From DaveD -Challenge Round Up

Well where did that 3 months go. Its been wonderfully productive. As Miles stats post showed we really knocked it out of the park this year , with a number of new participants finding their feet and help us old hands to keep on with our projects

you need a Sennett hat don't you know...

I had already prepared a significant amount of figures to add the Sudan project. This would complete the mahdist forces (yes finished) and bolster the various imperial forces with some interesting units.

Finished preparation , ready and waiting.

The project desk is out of commission a the moment due to man cave moving so I can't set up a group shot or video at the moment , so here are some reminder pics...

The Sudan entries

and this is one of the photos from a recent battle 

There is still life in the Sudan project yet ... it will back next year for sure.

There were also diversions into micro tanks with Soviet hordes and small British battlegroup

a little bit of 10mm napoleonic madness too

 I was pleased to come away with a win in the West bonus round too with a 54mm figure.

Viva Zapata!

We also tried something new this year using other social media in the form of Google+ and Facebook to help co-ordinate various Paint and Chats video calls which were great. 

I set myself a target of 2500, which I was able to crack off fairly swiftly and push onward toward 3500. I certainly had time to do more however the new man cave works meant limited desk space and committing time to refurbishment. But of course that means I will have new improved facilities for next year.  MMMMWWAAHHAHAA!

 The new cave will be finished ready to move into next week

Until next year..... 

AdamC: Challenge VII Recap

Since last year I provided an image of me portraying an American militia man I figured an image of me in the uniform of Regiment Saintonge(complete with a terrible mustache I won't do again) part of the French Expedition to North America during the American War of Independence. Here is my challenge review I'm it a project at a time so you can see the miniatures.

 My Pikeman's Lament project.  The Gray regiment on the left, and the Blue Regiment on the right.  In the center we have skirmishers, and the combined pikemen of the Gray and Blue Regiments between the two musketeer wings

 To the back we have the Armored Pikemen, and the two units of horsemen and the officer.

 Here we have Bess, her husband Bill the butcher and their motley crew of "clubmen."

 Milady and her servants a better sort of Civilians.

  Three Ruffians ready for some trouble.

 Firebrand monks ready to battle things that go bump in the night.

 The Sleepy hollow militia who are probably facing those same things that go pump in the night.

 Four swashbucklers ready for trouble.

 Vikings with loot in hand and ready to get more!

 The Frostgrave collection mostly bad guys Gnolls, Skeletons, Zombies, Ghouls an ice toad and Drizit and Guenhwyvar.

 The Imgi-Nation troops in 15mm force of Drconia on the left and D'Argent on the right.

 Close up on the Draconian troops.

 My entry for West the French 75s.

And my other world War I project for the challenge (I had plans for more but not everything goes according to plan)

Tribesmen of the northwest territory

One of my favorite pieces my ruined tower repurposed as home for a band of hearty adventures exploring Frosgrave.

My entry for East and intrepid mariner.

I will finish off with my Curtgeld done in partnership with JohnM. My thanks to all who took part especially John for partnering with me.  Milles for his fine handling of the Monday Minion duties.  I would especially like to thank Curt and Sara for hosting.  Taking part in this event is one of the highlights of my hobby year and I hope that with the new baby I can still take part next year but probably in a reduce fashion.  Thank again for all the good wishes and compliments.

MichaelD: Challenge '16-'17 Post-game

I discovered the AHPC last year and couldn't wait until December rolled around so I could sign up and give it a try. It's been great to participate and have my minis out there with so many other great hobbyists.

This being my first challenge I had only pledged 500 pts and still I came up short with only 425 points. I think entering the challenge I simply estimated by thinking "Well what's the most I've painted over a three month period", shaving about a half of that off and figuring it would be no problem. Now that I've gone through this one time, I have a better idea of what it takes to get your points. First I need to keep a better eye on the themes, planning them and making sure I get them done. Second I need to figure out everything I'm going to paint, priming it before the challenge, planning my "assembly line" technique and then just letting rip. Instead I kind of winged it, sometimes painting figures I knew well and was able turn around quickly and sometimes painting figures I had never painted before.

I offer all this not in order to make excuses but in the spirit of having learned a bit over the last three months and looking forward to giving it another try in December 17. I had a blast. Thanks to Curt and the minions for all their work, and especially to all the other Challengers for sharing the pictures of such great minis. One of the joys of this hobby is that when you look at figures as you're gaming with them, you can see the whole history of how you got them and got them painted. So for these assorted Sisters of Battle, Foreign Legionnaires, and Burgundian mercenaries, I always remember them as products of my first of (I hope) many painting challenges.