Tuesday 20 November 2018

The Ninth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge


Well, the first day of winter is just a month away, which means snow, spiked eggnog to ward off the snow, some snow, shoveling out the snow, last minute Christmas shopping in the snow, snow, skiing and probably a bit more snow. It also means that we're only four weeks away from the start of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!

This will be our ninth edition of the Challenge. Nine, eh? Wow. Every year I'm always amazed by how this funnly little event still keeps chugging along, allowing us to make new friends, rekindle previous acquaintances and get stuff done.  

A few weeks ago I looked up the symbolic significance of the number nine. Apparently many think of it as a sacred number, a number of spiritual importance, a symbol of fellowship, leadership and wisdom. With this, Tolkien hit it out of the park when he wrote of his 'nine companions'. This is great, as I think we all need a good dose of fellowship to set against these troubled times. So let's spend the season by hanging out with some friends, having a few laughs and painting a load of cool miniatures.



The Rules
The Challenge will extend from the beginning of Winter, 12:01 am December 21st , through to the first day of Spring, 11:59 pm March 20th, Central Standard Time (CST). 
Your miniatures (meaning figures, vehicles, artillery, terrain, etc.) can be cleaned, assembled and primed prior to the start date, but you cannot start painting until December 21st. In order to gain full points the figures should be based and any planned groundwork completed. The figures have to be painted by you. 
The Challenge follows the honour system in the completion and entry of figures. 
Miniatures can be in any scale and in any genre (pulp-adventure, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.).
In order to be scored, photos of your submission along with a short description must be uploaded to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring will be maintained on the blog's main page. I will send out an email to all Challengers a few days prior to the event with further details on submitting your entries.
Participants must have an entry submitted within the first month of the event (i.e. January 21st). Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the roster.
The Administrator (me) will participate, but my score will not have any standing in the Challenge (except to keep my brush lashing away with the rest of the mob).

The Scoring

Below is the scoring that will be used for the Challenge. Please note that the points awarded for vehicles in 15/20/28mm scale has been increased. 
6mm foot figure = 0.5 point
6mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 1 point
6mm vehicle = 2 points
10mm foot figure = 1 point
10mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 2 points
10mm vehicle = 3 points 
15mm foot figure = 2 points
15mm mounted figure, artillery piece or large crew served weapon = 4 points
15mm vehicle = 6 8 points

20mm foot figure = 4 points
20mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 8 points
20mm vehicle = 12 15 points

28mm foot figure = 5 points

28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 10 points
28mm vehicle = 15 20 points
40mm foot figure = 7 points
40mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 15 points
40mm vehicle = 20 25 points 
54mm foot figure = 10 points
54mm mounted figures, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 20 points
54mm vehicle, limber, etc. = 30 points 
Other scales, miscellaneous models/figures will be scored on a submission-by-submission basis. 


Terrain Submissions

Similar to last year, I've tried to keep things simple for terrain submissions, so we'll keep our 6" cube format. In short, if your terrain piece (or collected terrain pieces) fills a 6" cube, you get 20 points. If your terrain would 'fill' multiple 6" cubes, then multiply 20 points for each cube of volume. 


Terrain filling the 6" cube on the left would be worth 20 points. The composite group on the right, made up of eight cubes, would be worth 160 points.

Example 1: I've painted three 28mm barrels and six trees. They would roughly fill a single 6" cube. I would get 20 points for this. 

Example 2: I've constructed and painted a large 28mm manor that is approximately 12" wide, 14" long and 10" high. All in all, this would roughly take up 8 cubes worth of volume. This would give me 160 points.

Submissions of terrain should be sent in with a picture illustrating the scale of their work (a ruler laid alongside should do the trick). This will give your hard-working Minion a basis for scoring. Extra points for extra detail, scratch-built insanity, etc. will be left to the Minions to adjudicate as they see fit.  


The Minions

While I will serve as the Master-of-Ceremonies / Tormentor-in-Chief / Dork-Lord, I have also press-ganged a group of 'Minions' to help keep this circus moving in one direction. Here are the hapless gits, er, most excellent chaps I've press-ganged to assist in this year's Challenge:
  • Barks: Monday
  • LeeH: Tuesday
  • EvanH: Wednesday
  • IainW: Thursday
  • RobertH: Friday
  • Curt & Special Guest Minions: Saturday
  • Miles: Stats Statsamagician
  • PaulO'G: Duels Wallah
Sundays will alternate for Theme Rounds and Theme Results (more on this below)


Challenger Personal Targets and Duels

Upon signup, I ask that each Challenger declare his/her points target that they hope to achieve by the March 20th deadline. Many participants have found this a great incentive to help maintain their pace over the three months of the Challenge. I encourage Challengers to pick a target that is just beyond your comfort zone, but still achievable. As a rough benchmark, 300 points is considered a manageable amount for someone who is new to the the event and/or has a busy work/life schedule. Also remember that a significant amount of points can also be secured by participating in the Bonus Rounds (more on this below).

Relating to the points targets, many folks have a lot of fun issuing 'duels' to other participants in order to race to meet a declared target, paint the most figures for a specific period, etc. I leave this to the participants to dream-up and organize, but our Duels Wallah will be happy to log the duels and keep track of their progress.


Point Thresholds & Prizes


There will be six point thresholds set out for the Challenge. Each time a participant reaches a Point Threshold his/her name will be entered for the prize drawn for that level. So, the more points you accumulate the more prizes you will be eligible for. We have many generous prize sponsors who I will introduce in an upcoming post. The Threshold prizes will be drawn at the end of the Challenge.

Threshold I: 500 points


Threshold II: 750 points


Threshold III: 1000 points


Threshold IV: 1500 points


Threshold V: 2000 points


Threshold VI: 2500 points



There will also be prizes for the top three positions in points, Challengers' Choice, Judge's Choice and Sarah's Choice.


The Fortnight Theme Bonus Rounds

Same as previous years, we will have a series of thematic Bonus Rounds. Each Bonus Round asks Challengers to enter a submission that illustrates a particular theme. The Bonus Rounds are not mandatory, they are just a little bit of fun to pace out the the Challenge and allow people to gain some points and fame by wowing us with their imagination.

Those Challengers who submit an entry for a 'Fortnight Theme Bonus Round' will receive an extra 50 points on top of the regular entry tally.

Figure(s) for the Theme Bonus Rounds can be any scale or period, as long as it illustrates the stated theme.

These bonus rounds are interspersed every two weeks over the three months of the Challenge. Below are a listing of this year’s five theme rounds, along with their corresponding submission/display dates:

'Reconnaissance' (submission deadline Saturday, January 5th / displayed January 6th  / voting results January 13th) 
'Sport' (submission deadline Saturday, January 19th / displayed January 20th / voting results 27th) 
'Mercenary' (submission deadline Saturday, Feb 2nd / displayed Feb 3rd / voting results 
Feb 10th) 
'Water Feature' (submission deadline Saturday, Feb 16th / displayed Feb 17th / voting results Feb 24th) 
'Fellowship' (submission deadline Saturday, March 2nd / displayed March 3rd / voting results March 10th)
The theme submissions are to be sent in by 11:59pm (CST) on the specified date above.

For each bonus round I'll post a poll, listing all the round's entries so visitors can vote for their favourites.


The Call


The cap for this edition of the Challenge will be set at 80 participants, with a reserve block of 46 slots being kept aside for those people who have participated in four or more Challenges. For those who are on the reserve list, please RSVP to me by November 30th to confirm your spot. After the 30th the spot will be made available to anyone on the wait list.

Otherwise, there are 34 places available on a first-come-first-serve basis, after that I'll place any further requests on a wait list.

For all those wishing to participate please send me an email, providing:

1) your full name, 
2) country of residence 
3) your blog address (if you have one), and 
3) your points target for the three months of the event.
My email address is:

curtcampbell at mac dot com

I will post a comment below when the roster is complete. 



The Price of Entry


As an entry fee, I ask each Challenger to either make a contribution to a charity of your choice, or, if you feel so inclined, send me an enemy figure from Tolkien's Middle Earth (orcs, trolls and goblins need love too, you know).   



Challenge IX starts at 12:01am December 21st!

See you in a month! Now, sign up and get some miniatures prepped for the start line!

114 comments:

  1. Huzzah for the AHPC! email sent.

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  2. I'm in very interesting set of Bonus Rounds

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  3. Ah go on then... 1500 points for me

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    Replies
    1. 1500? A mere walk in the park for you, Dave. :)

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    2. He's starting all over again in 15mm...

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    3. I am so running out of space to put stuff!

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    4. OK, Dave - maybe 6mm instead of 15mm ;)

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    5. Dave, I'd be happy to store some of your stuff at my place....

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    6. 1500 eh? OK then, 1501 for me. Handbags at noon sir!

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    7. That's the spirit Millsy!

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    8. Oh Millsy you tease ..I will see your 1501 ...and raise you 1502.... Corporal Millsy will ride again .... pass the mind bleach

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  4. I would like to enter so will mail you asap!

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  5. Email sent, 600 points target for me please

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    1. No, better 750, let's be bold this year

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    2. Bold is good. It's a 'challenge' after all. :)

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  6. I'm in. Guess I have to be as I'm minioning this year! I've been looking forward to this since the last one ended in March!

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  7. As for the Minions: you poor, poor, POOR sods, you have no idea what you're getting into! "Flee you fools!"

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    1. I think its "Fly you Fools" if you are quoting Gandalf.

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    2. It'll be a walk in the park. Home by Christmas!

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    3. Has someone actually deleted Rays access to the spreadsheet o doom to save it being corrupted again...

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    4. LOL! Yeah it's fly, but don't get me wrong here: most of the minions do not have an aerodynamic shape as to make flying a viable option without the help of an Ork Big Mek... (pun intended)

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  8. Thank you to Curt and the Minion crew for making this happen. Email sent.

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  9. Email sent,1000 points target this time, echoing Lee as it's Minion year this year!
    Best Iain

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  10. Go on then. Get me back into the painting and blogging swing again. 1000 point target please

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  11. I sent an application for participation. I think I can complete the task in 1000 points

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  12. Excellent. I'm in, again. However I've moved to 15mm in a big way so 1000 pts will be a big push. To make sure I have an entire 15mm classical Indian army to paint. Now where did I put my mojo

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  13. I want to be Mr. Six again :) I wrote a letter. As always 2500. As always with love from Russia and without doping. :)

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    Replies
    1. Looking forward to seeing your work again Alex!

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  14. Application sent, year 3 for me if selected. Top ten finish laat year will be hard to replicate as I had a big run of WW1 stuff to go at. Crusades and Italian Wars this time with a tough 1750 points as a target 250 more than last years.

    Hope to be on board soon.
    Regards Ken

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    Replies
    1. Crusades and italian Wars ... looking forward to those Iain

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  15. Count me in please, Curt. I'm going to be bold and set myself a target of 3000 points. I might have to queue up a lot of 28mm figures to achieve that... :)

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    1. Wow... grand effort coming up. !

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    2. I know you can do it, Tamsin. I want to see you at the top of the roster this year, Ms P.

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    3. Curt - I'll definitely aim to place very high, though I don't know if I'll manage the top spot; there's some quite stiff competition to beat and I'm doing lots of 6mm and 15mm :)

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    4. 3000? Wow, that is a lot of work coming up there, can't wait to see what you come up with this year!

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    5. 3,000 points of awesomeness as ever, I'm sure. Come on, Tamsin! Popcorn and large stock of old classic DVDs are to hand to watch this... !

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    6. Sidney - it would be a surprising achievement if I was only painting 28mm to the same standard as my WW2 Aussies. Luckily I have a lot of 15mm and 6mm figures to paint as well, which won't need to be such a high standard :)

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    7. I was wondering how high you'd set the bar given your new found freedom from time constraints.

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    8. 3000 is awesome Tamsin! Looking forward to this...

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    9. And how I'm supposed to find any time to do my paintings, if there are 3000 points of paintings to watch from you...

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  16. RobertH reporting for miniondom!

    Put me down for 200, again. We shall see if I can make it this time!

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    1. Great work, Robert..... good luck with the Minion dungarees, Sir!!

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    2. I have a decent enough paint mix for dungarees, as it happens: Ceramcoat 02477 Denim Blue, Vallejo 70943 Grey Blue, Apple Barrel 20770 Sky Blue, then washed with Game Color 73.207 Blue Wash.

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  17. Email sent, Curt, for 500 Points :-)

    Fingers crossed I'm in!!!

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  18. Email send... and I`m going to try to do ONLY Tolkien models this edition

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  19. I am in once again, and am aiming for 2000 points. I have already started assembly and priming. This year will feature: Yet more Greeks (sorry), More 30k Death Guard, My traditional single unit of French Napoleonic, and my newest project the 30 years war in 15mm. Plus probably about 20 other things as my gamer induced ADHD kicks in repeatedly....

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    Replies
    1. “Focus” is for the weak. But I still look forward romthe spreadsheet...

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  20. Replies
    1. And the rest ... come on it’s a challenge !

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  21. Replies
    1. Too right. Start with a Frostgrave warband before we're both too old and arthritic to play!

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  22. Hi Curt, I'm in for 500 points this year which will be my 8th challenge. Email to follow.

    Now to work 500 points worth of 15, 20 & 28mm figures with some retro Citadel in there for good measure.

    Cheers RossM

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  23. I'm in and my personal target is 10,000 points

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    1. Beating Tamsin 3,000 by a large margin WOW x 3

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    2. Shock and awe, baby

      :)

      Ok my "real" target is 3,000

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    3. It'll be 10,000- once the illegal miniatures and the ones who put on disguises and show up again are counted.

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    4. Peter - that can only happen AFTER they have all finished raking the leaves in our National Forrests

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  24. Email following shortly, I am in for 500 points if I make the cut.

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    1. Oh, and I am going to do a "vertically challenged challenge", only dwarf, goblins, halflings and others of diminutive stature.
      Why? Because I love the little beggars.
      Now, should I paint them in Fellowship Groups of nine...hmmmmmm....

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    2. Vertically challenged eh... so half points ! Tee he!

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  25. 3000 points?!?!?!? Good gravy but I stand impressed! I don’t have the maths to work out how many figures of varying scales that is ;)

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  26. I’m in! 750 points for me please, my worst total last year, so I’m going to try to get back to my previous performances.

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    1. Looking forward to seeing the brushwork Jamie!

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  27. It's tradition so I'm in again and just like tradition I'll set my goal at 500pts. and.... just like tradition I'll likely fall short, but hey who knows maybe this time I'll brake with tradition on that....

    Christopher

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  28. Tremendous fun! Email sent to you, Curt! As for me, 850 points - which is very challenging - but hey, that's what it's about!

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  29. I'm in again, 100 points for each member of the fellowship. :)

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    1. :D You need to have some targets in your life. This time I have already done some assembling and priming before the Challenge so I have more time for painting.

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  30. Email sent! Hope I sneak in to the challenge this year!

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  31. I'm amazed how the AHPC makes 3 months of painting seem fun, whilst the other 9 months seem a lot more difficult.....I can't wait for this to get going!

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  32. I've been stockpiling all sorts of troops from the dawn of time to the 40k future...I'll see where the butterflies take me! ;)
    To focus, I do intend to view the challenges and also submit once again a challenge to hide some tribesmen within your entries, or even a submission whole of true warriors from tribal lands!

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  33. Email sent, hope I can get on the list....

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  34. Email sent.... I hope to make the list!

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  35. The base roster is now full (!) but please send me a note if you wish to go onto the wait list. Odds are there will be a few of the Old Salts that will miss this campaign.

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  36. Managed to make the list and looking forward to posting with everyone. Love the bonus themes selected, perfect for some Landsknechts that was trying to get round to painting

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  37. I need this to get back at the brushes. Too many distractions, too much faffing in recent months. For my eighth challenge!

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  38. I'd be delighted to nail my colours to the mast on my 5th appearance with a 1k target. Looking forward to it as always!

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    1. Lightweight... anyone would think you had a property job.. not just swanning around the Pacific looking cool...

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    2. As long I am doing the latter I will remain happy about it too!

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    3. Are you in real estate too then Paul?

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  39. If Millsy can do two challenges, so can I! I'm in Curt, expect a healthy dose of Undead!

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    1. I love it when people use my ill advised behaviour to justify their own...

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  40. I'm new here and new to painting minis, but I'd like to sign up if there's room for another one. If I get on the list, I'll go for 300 pts (or is that too ambitious for a noob?).

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  41. Greetings to all! I’m a new ‘kid’ in this year’s Challenge. I’ve been lurking and admiring everyone’s efforts since year one. I’ve finally plucked up the nerve to launch a major assault on my own lead mountain this Winter. I really am a s l o w painter. My goal is to paint and base 500 points of beautiful classic Old School, predominately, Ral Partha 25 mil fantasy figures that I’ve been Colle ting since the mid-70s. Well, I’ve got some Ideas for terrain too . . . 🤫

    Thanks for letting me play, and Thanks to Curt and his Magnificent Minions for making this all happen.
    ~ Tom T

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  42. Hello Curt,

    many thanks for putting me on the reserve list. After taking a break in 2017 I should join this most honourable fellowship again. Please put me in with my usual 500 points.

    I'm looking forward to seeing lots of sublime entries again!

    Cheers
    Stefan

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    Replies
    1. You're on Stefan! I've got you marked down for 500.

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  43. Put me down for 750points. Haven't touched a paintbrush since March!
    Crikey!

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    Replies
    1. Nine months off is a healthy break, but we'll get you back into the rhythm again soon.

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  44. OK I am in too after a year out. Due to having a new puppy I can't see me doing as much so go with 500 points.

    Ian

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  45. Email also sent Curt, but I waited till the 30th deadline.... 750 for me if I can squeeze in.

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  46. Belated best wishes to all the Challengers, glad to see that this is still going.

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  47. Hi,

    I'd really like to take part in the challenge but I cannot find any details about 2019 or 2020. I suspect that I might be too late to sign up for 2019 but then again it's not December yet so I'd love to give it a go as I have a Spanish Reconquista game coming up at Partizan in May so any impetus I can build would be very useful to me yielding the requisite results and getting the game on the table at the show! If you read this, please contact me and let me know where I stand. Many Thanks, Darrell.

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