wings for modelling (it' almost a free silo and much easier to learn than the heavyweight packages) and if you want smooth animations with IPO curves, you cannot circumvenit blender. or buy lw/c4d, but you wanted a free solution.

i do not recomment milkshape, it may look easier, but in the end it's too limited for hq content.

anim8tor has too limited export possibilities.

you can use the free XSI mod tool, it can export to x (direct import to MED), it's the editor the hl2 models were animated in, but it's hard to learn. but it's really worth the effort if you think about the hl2 anim quality.
http://www.softimage.com/community/xsi_mod_tool/default.aspx