MattW - A cunning plan my lord….XIII challenge intro

Dropped my hat in the circle again this this year, my fourth challenge! 

No codpiece challenge for me though! 

A transplanted Aussie living in western France. My wife and I are renovating a circa 1720 historically listed Maison Particular (basically a 5 story, 1200sqm 12 bedroom chateau sized building in town). My hobby room tends to move around the house as we renovate, currently up to my forth workspace move, but hopefully into my final workshop wargames space later this year (126sqm). I have been wargaming since I was ten years old (1970), first using the Napoleonic red book and airfix 1/76 Napoleonic figs graduating to metal mini figs later on. World War Two 1/72-20mm is the largest part of my collection (4000 figs and vehicles), followed by 28mm Napoleonic, then medieval and ancients. I also have a smattering of 20mm science fiction, modern and a big collection of 1/72 ww1 aircraft. 

My main project this year though wargames related is my planned wargames wing of the house which was the former servants quarters above the stables and carriage house, it will include a number of tables to a maximum of 20m long (to fit my big Arnhem table). The rooms will be for big linked campaign games for wargames holiday guests, a workshop with ducted spray booth, 3d printing area, and lots of display cabinets, a kitchenette , a 1940 WW2 RAF ready room officers style bar, my reference library and toilet amenities. 

My current workspace with quite a view of the neighbors 17th C hunting lodge opposite us. 

My current painting desk is in my current wargames room (countess Hercé, the former female salon on the first floor) while I complete renovations of my workshop and wargames retreat, this will become our 65sqm master suite eventually. 

The current Salon de Guerre

Challenge goals

I tend to be a bit of a squirrel, but I find that keeps me interested in painting so I always have side projects rotating through my desk….I will try to stay on target this year with the listed plans! 

I will add Work In Progress  for the challenge on to my two blogs Storm and Conquest for my ancients to ww1 and Kampfgruppewillow for ww2 and modern wargaming as we go along. 

My plan this year is 1000 points outside the AHPC studios and I plan to complete a few personal projects plus add armies for our wargames holiday business relating to local battles and sieges. 

Main focus this year

• 28mm Imperial  Roman’s 120 odd figs maybe more plus cavalry and artillery (main focus)
• 28mm Caesarian army project 120+ odd figs, artillery (second focus)
• 28mm German allied auxiliaries and cavalry 100 odd figs (third focus)
• 20mm American airborne, artillery, jeeps etc plus three Waco gliders 70+odd figures + 3 fighters for air support 
• 20mm Ww2 British Para - additions to my British para brigade, a supply section and drop area, complete three specific 1/72 horsa gliders for operation Tonga, plus my Hamilcar and tank, plus some jeeps and trailers transports. 
• 20mm Volkssturm fall of Berlin 3 battalions, artillery and bits. 70 odd figs plus artillery and AA bits 
• 20mm panzer Lehr - 70 odd figures plus half tracks, panzers etc for Normandy. 
• 20mm Cold War Warpac and Nato vehicles, plus VDV infantry regiment 100 figures  + 20-30 odd vehicles and 5 aircraft. 
• Terrain :- paint my growing pile of 28mm ancient, medieval and 20mm ww2 3d printed buildings 
• A few 28mm Napoleonic odds and sods Prussians, Austrians and French infantry and cavalry  60-180 figs planned and undercoated.
• Random 20mm vehicles, ww2 Dutch, ww2 Belgian, allied and German, just so I do not waste airbrush time really! 

I will also try to do a few pieces for the side adventures, mostly at a whim and if it involves aircraft (which I love building), naval or space ships.

All the best to everyone partaking in the challenge, may you produce pieces of art worthy of the brush God!

We are also offering a French Wargames Holiday prize for competitors, but I will let Curt explain that! 

Cheers

MattW 

French Wargame Holidays

Mayenne, France

MartinC Workspace and Plans and a picture to scare the kids

 Hi. So this is 9th challenge. Until the challenge I didn't know anyone else who wargamed and had only been to 1 wargames show. Now I'm in  a club and regularly put on games with DaveD and JamesM at shows. I'm Dave's labourer as he has no truck with equality.

I tend to paint a lot of things, quickly, so I tend to do well by weight of figures. I've never come top of the pile, as Miles is actually evil and makes Dave look like a soft touch. I've met Miles and he is annoyingly the nicest man in the world, something else he beat me at. So I sit 2nd on the all time list as the rose between those 2 thorniest of thorns.

I have the advantage of having a spare room to use as a painting room and occasional office. So obviously it's a mess

Pre challenge clutter and sorting out

It's all messy - I am. Yes that is a TV but I tend to have the radio channels on, esp the footie

Have this as your screen saver and the kids will never spend anytime on the internet

My plans are light this year, I've had a bad shoulder for 10 weeks and although I'm better now, I've no idea where I put my mojo. I have about 500pts worth of random stuff to paint, including grey scale WW2 for 02hundred. Once I've cleared them off the table I've got a 15mm Roman legion to paint and 10mm renaissance Polish and Ottoman armies. Then it's a raid of the lead mountain, to be honest my lead mountain is intimidating.

We will see how I progress as I'm minioning Sundays and I expect the Sunday crew to dominate the points table. 

Good luck to you all and I hope to see many of you on the chats, check out the challenge facebook page for links most nights

Martin

From DaveD - intro , workspace and plans

 Hi ,

So here I go with my 12th participation  to the annual challenge . - has it really been that many - yikes . 

Over that time the hobby work area has expanded considerably. I also live near and game with JamesM and MartinC - we are playing tomorrow in fact . We have even co-opted 2 new challenge virgins this year DennisC and SteveK - we may have to have a side duel - mind who knows if  Millsy can keep the spreadsheet up to date with it being upside down .

 

With the passing of time I now of course need more magnification in the form of an optivisor and lots of light.

Over the years the challenge had enabled a number of large projects to be seen through to completion - well let’s not say completion , but at least anything new being added comes from the darker recess of the lead  mine. 

• The Old West town of Serenity 
• The Sudan - the amount camels are stuff of challenge lore ..
• Normandy ww2 in 15mm 
• ACW in 10mm 
• Vietnam 

I tend to stick to my focus with not too much wandering into the bonus rounds though I think there may be a few cross overs into that this year . 

Focus will be on the Vietnam stuff as this still has lots of legs yet  , some new 15mm Cold War gone hot , possibly 10mm AWI . 

In addition I look after the Challenge Facebook page Click through link https://www.facebook.com/groups/179279788936540/

Over the years there has been a group of us participating in  the video chats and these have continued across this year. It’s a good way of helping each other be productive . Most video chats have started around 8pm UK time - or around about Paul O'G's  breakfast time.  I am planning to try and stagger hosting some to suit the wider global audience. The direct link to the video hangout is published on the Facebook pages. just click through. if you want to know more about these directly rather than FB contact me via e-mail direct or via your minion  and I will look to do some e mail updates . 

We are currently using Zoom - and if your not familier with that  - you've had a great pandemic!

 

Have a great challenge everyone 

AdamC: Work Space and Projects

 

My humble work space looking far cleaner and more organized than usual in honor of this photo. 

As you may or may not know I welcomed my second child this summer. I have many projects planned but little expectation of getting to all of them. 

There will be new ships from the age of sail and some from the Second World War as well.

Hopefully I'll get some Dark Age and Fantasy figures done as well.

I've also been thinking it's time that my Imagination the Grand Duchy of D'Argent made another challenge appearance. I have some other items in mind but we'll see how much brush time I can find. 

Work Space and Scratch Builds (GeoffreyT)

Hello fellow challengers,

My name is Geoff and this is my second challenge.  I am based in Perth, Western Australia, and this is the least remote location I have ever lived, and by comparable standards a gamers paradise.

The offensive image below is my messy painting workspace.   

Painting you say? Where are the paints?  They have been hidden away until H-hour on D-day.   In November I gathered my forces and found there was less unpainted lead in the cupboard than I expected.  Indeed, I expect to run out of minis during this challenge.

So, what I decided to do is 'go the full analog' and scratch build and sculpt some stuff to supplement the thin grey line of primed troopers.

I don't have any substantive experience in this field, so copied ideas and methods from various you-tubers access the inter-web.   That got the creative juices flowing, and I came up this this lot, and no doubt there is more to come.

Feel free to comment below if you recognise any of these globs of raw material pseudo fashioned into a miniature.  All nominally 28mm.  I'd be pleased if they were recognisable.  You may even be able to identify the source you-tubers I learned from.

I have tried a range of things; polymer clay, epoxy putty, beads and found objects, hot glue and polystyrene.   The polymer clay really surprised me by how good it is to use.  Having tried clay work when I was young, I was amazed how it is a completely different medium to work with.

Here is a close up of a few baddies

Anyhow, I am looking forward to laying a paint brush on these monstrosities, and cant wait until the challenge kicks off.

Kind Regards

Geoff.

 

From BenitoM: My XIII Challenge Plans... Inshallah!

Following the lead of our Snow Lord Master, let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Benito and I live in Madrid (Spain). My Twitter account is under my warring name Anibal Invictus; I also used to keep a blog of my games, but has been neglected for a loooong time now;  nevertheless I've decided to resurrect my blogging activity taking advantage of this year's Challenge and the Musk-driven turmoil at Twitter. Incidentally, feel free to become follower (wink^; wink^) of any or both of my social media accounts.

I have been wargaming since 1980, first with board games (Panzerblitz was my baptism of fire) and later all type of table games with minis (scifi, fantasy and now only historical games). I was a founder member of Club Dragon,  arguably Madrid's oldest and one of the city's largest wargames club. Anyone coming to my home town, do not hesitate to contact me, more than happy to invite you to beers and eventually a game.

My first Challenge was in 2015 so this will be my 8th participation. Those who followed me on previous years know that I usually focus on one core project, complemented with some random unrelated entries to score additional challenge points. Not this year, however. I turned 60 last May and had one of those epiphany moments in the summer where I realized that I own too many unfinished projects and realistically will lack the time to undertake them all.  

As a result, I have been actively destocking minis (and boardgames) most of the year, selling second hand and even giving them away to my local club's friends, aiming to significantly reduce my "pile of shame". 

Hence, this year no new project for me, but an effort to complete some of the past years army units and other bits and pieces, painting at leisure and without stress. A list of current interests is the following:

• German early 2WW infantry and supports
• German Fallschirmjagers in 1940 jump suits for an Operation Mercury project
• Complete a few Saga warbands (Dark Age warriors, Moors and El Cid Reconquista)
• A Germanic warband for Infamy Infamy 
  
• A wide array of 2WW vehicles 

Finally, in 2022 I also dipped my toes in the fascinating ocean of 3D printing. I have already printed some singular pieces related to the list of projects above and may add a few more models through the Challenge period, time will tell.

So no major planning, but an Inshallah (only god will tell)  approach. Best of luck to all fellow challengers and will see you in a few weeks at the start line.

 

Benito's Mobile Painting Office

From TeemuL: Hobby area, current plans

Hello all! My name is Teemu, I live in Finland, Europe, next to the big, bad Russia, and this is my nth Challenge, being around since Challenge V. This is my first Challenge as a Minion, responsible for the mighty Thor's day - also known as Thursday.

I do have a nice hobby room (I'll come back to that later), but since we have a largish house and the heating is mainly done by electricity and our cheap contract ended three weeks ago, I have turned down the heating in the hobby room and moved my tray and various equipment to the living room table. All for the greater good. So currently I have the basic equipments and the models I'm working with on the tray and then periodically visit the hobby room to pick up things I need and return things I don't and store the finished miniatures. The hobby area is far from perfect, but usually I can leave it there and continue when I have time, so I don't need to setup everything up once I start painting. And being in the living room helps being social with my better half and my son.

Game time has been quite low for couple of years now and so I don't have any gaming related targets regarding painting at the moment. Last Challenge I went strongly in the Squirrel Challenge, but this time I try to focus on something else. I created a poll earlier in AHPC Facebook group asking what I should paint. I have 12 plastic Ikea boxes of unpainted miniatures (and several other boxes), so I listed the labels of each box in the poll and asked which box to paint. Nice and easy. This box got most votes, it has some Lotr Rohan and Dwarfs and metal Mithril miniatures. Surprisingly it also has some Dead of Dunharrow, but there is no label for that... So my main focus is painting the contents of this box. It is not that full, so I'm hoping to get carried away with the theme rounds and post a Squirrel here and there.

And here are some photos of the hobby room. It is like miniature armies, it is not finished yet... I still have things elsewhere in the house, which should be here, but I need more shelves or something, or organize the current stuff better or something like that. As you can see, there's lots of GW stuff (mainly books), which tells a lot of my history. 30 years ago I knew of nothing else and even though I got more knowledge during the years, it was difficult to get off the band wagon and start painting different minis and playing different games, since everyone else seemed to be on that band wagon. I still like Blood Bowl and love to play Lotr, but other games are not that hot. I liked AoS in the start (the first two editions), but didn't move to the third. I got returned to play WH40K 8th, but didn't move to 9th. Covid-19 affected of course, chances to play and learn were minimal and spending money on new rulebooks was not what I wanted. Sludge the Wargame has been the game of the year in our small hobby group and it seems to be going strong on to the next year, too. We'll see what else comes around, Flames of War most likely and some small skirmish games.

See you in few weeks!

Behold my creative mess - by PeterB

In the words of the Jedi Knight, Hello there! I am Peter, otherwise known as the author of the little read blog Playing With Lead. (Seriously, like ten people read it, well maybe twenty.) I have been playing wargames since my teens, although these days due to being busy I paint more than play, although my youngest does encourage me to cover the dining table in the green felt on occasion and get the dice trays out.

Last year was my first painting challenge where I enthusiastically beat my original target. Then spent the rest of the year looking forward to this year.

Prep work is still ongoing ready for the start of the challenge for myself (models are laid out post primed out in the cold or still in transit from manufacturers) so you will have to make do with a shot of my "painting tray" that is ceremoniously moved each night from the sideboard to my table to start painting once I finish work. The precarious state of the tray is an indication of how much of a squirrel/butterfly I am with my hobby.

From MartijnN: Best laid plans...

I thought I'd take up Curt's suggestion as well and introduce myself briefly. I am Martijn, sometimes also known as Emjenic, and I am a Dutchman living in Belgium with my lovely Flemish wife and her two teenage boys. This will be my third Challenge. I have been wargaming since I was a teenager, but nowadays I am as much a hoarder as anything else...  I am a slow painter and not a very good one, but the Challenge tends to send me into a bout of productivity, so I suppose that's a good thing!

My main interests are historical, particularly (late) Antiquity and the "long" 19th century up to and including the Great War, and I mostly collect smaller scale figures, but previous Challenges have prompted me to take up painting 28mm figures again. Also, I really like the opportunities provided by 3D printing, so next to my not inconsiderable metal and plastic mountains is now also a resin one, and my hobby stock is rapidly growing into a mountain range.... 3D printing has also rekindled my interest in fantasy; there are such fantastic creative and prolific sculptors out there!

Unfortunately, I find it very hard to resist the (not so) new and (not too) shiny, or the obscure and quirky for that matter, so I am definitely great squirrel material; expect a fairly wide range of scales and subjects from me, possibly including but not limited to 6mm Austro-Prussian War, 6mm Napoleonics, 10mm fantasy, 10mm ACW, 28mm WWII DAK, 28mm World War I, 28mm Napoleonic Württemberg, 1/3000 WWI naval, perhaps some Dystopian Wars, definitely some terrain, and whatever else takes my fancy, or what our journey through the AHPC Studios may throw (in) my way... 

So here is some of what I have prepared, more or less, in the full knowledge that no plan survives first contact with the enemy:

I am very fortunate to have my own hobby/ study room in a little house at the back of the garden, with a spacious dedicated hobby space. I am afraid it looks a lot more impressive than warranted by my output and results!

Now I will probably be reorganizing my hobby room in the next few weeks, as my better half has hinted in her own subtle way that the 1000 books or so on Ancient History still in the study (okay, her, now, I guess) in the house should be relocated to my own den asap, which will involve the purchasing of more Billy bookcases and finding the optimal way to cram them in what is ultimately not an indefinitely expanding room; but I am sure it will be ok in the end, and I hope it will not have too much impact on my painting!

I am very much looking forward to our journey together, and I will try to comment as much as I can on your doubtlessly again truly fabulous, varying and interesting entries. Only about two weeks to go now!

From Barks: Behold! My stuff

G'day everyone,

I'm really looking forward to AHPC XIII. I thought I'd follow the Snowlord's lead and introduce myself. 

I'm Barks; I run a blog; I live in Australia; this will be my eighth AHPC. I love the cameraderie and the impetus to get things done. Not to mention the inspiration! I've always enjoyed the theme rounds as a way to get unusual models painted. I have Minioned previously; this year I shall be a Challenger.

AHPC VI

I am a wargaming butterfly with interests in many areas, scales, and periods. I have a lot of half-completed projects... I seem to slide into sci-fi and Middle-earth quite a bit, though. I like painting faces and infantry, I dislike painting vehicles. I have a temperamental 3D printer. I have long contemplated an airbrush. My hobby area is a complete mess and unfit for public viewing.

AHPC VII

I dislike prepping. I am, nevertheless, currently sticking together hordes of Citadel plastics. I'll then glue sand to the bases before hitting them with a rattlecan. I may try 'slapchop' for some projects. I'm trying to clear out some half-finished figures or else they will have to languish until March. I'd love to get some scenery done but would need to cut some MDF.

AHPC VIII

My enthusiasm ramps up when I get the theme rounds list- then I really start to strategise my approach and the order I will get things done.

AHPC IX

My goal is to reach a lifetime 10 000 AHPC points during this Challenge.

AHPC X

I love receiving comments, and I will try to comment- at least briefly- on all your posts.

AHPC XI

Pro tip: Faces are the focus of a model and forgive other problems elsewhere. Eyes sell a face- but they don't have to have whites and pupils.

AHPC XII

Pet peeves: Uncropped photos- I want to see your toys, not the desktop!

See you all in a few weeks!

Barks

PS: I also feel responsible/ to blame for the skull duel- more info soon.

What's your Hobby Setup, Preparations and Plans for Challenge XIII?

A common topic of conversation amongst Challenge participants is the manic preparations undertaken for the coming three months of the AHPC. Figures are acquired, assembled and primed. Tufts, bases and other esoteric materials are stocked. Paints, brushes and all sorts of arcane hobby tools are purchased, carefully organized and made ready for the coming painting blitz. For many challengers, all of this frantic jockeying has become as intrinsic to the Painting Challenge as the event itself.

With this in mind, I though it may be fun for us to provide pictures of our hobby areas, along with perhaps a few things we're preparing for the orgy of painting ahead.

I'll open the ball with an image of my hobby setup, along with a few shots of some of the stuff I'm working on in preparation of the starting whistle.

The Snow Lord's Nerd Centre

Space is at a premium in our household, and as such my hobby setup is nestled in a closet in our den. I installed some lighting, built a desk insert and added some upper shelving for overflow (there is ALWAYS overflow). I also have a few Ikea rolling storage units tucked below the desk that I use for excess paint and random bits. It's pretty compact, but over the years I've managed to get a lot done in the space afforded to me.

Here are a few things that I've been preparing for the Challenge:

A BFG as part of an upcoming Titan build (I think GregB will approve).

One of my Snobs for Turnip28

Mushrooms for bases (I know, how random).

Mysterious blobs to be revealed later.

My printer working overtime on stuff I'll probably never paint...

My Challenge Projects

• Additional Characters for 'Moonstone'

• WWI Greyscale?

• Italian Wars

• Some Napoleonic Additions

• Two complete forces for Turnip28

• A new Titan for Adeptus Titanicus

• Cars for Mad Maximillian

• Fantasy Adventurers for Mork Borg

• Fantasy Monsters for the same!

_______________________________________________________

We just have a few weeks before the start of the Challenge, so let's see what each other has for hobby setups, along with perhaps a pic or two of the projects you have percolating for the Challenge. For those who have access to the Challenge blog from the last edition, feel free to upload your own posts, otherwise send me an email with your pics along with a description of what you have planned and I'll post it up on the blog.

Okay folks, let's see what you have in your hobby lair!

- Curt

Duels, Side-Challenges and Grudge-Matches for Challenge XIII

'I propose airbrushes at dawn...'

 

The the issuing of paint duels, side challenges and grudge matches extends waaay back to the first Challenge and has become a time-honoured tradition ever since. The duels help motivate participants to keep their steam up and creates a fun atmosphere of smack talk and brush baiting.

For those who are new to the Challenge let me explain what this is all about: paint duels allow for small groups of participants to test one another against a variety of whacky criteria. Maybe it's to see who can paint the most WWII vehicles over the duration of the Challenge, or who can paint the most figures within a particular historical period/genre, other duels may be to see who can get to a specific points threshold first. Really, the sky's the limit - it's entirely up to your imagination.

Over the years the side duels have become more formalized, with many of these clashes of brush and paint have become a storied part of Challenge lore.

There's already been murmurings amongst a few participants about issuing duels, and to facilitate such, there is an area of the blog dedicated for it for tracking purposes. You can find the link to the Duels page on the top navigation bar.

The ever compliant and ebullient Mr. Millsy will be in charge of keeping track of the paint duels for this year. ALL updates on duels must be sent to him for tabulation and posting - he will be the official scorekeeper of duels and side-challenges. No dodgy spreadsheets, heretical documents, or bogus scorecards will be recognized. So send him a note to get your duel registered and keep him appraised of any progress.

Millsy can be reached at:

challengesideduels@gmail.com 

Again, when you finish an entry that's eligible for scoring in a duel please send Millsy a quick note, giving the name of the duel and the criteria you wish to log. He in turn will update the duel page. Simple! 

I'm going to start the proceedings with a Turnip28 Challenge. Yes, I've caught the bug (or is that an invasive root vegetable?), and plan to do up a bunch of figures for the game this winter. So, who in the group thinks that they can best me in number of points painted for Turnip28? My Second is ready to accept any worthy challengers. :)

Okay! Let's have some fun with all this! I want to see gauntlets dropped, cards exchanged and blood, er, paint on the floor. This is going to be fun!

- Curt

The Participant Roster for Challenge XIII

Hooray! Below is (finally) the roster for Challenge XIII. 

Yeah, I know, I said I wanted to keep it to around 70, and here we are at 83. Yeeeah, I'm such a pushover. The more the merrier I always say, and besides, this number shouldn't break Blogger like last year, right? (cringes while typing this).

I'll try to replace this list with another copy that retains the links to folks' blogs. 

In the meantime, let's get on to some duels and side-challenges, shall we?

- Curt