From PhilH: 28mm Colonial British Hussars, Mahdist Gun and Crew & 15mm WWII American Infantry (84 points)

From Phil:

My final offering to push me towards my target. The British in the Sudan finally get some cavalry support, the rather dashing 10th Hussars. Not a fancy pelisse in sight by this era, but I still think they look fine in their navy striped trousers and spiked helmets. Deployed from India, they were in khaki. This is my first stab at getting the right khaki for the Sudan. 

Next up, a captured Mahdist gun with Egyptian gunners. I based the Beja overseer separately as I though he'd come in useful as a slaver in Pulpy games. Also, at a push I may end up using  this for somewhat bedraggled Egyptian artillery (ignoring the shackles). Until I inevitably get around to picking up the Krupp from the Perry Egyptian range. I was trying to get hold of some round basing 'holes' to make my own sabot trays for the Mahdists and also mount the overseer snugly on this base. Hopefully they will arrive at some point so I can drop one in and sort the Mahdist unit bases once and for all. 

Finally, a couple of test minis: 15mm US paras for Chain of Command. A quick job over a brown undercoat, not much to say. 

Lovely work Phil. I'm particularly impressed with the metallics you've achieved with the gun - perhaps a bit too clean considering the crew but, wow, the smoothness of the steel is wonderful. Great job.

This selection of miniatures will give Phil 84 points, exactly enough for him to hit his 700 point target. Congratulations and well done Phil! 

From DaveD: 28mm 'Camelapocalypse' - Sudan Supply Column & Naval Gun Crew (165 points)

From Dave:

Its been a switch over to the Colonials for the Sudan.I had decided to make an effort on dealing with the support elements first. 

For the desert column I really wanted a decent amount of animals. So here we have a further addition. It's a screw gun carrying camel set, a 5 camels one rider, and 3 stores and water carrying mules and Sikh guards (I picked them up second hand unpainted pretty sure they are Connoisseur.) 

There is also a full shot of the supply column - total: 15 camels , 3 mules. Well it sure gives the square something to protect.

I also picked up some second hand painted Connoisseur naval brigade and guns.

So here is the first reworked one - 5 figures which I decided to repaint from scratch, the gun was pretty much done already so no points there.

Wonderful! As you say Dave, these baggage camels and mules will look perfect in the middle of a collapsing British square. I love all the assorted baggage and equipment festooned on these poor beasts. Very characterful stuff. I also really like the shots of the Gardner Gun fending off the tribesmen - brilliant!

These assorted camels, mules and Naval ratings will give Dave 165 points. Well done!

From DaveD: 28mm Mahdist Horsemen and Camelry (190 points)

From Dave:

So here we have the Mahdist mounted forces (19 in all) , 6 Beja camel, 12 Baggara cavalry and another leader for the cause. All 28mm Perry figures. For the Baggara I had to replace the "chocolate fireguard" Perry spears with something that will stand the test of time , so used some piano wire with flattened and shaped ends, soldered into the hands. It gives a somewhat better look and way more robust. 

This completes the Mahdist Order of Battle for 2nd El Teb at 1-20 - altogether around 600 figures , thats it for this painting season on these lads - but there is a "long" term plan to at least double the forces - well maybe treble....

Time to give them some "opponents" - this lot were well under way prior to the challenge ,so its just a taster - no points - of the advance elements of the Desert Column . 

Here we have the Camel Corps - not strictly needed for El Teb , but what self respecting gamer is not going to do the the Camel Corp?- securing the village . Followed by the RMLI and the Bravest Man in England - Colonel Fred Burnaby ( just google if you have not read of his exploits) complete with short barrel shotgun!

Beautiful work Dave. It's always wonderful to have another dose of camelry for the Challenge and these fellows certainly look the business.The appaloosa horse you did for the leader if very fine - lovely colouring. Also, I'm going to have a chat with you about this whole soldering business as I'd like to learn how to do that - superglue just doesn't cut it and I'm getting weary of spears/banners snapping loose from hands during gameplay.

These two groups of mounted Mahdist warriors will give Dave 190 points, enough for him to reach his second target and to slip into second place. 

...but I notice I have an entry waiting here from KevH so we'll have to see what happens to the rankings on the Challenge roster over the next few hours.

From DaveD: 28mm Mahdist Tribesmen (460 points)

From Dave:

Having got so far through the OOB for El Teb with the last 3 submission I decided to take advantage of a few days off and press on with the remaining foot units required. All Perry 28''s a mix of plastic and metal. A little more twiddly bits on some patterns on the clothing and headwear this time though. 84 foot figures,3 mounted and 1 gun. Skirmishers hiding in the long grasses, one rifle warband , one spear armed warband, a captured Krupps gun and and crew, and 3 new mounted leaders including Osman Digna,

And a couple of pictures of the whole army as it now stands. 

A few small mounted elements left to complete for the Mahdists, they are on the preparation table now. The Desert Column is in serious need of reinforcements - I have the lead cleaned and ready to go, and I have my eye on a Nile Steamer. Its been such a busy few weeks I have now run out of bases and tufts! A large restock required.

Phew.. right, off to give the paint table a good tidy up!

Fabulous work Dave! I really like your sabot bases with the terrain inserts - very posh indeed.

The final shots of the entire force are gobsmacking. As you say, now on to their poor opponents!

These lads will give Dave 460 points to add to his tally. 

From PhilH: 28mm Mahdists with Command & Challenge Desperado (75 points)

From Phil:

My next entry, it may surprise you to know, takes me back to the Sudan. Seven foot Mahdists, plus a command stand of one foot one mounted. I painted these alongside the casualties I also submitted, a fairly sizeable batch for me but a mere drop compared to DaveD's ocean. 

Once again, this batch is well furnished with conversions to mix things up a little. These five all got a good hacking, mostly with arms from various places, including Warlord plastic celts and Wargames Factory Greeks. My favourites are the tribesman with arm thrust in the air, his war-cry of 'Allahu-Akbar' almost audible and the Beja flinging his spear, shield arm thrust backwards for balance. 

The Beja wing of the force gets a mounted commander, this being the Perry's version of Osman Digna himself. This set was kindly bought for my by my Secret Santa this year and he has been turned around in record time (the Mahdi himself is still in the box, though!) 

Different parts of the force are starting to get differentiated by colour, with Beja being very plainly dressed, mostly in Vallejo Iraqi sand and tan yellow.

He's such a badass sculpt, surveying the scene, I wanted to keep him nice and plain as well.

And as my entry fee, a desperado painted in the style of Peckinpah's Wild Bunch. I picked this chap up alongside a bunch of cowboy minis in a bargain bit at Triples so I don't know the manufacturer. He is rather a slim model but painted up nicely, though perhaps not the most interesting. I liked the pose, saddle bags slung over the shoulder.

Looking at the photos, I'm not quite content with him - I think he needs to be a bit grubbier, so I will add more stippling around his feet and I think he deserves his eyes doing, a chore I usually skip. 

I have left his basing for Curt to do to his own liking. 

I hope you like him!

Excellent work Phil! You're getting quite resourceful with your mods to the base Perry plastic set (using the Ancient Greek plastics from Wargames Factory is sheer genius). I love the command vignette and I think you did the right thing to keep it minimalist as it seems fitting for the subject. I also really like the basing, with his horse calmly standing on the flat rock and scree. Very nice.

And thank you so much for the Desperado! I think he's quite marvelous. I like his understated pose with his saddlebag (full of ill-gotten loot I would suppose) slung over his shoulder. The cream waistcoat is a great touch as well.

These Mahdi and the Desperado will give Phil 75 points, which includes a bit extra for the various modifications. Great job Phil and thanks again!

  

From DaveD: 28mm Sudanese Mahdists Tribesmen, Part III (343 points)

Dave finishes his dizzying dash to the top tier of the points roster with this, his third monster unit of Mahdists.

From Dave:

So here is the final instalment of the Beja mob. This time made up of 65 figures and 6 prone casualties again all 28mm Perry as before... Across all 3 mobs there is range of basing from 6 figures to 2 and a casualty on the bases. This is to give a a real random look to the units as I assemble them. 

OK, and here is picture of them all together.

With my existing Beja force which is half that size, I have almost enough to do the Mahdist forces for El-Teb late this year.

Wow. Just wow. Between these three successive entries Dave has completed 236 figures in, what, a month's worth of work? Amazing. Dave, you thought you were in a painting funk at the start of the Challenge. Well, we certainly sorted that out for you! Brilliant work my friend.

This last horde will give Dave 343 points, bringing him in range of the top three in the points roster... 

From DaveD: Sudanese Beja Mob Part Deux (371 points)

Here is the second points sortie in Dave's Sudanese carpet bombing campaign.

From Dave:

Ok you Challengers here we have part 2 off the production line.Its 72 figures plus 4 prone casualty . all 28mm Perry . Hmm I think it might need to do some more gatling guns...

Great work once again Dave. One more of these to come in folks. Wait until you see the whole horde of them - the sense of mass is amazing. 

This second band of tribesmen will give Dave 371 points. Woo!

From DaveD: 28mm Sudanese Ansar Tribesmen (437 points)

Dave brings out the big guns with this huge points entry.

From Dave:

Having completed my initial point target (600) or the Challenge , it seems to have got the paint well and truly flowing. Having completed a Sudan "caravan" as part of the challenge, this has go me interested in the Sudan project again. So the return to the Sudan is well and truly up and running. Fortunately I had already "de-sprued" a box or several - ok lets say 10 - of the 28mm Perry Ansar, it was time to crack on and assemble a bunch of them, mix in a few of the metal casualty and command figures and lets see what happens. For this next phase I decided to do several larger units of early Beja - you get about 26 out of a box. So here we have the first of them. Given the sheer number to do, these are very much a "paint the unit" rather than the "individual". You know the saying - quantity has a quality all of it own..

This one is made of 85 figures and 4 prone casualties. The flags are from The Virtual Armchair General.

Those of you taking part in the Facebook group will have seen the progress of these over the last month. They are airbushed in a mix of two shades of brown, the hair and weapon black base completed. Then the whole figure is given a dark black.brown wash, cloth is painted in range of 5 different shades in a random combination. This is then given a lighter wash. The flesh tops are then highlighted in a thin dark earth colour. Spears and shield highlight wood complete and then a good coat of a gloss varnish - which is just a personal thing as I think it helps a bit to keep these figures together over the year and it fills out joint problems etc. A matt varnish over, do the metals and base up.

... more along shortly. 

Oh , and new points target 2250...

Whoa! And with this entry Dave has picked up Millsy's gauntlet and drops his own points bomb... Absolutely amazing stuff. The photos are brilliant and really show these tribesmen off well.  I like that off in the distance we can see what is coming over the next few days...

These Ansar will give Dave an impressive 437 points and notice he has picked the same revised points target as KevH. The game is truly afoot! Well done Mr. D!

From RobP: 28mm Sudanes, Nuns & French Imperial Guard Chasseurs a Pied (325 points)

RobP, veteran member of the beer disposal unit of the 'Dutch Water-bicycle Detachment', debuts in the Challenge with this stonking entry of Sudanese, Nuns and French Chasseurs. An entry which, I'm sure, will raise the eyebrows of his compatriots MichaelF and JaccoK.

From Rob:

I finally have gotten around of getting some things finished for the Challenge..I have been extremely busy with work the last few weeks and also suffered a major painting dip caused by  being very indecisive about what to paint... However, things are looking up now and since this weekend it feels like I am on a roll again... 

First up are two units of Sudanese Bazinger for the Sudan.. Figures are Perry. I had these still lying around and could not decide on what to paint for the Challenge so  started with priming a lot of different figures from different periods ranging from ACW to Napoleonics to Colonial to  western and WWII.... 

In the end I decided to finish these as a first entry due to the fact it offered me some easy-to-paint figures to get out of my painting dip... Not sure if I have succeeded though... 

Also included are some figures I painted for the non-combattant theme but that i finished too late because I had the dates mixed up... I do not know the make of these figs anymore but they will provide some female addition to the number of clergymen i painted in the past and that litter our gaming table as bystanders etc... Not quite like the Monty Python Nuns of Castle Anthrax unfortunately... 

Finally is a unit of Imperial Guard Chasseurs a Pied; 44 figures in total; all Foundry and two Perry figures in the command stand. Given the size of the unit I painted an extra  command stand so i can split the unit into two for gaming purposes. 

I bought the Foundry figures some time ago as a bargain offer in their ebay shop. They are Michael Percy sculpts and although not as detailed as the Perrys they came out very good after painting.

This entry will put me ahead in the little Dutch side competition and encourage MikeF and JaccoK to come up with some real units as a next entry... It looks like my painting dip is over so there will be more to come.

Holy Smokes Rob! That is a shed-load of lovely stuff. The Sudanese and Nuns are very nice but those Old Guard Chasseurs are the absolute bomb. Wonderful work!

Rob's debut will give him 325 points which I'm sure will make MichaelF and JaccoK scramble for their brushes. Well done Rob!