AHPC VIII Nominations for Challegers' Choice

Hi All!

Below, in alphabetical order, are the nominations for this year's Challengers' Choice. Please review and cast your votes for your three favourites. The announcement on the voting results, along with the rest of the prizes and sign-off, will be on Sunday, April 8th.

Enjoy the gallery!


AnthonyO's 'Empire of Dust'

AlexS' Monster Madness

ByronM's 'Kingdom Death Dragon King'

Curt's 'White Lion'

Curt's 'Gendarme Casualty Marker'

Curt's '2mm Breitenfeld, 1631'

Curt's Body of Work

DaveX's 'Vistula Drummer'

DaveX's 'Vistula Legion'

DaveX's 'Winter Germans'

DebD's 'Minotaur Shaman'

DebD's 'Female Ranger'

EvanH's 'Pictish Standing Stones and Oratory Chapel'

GregB's 'Byzantine Cavalry'

GregB's Body of Work

JamesM's Artillery

JimI's 'Medieval Infantry'

JohnM's 'Monte Cassino'

Kent's Napoleonics

KyleC's '2nd Daemon Prince'

LeeH's Zulu Project

MartinN's 'Roman Dromedary' 

MartinN's 'Soviet Tank Rider Squad'

MartinN's Vehicles

MichaelA's 'Guinny and the Grail Knights'

MichaelA's 'Monster Mash'

Millsy's 'Hellblaster Volley Gun'

SidneyR's Troops in Flight, Laarden

SidneyR's Le comte de Garnier's Alsatian Horse, 1688

SidneyR's Body of Work

...and an Honourable Mention goes to:

Arthur! 

Side Duels and Challenges Final Results

Hi All,

I've posted the final points update and results for the Side Duels and Challenges. Here's the summary:

Parent Duel (SD1)
AdamC reached his target first on 20/02/2018.

Age of Black Powder Duel (SD2)
No surprises here with KentG smashing it with a total of 4,089 points.

Renaissance Duel (SD3)
SidneyR finished top with 693 points.

Washington vs Cornwallis (SD4)
MilesR came out on top with 17 votes to MartinC's 12 votes.

One Hump or Two Camel Challenge (SD5)
DaveD nicked this one with 12 votes to Sander's 11 votes.

Fantasy Challenge (SD6)
Iannick nicked this one at the post with a final 151 point entry.

1/1200 Napoleonic Naval Duel (SD7)
Apathy won this one with no entries at all from either MilesR or PaulO'G as far as I'm aware.

Well done to everyone involved. You're ALL winners. Well, except the "participants" in SD7 who need to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror!

Thanks everyone for your support and friendly emails over the course. This is a complicated beast to keep track of with all the weird and wonderful rules plus people's submissions coming in all the time. Hopefully I've got everything right!

Cheers,
Millsy The Duels Wallah

From SanderS: What I Did During Challenge VIII (1048 points)

Hoi there folks!

And so we open our eyes and the Challenge is all but over.. For me this is a dreaded moment, the end-review of my accomplishments during the Challenge. Dreaded? Yes dreaded because it's basically the End of the Challenge and that is usually followed by a Hobby-depression on my part. Sure Curt is still going to publish the Prize Ceremony and stuff but this will be last post we as mere mortal Challengers are allowed to put up on the blog and as such it's over and done.

Last week has seen my family come down with a very nasty case of the flu (first the boys and more recently my wife and myself) so I have been in omission as far as replying to all your excellent recap posts is concerned, save to say: a great big congrats to you all for making this year's Challenge such a feast of figure frenzy yet again!

I have made two rather crappy pictures of what both Arthur and I have painted up curing the Challenge and here they are.

A few miniatures are missing in my picture since they were for pupils of the schoolclub and they have now taken possession of them.

Arthur's picture has a figure missing as well as his Mum has taken the Elf he has done for her along to work to sit on her desk.

Oh and for the mugshot I will go with the picture Curt himself made of us, while we met at Crisis in Antwerp:

I am not going to bore you with a Challenge Evaluation here, I might do that on my own blog or not as it happens. What I will say is this: until this Challenge I really never did understand what the Minions, Miles as spreadsheet Guru and Curt himself, have to do to keep this Colossus moving and I can now say: it's not a small feat! So here's a big and well meant

HUZZZAH! 

To all of you for doing your best and perhaps till next year!

Cheers Sander

From IainW: End of Challenge Review

It's the end of the challenge so here is my review

I have been much more productive than my previous challenge  I guess that WW2 soviets are easier to paint than gendarmes? I've also been a bit better organised which helps. I'm most pleased  about producing a viable  bolt action force I also seem to have produced more British civil war figures than I remembered!

Thanks a lot Curt for a great challenge and of course to the minions, especially Sidney for leading all the Monday mob, and congratulations to Sidney on winning the Renaissance duel, suitable floppy hatted figures are being sourced and thanks to all my fellow challengers for their comments and good cheer which makes this the splendidly supportive experience that it is!

All the best Iain

From AdamC: Challenge Review

Thanks Curt, Minions and all for another excellent challenge.  I don't have a true group shot I just didn't like the look so I've done group shots. 

The Footsore collection(and one Bones Viking) 66 miniatures Odin stands a bit of place among the Irish and Norse Gaels. 

An close up image of Brian Boru and the other Irish leaders on Boru's hill.  The Curt Geld miniature didn't sell so I have made a donation to Exta-Life on my own. 

The musicians and the tea party another 9 miniatures from Eureka miniatures.

The three Bones Ogre and Oni.

The 5 Bones Lycanthropes.

The 4  wild west version of the Wizard of Oz also by bones.

Bones Monsters, hero's and heroic monsters.  All together I painted a total of 94 25/28 mm figures

The final piece a scratch built 15mm World War II anti-tank bunker the only 15mm scale miniatures I painted this year.  I hit most of my painting goals this challenge.  I didn't get the Bones Mausoleum completed but it was started.  I accumulated 699 points a low total compared to previous years but this year had new challenges (a baby and home ownership). I'm planning to be back next year thanks for another great experience.  One thing I regret about the challenge is I didn't get to look at and comment on as many of my fellow challengers painting.

GregB - That's a Wrap, Thanks Everyone!

Look at the mess I make in my kitchen...my wife Linda is a saint...but it's time to cheer for the Jets!

Thanks to all for another wonderful Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  I did not get to do a final wrap-up post last year due to work, and this year has been more of the same, but I thought I would try and cram one in anyway...

So many folks have these nice light boxes and other frilly photography nonsense...I just don't have the time. Maybe one day. But here are a few blurry pics of the different subjects I managed to cover in this past Challenge.

For the Emperor! 28mm Second Empire French infantry and cavalry

For the King! 28mm Prussians for the Franco-Prussian war.

In all it worked out to:

- Franco-Prussian War: 57 foot and seven cavalry in 28mm (I might have that count wrong...so many months ago, it was...)
- Cold War-era Bundeswehr: Nine MBTs, four recon vehicles, six AFVs, two SPAA vehicles and two attack helicopters
- Cold War-era Canadian Forces: 12 MBTs, four APCs, four AFVs, three SPGs and a platoon of mechanized infantry, about 29 castings strong 
- Byzantines - 16 cavalry

Paltry theme submission production

For themes, I managed one 15mm tank destroyer, one 15mm AA gun team and one 28mm mounted First-Crusade-era musician. 

Looking back, there is a shocking amount of focus in my submissions this year, and a shocking lack of science fiction and 30k material.  I haven't been this "locked in" to historical themes in many years...but I loved all of it.  The least "planned" aspect was all of the 15mm Cold War material.  Once I started the one vehicle, before long, I was off and...well, you know how that goes.

Some armoured might for the Budeswehr!

Highs? So many! I'm proud to have whipped together a Canadian battlegroup for 15mm Cold War - that's fun. I'm chuffed about the Franco-Prussian war stuff, and the more I paint for, and read about, that period, the more I love it.  But most of all I'm probably excited to finally have painted some Byzantines in 28mm...I hope more will follow!

Leopard C1 squadron

RCHA's big guns!

Support elements for the 15mm Canadians

The Canadian foot-sloggers, ready to move out and defend NATO allies...or just get some beer, whatever...

Any disappointments? Sure. The theme submissions just didn't work out this year, and that was a downer, after a couple years in a row of managing to hit each theme round.  I gave it a genuine effort, but some of themes were just too far off the mark for my fading lizard brain, and I had to take a pass just to save some stress. 

Byzantine kataphractoi cavalry - hope to have more of these along next year...

Thanks again to Jamie for his fantastic minion efforts.  I also want to acknowledge the consistent support of so many Challengers, too many to name them all.  But MartinN in particular continues to inspire with his mind-blowing brushwork.  My friend Byron from right here in Winnipeg rolled out whole new forces (one of which we have already gamed with - so cool!) and that was really something to watch. Alex over in Russia managed to have me smiling with every single submission, but especially some of that terrain.  And Tamsin was there with a supportive comment every time - I hope she knows how much that counts - thanks Tamsin!

Big thanks most of all to my great friend Curt.  I miss you my friend, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.  I owe you a trip or three to Regina, and I'm working on that...

The NHL playoffs loom.  And shockingly, the Winnipeg Jets look to be a part of it...I know heart break will be found there, but regardless - GO JETS GO! See you all next winter!

RossM - Challenge VIII Group Shot

This is my 7th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and I have enjoyed this as much as each of the previous challenges I have taken part in. The challenge to me has always been about having fun with a hobby and past time that I am both interested in and passionate about. Its also about learning through participation in what has become a calendar event in the blogosphere of miniature painting.

Each year is different and this year saw me pass my challenge point total by a huge 2% coming in at 306 against a challenge total of 300 points. Had planned on passing this total by far more this year and have several different projects that were originally planned for completion in the challenge that will see their time later rather than sooner.

As has become a part of the challenge here are my group shots which where taken earlier today and I forgot to take one with me at their side.

The whole 306 points

My favourite piece this year has been the MKIII in 20mm from Britannia/Grubby Tanks shown top left below.

28mm and 20mm  - 86 points

15mm Undead - 220 points

Below shows where it all happens now and if you look closely you will see some of the unfinished miniatures that were mentioned throughout the challenge.

The mug shot and the great unfinished at the painting desk

Over the last few challenges I have returned to the miniatures that brought me into this hobby and as I am already planning for next year's challenge here are some more retro figures from the early eighties  - DL2 Aly Morrison's Hobgoblins. If anyone out there has anymore of these please leave a message on current post on my blog

For this year's Curtgeld I opted to donate to charity and as Diabetes has been in my family for several generations I have donated to Diabetes UK.

Looking forward to following everyones progress throughout the year and the calling to the challenge  in October/November.

Peace and health to everyone

Cheers, Ross

RayR - Group Shot

Hi All

My rather meager haul for this years Challenge. All 25mm figures from me this year apart from 2 figures. Here we have
11 x Horse ( 1 not in the pic)
39 x foot figures
1 x Wagon
10 x Pigs
12 x Geese
1 x Artillery Piece
6 x small terrain pieces
&
2 1/72 scale figures

With these figures a managed to get to the dizzy heights of 40th place, which is my lowest placing in the Challenge so far. Next year I'll be aiming for a top 20 place, which is gonna be some going as 20th place this year made 1220 points!!!!

Changing the subject.......my Mrs hates that T-Shirt!

Last of the Mohicans

Flight Bonus Round

Donnybrook Horse

Mounted Civvies

BFG Bonus Round

Ollie Cromwell

Oink!

Musician Bonus Round

Childhood Bonus Round

King Louis

French Grenadiers

Monstrous Bonus Round

All for One

Cardinal's Guard

A Wagon!

Cheers everyone!!