From SanderS: The Challenge is Dead, Long Live The Challenge! (Many points!)

 Hoi there,

Sorry guys for being so late with this post but things happened after the Challenge ended. To me this was a very pleasant Challenge that I enjoyed more than the last two. The passing of my dad two years ago and all the work issues last year made me miss my target, not fully participate in the side duels or bonus rounds and all this I was able to enjoy this year in the full.  It was so energising to see all the stuff you people made and the feedback always is very encouraging and keeps me painting. 

As to what I finished this Challenge, that was way more than I anticipated at the beginning. And of course I forgot to include a lot of it in the picture above: the 1:72 Napoleonic Saxons and Titus and the Nids were sadly left out of the picture, so I include them below

 

A HUGE thank you is of course due to the Snowlord and -Lady! They have done it yet again and I for one am gratefull to have been part of this kick-ass community! The minions deserve bucketloads of praise as well, as I know from experience it's a dastardly task indeed.

Personally I would like to specifically thank Gregarius for keeping me on my toes and inspiring me to get some more Dogs of War painted in the end.

So there you have it, another Challenge finished see you guys next year! 

From JohnS: Target Eliminated!

 Thanks to Curt (and Sarah) for organising another fantastic Challenge. I always enjoy the Challenge but this one was really great and one worth toasting.

To our Canadian Companion, cheers!

 I decided to try and achieve my target of 500 points with a single theme, purely through painting quantity and without claiming any Bonus points. My Slaughterloo army is now larger (but so much more to paint) and I am so happy.

After passing 500 I decided to add some Stretch Goals and allowed myself to stray from the Slaughterloo madness. I finished off a couple of 28mm Napoleonic units, and started my Normans for To The Strongest.

The best part of the Challenge for me was not achieving my goal, not even beating AlanD (although I did get some joy from that) but chatting on a weekly basis with other Aussie and Kiwi Challengers.

Minion Millsie organised the Paint and Chat sessions and I must say that they were instrumental in getting me to paint. And a heck of a lot of fun. Such a great bunch of painters and gamers.

When it was time to take my Finish Line photo I had an auditing visit from the Roving Minion, Our Man From The Tropics, the Pineapple Prince, PaulOG himself. Man, some people take this minioning gig very seriously.

Output Audited, time for a beverage!

 

 Thanks again to Curt and Sarah, Super Minion Millsie and all Challengers. 684 points, a Personal Best and something to chase next time. Cheers!

Vote for Challengers' Choice!

Hello Challengers!

The voting poll is now open. For those who may not have seen my email, please follow this link to take in the gallery and vote for your top three Challenge entries.

Enjoy!

Curt

Curt & Sarah's Challenge XV Wrap-Up

Hey All!

Sarah and I finally managed to get ourselves organized enough to arrange the stuff we had completed during the Challenge. First up is a few words from Lady Sarah...

_________________________________

Hello Everybody!

What a terrific group of folks to have spent the past three months painting toys!

I’m only sorry that I wasn’t able to paint more... my work schedule changed to mostly weekends/evenings and well, world events have been exhaustingly chaotic of late. 🤷‍♀️

My modest output included a couple of buildings (no points for this year), 6 character figures and a swan.

My favourites are the fancy Venetian Couple - elegantly mysterious in their dark clothing, and the mesmerizingly lovely Green Dancer.

Thank you for the Challenge everyone!

Be Safe, Be Kind

Sarah 😊

_____________________________________

As to myself, I found that my Challenge was a little hit an miss. After a reasonably credible start I ran afoul of a nasty flu, and that along with a much-needed trip away kept me from from the brushes for almost a month. Nonetheless, all winging aside, I'm very happy with what I managed to get done over the three months. Here are a few of my favourites.

Hapless Mooks

The Emperor and his Thunder Warriors

Ned & Norri

Wretched Royalty for Mork Borg

Greek Ships for Thalassa

10mm Dogs of War

Shikigami Boss for 'Hametsu'

If I'm not mistaken I think each of my 15 entries covered a unique genre, with no repeats, which very much pleases the squirrel in me. But really the best of all was the wonderful camaraderie and the simple joy of seeing the work of my fellow hobbyists. Mark up another great Challenge!

Tomorrow (Sunday) I will publish the voting poll for Challengers' Choice, so keep an eye open for that, and on April 20th I'll make the announcements for it along with Sarah's Choice and Snowlord's Choice.

Have a good one!

Curt

Side Duels Final Results

 I have recalculated the duels standings following a flurry of late entries.  As suspected the Sandbaggers have upended the apple carts on a number of duels.  

First up an updated pie chart of activity.

SD1 (Moose and ) Squirrel Duel

 

No change at all in these standings!  GeoffT held the lead all challenge, despite an early run by Curt and a late charge by Martijn.  All Hail Squirrel-Whisperer Geoff.  

SD1 (Moose and ) Squirrel
GeoffT	15
Curt	10
MartijnN	10
MikeW	8
KerryT	8
Barks	5
RobH	1
PeteF	0

SD2 30K Heresies

Once again these results stand.  Congrats to Greg, who outscored all other challengers combined.  In these crazy and chaotic times it is comforting to know that the right lunatic won tis challenge.  

SD2 30K Heresies
GregB	362
Curt	130
PeterA	84
SanderS	20
DavidB	10

SD3 Skulls


Scoring is pure head count (pun intended). This one will be adjudicated by Barks.

I will leave skull tallies to our resident Post-Mortem Phrenologist.

SD4 Mech Madness

Three for three on results standing up to an audit.  This duel tightened up but Sander prevailed.  Congrats to the MechMaster.

SD4 Mech Madness
SanderS	120
TomL	104
Curt	15
DavidB	8
DaniHG	2

SD5 WW2 Duel

Well I am, umm, going let the results speak for themselves here!   The total points scores increased by 92% after the preliminary results were posted and we have a new champ in MattW.  If I were Matt, I'd be using his sandbags to build himself a dugout for protection!

SD5 WW2 Duel
After		Before
MattW	855	DaveD	438
DaveD	438	DavidB	360
DavidB	360	GeoffT	180
GeoffT	180	MattW	30
Millsy	100	Millsy	0

SD6 Napoleonics

Never let it be said that RayR is unpredictable!  He did exactly what we all knew he was going to do and edged Lee out after the finish.  I'll let Lee reward the winner in an appropriate manner.

SD6 Napoleonics
After		Before
RayR	1312	LeeH	1045
LeeH	1075	RayR	1043
DaveD	412	DaveD	412
MattW	200	MattW	200
EdwardG	0	EdwardG	0
KerryT	0	KerryT	0
PeteF	0	PeteF	0

SD7 Can Opener


I have only one change to report here.  MattW went from 0-647 after time was called to steal another victory in injury time. Kerry had looked a clear winner all challenge long, but it was not to be....Kerry and DaveD could likely form a "Done in at the last minute by MattW" support group.

SD7 Can Opener
After		Before
MattW	647	KerryT	450
KerryT	450	Barks	153
Barks	173	Curt	145
Curt	145	MattW	0
NickY	0	NickY	0
RobH	0	RobH	0

SD8 Retreat from Moscow

Both Lee and Ray increased their totals, but not enough to affect the final result.  Congrats to Ray on a more honest win here!

SD8 Retreat from Moscow
RayR	1272	RayR	1003
LeeH	1075	LeeH	950

SD9 Colonial Wars

Once again, we have a result that stood after recounts.  Zulus, a thousand of 'em!   Congrats to DaveD on this one.

SD9 Colonial Wars
DaveD	1006
RobH	55

Well done to all of the duellists.

From Barks: Another one bites the dust

The Challenge end came around quickly yet again! I was doing quite a bit of travelling this year, and sometimes was able to carefully select some minis and paints to accompany me. Overall output was lower than I'd have liked, but I was still impressed when I spread out my toys before me:

Despite being all fantasy or SciFi, and mostly 28mm, I still achieved a fair amount of variety. This is one of the great things about the Challenge. The Tyranids benefited from my travel with their repetitive and minimalist palette, and I was glad to spawn a small brood.

Tyranids. You can see the size of the Screamer Killer!

Descent 2e. The Fire Imps were quite a hit.

Can't keep me from Middle-earth.

Lamenters! My new love.

A smattering of other 40K projects.

Weird WW1. This should be my next focus.

I thought I would use the months to improve myself as I decreased my lead pile, and finish Dante's Comedy. I read and reread the first few Cantos several times in different translations, and the most readable was Clive James' version. I bailed up an English teacher and got the primer To hell & back with Dante by Gallagher (1996). This was invaluable and I recommend it, but I still only made it to Canto XX. My mentor sagely advised that the Comedy can be a lifetime's task which can be revisited now and then.

Thanks again to Curt and Sarah for hosting, Millsy for minioning, and everyone for their comments and support. It is such an enjoyable and productive time of the year.

May your skullz be plentiful,

Barks