: 

My next entry is a change in scale and era to something completely new for me. I've never painted anything smaller than 15mm before and ACW is also something I'm not too familiar with. Still you have to try something new every once in a while and as we have a 6mm Gettysburg project going on at my club I decided to pitch in with a Union force and here is the first brigade done.

I was really impressed by the amount of detail on these Baccus minis. Didn't expect them to have any proper faces or webbing on them. Still nice and fast to paint even with all the detail. A good quick project to get some change between larger scale stuff.

Brilliant stuff Samuli! 6mm is great for allowing collectors to put together an army for a relatively small expense and not demanding an acre of room to play a large battle. 

These diminutive bluebellies will give Samuli 85 points. Great work!

From IanW: 6mm French Napoleonic Infantry (200 points)

From Ian:

I finally finished the Grand submission, well it's from the Grande Army. Followers of my blog will not be surprised to see 6mm Napoleonic figures from me as a mate had the idea that we should do Waterloo in 2015 (for some reason?????) OK I said not realizing the idea was to have every battalion from the battle so here is a shot in the arm for my French.

Thirteen 28 figure battalions of the new Baccus infantry with four Adler Infantry mounted commanders for a total of 364 PBI and 4 mounted. You see I was not doing nothing this last ten days.

I really like the new Baccus French figures, they retain the same ease of painting but the castings are nice and crisp as the old moulds were getting tired. These are not really Waterloo figures and I have used the 1804 flags as they will see a lot more action away from Belgium such as Spain and Russia.

When the Waterloo French are released by Baccus I will of course buy into these and I can't wait for the figures in greatcoats to come my way for something a little quicker to paint.

I ran close to running out of flags as I have just two left so until I restock the other five battalions I have prepped will have to wait their turn. I think I just have a total of twelve unpainted battalions left so will have to order more. I have a bunch of Adler yet to be worked but these will wait till after the challenge as the amount of time to prep and paint are much longer and I would prefer to do them at the more relaxed pace.

Thirteen Battalions was a little (lot) more than advisable and I am glad to have finished them and will be taking a break from 6mm for a few weeks before I tackle the Zulu's or Landwehr I have in my to do boxes. So next up will be some of the 28mm figures I got in for the challenge then probably back to Rome.

Wooo! Grande Armee indeed. Ian, that there is a boat-load of Napoleonics, make no mistake. This lot will give Ian 200 points, with a little sugar added for the brave banners. Well done Ian!

From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic French Hussars (10 points)

Ian sends in this great stand of Napoleonic French hussars in 6mm for his 2015 Waterloo project.

From Ian:

For the last twelve months or so I have been working mostly on 6mm figures ready for 2015 when a mate and me plan to play out the whole of the Battle of Waterloo via our blogs. Not having much in hand to play the game we have been steadily building up the forces. To add to these regiments I give you the 1st Hussars part of my commitment to the French side. 

These are the new Baccus Hussars and from talking to Peter his favourite newly re-sculptured French to date. After painting some of them I can see why as they are fun to paint and have plenty of detail.

You won't see much more in the way of cavalry in the Challenge as I have most of the French finished. Just a bunch more Landwehr cavalry but infantry, well that's a different matter.

After the disaster that was the Russian Campaign the Hussars were very badly mauled and as such little is seen of the Hussars at Waterloo so I have made sure I have painted up the few that were involved in the campaign.

I really like Adler Cavalry but these boys will take a lot more handling so more suited to the rough and tumble of the gaming table and Baccus have the lion's share in my French army though by far it's the older castings .

I always really enjoy your 6mm work Ian. There is no doubt that your figures are excellent but I think it's your groundwork which puts these over the top. I believe the groundwork in this scale is crucial as it can make or break the whole look of a unit. Less it more in this case. Wonderful stuff.

These Hussars of the 1st will give Ian 10 points in total. Well done and I look forward to seeing your upcoming Landwehr and infantry.

From IanW: 6mm Napoleonic French & 28mm WWII German (89 points)

From Ian:

So what have we here? I went back to the meat and potato of my work over the last year and a half and painted up yet more French 6mm. Five Light Infantry bases of 28 men and one Line base with yet another 28 figures for a total of 168 infantry or half the number of the last two submissions. The reason is that the rest of the French that I own will be French allied troops and I won't buy any more Baccus till the new French are released (two weeks then LOL)

Quite a basic paint job really, primed in Ultramarine blue then painted over in Dark Blue with a Vallejo blue wash added. I was going to do the usual Nut Brown Ink wash but they looked to nice and bright to do that so have left these alone. Overall I am quite pleased with them and feel they are the best last entry from me this year.

Also included is a 28mm Black Tree German that I painted with the others but never varnished as I want to put it on a larger diorama base that I have yet to do. That's for later. The figure even has detail underneath which is rather daft but then again I did paint that as well. 

I took a picture of his face as again not sure why I painted in the eyes as they are unlikely to be seen but I did. I even did the eagle on his chest, I must be barking!

So as I offer my last figures to the challenge I wish for all of you great things for the rest of the year, especially you Curt, as none of us can really fully appreciate the work you have done over the last three months, so a very big thanks for that.

Now for a few days off, of course what I mean is a few days sorting out the £70 of Adler I had yesterday and painting up a few test buildings before doing the whole lot of my Spanish buildings for these French to fight over.

Wonderful final effort Ian! While I've always liked your WWII stuff it's your 6mm work that always gets my vote. Beautiful work.

This final entry will give Ian 89 points to close his climb up the roster. This will allow him to achieve his second points target of 2K. Bravo Ian! Thank you, it's been a pleasure to have you participate in the Challenge again. Now start planning for next year...