from Paul O'G: Season 16 Wrap up

Aloha everyone!
Another AHPC Season comes to an end - this was my 11th but the first I've entered while living overseas (which was quite challenging!). World events and work travel cut into my time but that made my brush time all the more enjoyable for its restorative effects.

Somehow, it always feels like more while I'm painting it! :-)

This year saw me tackle some different projects: Dystopian Wars, Astronauts and Cosmonauts on the moon, a new Crimean War army, and some Retro- SciFi figures. Naturally, the broad shift away from GW figures meant my skull count was well down this year!

I tried something different with a YouTube video of my output. Click to play!

I really enjoyed the return of the Bonus Rounds this year and entered all three. I was thrilled to pick up a shared second place in the "Toy Story" theme with my Moon Walkers.

Overall I posted 828 points, exceeding my 500 point target and surpassing a 'career tally" of 9,000. Perhaps next season I can attempt to crack the 10,000 point milestone!

The struggle is real: well done Alan!

Thank you fellow challengers for making it such fun, particularly our ANZAC paint and chat crew for the banter (and having Curt dial in for the start was especially cool!). I hope we can continue these sessions post challenge. 

Some statistical analysis to keep Miles happy!

Accolades as always to Curt, Sarah and the fabulous minions who enable the entire enterprise. I deeply appreciate the time, effort and focus you deliver with a wonderful sense of humour.  

Aloha & Mahalo! Until next time everyone :-)

LeeH: My Winter War Soviets are ready for the offensive!

So, how do I wrap up this year’s Challenge? If I’m being totally honest, I didn't get quite as much painted as I originally hoped. My "to-do" list was definitely more ambitious than my "done" list! But you know what? I got the essentials finished, and in this hobby, that’s a win in my book.

Despite the slower pace, I managed to hit two major milestones: My personal 600-point target was officially crossed, and I'm happy with that. Of course, no competition compared to the top of the leaderboard, but I'm happy with what I got done.  Second, I completed everything I wanted to get done, meaning my Winter War Soviets: These guys are complete and will give me plenty of options when list-building for games of Bolt Action or Chain of Command. They were the missing piece for my collaboration project with RayR, and I’m thrilled to have them ready for the table.

The dream now is to get my Soviets and Ray’s Finns into a proper scrap. However, we’ve got a bit of a "one in, one out" policy happening right now. We have a few urgent projects that need to be cleared off the workbench before we can play with these guys. Our big focus for the immediate future? Two 1812 Retreat from Moscow games. We're working on a skirmish ruleset with a friend, and alongside this, Ray and I want to run a big battle with our collection for a demo game at Broadside in June. Once we have these playtested and polished, the second half of the year is looking very clear, and very wintery!

From NormS - mostly Napoleonic Austrians - wrap up

I signed up for 400 points, which due to a lapse mid way through, became a bit if a stretch, but in the end I got there and here are the rewards of that effort.

3 x Austrian Infantry Battalions (from 9th, 35th and 38th Infantry Regiments), 1 x Austrian Artillery Battery, 1 x Austrian Commander (Prince Liechtenstein), 2 x Austrian Colonels and to get me my final 10 points, I painted up a couple of 28mm Soviet soldiers, just to see whether this is something that I want to do in the future for the Rapid Fire Rules (oops, just noticed they did not make the photo!).

Seeing them all together makes me really pleased that I did this. My Napoleonic French forces had been steaming ahead and the Austrians needed to do a bit of catching up - and now they mostly have.

Thank you to Dallas, Curt and the rest of the team behind the Analogue Hobby Painting Challenge for hosting the Challenge, so kindly giving up their time and to all those fellow hobbyists who commented on the Challenge blog, supporting the various entries.   

From DaveD - Challenge Wrap-Up - the what I did post .

 Another year , another Challenge laid down. My 15th . Blimey where do those years go eh . 

This has been a decent year of production . I am normally fairly focussed on a winter paint plan - this sort of went out the window. But being a long term painter I know to go with the muse. That muse this year was the creation of my Bolshevik army . I really enjoyed it. I had painted everything in stock by early January and had to tap the supplier for more , then some more , and yet more . 

I did revisit my 15mm cold wars with the finale of my French force . Along with a back to the Sudan for some commission work - the muscle memory of these is still strong.  There  is still yet more to do. The best bit is I will be playing with the new stuff in a large 4 day campaign  with them later in the year. I also managed a couple of Ardennes 44 bits too. Just North of 2000 points worth as well. Time for a bit of storage wars again.

I forgot to set these bits up , so here they are:-

The prepped pile of potential is very healthy and there will be some of this cracked off from next week ., some may even make  an appearance next year . 

 

I have really enjoyed my painting this winter . It’s helped to keep the real world chaos at bay. My painting desks have been cleaned and tidied . Paints have been replaced and the brushes cleaned . I’m ready to go again after this weekend off.

I have also been doing minion duties after a few year off  which has been great too . The  Sunday Crew have been productive and I must thank them for contributing consistently - everyone managed to avoid the cut , and on at least one day they did 3000 points. We have had a good few paint and chats and it’s good to see painting mojo enabled.  Hopefully Miles gets the stats done - always fun to read them  .  

For those of you that have enjoyed the Bolsheviks I can recommend the Beevor Russian Civil war book , and the Anna Reid A Nasty Little War . It’s a period that learning about has been educational . 

I will see you lot next year … the prep is already started 

Huzzah! 

From SylvainR: Zen In and After Chaos

 

Absorbing the positive "qi" energy of freshly painted miniatures. 

Note that seven (a very sacred number) "double trays" are lying around me in half circle, channeling positive energy towards a center point where I sit. This is an utmost satisfying place to be. 

A thousand thanks to Curt and Sarah, gracious hosts to the annual painting party. You are most generous with your time.

Thanks to the Minions, especially to PeterD, leader of the Tuesday Terrors, and to Miles, the patient spreadsheet guru.

Thanks to the Wednesday Crew for being so patient with me. Sorry I did not spend much time on Discord.

Challenge XVI is now over. I don't know about other challengers, but this year I found that time spent painting helped me stay "zen" in the chaos created by some people's "guts decisions". I will not elaborate. A few days ago, paint jars and scenery material were still chaotically piled up on my paint desk, but now I just finished cleaning up. This recovered state of order and balance makes me feel "zen" too. Enough introspection, let's see what new toys I got to play with:

2023: 12 trays of 6mm WW2

2024: 11 trays of 6mm WW2, 3 trays of 28mm D&D

2025:   7 trays of 6mm WW2, 4 trays of 28mm D&D (1051 points)

2026:   4 trays of 6mm WW2, 6 trays of 28mm D&D, 4 trays of 1/300 boats (1355 points)

I was able to paint all the miniatures I prepared. The D&D project is over, after three years, and I will certainly miss applying bright colors to cool monsters. I'll have to find another "colorful" project for next year. The completion of core Cruel Seas flotillas for the British, German and Italian makes me very happy. These sea bases are lots of work, but the final look is so worth it. I will now start preparing miniatures for the next Challenge.

Thanks for reading and see you next year! 

Sylvain

The Close of Challenge XVI - Final Three for 30K Killteam

Brushes down and lift your paint water in a toast to the conclusion of Challenge XVI!

With 743 entries submitted over 13 weeks, we've managed to paint an insane amount of minis and terrain!

We also hit another landmark mid-Challenge with the submission odometer ticking past 10,000 entries since Challenge V (back in 2012). So, I'm pretty chuffed about that.

I was hoping for something a bit more in-theme for my last post, but time ran away from me and as a result I've circled back to one of my earlier entries to do a final flourish.

This is the final three figures for my 30K Killteam, built around the Shattered Legions storyline.

As I mentioned in my original post, this squad is meant to depict a group of survivors from the Dropsite Massacre. My crew is mostly made up of Raven Guard, but two of this trio are from the Iron Hands and Salamander Legions.

Similar to the first three figures, I've really dirtied these guys up, reflecting the desperate out-of-supply, out-of-support situation they are operating in. Each is sporting a jet pack as I wanted to depict a very mobile Assault cadre, conducting hit-and-run missions behind enemy lines.

The Raven Guard figure required it to be mounted on a flying base, which I sourced from my magnetised stocks.

Crossed fingers on his continued survivability, but I'm not entirely confident. Nevertheless, he's armed with power claw back-scratchers so at least he'll go down fighting.

Next is a Iron Hands 'Immortal'. These guys are breacher specialists meant to serve in the front ranks, soaking up fire with their enormous shields.

Accordingly, I heavily scarred up his shield and power armour to give him the look of a grizzled, shot-magnet, veteran.

Finally we have a Salamander 'Pyroclast' officer. These lunatics loooove heat-based weapons and huge honkin' hammers (you know, as one does).

Again, he's very grimy and sooty, ready to BBQ heretics with his flamer and then pound them into paste with his tenderizer. Funny thing is, in the 30K universe these guys are the most temperate and emotionally balanced of all the Legions. Yep, GrimDark indeed...

And a final shot of the Killteam as a whole, with Greg's wonderful Optae in centerstage.

These three fellas will provide me with a very modest 15 points, but I'll happily take them as, hey, the weren't done a few days ago and that's what the Challenge is all about, right?! Right.

__________________________________________

In closing, I wish to take cap in hand and give a deep bow to our marvellous Minions: (in alphabetical order): Byron, Dallas, Dave, Greg, Millsy, Peter, Sander and Sylvain. To all of you, thank you so much for keeping this silly event moving in one direction - It goes without saying (but I always will) that I could not have done it without you.

Finally my thanks to all our participants. This event would be nothing without your participation, talent and good nature. It was an absolute treat to spend the winter with you all painting figures and having a great time.

I ask all participants to email me your three nominations for Challengers' Choice (deadline end of day, March 29th). From that list I'll post a voting poll and on April 19th we'll make the announcements for Challenger's Choice, Sarah's Choice and my own Snowlord's Choice.

Finally, as per tradition, I invite our Challengers to post a final round-up shot of what they managed to achieve this year. Come now, don't be shy in showing your hard work and fabulousness! 

Best

- Curt

 

From Kerry T - In days of old when nights were bold....450 + points ( I think)?

Morning, afternoon & evening all

For most of the challenge,  I have found myself in the medieval period where there is a wealth of stories and legends. Of course, many are famous and ingrained in our psyche, particularly if we were born in the UK. Who has note been regaled by stories of Arthur & Merlin, Robin Hood and his Merry men and countless others

During medieval times, heroic deeds and acts of chivalry carried out by the great and the good of the land were regaled in ballads sung by the bards. Because of this, for my last post of the “Sweet Sixteen” challenge I thought I might tell you all such a story. Like a bedtime sort of story so you'll probably fall asleep 

The actions of one of Wales’ greatest knights though once prominent and in those days on the tip of every bard’s tongue somehow became lost until its recent discovery. Thus we arrive at the Ballad of  Sir Creshan of Deheubarth. So join me if you will by the fire, pull up a chair and close you eyes and imagine. (Er On second thoughts it’s probably best that you don’t close your eyes as you won’t be able to see the pictures which would defeat the whole object)

In days of  old when knights were bold…

The Bard Gerald of Wales will help us recount the tale...

Behold Sir Creshan and his trusty squire - Pod

Sir Creshan has no lord, he's a hedge knight and is sleeping under one

Sir Creshan is on his way to a tourney where he plans to earn fame and fortune by winning and so marry the love of his life, Lord Lucan's elder daughter Lucretia who will no doubt be unable to avoid his advances should he win and so become a knight of renown

She's on the right wearing blue

Of course one of the reasons he wants to marry her is because she has big chests

What were you thinking, take your mind out of the gutter, these chests are full of money

Anyway I digress....

This is Sir Creshan's old squire, Hodor, but he had to let him go...

At the last tournament on the circuit though Sir Creshan had been victorious he had somewhat unfortunately be the source of much jest and mirth because of the unfortunate well stupid actions actually of his then Squire Hodor. Now Hodor wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box and when asked to repaint Sir Creshan’s shield with his Leopard heraldry misconstrued or misheard  and a dreadful scene followed " I said paint a Leopard -L -E - O-P-A-R-D - there's no T in Leopard you stupid boy.

Fighting with a leotard on your shield is not really the way to garner favour with lords and ladies

This is Pod, Sir Creshan's new squire

Being a squire is hard work

The day hasn't started well because they slept late  and its worse when they get to the bridge where's there's obviously an ye olde traffic jam where carts are piled up waiting to cross

"Pod, I'm in a hurry, tell those peasants to get a move on as I'm an important man you know"

5 mins later - "well? "

"He's signaling sir - I think he's saying it will take 2 hours to cross"

It soon become apparent what the trouble is and Sir Creshan springs into action

A river troll it seems

Finally Sir Creshan is victorious

On with his journey and into the forest.....

Ni, ni, ni - you shall not pass...

Thank goodness for the shrubbery, not too expensive

If that's not bad enough, a few miles on and another says Sir Creshan shall not pass....

The dreaded Black Knight..

Call it a draw?

Meanwhile with his back turned and horse left unattended it looks like some thieving sod has made off with his horses hooves and shoes ( The current practice of stealing car wheels and leaving the car on a pile of bricks originated in Medieval times)

Off to the blacksmith

Then there was the matter of that magic sword

Arthur you little sod, come here. Where did you get that sword, you could get someone’s eye out with that, You wait till your father gets home he will brain you for stealing that sword – now take it back to where you find it and not only that if his lordship finds out you’ll be on one of those boats to Australia

Next off to see the Mad Bishop at the church for a blessing

Nobody was expecting this

At the tourney Sir Creshan's first opponent was disqualified for wearing a dress and being improperly dressed and his second was a little odd

But look behold

Unfortunately not all medieval tales have an happy ending....

Poor Sir Creshan, all hot and melted.....

Apologies a mad rush and only just in

So In summary - 455b p0its in foot and horse, 3 wagons and a troll and dragon

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Wow, amazing work and such a rollicking story, Kerry! I loved how the saga of poor Creshan (it's all very Welsh, you know) allows us to have a wonderful tour of your collection, both new and old. So much to take in. Of the group, I especially like the jousting knights and, of course, the red dragon. Amazing brushwork and all beautifully photographed amongst your stupendous terrain. Bravo on this final parting volley, Kerry! I look forward to seeing you with us next winter for Challenge XVII.

- Curt