From DavidL - More East Africans--and Some Mini-Samurai! (258 Points)

My WWII East Africa project rolls on.

I finished up my Allied contingent with a third squad of Punjabis and a 3-inch mortar team (all Perry)...

...and a rag-tag squad of French Foreign Legion from Perry, representing the 13e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère, suitable for use as allies or in small-scale skirmish scenarios.

But what I was most excited about was finally getting to lay my brush down on my Italian tank forces. Behold the mighty horde! (Play this tune in the background to add to the sense of awe.)

Who doesn't love tankettes? They're just so damn ridiculous. I don't expect them to last very long on the table, but they'll look comically wonderful while they're there.

Clockwise from the top left: Warlord, Shapeways, Empress

The Warlord tank crew add both a sense of scale and provide a bit of a story of a tank squadron that has lost its way.

Model by Blitzkrieg Miniatures; commander by Warlord

The tankettes also provide my M13/39 with a real sense of scale, making it seem like quite the behemoth.

The M11/39s in East Africa went straight to the front and so retained their European camo/paint scheme.

And no early-war Italian force would be complete without a menacing Lanciafiamme flame tank...

Model by Warlord

Also on deck this week is the beginning of my 6mm Sengoku-era samurai project. I was inspired to give historical 6mm a try after admiring the superb Baccus sculpts on display in previous Challenges, and I chose "warring states" period samurai after the release earlier this year of the excellent (if grievously typo-ridden) Banzai! rules from 2D6 Wargames.

I'm modeling my forces around the great sequence of battles at Kawanakajima, fought between the consummate warlords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.

I'm starting with ashigaru pike levy, primarily, as those will comprise the bulk of both armies. I was pleased with how quickly they paint up, although I was disappointed that Baccus doesn't offer the option to order these guys without pikes. I'd much rather have them carrying bits of broom bristle rather than the impossible-to-straighten and oh-so-bendable cast metal pikes. Ah well.

Takemata and Yasuda clans, plus dispatch riders.

Here's the command stand for the Takeda army; I'm waiting on delivery of some transfers before I tackle Uesugi.

Behind the command stand: Takeda's "Red Guard" and the Obu clan.

I did a bit of micro-conversion work on Shingen's helmet, as he wore a distinctive white fur crest. I also did my best to paint the centipede on his personal standard (uma-jurushi). I know from my days of painting Epic 40K that at this scale it's as much about the impression of something as it is about trying to get it "perfect."

And that's it for this week! Next time: hopefully loads more 6mm samurai and maybe some Malifaux too...

ByronM: Wow, what a way to end to day, a surprise points bomb!  Truly remarkable stuff here David, both in quantity and quality!

The Punjabi troops are really well done with a very used dusty look and feel to me.  They look like they belong in the fight, and the same applies to the French.  You colour and contrast on them is great.  I also really like the Italian tanks, they look stunning, like most Italian made things.  The only problem is that again, like most Italian made things they will likely have more quirks that good features and only start on the odd days of even months (I have an Italian motorcycle, I love them and hate them)!  Who wants to place bets that they die before firing any shot in their first game?  

Lastly the samurai are amazing for 6mm, especially the little command stand you did up for them. Top notch stuff!  

With that, we end another Wednesday, and David earns a massive 258 points!

From DavidL - Better Late Than Never (255 points)

Thanks to spending way too much time looking in the mirror and grooming my ear hairs, I managed to miss my last two deadlines (last week and then the Bonus Round) by mere hours each. As a result, this week's entry is an eclectic mix.

First up, we have the first proper entry in my WWII "East Africa 1940" project, which had its first bow this Challenge with my Matilda II during the Armor round.

Here we have most of an infantry platoon plus support elements, all representing members of the 3rd Battalion, 14th Punjab Regiment.

I'm experimenting with mounting my LMG teams on lozenge-shaped bases. This makes them easier to ID at a glance, and also allows for a variety of poses, including the infamous prone pose! (Not yet featured here.)

Figures are Perry "Desert Rats" with swaps of Perry and Warlord heads.

We've also got a Universal Carrier (from Perry) and an ACV-IP Indian Pattern Carrier (from Company B) to provide some mobile support.

The camo pattern on the Universal Carrier is modeled off a photo from a book about the conflict:

I love how the guy in the back appears to be reclining and belting out a song!

Now, here's where I went a little nuts; if I've got my research correct, in 1940, the 2-pounder would not yet be assigned as a regimental anti-tank gun. Instead, we've got the French-manufactured 25mm Hotchkiss. Imagine my delight when I found someone makes a model of this rather obscure gun in the correct scale! Hooray! Wait, should I be celebrating? I'm going to miss that 2-pounder, I just know it...

The rounds for this gun are so tiny! I had to really file down the 2-pounder round the loader is normally holding.

Crew are kit-bashed from the Perry 2-pounder. Technically there should be two more men (I really can't imagine what for, this thing is so weenie), but 28mm British gun crews in desert fatigues are surprisingly hard to find. In fact, I couldn't find any!

This nearly completes the British contingent of my collection. A couple more squads and done! Then it's onto the Italians...

So that's last week's entry that didn't quite make it. For the "East" Bonus Round, I present just two figures, but they took me nearly as long to paint as a whole squad of those Punjabis. Here are two samurai, characters from an RPG I wrote and play-tested over the summer. I painted up the figures as a gift to a couple of the players who participated in the play-test as a way of saying "thanks."

That's Jiro on the left, Gentaro on the right

The game is set in the early days of the samurai (the 11th century), when armor was especially ornate, and it took me all of Saturday just to get these two guys done. I'm quite happy with how they turned out, but I can't imagine doing a whole army of these dudes!

This one is from The Assault Group.

This fellow is actually a "Legend of the Five Rings" Lion Clan figure, but the armor had more-or-less the right look for the period. I won't tell if you won't.

Next up: I go teenie-tiny!

ByronM: Sorry that you missed the entries the last few times, but personal grooming is important! Kidding aside, this is a fabulous entry and one well worth waiting for. I am never sure what counts as a points bomb, but with this single submission counting for 255 points which is a full 1/3rd of your goal, I think it counts, so congrats!

I love the paint style on the Punjab infantry.  Since their uniforms are normally almost monochromatic (like most British based uniforms of the time), a lot of times any uniform like that looks bland painted.  With your super high contrast highlights though it really shows detail, yet despite the high contrast still looks absolutely correct, it is very nice.

And for the Samurai figures, also very nice!  I like how you look the time to do all the armour plates in various colours like many would have been in real life. Most people just do single colour because it is hard to pull of the look you did.  Great work!

From DavidL - Sisters of Battle (70 points)

After noodling around with painting up a Black Templars force for Warhammer 40K, I have fallen hard for the Kill Team variant. I love the small, intimate scale of the game, particularly because it has allowed me to collect several factions, something that would be impossible if I were building full armies. I'll get back to my 1,500-point Black Templar list eventually, I'm sure, but this year is all about Kill Team.

First up is an Adepta Sororitas force. (Note: my rules of choice are the Heralds of Ruin variant, and my 250-point lists have been built using the codexes found on their site.) I've long admired the aesthetic of the Sisters of Battle and picked a list that gave a good cross-section of their coolest units.

This team consists of a Seraphim Superior armed with twin hand-flamers, two Seraphim, five Battle Sisters, two Dominions, three Sisters Repentia, and a Hospitaller.

The Battle Sisters are old sculpts but were lots of fun to paint up. (I elected to continue using 20mm bases, as I am a stick-in-the-mud who prefers the smaller bases and also have no plans to enter any tournaments or the like.)

The Dominions (a heavy bolter and multi-melta) are suitably shooty and look like they can lay down all kinds of hurt. I ended up with identical sculpts (that's what I get for buying after-market figures on eBay...), but their weapons are the focal point anyway.

For the Seraphim I went with a variant color scheme I'd seen on the Internet that I felt matched the angelic nature of their name nicely.

Way back in the day I played an Empire army for Warhammer Fantasy, and I always included a unit of Flagellants. The Sisters Repentia nicely capture that same energy, both in their backstories and in their appearance. What could be better than a trio of chainsword-wielding maniacs to lead your charge?

All together, that's 14 figures for a 250-point Kill Team force. I've got four factions more I'm hoping to paint up for the Challenge, so keep an eye out!

And yes, with this all-female force, my shameless grubbing for a Sarah's Choice award continues unabated!

ByronM: Wow, a second very nice entry from DavidL in one day!  

A very tidy little force here for Kill Team, and one that should be able to keep their domicile clean too.  The whole cleanse with fire people, no sexism here, get your minds out of the gutter.

I really like the accent colours with the clean bright whites, reds, and golds standing out against the black armour.  Making the jet back girls white is an awesome way to make them stand out, and they have always been a favourite unit of mine, since WAY back (probably 15+ years ago) Curt did a unit on pillars of flame and smoke blasting into the air.  The Sisters Repentia also brighten the force up a bit as well with all that flesh tone.  Very nice work and 70 well deserved points.

WEDNESDAY From DavidL - A Lady-Centric Miscellany (22 points)

Greetings all!

I am back for my third Challenge, and, as is the custom, I'm kicking things off with a sort of "odd sock drawer" of projects that have been sitting on my table for far too long.

First up is a "35mm" Wonder Woman from Knight Models. I put the scale in scare quotes because she's really no bigger than your usual "heroic scale" 28mm. Unlike other figures of that scale, however, she's very realistically proportioned, which made for a fun change.

I painted her up last week as part of a birthday gift for my wife (who has nutured a lifelong love of Wonder Woman). She was most appreciative of my efforts—the figure now graces her desk at work—but I managed to snap a couple pictures before she disappeared!

Going from good to evil, next up we have Archdomina Makeda for Hordes' Skorne faction. Like most Skorne Warlocks, she is a holy terror in close combat. I love the powerful, dynamic pose of this figure and am looking forward to finally getting her onto the table!

"Chop chop!"

Lastly, a rather unusual dual-figure "character" for Malifaux. Back during my first Challenge, I painted up the Viktorias, a pair of dimension-hopping Outcasts. In the current version of the game's campaign rules, your leaders can eventually "manifest" in their Avatar form—essentially the core essence of what they represent. The Viktorias seem to represent teamwork and, well, bloody murder, so they manifest as the Avatar of Slaughter on a single base, functioning as a single character.

I'm really happy with how the gore effects turned out on the blades. I was a little miffed that the figures don't really match their non-Avatar counterparts, the scale being noticeably different as well as there being quite a few differences in their outfits. No matter. They'll look great on the table, though I doubt I'll have much opportunity to field them! (Avatars don't manifest every day, y'know.) Certainly a centerpiece for my display shelves, though.

And there you have it! Four figures to start the Challenge, and all of them ladies. Am I grubbing for a Sarah's Choice pick? Well, just wait and see what I'm posting next...

ByronM: Wow, three very different entries all in one post!  So much to comment on that I really like, but I will try and keep it semi-brief...

I love the work on the Wonder Woman and the sculpt, and I think your right, while she certainly has some nice curves up top, she is not the normal waif down below.  That must be one of the newer Knight Models as well as the detail looks good, some of their original stuff was a bit soft on detail.  It could also be your really nice painting skills and attention to detail.  So did the wife give you any hassle about all the attention paid to her tiny bikini bottoms, I know my wife would (in a fun way).

The Skorne figure is painted completely differently but equally as well, I really like the dark red armour and gold effects.  Lastly the Malifaux figures are great as well, and I really like the gore effect, is it the GW technical or the Tamiya clear red?  I suspect the later but am unsure, either way I really like it.

You had this down as 4 x 28mm figures for 20 points, but I know that Skorne figure is much larger and with the back banner added I am going count it as a 35mm and bump the total up to 22 points.  Well done, keep up the excellent work.

From DavidL - Black Templar Terminators and Land Raider (45 points)

As the finish line looms closer, I finally at least manage to put some points on the board towards my Black Templar project. I'd hoped to get through my entire Templar list this Challenge, but so it goes.

I've always had a soft spot for the 40K universe, but most of my gaming in that setting has been via Epic-scale engagements. For various reasons, I never got into 40K proper back in the 90s. I've nearly gotten into it a few times over the last 10 years, but I lacked a project that really fired my imagination.

That changed when I discovered the Black Templars. I love their look, I love their lore. In a gothic sci-fi universe, they are the most gothic of all. I used to field an Empire army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and I think the Black Templars come closest to capturing that same visual aesthetic. I was additionally pleased to find out that Forge World offer a variety of resin and brass-etched "add-ons" to properly pimp out one's Templars in grand gothic fashion.

What we have here is one of the centerpiece units of my Templar force: five Terminators and their Land Raider Crusader transport.

The Terminators are kitted out with custom shoulder plates and shields from Forge World; for their helmets, I swapped in appropriately knight-like pieces from Puppets War (gotta love those third-party Eastern European conversion companies!).

As befits the Eternal Crusaders of Righteousness, these guys are positively festooned in purity seals. (I love purity seals.)

And then there's the behemoth that is the Land Raider Crusader. This thing took almost as long to build as it did to paint! Coming off of painting WWII tanks, which are usually no more than 3-5 pieces total, it was a bit daunting assembling this thing, with its dozens of parts.

Size-wise, it's truly massive - probably the largest vehicle miniature I've ever painted.

Once again, lots of nice additional details courtesy of Forge World.

I'm quite pleased with how the black turned out on both the Terminators and the Crusader. I used Andrea Color's "Black Paint Set" (as I did with my Soviet sailors in my last entry) and the kit worked great both with the brush and airbrush (although the rather viscous paints needed a lot of watering down for the latter).

I'm going to knuckle down and get one more entry in before the closing ceremonies, so I won't say cheerio just yet...

Superb work David. I've always had a soft spot for the Black Templars as they have such a classic colour scheme and brutal aesthetic about them. I really like your use of white as an accent to accentuate the helmets and weapon casings - it looks very sharp. Your Crusader Land Raider is a wonderful centerpiece as well, especially with those marvelous Forge World add-ons (to which I'm going to add a few more points as I know how fiddly those things can be). Again, great stuff David!