Monday 4 April 2016

The 6th Annual Analogue Hobbies Awards


Well, all the votes are in for 'Choice of the Challenge', Sarah has made her selection for 'Sarah’s Choice', I’ve done the same for the Judges selection and we’ve made the prize draws for the six points thresholds. Whew! As you will see below this was a very hectic week for us!

This year, for ease of administration, I've combined the previous Challenger's Choice and People's Choice awards into one called the 'Choice of the Challenge'. We had 25 nominations for this award with 72 people voting. I must say it was a real delight to populate the voting gallery with the images of the nominations as the collective whole provides an excellent retrospective of the three months of the Challenge. 

As the runners up and winners for the various categories are named I provide a sampling of their work. 

For those wishing to see the voting results they can be found here.

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Choice of the Challenge
Honourable Mentions go to MartinN (Nick) and Millsy for their excellent bodies of work.

 Nick's Late Romans Ballistae

 Nick's 'Shaeffer's Last Chancers'

 Millsy's 'The Luncheon'

Millsy's 'Motte & Bailey'

Third Place was tied between SidneyR and myself. Sidney will receive a 30 Euro gift certificate from Barrage Miniatures. Well done Mr. Roundwood!


Sidney's  The Artist Chance Card'

Sidney's 'The Flemish Cavalier'

Curt's 'Denizens of Edgar Rice Burrows' Barsoom'


Curt's 'Landsknecht Pike Block'

Second Place goes to MichaelA for his body of work. Michael will receive a subscription from 'Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy'. Congratulations Michael!

Michael's 'Clocktopus'

 Michael's 'The Great Escape'

First Place for 'Choice of the Challenge' goes to Anne and her excellent body of work. She will get a 20 GBP gift certificate from West Wind Productions. Wonderful job Anne and congratulations!


Anne's 'Clint' 

 Anne's 'Steampunk Annie'

Anne's 'Hasslefree Moderns'

Judge’s Choice
The Honourable Mentions go to MartinN's collective submissions, masterful work sir, and Anne’s collective work, especially impressive with her fabulous skin tones and colour blending. 

The Judge’s Choice goes to Michael’s for his 'The Great Escape' – Thank you Mr. Awdry for treating us to your fevered imagination, inspiring modeling and beautiful brushwork. Micheal will receive a painted figure of his choice from me.


Michael's 'The Great Escape' for the 'Nostalgia' Theme Round.


Sarah’s Choice 
With typical Canadian Prairie spring weather outside (yesterday brilliantly sunny and 21C, today dreary and overcast and 8C) I really have no excuses to not sit down with my iPad and scroll through all the terrific "Sarah's Choice" entrants.
Cup of coffee in hand, hounds by my feet and good tunes on the Hi Fi, and utilizing a highly scientific process I have determined the results.
3rd Runner Up
A tie between ClintB's 'Nurse Docherty' and Millsy's 'Margaret Graham'.
I attended a Girls School and Nurse Docherty has a strong resemblance to a certain headmistress ..... and maybe perhaps the infamous Mind Bleach has influenced my cognitive powers!
Clint's 'Nurse Docherty'
Margaret Graham appeals to me as I'm a manager of a busy retail store .... There are days when I do feel a wee bit cantankerous and Margaret Graham's method of stress relief, although extreme, definitely has its appeal:)
Millsy's 'Margaret Graham'

2nd Runner up
Anne's 1970's Female Action Hero
I've chosen this figure of Anne's due to the amazing yellow/gold of the lady's flared trousers and her skin tones. As has been said before, Anne's understanding of colour is amazing and this yellow is so rich and deep that there is a beautiful glowing tone. Just lovely!


 Anne's 1970's Female Action Hero
1st Runner Up
AlexS' 'Tamsin the Gladiator & Anne the Sorceress'
I love that Alex has painted his rendition of Tamsin's and Anne's personalities. Both these ladies have made such a strong contribution to AHPC and beyond. Alex's artistic impression of them is inspired and a wonderful honour of their contribution this hobby.
Alex's 'Tamsin & Anne'


And the winner of Sarah's Choice ....
KyleC Slanneshi Daemon Princess

I've spent the last hour scrolling thru all the Sarah's Choice entrants and this entry really resonated with me, because I love purple (and green; your Valhallian Commisars are quite splendid) and the figure itself has such a lovely sense of ethereal motion. Your choice of pale luminescent colour really highlights the idea of movement.

KyleC's Slanneshi Daemon Princess
Thank you to everyone who has painted female figures for this Challenge, it has been real pleasure to view them all once more. I look forward to what next Challenge will bring!

Sarah, aka Snowlady


Thank you m'dear and congratulations to Kyle on his Sarah's Choice! Kyle, you will receive a 30 Euro Gift Certificate from Barrage Miniatures.


Points Threshold Prizes

Next we have the Point Threshold prizes. These are a random draw awarded to participants who broke through the six points barriers over the course of the Challenge.

Threshold I / 500-749 points: ChristopherS
(Gift Certificate from BigRedBat Ventures)

Threshold II / 750-999 points: PeterD
(20 CDN Gift Certificate from Comic Readers)

Threshold III / 1000-1499 points: GregB
(30 CDN Gift Certificate from Dragon's Den)

Threshold IV / 1500-1999 points: DaveB
(3 x 3 Mat of Choice from Deep Cut Studios)

Threshold V / 2000-2499 points: AlexS
(30 GBP Gift Certificate from Orinoco Miniatures)

Threshold VI / 2500+ points: MartinC
(30 Euro Gift Certificate from Barrage Miniatures)


Also, I think it only proper to give some prizes to our Paint Monsters who dominated the points roster:

3rd in the Points Standings: AlexS (Figure Voucher from Murawski Miniatures for a Baden battalion)

2nd in the Points Standings: MartinC (75 GBP Gift Certificate from Westfalia Miniatures

1st in the Points Standings MilesR ($100 Gift Certificate from Fife & Drum Miniatures)


Congratulations to all the prize winners and thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us. Please contact me to work out the details of your prizes.

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There you have it folks, another Painting Challenge, our sixth (!), now behind us.  I’d like to thank all our Challenge Sponsors for their generous support of the event. All of the sponsors are listed below and on the right sidebar, so if you have a free moment please visit their sites, see if something strikes your fancy and consider giving them some trade.  As I always say, the Challenge doesn’t need prizes for it to be a success, but it sure adds a nice bit of sparkle and glamour to the proceedings. Again, my great thanks to all our wonderful sponsors!

Finally, and I really can't say this enough, I want to humbly thank all our Challenge participants. This event would be nothing without you. It is your humour, your vigour and your good will that makes these three months such a joy. I doff my hat to you all.

I bid you all a fond farewell until the leaves fall next autumn.

Curt

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Barrage Miniatures




Barrage Miniatures specializes in very high quality, exquisitely detailed vehicles, buildings and warmats. I had the pleasure to visit Alf's workshop in Madrid last year and can attest to his near maniacal attention to detail and customer service. In addition to his generous prize offerings Alf is also giving a 10% discount to all Challengers who order from his store during the event (please contact me to get the discount code). Thank you very much Alf!


Comic Readers


Comic Readers is our local game store here in Regina. Dana and Chad are wonderful pair of guys who do a great job supporting the local gaming community.
Deep-Cut Studios



Deep-Cut Studio is an artisan studio specializing in manufacturing miniature and RPG games accessories. They mainly focus on miniature games mats for various wargames. Deep-Cut collaborates with companies looking to outsource their manufacturing and/or handling the distribution of their products. They provide a wide array of services: graphic design, drawings, manufacturing, packaging and shipping the goods to the customer's doorstep. I have several of their mats and can attest to their quality and excellent customer service.


Diplomatist Books


The stock at Edwin King's wonderful online bookshop Diplomatist Books is always worth a thoughtful perusal. You'll find titles on Military & Naval History, Archaeology, Early History and Exploration. Check out Edwin's Facebook page to keep up with his goings on.


Dragon's Den Games



Just 250km up the road from Regina is Saskatoon's Dragon's Den Games (it seems nuts but this is a relatively short distance in the Canadian prairies). Darren has been a long-time supporter of the Challenge and I'm delighted that he has once again offered to provide some lucky Challenger a gift certificate. Cheers Darren!


Fife & Drum / Minden Miniatures


Jim Purky's Fife & Drum Miniatures, whose wonderful 30mm figures focus on the American War of Independence, was awarded 'Best Historical Miniatures Range of 2011' by the Miniatures Page. Jim also has the excellent Minden Miniatures range, which focuses on the armies of the Seven Years War. Both ranges are sculpted by the very talented Richard Ansell.


Murawski Miniatures



Murawski Miniatures was created to fill a niche for Napoleonic figure collectors who wanted a comprehensive range that depicted troops from the Grand Duchy of Warsaw as they were dressed and equipped in the 1812-1814 period. The “look” of the figures is very much that of “in the field” rather than parade ground (ideal for the Peninsular, 1813 campaigns etc) . Their figures have been designed with Czapska chords, plumes etc.


Orinoco Miniatures



A labour of love from fellow Challenger Mark Griffin, Orinoco Miniatures features a wonderful range of 28mm castings depicting the South American Wars of Independence (1810-1830) and the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay (1932-1935).

 
SG2 Creations


Byron's SG2 Creations is a Canadian-based studio specializing in MDF terrain, figure storage and acrylic game markers. He continues to develop ranges of buildings for 28mm Sci-Fi, 15mm Stalingrad  and another in 20mm for the WWII campaigns in Italy.


Warbases 

Martin and Diane Murray of 'Warbases' return this year to provide a gift certificate to some lucky individual from their excellent shop. 


Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy


Fellow Challenger Guy Bowers, editor of 'Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy', has kindly offered a 1 year subscription as a prize to some lucky winner. Thanks very much Guy, much appreciated!


Westfalia Miniatures



Kawe's Westfalia Miniatures combines the talents of Niels Rullkoetter, Paul Hicks, Ebob, Frank Germershaus and Bill Thornhill to build 28mm miniatures and 1/56 equipment that they always wanted for their own collections. Their research comes from Michael Bartling and many others.


Westwind Productions



The good folks over at Westwind Productions contacted me about being a prize sponsor after our own Challenger JonathanO gave us a shout-out. Thanks very much to both Westwind and Jonathan!


 

Sunday 3 April 2016

Tribute to Dave - Corporal Docherty, Sergeant Millsy & The Shovel of Doom


The last Tribute is for Dave Docherty who was our prized Wednesday Minion and our peerless Sultan of the Sudan. Dave has been a huge supporter of the Challenge, having been in the scrum since its second incarnation (the year of the Vikings, I believe), so I was delighted to have him assisting me with the circus. He's a great trooper, that Mr. D.

Originally I was going to do-up one figure, the fellow here leading with the pipe - but while I was preparing the figure an idea came along which made me modify my plan and have a bit more fun with the composition.

As many of you know, this year Dave created a funny story-line featuring himself, Millsy and, the friend of every infantryman, a shovel. In Dave's story the imperious 'Major Docherty' harangues a hapless 'Corporal Millsy', who's only expertise it seems to be in the digging of latrines.  As I was working on Dave's 'tribute', it dawned on me that it might be fun to embellish and expand on his story of the doughty Docherty, the maniacal Millsy and the Shovel of Doom. So I converted another figure to accompany the first and wrote a brief flight of fancy, a un conte, which mixes a Moorcock-esque premise with a dash of Black Adder magic-realism.

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'C'mon Corporal Docherty, keep up. We're late.'

'Remind me again, Sergeant Millsy, why do I have to lug around this bloody shovel?'


'Well, first I outrank you this time, and, if you'll remember dear heart, it was I who had to use that thing instead of a proper lance in our last outing, when we were in The Valley. Do you remember? I had a hell of a time whacking away at those Frenchies with that blasted thing. Granted, it does have a wicked edge on it and - '

'Russians!'

'What?'

'They were Russians, Millsy, you addled git. We were friends with the French that time, fighting the nasty Russians. Mind you, even Raglan, that ancient one-armed antique, couldn't keep it straight.'


'Oh, yes I remember now. You know, after that scrap in that frightful Belgian farmyard I can never get my head wrapped around the idea of the Frogs being on our side... Anyway, no matter, it's your bloody turn Corporal Docherty. You know the rules - one stripe, one shovel, one battle.'

'Right. You're quite right... So, where are we off to this time Sergeant Millsy? It's blasted hot and what in God's name is that infernal racket? It's giving me a headache. It sounds like a bloody train is about to take station over that ridge.
 
'I don't know what the sound is, but I can tell you that we're marching to fall in with the lads of the 24th. The poor sods have that idiot Chelmsford bossing them about so they need all the help they can get. They're all near that hill over yonder. Damn, what's it called again? It's a odd, foreign-sounding name... Ah yes, I remember, Isandwana

Now, hurry up...'


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Thank you very much for all your help Dave. I hope you like this little vignette and thanks for indulging me for my little departure on your original story. :)  Here's to seeing you at Partizan this year!

Curt


Tribute to Peter - 'Max' the Reislaufer - Standard Bearer for the Canton of Uri


This Tribute is for my good friend Peter, our very entertaining and hard working Monday Minion.

Peter is a die-hard regular in our local gaming group. He's an Easterner, a stats prof and a bit of a loon, but I quite like him.  Both of us share a keen interest in the pike and shotte period, with our most recent diversion being the Italian Wars. To help fuel the furnace of industry, Peter and I had a spirited 'Renaissance Men' duel over this past Challenge where we managed to get a load of units completed for future tabletop mayhem. So in light of all this, I've decided to present as my tribute to Peter this figure representing a Swiss standard bearer from the canton of Uri. 


This is a 28mm model from Wargames Foundry's venerable Renaissance Swiss range. The model was originally armed with a partizan, but I extended the staff, and added a Uribanner and a fancy finial to top it off

Much of the literature of the Uri Swiss have their ensigns wearing these whacky yellow-and-black bull getups. The uniform makes me laugh as it reminds me of the pajamas 'Max' wears in Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'.  :)

'Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!!'



Whoops! ...and here's Max with the iconic Swiss white cross on his chest (I noticed its absence after the first batch of photos, so I'm glad I caught it.)  


Thank you very much for all your help during the Challenge Peter. I think I can speak for all of us in saying that you and your Monday mob always started of our work-weeks with a smile. I hope this chap finds a good home amongst the ranks of your troops

Thanks again.

Curt

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Administrative Note: I'll be posting up my final tribute figures today (this one for Peter and Dave's) and then I'll move onto announcing the Challenge awards/prizes later this evening. Thanks!