From BillA: 20th Century African Militia and Mercenaries (65 points)

 This is a project I kind of stumbled into accidentally. A couple years back, I started painting and wargaming the 1980s GI Joe comic book and animated series in 28mm, and decided to add some local insurgent types - the idea being the terrorist organization Cobra funds and arms localized groups in Central America, the Middle East, etc. in addition to their own, more sci-fi oriented, operations. One of my favorite stories from the GI Joe Special Missions comic (which tended towards more realistic stories), appearing in issue#10, involved the Joes escorting the prince of Kalingaland, an equatorial African nation, home to assume rulership despite Soviet-backed efforts to install a Communist puppet government. I decided I wanted to include Kalingaland in my games, and that meant Cobra-backed rebels, leading me to pick up a couple packs of 20th century African militia from The Assault Group.

And then I got a few more. And then I bought a copy of "Wars of Insurgency," my friend Mike's rules for wargaming the various bush wars and small conflicts around the world from 1945-2000. And then I bought a few more African militia to round out a complete force for "Wars of Insurgency." I have no idea if I'm ever going to play Wars of Insurgency. I have more African rebel militia than I'll probably ever field in a GI Joe game, which I usually play solo. Anyways, here are the last of them, painted up.

There's a lot going on here, so let's break that up.

I did one pack each of Militia with Handguns and with SMGs:

These two packs were combined, with a guy holding a RPG, to form a single militia unit for Wars of Insurgency:

I also painted a pack of "Wild Geese" style mercenaries with AK-47s; these are intended as bodyguards for the force's commander, who has previously been painted.

These figures complete this force, and I have a partially painted UN Peacekeepers force to oppose them; whether I'll complete the second half of the Peacekeepers before the end of the Challenge or not remains to be seen.

That's another 13 figures for 65 points, and another Squirrel point, bringing me up to 4 (Modern Horror, Maya, Dinosaurs, and 20th Century Africa.

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Sylvain: You bring to the Challenge a type of skirmish figures that I've never played with and never seen at conventions. Your brushwork brings out the ruggedness of the militiamen. I will watch closely what you will bring next week! Génial! 

 

From StuartL - Altar of the Snow Lord (Revisited) - 30 Points

Hello all,

The final few hours are ticking down towards the end of the challenge, time for a couple of last minute posts. When the Snow Lord set me that challenge to paint up something for my Far East WW2 project, I had a couple of options that I was weighing up. In the end, I chose a unit of Naga Head-hunters, but I kept the other option to one side with the aim of coming back to it if I had time. Luckily, I did!

One of the most overlooked contributions to the Allied war effort came from the British colonies in East and West Africa. During the early stages of the war, African troops in the 11th African Division played a small role in the conflict in  Africa, but only fought one action before being disbanded as the war shifted to the North coast of Africa. As manpower became more of an issue during the war, the British high command decided to form 3 Divisions from the East and West African colonies. These became the 11th East African, and the 81st & 82nd West African Divisions. Despite having three fresh divisions to deploy, the British were hesitant to deploy them in Europe. Instead they were sent to India to bolster the 14th Army fighting against the Japanese. Part of the rational for the deployment was that the Africans should be well suited for jungle fighting as there are jungles in Africa. This is the equivalent of saying that the Swiss should be natural sailors as Europe has a coastline. A lot of the troops deployed to India and Burma had never seen a jungle before they entered basic training. As it transpired, the Africans did make excellent soldiers in the battle against the Japanese, and the Japanese rated them as one of the best units in the British forces they encountered. 

As part of 81st Division's artillery units, the 1st Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment, West African Artillery deployed a battery of Bofors anti-aircraft guns to cover the Division from the few Japanese aircraft in the theatre. Generally speaking, the jungle was a poor place for towed artillery pieces and vehicles, plus the tree canopy generally prevented airstrikes, so I can't imagine that these would have seen a lot of action compared to the infantry.

The 81st Division's regular troops were all Africans, but all of the officers and most of the NCO's were of European descent, often being settlers and colonists. Major problems arose within the Division as a lot of them couldn't speak the language of the African troops very well. Mind you, many of the troops spoke different languages and couldn't communicate with each other very well either. General Slim, commanding 14th Army thought that the excessive numbers of European officers was an extravagant waste, most of the Indian units under his command had only about 1/8th the number of white men serving in their battalions compared to the African divisions.

The divisional insignia of the 81st West African was a Black Tarantula on a yellow background. I am sadly unable to get anything close to that on a 28mm mini, so had to settle for a black spot on a yellow square on the shoulders. The spider is supposed to be Anansi, a character from West African folk lore.

The model is from Warlord Games and was originally sold as part of their Australian set for the pacific. The rolled up sleeves and gunner with his jacket off seemed like a good fit for the tropical heat of Burma. I do have a small West African force for Bolt Action to paint up, but alas I didn't have time in this challenge, maybe in Challenge XII.

With the minutes counting down, I'd better tally up my score. 4x28mm minis, plus a 28mm artillery piece should add 30 points to my overall score. As I have already covered the WW2 Far East theme, there are no squirrels for me here. I have already claimed the bonus points for the Altar, so nothing extra to add to my score beyond the minis.

One more post from me before the end I hope. 

From AlexS: A Varied Set Of Different Miniatures (115 Points)

Hello everybody! My name is Alex, I am from Russia and today I will not show you terrain from clay and branches. Today is another set of different miniatures.

Firstly, a sultry oriental woman. She was especially pleased to paint, looking at the snow falling all day long over the fire.

Secondly, two pirates whom I collected from various spare parts which each wargamer stores in a large box.

Thirdly, some more African warriors. Leader, musician, great shaman and shaman squad. Yes, it looks a bit like a comic book, but why not?

Finally, a squad of Saracens or Moors for games according to the rules of the SAGA. Yes, today there are many shades of black, you are right.

General view. It is said that the event ends. I hope to have time to do something else. And if not, then I was very happy with all of you.

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Alex, it is always a treat when I have the opportunity to "minion" one of your outstanding entries.  As always, there is great variety and fantastic, subtle commentary. 

I agree that painting a figure while the fire burns and the snow falls can be amazing...but we're all a little tired of the snow falling here - we got three more centimetres last night! Spring can come any time now...

I am using my powers to add five extra points, because I so loved the idea of figures assembled out of spare bits. Perfect pirates indeed. That will 115 points for you sir!

GregB

From AlexS: many different things (180pts)

Hello everybody! My name is Alex and I love variety. Today is such a post - you will find many different things.

Firstly, the Norman heroes - they will portray warband leaders for the SAGA game system. Well, or the leader and the priest (the one with a club, obviously can be a priest).

Secondly, African warriors led by their leader. They can easily fit into most conflicts - from antiquity to the 19th century. War paint I especially succeeded, is not it?

Thirdly, I more and more liked to make lenses, markers and other small dioramas. This time I made a captive African warrior in a cage. He can be released during the game and get powerful, like Hercules from the novel of Jules Verne, an ally. Well, or just put in the middle of an African village. As always, I used improvised materials - I bought a ball of twigs in a store of decorative products for the home.

I liked the material from which I made Сurt Island (many thanks to everyone who expressed admiration for my work), and I decided to try to make a house out of it. It looks a little awkward and dirty, so it’s great for playing about pirates.

Finally, in the finals - I painted an addition to the English squad for games about pirates. Now they have a horse officer and two guns. There was the standard bearer and the grenadiers, after which I will calm down. May be...

The general view gives an idea of my eclecticism this time.

points:
28mm inf - 19 x 5 = 95 pts
28mm cav - 3 x 10 = 30 pts
28mm guns 2 x 10 = 20 pts
28mm wounded 1 x 2,5 = 2,5 pts
A house of about one and a half cube with sides 6 inches = 30 pts

total 177,5 pts

From DaveD , indeed a range of different things alright - lets call that 180 

All - beware blogger is playing up - you may need to check back on your "ready" posts as the pictures are not showing. i am assured this is not Ray or Peters doing - but....

From PaulO'G: African Hunting Party (50 points)

Having enjoyed an introductory game of Congo a few weeks past, I thought I would pay some attention to some long neglected figures in the lead pile to start my own White Explorer force.  This is my initial Hunting Party, comprising 2 Big Game Hunters, 3 Askari Guards, and 5 Bearers/Servants:

AFter a bunch of my submission have taken much longer to finish than anticipated, I challenged myself to do these rapidly and got them done over an aggregated 3 evenings. Unfortunately, they are a bit grainy - likely it was too hot when I applied the undercoat (its been a stinking hot summer here in Sydney). Still, they are good enough for the Congo methinks

Figures by the lesser known Askari mini: https://askari-minis.com/
Thats ten 28mm figs for 50 points Bwana!

JamieM - now these are very nice indeed.  Congo is one of those games that looks like a bunch of fun and I keep being tempted to get it...... and then I look at all the other rulebooks on my shelf and take it out of my virtual internet basket!

These have come out wonderfully and the natty red hats really set them up nicely - 50 points as you say.

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!