From JohnM: Some Peasants (20 points)

Someone has to be in charge!

Well it is my IXth Challenge and since I am going to be back and forth over the next couple of weeks, I thought I would get up early and paint some figures. I am not really sure what the cut-off date is for the first submission but best to take no chances.

Anyone who has ever looked at my blog knows that we play a fair amount of SAGA and although I am well provided with warbands, I do need some more terrain as well as some ancillary figures. One common scenario in SAGA is an attack on a Baggage Train or raiding a village and stealing sheep. Well I have the baggage train and some sheep but I have never had any villagers, so I thought I would go ahead and get some.

These come from Gripping Beast and are quite nice. They were primed using the Zenithal Method with an airbrush and then painted using Citadel colours and washes. I like how they came out, nice and simple and a good way to start the challenge.

Well I am off to The Rock tomorrow, the first time I will spend Xmas in my homeland for more than 25 years. You can imagine that I am a little excited. My Old Mam, who 90 this year, is I suspect even more excited as this is the first time she will have all her children and grandchildren for Xmas.

Well Good Luck to all in The Challenge, have a Happy Xmas and a terrific New Year.

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Well John, here we are at Challenge IX. You're the only one other than myself that has slogged through all nine of them, so it's great to have you in the ranks once again. 

Great work on these villagers. They look amazingly perky in light of their lot in life, full of vim and vigour. I especially like the bluff chap on the far right, with the staff over his shoulder - he's looks to be a fella whose going to make a stand and not accept his lot in life. Yep, it won't end well at all.

20 points for you, John. Well done! 

Have a wonderful holiday visit with your family in Newfoundland! We'll see you back in a week or so.

From TamsinP - Buns, Cluckers and 'Uncle Joe' (12 points)

It was inevitable that I would make a contribution on Day 1 of the Challenge, so here you go.

Something tasty for Samwise?

Continuing in similar vein, some dinosaur descendants:

The bunnies and birdies are 28mm from Warbases. as the individual critters are quite small, I think 2 points per base would be reasonable.

These will be used as jump off points or objective markers for Chain of Command, or simply as scatter terrain.


And finally my Uncle Joe

Well, an IS-2 tank...

The turret isn't glued in position, so that it can be rotated for "What A Tanker!"

This is 15mm from Plastic Soldier Company. For the base I decided to try something new - layering the static grass. I think there are something like five different layers (and three different grass mixes) on this one. It definitely looks much better than the standard "dab on PVA, apply static grass, shake off excess" technique.

I haven't added decals yet as I haven't decided what to add to this and the T34s I've previously painted.

Scoring:
Bunnies - 2 points
Chickens - 2 points
IS-2 - 8 points
Total - 12 points

Now to start on my next entries....

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Ah, our Wargaming Girl has arrived to begin her climb up the rolls - welcome back Tamsin! 

The bunnies and chickens are great additions for almost any tabletop while that IS-2 serves as the brutal counterpoint to this submission. I like the effect the extra steps provided for your groundwork Tamsin. The multiple shades and lengths adds some nice texture and colour depth to the base - well done.

12 points for you to break your duck. Now you're off to the races. :)

From MartinC - Here we are, and here we are again (63 Points)

Gentlemen (and ladies) Start your engines. Photo hangs in my house

So I started my Christmas holidays a day early so that I could crack on with the Challenge. But it was the office party yesterday and 9 hours of drinking had the expected effect. I woke up still drunk, been a while since I did that, and have been generally sketchy all day.

Excuses done I have done some painting. JamesM of this parish has switched me on to 15mm WW2 and I have British Para force and I've been building 352 Fusilier company as opposition. To complete the paras I have some scout cars, bought from James, which can be used during the bocage fighting in July.

3 Daimlers and 4 Dingos. No clue the maker - James will know

Pretty simple to paint and I kept the bases very simple and imagined them on the road. Not convinced it worked

The wash has worked very well I think. I added some extra stowage and think that I could have put more on.

So that is 7 vehicles at 8 points each giving me 56 pts and a nice start.

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Love that rally race photo! 

Well, I must say you've done a great job for a plastered prof., Martin. (I know I'd be completely useless tanked with a brush.) These ACs really look the business. I especially like the weatherbeaten look (that wash worked the business) and the metalled road is a nice effect. I'm going to add a few extra points for the crewmen which will put you at 63 points for the squadron. Nicely done, sir!

Now, go have an asprin with an eggnog and enjoy the holidays.

From BenitoM: Opening Drop: British Airborne Hollywoodian Characters (20 Points)

My main painting project for the Challenge this year will be a British Airborne platoon for Chain of Command. This will include the core infantry sections but also some support units, like specialists (flamethrower, engineers, etc) as well as armour.

I’m starting top-bottom, and today I can show you the top-brass of the unit, featuring a trio of very Hollywoodian characters and a sergeant (superior junior leader in Chain of Command’s parlance).

The first model is Major General 1^st British Airborne Division Robert Elliott “Roy” Urquhart (aka Sean Connery) featuring a well known scene of the film A Bridge Too Far  when he shoots a German soldier passing by the window of the house where ha has just taken shleter

The second is Lt Col 2^nd Parachute Battalion John Frost (aka Anthony Hopkins) gathering his men in the DZ at the sound of the hunting horn (apparently it was a quite effective way of sending orders in the midst of a battle, as tried and tested in June 44 during the Pegasus Bridge raid). He’s the turly great hero of Operation Market Garden, resisting 3 days in the bridge with a reduced group of lightly armed men against overwhelming odds almost until the last cartridge.   

The third character is Major "A" Company, 2^nd Parachute Battalion Allison Digby Tahtam-Warter  (played by Christopher Wood in the film) featuring his trademark umbrella. The story goes that he carried the umbrella because he had problems to remember the password after landing… and what’s most British than a gentleman carrying an umbrella!.   

All models presented here are from the Warlord British Airborne range. The command trio are metal of an special blister, while the sergeant is from the multi-pose plastic box released in 2017 if I’m not wrong. I must say that I generally despised the plastic Warlord models in the past but in this case I’ve been impressed with its quality of this plastic range, very far away from the first launches (more specifically the horrible British Infantry box).

 

I have aso published this morning in my blog (unshamed promotion and publicity) a "how-to" guide to paint British paratroopers (my way), that I hope will help those gamers out there who may consider camo schemes too challenging for them.  

According to the Challenge rules of engagement, 4 x 28mm models x 5 points each, = 20 points

My first drop on the landing zone.

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Benito, your first 'stick' looks just terrific! I think your approach to the tricky Denison camo is excellent - what I use works well, but is rather laborious, so I'll be dropping by to see your recipe. The hunting horn and umbrella are absolute classics, and seems all but mandatory for any British para collection destined for Arnhem. Warlord really hit it out the park with these models and you've done them great justice.

Well done Benito! I look forward to seeing the rest of this project come to fruition over the next few months.

From PaulS: Folk-ing hell (5 Points)

The day didn't quite start off as quickly as I hoped thanks to a quick visit to my parents and food shopping... but I got something done to start the ball rolling. Hopefully this afternoon will go a little bit better... after a bit of uni work... :/

First out of the gates on my painting queue is a Strawbear from the Crooked Dice Mummer Procession. Earlier this year Carl decided to release some sets that inherit the spirit of British 70s folk horror for 7TV called Children of the Fields. The Strawbear, according to actual history, was part of rural traditions where one of the ploughmen would be dressed up like this and would dance around the village on 12th night. According to Crooked Dice (and I'm included to agree), they are pretty darned creepy and a villainous extra capable of leading the Mayday Parade cast.. if you're unlucky you may get to see the parade grow.

There are only so many ways you can show off one figure that is made of straw. He is a single 28mm figure, so should be 5 points.

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A Strawbear!? Wow, how cool (and creepy) is that? A great opening mini, Paul, to which I'm sure many of us (certainly myself) will be going over the the Crooked Dice site to see what else they have to offer. I look forward to seeing your parade expand with other unsettling denizens of 'Children of the Fields'. 

Welcome back, sir, and that's 5 points for you.

From PaulO'G: My AHPC sets sail in the Nautilus (2 Points)

This year I wanted to try and submit an entry on the opening day - challenging when the start time is 1700 local. Naturally, I went with a relatively simple model: the central playing piece from VPG's solo boardgame Nemo's War.

In this very enjoyable game his technological marvel has been given an artistic makeover and I wanted to give it due tip 'o the hat. I eschewed the traditional metallic and iron grey and instead adopted the serene underwater hues that this more organic looking Nautilus would acquire in her natural element beneath the waves...

My Nautilus is also my opening salvo in the Naval themed side duel, "Engage the Enemy More Closely!"  I suggest she is worth 2 points (equivalent to a 6mm vehicle) to get me off the mark.

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Well, there's lots to love in this opening post. The terrific miniature (that aqua blue is a spot-on choice for the 'Nautilus'), the description of the game (which I now have to hunt down a copy) and the terrific manifesto of the 'Brush Wielder's Union' (which seems to align perfectly with the tenants of the Painting Challenge). What an excellent opening post, Paul!

And you've stolen a march (a sail? a tack?) on us in the Naval duel. Curses!

Well done and welcome back, Paul!

From MilesR: and so it begins, Spanish Generals in 15mm (12 Points)

My first entry in this year's Challenge is Napoleonic in nature.  Two Spanish command stands.  The single figure is a Brigade command unit and the pair on a slightly larger base is meant to be used for a Division.  The figures are 15mm in scale and from AB Miniatures via Eureka USA.

I have developed a real affinity to 15mm Napoleonic miniatures.  One can really stage a true spectacle on the tabletop and they are fun to paint up.  On a more practical side, 15's are a lot more efficient to store which is becoming my binding constraint with my hobby.

As with past Challenges, number IX will be focused on finishing out the forces I need to stage a series of large participation games this summer at Historicon.  The game will be Napoleonic themed (but perhaps not strictly historical.....) and I'll need a lot of figures.

The best figures I've discovered for 15mm Nappy's are AB - they are simply superb and my adoration of them rivals what I feel for the Perry brothers miniatures (in a totally non-creepy, manly gamer way).  The bulk of the my projected forces, however, will be from Old Glory's Blue Moon line of Napoleonic which are nice figures but an order of magnitude cheaper, especially if one purchases an Old Glory Army membership for a year.  That membership costs $50.00 US but I've saved many more times that in recent purchases.

So how many figures will I need this summer - probably close to 3,000 +/-.  How many do I have done "pre-challenge" maybe 2,400ish but I cheated with more than half of those as they were purchase pre-painted (I feel soooo ashamed).  Here's a glimpse of some of the French infantry in the troop cabinet:

One can never have too many Napoleonic miniatures - can one?  If any of you ever meet my wife the answer is emphatically NO!

I believe this submission will net me me 12 points for 3 mounted figures in 15mm scale.

Good luck everyone - I am very excited that the madness has commenced again!

Back to the painting bench!







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It wouldn't be a Painting Challenge without Miles closely following-up my opening salvo - it's always wonderful o have you on the roster, sir.

These are very nice, Miles. I'm entirely in your camp in the admiration of the amazing castings that AB produces - they are all little gems, more like 28s (if not better in many cases). The officer is the broad brimmed hat is excellent. You've done a terrific job on these two command stands. I especially like the punchy colours you've used, especially the reds and russets. These smaller scales always seem to benefit going with a more saturated colour palette like you've done here. 

Well done Mr. Reidy! 12 points to start your meteoric climb up the points ladder. :)

Challenge IX Begins -The start of the Fellowship - Frodo and Sam

Welcome to the 9th edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! 

In keeping with tradition, I'm opening the show with our first entry. You see, it allows me to both play the gracious, bumbling host, and, even for just a few hours, place myself on the top of the heap in the points standings. :)

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This past summer I began reading through the Tolkien canon following the chronological order of the stories. As I've not read the core books since my childhood the process has largely been a study in nostalgia. 

In working through the books what really impressed me was the tremendous importance Tolkien placed on value of allies, friends and companionship. This made me reflect that I'm very thankful for all the great friends I've made over the past eight years of the Challenge, and I resolved to make 'Fellowship' serve as the overarching theme for this edition. I think we all deserve some good camaraderie after what has been a rather bruising year, and I hope we can all add a few more over the coming months.

Right, enough faffing - onto my first entry. 

Here we have the starting pair of the 'Fellowship of the Ring', Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. 

These are from the original metal range offered by Games Workshop at the start of the Peter Jackson trilogy. I have some of the more recent plastics, and while the animation and quality is quite good I find they still lack the crispness and definition of the early metal sculpts. 

Of course source material for the painting was easy to come by, with loads of books and movie stills available both in the home library and on the net.

The big base is a limited edition resin cast of Balin's Tomb which was offered by GW after the release of the first film. I actually forgot I had it, being it was buried in the shadowy depths of the Lead Shed. I only discovered when I was looking for some LotR figures after  being inspired re-reading the books.  

It's a nicely crafted piece, with loads of detail and nifty labeled base-slots for each of the nine companions of The Fellowship. I did a quick series of layered coats with the airbrush, a few washes and then picked out the details with a fine brush. I wasn't wild about the GW branding so I just left it black, but I did a bit of ink blending with 'The Fellowship' raised label and the character names to give them a graduated red-gold effect.

My plan is to add the remaining members to the Fellowship over the duration of the Challenge, hopefully completing it before we wrap-up in March.

So, that makes it 10 points for Frodo and Sam and let's say another 10 for the base, as its roughly half of a 6 x 6 cube of terrain. So 20 points to begin my climb to my target of 1200. Woo. 

Well, to paraphrase Bilbo, every great adventure begins with a first step. :)

Again, welcome to the Painting Challenge everyone! 

I'm going to grab a bit of sleep and then I'll start posting entries in earnest. 

Confirm. Confirm. We have wheels up and brushes free!