From PeterA: AHPC XVI Wrap Up

AHPC XVI Production

I've finally got to posting up my AHPC XVI production, the main delay being I've kept painting stuff! After a pretty barren 2025 painting-wise, the Challenge really got me enthused and painting again, and that has kept being the case since the end of the Challenge, so a big, big thank you to Curt!

I started with some ECW Dragoons from Bloody Miniatures; I had hoped to get more done, but got sidetracked!

Then we have the start of the Irish War of Independence project - a mixture of Footsore Miniatures and Gripping Beast.

Next up was the Cartel project for Haywire - a mixture of 3d prints from Black Hills Games, Combat Octopus and Turnbase Miniatures, plus a couple of die cast toy Land Rovers.

Last of all in 28mm were some old Zombiecide minis for Haywire: Outbreak.

Then in 15mm there were some Modern NATO infantry (3d prints from WarDaddy Studios) and two Russian AFVs from Flames of War.

And to round it all off, 3 Dreadnaughts for The Horus Heresy  in 15mm-ish; these are all 3d prints.

So, a grand total of 110 miniatures:

92x 28mm figures

10x 15mm figures

3x 28mm vehicles

2x 15mm vehicles

3x 15mm Dreadnaughts

Which means the challenge for AHPC XVII has to be to paint at least 100x 28mm figures!

Once again a massive thank you to Curt, Sarah, Dave the Sunday Minion, and fellow participants for their companionship, encouragement and kind comments; AHPC XVI was a real joy thanks to you all.

All the best for the rest of 2026 - stay safe and well and I hope to see you again on Dec 20 2026 - only 257 more sleeps!

From Curt: What I Did During Challenge XVI

Hi All!

Well, the dust has settled on Challenge XVI and I've taken the requisite number of days to unplug, dust off, and take stock. 

I knew that with three weeks away on vacation over February and March I had to be realistic about what I could complete. 

Of course, me being me, once out of the gate, I became like a deranged racoon on meth, distracted by ALL the things, ALL the time. 

Nonetheless, I'm still happy with what I managed to get across the line. 

Here are a few things of the few things:

Challenge Trolls

30K Kill Team

A Mischief of Mice for 'Burrows & Badgers'

Villains for 'Devilry Afoot'

Thirty Years War Bohemian Pike and Shotte

Assorted Sci-Fi Scoundrels

Not in the roundup: Banksy's Flower Thrower in Greyscale

Not in the roundup: A Priestly Scholar for Greg

_____________________________________________

So, another successful Challenge with much hobbying and hanging out with excellent people. What's not to like, right?! 

Damn straight. :)

Stay tuned for the nominations for Challengers' Choice along with the poll to vote for your top three submissions. 

Thanks for dropping in!

Curt

From BruceR: Sweet XVI End

As the challenge ended I had packed up my wee men to take to AdeptiCon and as the wrap ups were appearing couldn't make myself dig them out for a photo.  

Upon return, after 11 hours in the car here is my end of the challenge pics.  

I'm surprisingly happy with 10mm figures and I think I will continue down this road or heavens forbid smaller, 6mm?  Not sure.  

Again, thanks to Curt, Sarah, Minions, with a special salute to Sylvain the Wednesday guru.  

I joined the Skull duel as a first time dueler and had a great little side.  Tip of the hat to Paul Scrivens-Smith who did the Danse Macabre into the win. Also, a nod to Teemu, who thought I was done and I found the black coach with a few skulls to add and slipped by him on the inside lane.  Well done Teemu.  

First, proof of AdeptiCon:  (I squint when trying a selfie)

 I had a blast as usual.  Painted lots of minis and enjoyed communicating with all over the different periods and assortment of toy soldiers.

Be well and hang in there.

Bruce

KenR - Challenge 16 Wrap - Its all about the Pike !

 

Another year and another great Challenge, my first as a retired gentleman ! I always find it hard to get all the figures I've done into one photo and this year was no exception. I set a hefty target of 2500 and fell a bit short with 1700 ish but I'm more than happy with the overall output.

The big project was the 28mm Swiss Pike Block (and a bit), 128 figs for one complete Block and 32 more figures to make another block upto 128 figs. Stuff like this is not for the faint hearted but the end product is well worth the effort. The figs are from Perry, Steelfist and Petes Flags. The flags (to confuse everyone) are from Flags of War.

In addition to the Pike I added a group of 48 Spanish Cavalry to the Italian Wars collection, these figures are from TAG with Flags from Petes Flags. I painted a small group of 6 Cavalry in between each larger group of foot figures, something I've been doing for about 6 months prior to the Challenge. I've found it a great way to have a Palette refresh and keep momentum going.

Outside of the Italian Wars I added a few bits to my ongoing Plancenoit Project, a Battalion of 32 Prussian Landwehr along with some Prussian Guns. I also did some French Command Stands which was a surprise to me as I usually forget to do them until after an army is finished 😅  All figs are Perry

The final group of figs were some 28mm Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry for the Crusades which were done in a couple of small batches as mentioned above.

That leaves me to just thank Curt once again for organising this wonderful event and all the other participants for being so friendly and supportive.

I shall be donating to my chosen charity which is the Bradford Burns Unit Trust. For those who don't know I support a football club in the UK called Bradford City. Tragically during a match in 1985 one of the main stands caught fire and 56 people were killed, nearly 300 were injured. As a result of the fire a specialist unit was set up in Bradford and the knowledge gained and research done there has helped to develop new treatments and techniques to help burn victims across the world.

Hopefully I will see some of you around shows in the UK or you might tune into my Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast every now and again, either way I hope to see you back on the start line for Challenge 17 on 21st December 2026.

Until then, Sithee 

Regards Ken 

The Yarkshire Gamer

From PeteB - Challenge 16 Wrap-up

Thank you Curt, Lady Sarah and the minion for organising this challenge. Again it was great fun and I'm already making plans for the next challenge. And I'm happy with what this challenge is painted in scales 20, 28 and 54 mm.

Two figures are missing in the group shot, but they are at their new home in Germany. My friend was very pleased with them. Pictures of them here.

This is the final count for this challenge:

- 20 mm = 21 figures and 6 horses

- 28 mm = 3 figures and 1 horse

- 54 mm = 20 figures

And a cat and a dog! 😺🐶

Thanks for watching!

From Barks: AHPC XVI

Where did the time go? I knew this Challenge was going to be a struggle, but my aspirations still exceeded my grasp. I have plans for the upcoming year, inspired by Planetfall and Traitor's Toll, and the Challenge gave me opportunities to make a dent in the piles of potential. I was glad to see the return of terrain and scenery, but that is not points-efficient at all! I was particularly happy to get the Robin Hood figures done, and for them to gain recognition at the Theme round. I was also pleased to be able to host the Skull Duel again, which had a particularly exciting finish. I'm sitting pretty on 238 skullz.

Congratulations everybody, I really enjoy the camaraderie here. It is difficult to find time for painting in the attention economy, and I appreciate your support.

For my entry fee I made a donation to Effective Altruism.

Skully McSkullface and the Skull-o-meter™ will return!

from RayR - Challenge 16 Wrap up

 

Well that's another Challenge over and done with, I'm very pleased with how many figures I got painted  and its almost a shame its over, on was on a roll. Now as per usual my painting will die down for the rest of the year, which is a shame, but I don't think Mrs R would approve me diving into the garage every 5 minutes, like I have been and more disappointingly, I've got lots of decorating to catch up on now, so its a bigger brush I'll be using for a while!

Like I said I'm pretty pleased at my painting haul, these last 3 months and when you get in all out on the table together it looks rather impressive! I managed to paint up....

225 25mm figures

200 15mm figures

9 25mm barricades

76 25mm trees

20 25mm Road sections (various shapes & lengths)

 

Jason & the Argonauts 22 figures

Jason and the Argonauts 

Winter War Finns

I think I went a little OTT??? ( Not like I usually do?)

9 x Infantry section

1 x Machine Gun section

7 x Heavy Weapons

A selection of the 76 trees winterized.

Winter sandbags

The Medic

37mm Bofars

Machine Guns & Mortar

Kaukopartio Long Distance Recon Squad

3 of the 8 man Infantry sections and Command group

Retreat From Moscow 

Vienna 1683 in 25mm

Polish Dragoons for Donnybrook

Vienna 1683 in 15mm

Tufekci & Sekban

Lipka Tartars

Polish Winged Hussars

Irregular Troops

Janissary's

I hoped I would get all the 15mm Vienna 1683 figures painted, but failed, I was halfway through the Pancerni when the Challenge ended, so they will appear soon. But I'm still pleased with the progress. All the other figures are prepped and undercoated and in the queue, so will hopefully join the other in the painted box before the start of the next challenge???

Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha
1st Line (Independent Commands)
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs


2nd Line indie command
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
(Already painted before the Challenge)


3rd Line indie commands
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX


Janissary Brigade & Brigadier
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12


Reserve & Brigadier


Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6
Great Gun Drilled 1 model
Great Gun Drilled 1 model


Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski


Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs


Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs


Imperial Cavalry Brigade
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs


Bavarian Cav Brig
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs


Saxons Cav Brigade
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs


Field gun 1 model

Rats!

Roads

Some of the Wintered trees

I gave myself a target of 1200 points, which I hoped would push me to get stuff done, which it did, I ended up with 1749 points in the end, which gave me a 13th place finish, which I am very pleased with, long gone are the days of Challenge II where I finished in 1st place, I'm in a different job now and don't get anywhere near the time to paint as I did back then. But the crazy 12 Challengers above me helped to pull me along and challenge for a top 20 place, which is one of my main aims, so thanks guys!


Here is my record during the Challenges so far.Challenge II 4940 points 1st
Challenge III 2586 points 4th
Challenge IV 1227 points 17th
Challenge V 691 points 37th
Challenge VI 681 points 36th
Challenge VII 1093 points 24th
Challenge VIII 662 points 40th
Challenge IX 2274 points 8th
Challenge X 1687 points 11th
Challenge XI 2260 points 8th
Challenge XII 2168 points 7th
Challenge XIII 1111 points 27th
Challenge XIV 1160 points 25th
Challenge XV 1299 points 15th
Challenge XVI 1749 points 13th


Interestingly, (well for me anyway?) is this year's points total is my 5th best total of points earned, in the Challenge so far, and my highest total since Challenge XI back in 2020/21.1 Challenge II 4940 points 1st
2 Challenge III 2586 points 4th
3 Challenge IX 2274 points 8th
4 Challenge XI 2260 points 8th
5 Challenge XVI 1749 points 13th
6 Challenge X 1687 points 11th
7 Challenge XV 1299 points 15th
8 Challenge IV 1227 points 17th
9 Challenge XIV 1160 points 25th
10 Challenge XIII 1111 points 27th
11 Challenge VII 1093 points 24th
12 Challenge V 691 points 37th
13 Challenge VI 681 points 36th
14 Challenge VIII 662 points 40th


Its also my 6th highest finish in the rankings. Long gone are the days when I could push for top spot, I just don't have the time.


1 Challenge II 4940 points 1st
2 Challenge III 2586 points 4th
3 Challenge IX 2274 points 8th
4 Challenge XI 2260 points 8th
5 Challenge X 1687 points 11th
6 Challenge XVI 1749 points 13th
7 Challenge XV 1299 points 15th
8 Challenge IV 1227 points 17th
9 Challenge XIV 1160 points 25th
10 Challenge XIII 1111 points 27th
11 Challenge VII 1093 points 24th
12 Challenge V 691 points 37th
13 Challenge VI 681 points 36th
14 Challenge VIII 662 points 40th




Lastly thanks again to Curt and Sarah for putting up with Curt, Minion DaveD and everyone involved in the Challenge and I look forward to more fun and games in December.