From SamuliS: Panzergrenadiere, vorwärts zum Siege voran! (62 points)

Time to get myself on the scoreboard as well. And probably in the highest position I will ever be in the Challenge after this point!

Being a clever man I'd decided to start my Christmas holiday early to have some painting time when the Challenge started. However the missus caught wind of this cunning plan and my calender was immediately booked full of Christmas shopping and visits to various Kitchen renovation companies, so getting these done took a bit longer than I expected. I'd hoped to be able to use the whole starting day to paint these then and grab the lead for just a fleeting moment, but alas that was not to be as I only got in a few hours of painting with all the tasks bestowed upon me.

This is my fifth time taking part in the challenge and going back to 2012 I started my first challenge with Flames of War German Grenadiers, which were actually the first 15mm infantry I ever painted. So as a homage  to those humble beginnings I decided to paint up some more German infantry. Luckily my work has improved quite a bit during the time.

The old Grenadiers have gotten pushed to the back of the storage space, with most of my other German LW troops a few years ago as the paint job isn't really up to the standard I want on my table nowadays so I haven't been playing German lists for a while outside of Early War which I've painted later on. With a tournament coming up in the end of January where we are bringing a list from both sides and can switch up to allow for Red vs. Blue games at all times. So perfect excuse to paint up some new troops and restart my LW German force. I'm starting of with a single platoon of Panzergrenadiers with Panzerfausts and a Panzerschrek team coming in at 31 miniatures which should give me 62 points. All Battlefront minis. Mostly quite good, but there are a few with slight casting problems that do show on the minis even after my cleaning efforts.

One reason I haven't gotten around to painting Germans too much is that I find painting camouflage on 15mm infantry a massive pain. It never really seems to look correct on that scale. Single colour uniforms are just so much nicer to paint up. Still Grenadiers in camouflage smocks are iconic to the German Late War look so I had to man up and get these painted. Definitely not a faithful representation of the Splittermuster, but looks good enough from a regular gaming distance. After these it's time for some FlaK and then I can get to the tanks, which really are the main thing for the list I'm building!

With these out of the way it's time to leave for Christmas celebrations. A busy weekend ahead as we are spending Christmas at our relatives and traveling between a few places so no painting time until next week I'm afraid. At least I've got a few books with me with suitable hobby subjects.

With that I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May your gift sacks be full of lead and plastic! With a Secret Santa gift in my pile from another mysterious gamer, I can't wait until it's evening ;)

Here in Finland using Reindeer isn't the sole right of Santa Claus. There are even Police Reindeer!

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Okay, I'll bite Samuli, why on earth does that Reindeer have a police 'waistband'? And perhaps the other, more pressing question: Is the Reindeer firearm certified? I love the whole idea of wildlife being able to shoot back. 'Gee, nice red hat Mr. Hunter. Thanks for standing out so well. BLAMM!!'

Anyhoo. Lovely work on these figures Samuli. I remember your first foray into this scale four years ago and so it's great to see you back at them again. I agree, camo in 15mm is a bit of a grind, but you've done a brilliant job with these lads. I look forward to seeing the upcoming flack and armoured units.

62 points for you sir! Enjoy your Christmas break Samuli!

From AlanD: German Revolution, 1918 (225 points)

To the barricades!
 

For my first submission this year, here are a bunch of Spartacist revolutionaries from Berlin in 1918-1919. The figures are all from Tsuba Miniatures, available through Empress Miniatures, and are sculpted by Paul Hicks. I would probably write more about them, but I am currently sitting just out of the rain outside my brother's house so I can connect to his email, as my internet at home has completely died, just in time for the Challenge.

43 figures and a heavy MG by my calculations should net me 225 points. Rote Fahne voran!

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I must say I'm a bit envious of this post as I have a load of German Revolution figures awaiting paint and Alan had handily beat me to the punch - and in what a terrific way. Absolutely fabulous work Alan.  These figures just shout character. I love the flagstone bases with the political posters and the card buildings really set the scene. Will there be Friekorps to face them and perhaps an armoured car or two clearing the streets? I very much look forward to seeing this project develop (once you get your internet connection sorted out).

If you want further inspiration please check out Jonathan Rabb's 'Rosa: A Novel'. It's a detective novel set during the 1918 revolution. It centers around the death of Rosa Luxemburg and a series of related murders. Very good read.

 

225 Points for your first assault on the roster. Great work.

From BenF: Aaaaand we're off and painting... (48 Points)

Any of you who frequented my blog (littletinmen.blogspot.com) will know that over the past year I've been... well, shall we say less than prolific - with my online presence of late.
Real life has taken hold, but while I've not been posting much online (apart from twitter), I've been busily painting away, and particularly working on speeding up my methods so that I can get some armies painted. I must say, it's been working well for me, as over the past 12 months i've completed I've a 15mm Roman army, a 20mm Chain of Command Waffen SS platoon, a load of 6mm Cold War Soviets, as well as 28mm French and British Peninsular War forces for Sharp Practice 2.

So, this challenge is just perfect for me to try to push myself a little. My goals for this are to get a shed-load of 15mm Forged in Battle ancients painted up for Sword and Spear/Impetus/To The Strongest. I'll start with some bits and pieces to complete my Republican Romans, then on to Alexandrian Macedonians, Carthaginians, Achaemenid Persians, and possibly some 3rd century Romans and Sassanid Persians.. I've also got some WW2 20mm odds and ends that I need for my Chain of command forces, some of the lovely 28mm Fantasy Flight Star Wars figures, and will also be starting on some 28mm AWI forces for Sharp Practice 2.

My goal is 400 points, which i'm relatively confident I should be able to meet. As a teacher, I've just begun 5 and a half weeks of holidays, and other than some work around the house and a week away, I don't have much planned, sop should have heaps of time for painting.

First off, here are three elements (12 mounted figures) of 15mm Numidian light horse. I used to paint everything in the 'Dallimore' style, layering up. Looks great, but takes ages, particularly if you actually want to get an army completed. These are base/wash/highlight, which to my eye looks quite similar, and takes much, much, much, less time to complete.

While the Numidians can serve with my S&S Romans, I've based them to tie in with my planned Carthaginian army, so have gone for a southern Mediterranean feel. These are the gorgeous Forged in Battle figures. Next off the bat for my 15mm ancients are some war elephants and Italian allies.

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First, welcome aboard Ben! It's great that ypu're using the Challenge to get a project off the table - many (including myself) have done amazing things during this three months of madness.

These Numidians look wonderful - very neat and tidy. I really like the decorated hide shields and the chunky bases. Very, very nice work.

I look forward to seeing your upcoming nellies and Italians.  I have a suspicion you will get a LOT done in the next five weeks.

From MartinC: At last, I've started (75 points)

I had such grand plans for a nice early points bomb, but I've had a streaming cold for the last 3 days and kept sneezing on the figures. Much better now, it was only a cold. I have managed to finish these 15 figures.

The are Perry Plastic Colonial British and are fantastic figures that were sent to me as a secret Santa present, organised by Ian and Cath .  I opened it in error (I was slightly drunk - OK quite drunk) so I made them once I'd sobered up and the plan was to paint them all by Christmas. I'll have to make do with 15 for now.

I changed my painting style a little. Normally I start with flesh and work out but this time I painted the uniforms and then added a shade wash and then dry brushed the highlights before painting the rest. This has worked OK but needed a slightly darker shade. 

Good to have started before Christmas. Happy Christmas one and all.

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Martin, you sound a mess. First drunk and then a head cold? Well, at least you're sober and healthy now. Well, healthy anyway. :)

These are very nice, Mr. Cooke. You did quite well with the flesh. Like you normally do, I paint the flesh first, so I know how difficult it can be to go in later, especially with cowled or armoured figures. Nonetheless you've done a great job with these lads.  How many do you have left of these to do? Is this a part of a larger project?

75 points to get you on the roster Martin - Well done!

From GregB: 28mm Legion Space Marines and Dreadnought (55 points)

Troops of the 12th Legion, ready for action in GW's Horus Heresy

Hello once again to all of the participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! It's great to be back in the madness again, and I'm hoping to sneak this first submission in just before Christmas. 

 

Unit officer, equipped with power claws/back scratchers

When it comes to painting I don't do well with plans, and I'm not much for focus, but I am hoping to come out on top of my 30k side duel, so that is where I am starting this year.  This is a unit of Space Marines and a Dreadnought from GW's Horus Heresy setting, known colloquially by nerds like me as "Warhammer 30k". 

 

These fellows are carrying small flame-throwers...tasty...

These troops are from the 12th Legion, known charmingly as the "World Eaters".  This Legion sided with the Warmaster Horus in his civil war against the Emperor, and as such are "bad guys". The World Eaters are meant to be scary, ominous and keen on brutal, in-your-face conflict.  Dark, but necessary implements of order in a terrible universe. But in the hands of the GW writers, however, the World Eaters come across instead as comically homicidal.  The supreme commander of this formation is a character called "Angron" - and guess what - he's angry!  Their special formations are generally troops who have received further psychological augmentation that make them unstable and a bit nuts.

 

Regular assault grunts

So, the World Eaters are kind of silly, but I still like them, as I'm not that mature. I can see the Sons of Horus hanging back while letting these guys go in first to absorb some damage before they swoop in to finish things off.

 

Some weathering and chips painted on to make them look a bit worn

The World Eaters are fun to paint and you can make them look a little rough and ready without spattering blood effects etc. on the models.  That is the effect I tried with this group.  White is tricky sometimes, and I had a few problems on some of the models, but they got some heavy weathering which helps the problems go away :) The Forge World decal sheet was extra handy for helping add little bits of character and customization to the models.

The infantry models are assault marines, sporting jet packs and equipped with heavy, short-range pistols and flamethrowers as well as the chainsword, the ubiquitous face-smashing device of the grim and dark future.  

 

Rotary cannons are always the best in any sci-fi situation

The models are resin castings from Forge World - you can tell, as some of the jump packs have some appalling mold lines.  Forge World has great sculptors, but their casting quality is often indifferent at best...

 

Power unit at the back...not carbon neutral

The larger model is a Dreadnought, a heavy armoured support unit for the Space Marines.  The Dreadnoughts can be configured with a wide assortment of different weapons for different purposes.  It is armed with a rotary cannon (rule: rotary cannons are always awesome) and a power fist to punch large obstructions rather directly in the face.  This is a plastic model from GW's "Betrayal at Calth" game - a bit of a disappointment in terms of how wooden it looks, not GW's best work, but certainly easier to assemble than the resin ones from Forge World.

 

Large power fist ready for large punching work

There are ten 28mm infantry models in this submission, but one of these models is a test model, painted prior to the Challenge, so the squad should be worth 45 points.  I can't remember what a Dreadnought counted for, so I'm thinking it's like an artillery piece - 10 points?  So that will be 55 points.  A small step toward my goal of 1000, and more importantly, a small step toward revenge against JamieM!

Merry Christmas to everyone, look forward to a few months of painting madness ahead.

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Awesome work Greg! I've been keenly waiting who will get the first salvo in with the 30K duel. I know you're out for vengeance this year, so I'm not surprised to see you quick off the mark. 

The World Eaters. Really. Really?! They are such a ridiculous cartoon legion even in a universe of over-the-top cartoon silliness. GW should have ordered the writer who dreampt-up these guys to disembowel himself with his keyboard. C'mon, as if the Emperor wouldn't have thought it was a bad idea to have a loon called 'Angron' create a force of jacked-up mutant sociopaths who wanted to call themselves 'The World Eaters'. The case for a genetic 'mulligan' would have been quite high, I think. 

This all being said, I've always liked the colour scheme of these pre-Heresy loons. The embossed shoulder pads and transverse crest on the officer are nice touches. I also like the chipping to the paint and general wear-and-tear.

I agree with you Greg about the blah pose of the Contemptor dreadnought, it's pretty darn boring, in fact it looks a bit stunned. He looks like he's waiting in line at Starbucks and has just remembered he forgot which guys from the Assault Squad wanted soy milk with their lattes. Oh boy, they're really going to be angry now...

But I digress... 45 points for you Greg. Now, we eagerly await the other 30K duelists to make their voices heard.
 

From SteveB: First Week (45 Points)

I finally joined the challenge this year. I've been wanting to join for the last few but never got around to it.

My goal is to get some of the model that have been collecting dust on my shelf done. This also include some half finished projects( I know they don't count, but gives me an incentive to get done).

First day I managed to get 3 tripods from 'All quiet on the Martian Front' done. Not sure how to score these I think they are 20 mm so about 12pts each (36pts total).

These were very fun to paint. Got to try out some candied red to add some color. Tried some OSL red ( not happy with). Also got to use some Vallejo air metals, ( very nice, smooth coverage).

The last couple of days I managed to get lot done on some guard vehicles, just putting the finishing touches on them, should have them done by Monday or tuesday as well some progress on my Necromunda gang.

For the rest of the challenge I have my shaven blood bowl team I would like to do, as well a lot of batman miniature game figs to do.

Best of luck to everyone.

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Great work Steve and welcome aboard! 

Those Tripods look terrific. I particularly like the airbrushed steel, and the red crest you put on them is quite sharp. Design-wise, I've always thought their Tripods look like ballet dancers walking 'en pointe' and their heads look like they should be the other way around - but that's just me. 

I quite like how those how those Chimeras are coming along but your 'shaven blood bowl' sounds painful. :p

45 points for you!