From KevH: 20mm Saracen Infantry and Cavalry (488 points)

...and the titanic struggle for 2nd place in the points roster continues into the night...

From Kev:

Well, we are nearly there. This will probably be my final entry. If I do get anything else finished, it may appear, but unlikely.

This lot is all Saracens (Ayubids). All 1/72 scale by either Strelets or HaT. This nearly completes the army, I only need some light cavalry units that I will add when I purchase or convert them.

First up are the last of the infantry. Another Ghazi Fanatic Warband, once again in the black garb (24 figures)

Two Light Infantry Bow units to add to the earlier one I did. (16 figures) 

And two small skirmish units with Javelins (6 figures).

Then at last the Cavalry. Two units of Mamluk Heavy Cavalry with Bows, (12 Mounted figures)

Two units of Mamluk Heavy Cavalry with Spears, (12 Mounted Figures)

One unit of Turks Heavy Cavalry with Spears, (6 mounted figures)

Two Divisional Command stands, (4 mounted figures)

and what better to finish on than "Camels" Well everyone has done them, or so it seems. A small unit of Camel riders with bows (4 mounted figures). Quite a few are conversions.

I will have to take a pic of both the Crusader and Saracen armies.

Well, thats me done I think. It's in the lap of the gods now...

Holy cow! That is an amazing entry Kev and such beautiful work. Those Ghazi Fanatics are still the bomb and I'm glad you managed to get some camels into the mix - all the cool kids are doing them y'know. :)

These Saracens will give Kev 488 points, slipping him past Dave in the final run into the finishing straight... The mind just boggles at the points being broadsided at this rarified upper atmosphere...

From SeanS: 28mm 100 Years War Lord De La Warre and his Retinue (100 points)

From Sean:

I present to you Lord De La Warre of Treyine and his men. To create some interest in my red and white theme I broke it up into solid red, half red and white and quartered red and white. I figured that this would represent each of the knights and their retinues. As with the previous entry these are a mixture of Zvezda English Infantry of the 100 Years War, Miniart German Knights, Airfix Robin Hood and Strelets Military Order Warriors. They are all 1/72 (20mm) scale plastics. 

All the same painting techniques, but this time only Vallejo matte varnish at the end. I feel like it dulled the metal a tad too much and it almost looks like NMM. Still flailing around, but why change how I work now. I'm just glad to get another batch done. It only took me the whole competition to do it.

There is nothing particularly special about the two footmen, I just hid them on the work bench and found them after I'd photographed the main group.

I really enjoy these 100 Years War themed entries of yours Sean. Again, I quite like the gritty feel to your paintwork on these fellows. They look like veterans that have spent some time on campaign.

Lord De La Warre and this retinue will give Sean 100 points. Great work!

From BenG: 20mm Napoleonic British 12th Light Dragoons (64 points)

From Ben:

I managed to get these finished before the deadline and boost my score, so these are definitely a bonus!

These are actually part of Strelets' Egyptian Campaign range, but they'll be doing service in my British Peninsular War army. The only thing which indicates the earlier period is the queues which the riders sport, but as they are the only Tarleton equipped British light dragoons in 1/72nd, they'll do until HaT get their act together and finally release their British cavalry for their Peninsular range.

Strelets figures are rather chunky, but fit in well with the earlier HaT range like their 8095 French infantry. Even the horses are chunky, looking more like Welsh pit-ponies rather than English thoroughbreds! The figures are rather characterful with expressive faces and dynamic poses.

I was always reluctant to invest in Strelets figures as they look so ugly unpainted, but rather surprisingly, look great painted up!

You're right Ben, they look very good indeed - you've done a wonderful job on them.  The poses on these figures are very dynamic. I quite like posing of the two fellows slashing with their sabers. It makes me cringe to think of the poor infantry who are the subject of their not-so-tender attentions.

These eight troopers of the 12th will give Ben 64 points. It's wonderful to see you building some distance from your initial Challenge goal - well done!

From KevH: 20mm Anglo-Saxons Thegns & Saracen City Militia and Ghazi Fanatics (182 points)

From Kev:

Sculpting's done for now so I am back at the painting table, yaaay. First up are an addition to my 1/72 Dark age collection.

The Anglo Saxon Army in "Hail Caesar" is allowed a single small unit of Mounted Thegns. I could have chose the easy route for these and just painted 4 of the Revell ones. But no, thats not me and I do prefer the Strelets. So here we go, Strelets and Revell conversions. A few head swaps and the odd body swap and all on Strelets horses. 4 mounted Thegns to give the Anglo Saxons a bit of fast hitting power.

Then back onto the Crusades. More infantry for now. First up are another City Militia unit. 12 Figures, these are 3 to a base to show they are a Medium infantry unit.

Then closely followed by the first of the Ghazi Fanatics units. This is a warband, (24 figures) hence the double ranks.

Once again a medium infantry unit with 3 to a base to show this. I decided on a uniform colour scheme for the Fanatics as I wanted them to look menacing on the table. Andy had the idea for the red headgear. Red, black with a bit of white give these the look I wanted and will easily make them recognisable on the table.

The other fanatic units will be a slight variation on this scheme.

All the Saracen figures are HaT 1/72 and from their ElCid range and painted in my high contrast style. I am now working on some of the Saracen Cavalry, at last, lol.

Beautiful work once again Kev! I particularly like the unit of Ghazi fanatics - those colours certainly reinforce their intended role. 

These fellows with their excellent banners, shields and conversions will give Kev 182 points, allowing him to wrest back control of 2nd place from Dave. Nonetheless with only a 48 point spread between the two it's really anybody's race. Pretty exciting stuff!

From BenG: 20mm Roman and Goth Infantry (68 points)

From Ben:

Well, I'm back at work after having all January off and my hobby time is somewhat limited these days! 

These will probably be my last entries unless I can get the British Light Dragoons, which I've been slowly working on, finished in time. 

The Romans are by Miniart with a couple sporting head replacements from the Italeri set. You can probably tell the conversions as they're the ones whose facial features you can actually see!

The Goths are from the Strelets ancient German set.

One more stand of Goths, and I'll be able to pit the two sides against each other to see how the rules handle, then I'll just have to do a couple more skirmish and cavalry stands and I'll be ready to host a proper table-top stoush late antiquity-style!

Excellent work Ben! I'm anxious to see the two forces meet and the rules to be blooded. Please send along a note and a pic when this great event hits the tabletop.

These Romans and Goths will give Ben 68 points which includes a bit extra for the conversions, tartans and shields. This will give him enough to exceed his Challenge target of 600 points. Congratulations Ben and well done!

From KevH: 15mm ECW Earl of Essex Command Stand & Crusader Infantry (68 points)

From Kev:

Here is my current entry for the challenge. Not really had much time for painting this last couple of weeks. I have a lot of sculpting to do at the moment. First up we have a 15mm Essex Parliament command stand.

This is the opposite CinC for the Royalist Charles 1st I did earlier. This is the Earl of Essex and Staff. 3 mounted and 1 foot with another hand painted commonwealth Flag. (Jeeze, I hate how Essex sculpts the flag onto the figure!)

Also we have some more Crusaders. This time a mixed unit of Crusader medium infantry. Non Military order, a few French and germans. Warriors to the front with bows to the rear. Converted flag bearer with suitable banner.

This may well be the last of the Crusader force, I may add the odd unit at a later date. I will try to concentrate on the Saracens now. 1/72 Strelets figures.

Two wonderful entries Kev! Your high-contrast style is again making its magic with these fellows. Essex's banner is gorgeous and I'm very impressed with the shields of the Crusader front rank. Lovely, clean brushwork.

The Earl of Essex and this unit of Christian infantry will give Kev 68 points, which includes a bit extra for the finely wrought flags and heraldry. This entry will see Kev past his second Challenge points target of 2250 points. Great work and congratulations Kev! 

It looks like there will be a tight race right to the finish for all podium positions in the points standings. Many of us will be on the edge of our seats at we close in on the finish line in 23 days!

From BenG: 20mm Ancient Roman Cavalry and Gothic Skirmishers (52 points)

From Ben:

My 20mm late antiquity project is nearing critical mass where I can start exploring the rules. I've returned to the Roman forces in this entry including a stand of light and heavy javelin cavalry. For my Romans, I'll make more light cavalry, including horse archers, than the heavy cavalry. The Goths will have the opposite ratio. Both these Roman stands are by HaT.

The Gothic skirmishers include two Strelets figures, including a conversion where I've removed the original axe and replaced it with a javelin, and one by Miniart. The semi-circular base reflects the unformed nature of the unit while retaining the base frontage.

Very nice Ben! I'm enjoying watching this collection grow week by week. I also quite like your base idea signifying unformed/skirmish units - very clever that.

These Romans and Goths will give Ben 52 points.