'Fellowship' from StuartL: No Man Left Behind

For the final bonus round of the challenge, I was scratching my head a bit as I searched through my minis boxes until I stumbled on some Warlord Games promo figures and some spare Germans I had picked up from a friend.

Being a soldier must be a tough experience and, for all I love playing wargames on the tabletop, it is one that I am glad I have never had to live through. To go out and face the enemy, with death mere seconds away must be terrifying. To do all that without a weapon, to go out into the worst of the worst and pull the wounded back to safety is something else altogether. The bravery and sense of duty of the medics who were present in every conflict is astounding. So, what better way to represent fellowship than the people who would rescue the injured and wounded regardless of the risk or what side they were fighting on.

The large base contains two pairs of figures by Warlord games. Two of the single models are also from Warlord and the chap aiming his rifle is by Artizan I believe. The half-track is a Tamiya kit, but isn't a part of the entry, it's just there for decoration. Sadly I don't have a snow effect mat I could use for the pictures, hence the spring green background.

All of the figures are painted with Vallejo colours, Feldgrey for the uniforms and great coats, and a mix of White and Light Grey for the helmets and smocks. The snow effect is also from Vallejo. The tufts on the bases are from War World Gaming.

I have a 1000+ point Bolt Action army of these models to paint, so these figures will serve as test pieces for when I actually get round to it.

As two of the models are pairs, I am not sure how to score them. 2 figures per pair, 1 figure or some other formula? Going for the lowest score, there are 5 models, for a total of 25 points and a point for my Squirrel collection.

'Mercenary' from StuartL: Don't Ask for Credit...

...Because a refusal often offends.

For the Mercenary Bonus Round I offer a small group of Vikings. These fearsome looking Norsemen will represent Jarl Sigvaldi and his Jomsvikings in games of Saga. Under the Saga rules, there should only be 4 models in the unit, but as I got 1 character and a pack of 4 Vikings with axes I decided to paint up the extra one as a spare. 

All of these models are from Footsore miniatures. They are very nicely detailed and were clean, crisp casts. I'm probably going to order from them again in the future. I went for bright, vibrant colours for their clothing, using purple for their commander to show their wealth, acquired no doubt from looting and pillaging.

As the title and opening line of my post might suggest, these chaps aren't the generous types who will take an IOU. When I bought the models, I also ordered Footsore's Blood Eagle model. If you haven't seen the Vikings TV series (it's a great show, if not 100% historically accurate), or read much about the legend, the Blood Eagle is a very painful method of execution that involves cutting the victim open and pulling his lungs out through his back.

Like so. This was a bit time consuming and hard work, so it wasn't done lightly. It only occurs twice in the Viking Sagas, both times the victims were royalty and the execution was an act of revenge. Scholars aren't 100% sure that the practice really took place, but it makes for a great looking objective marker.

These fierce looking warriors will be joining my recently painted Breton army as a hard hitting mercenary contingent, and should net me 30 points, assuming that the victim counts as a 28mm figure and not as a terrain piece.

'Sport' from StuartL: You'll Nevaah Walk Agaaaiinn!!!

Well, here is my entry for the sports round, provided you classify smashing opposing players in the face, putting the boot in when they're on the ground and feeding their still twitching corpse to a troll as sport. You do? Great.

For my entry, I have painted up an old Blood Bowl team. All of the figures are single piece, monopose plastics from GW, with the exception of the Troll which is from the Reaper's Bones line of minis.

When I saw the bonus round list, this was the one that I wasn't sure about entering as I didn't really have any sports related miniatures. Asking around my gaming group, one of my friends was kind enough to dig out his old team and give them to me for free. (I have to let him win the next few games we have I guess). 

I cleaned the minis up, gave them a quick spray of black undercoat and got to work. They were a fairly simple set to paint to be honest, but with enough detail to make them fun. As starter sets go, the old blood bowl was a fun and simple way to get into the hobby. I used to have the same team back in the day, but sold them off about ten years ago. I haven't tried the new game yet, the new figures look pretty impressive, but nobody locally seems that interested.

Anyway, I make it 13x28mm figures for 65 points, an entry for the bonus round and another notch on my squirrel tally. 

'Reconnaissance' by StuartL: Guards Armoured Division Recce Carrier

My entry for the Reconnaissance bonus round is a (slightly) converted Bren Carrier from the British Guards Armoured Division from late WW2. The conversion is the removal of the Bren in the front passenger position and the addition of a heavier .50cal machine gun on a pintle mount. I've always loved the Bren Carrier, it is such a quirky little vehicle. As a kid, my local museum (The Durham Light Infantry Museum, sadly now closed I believe)  had a Bren Carrier that you could climb in/on, even as a 10 year old I thought it was a cramped fit. The thought of soldiers zipping around a battlefield in one of those things is quite scary.

The Bren was one of the most common AFV's during WW2 and were used for just about every role going. The 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards were the Motor Battalion for 5 Guards Armoured Brigade and provided infantry support for the tanks of the brigade. The British never made much use out of the pintle mounted .50 calibre machine guns provided with the Shermans, regarding them as too risky for use by the tank commander, so the crews removed them. In some cases, these spare guns made it into the hands of the Motor Battalion in the brigade. Carrier crews tried all sorts of upgrades to their on board weapons, though they were all unofficial.

I haven't seen any direct evidence for a .50 Cal being used by the Guards, though there are pictures online of Canadian and New Zealand carriers so equipped. Supposedly the motor battalions in other brigades also upgraded where they could, so I can see no particular reason why the Guards should be different.

The model itself is a Tamiya 1/48 scale plastic kit, painted with Vallejo products and weathering effects. All of the decals came with the kit. The .50 cal comes from a Sherman kit (appropriately) and there are a couple of pieces of stowage that are from a Tamiya accessory sprue.

I'm not sure how many points this should be, it's not a big vehicle after all.