The Eighth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

As the days grow shorter and the temperatures dip below freezing, we here in the Canadian prairies start to think about the onset of winter which means snow, Christmas, snow, the New Year, snow and most likely a bit more snow before Spring arrives. For me, it also marks the start of a strange bit of madness, the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!

This year marks the eighth edition of Challenge, which is something I thought would ever happen back when it was just me and a few other painters trying to make some headway through our unpainted Napoleonic collections. Now, with seven editions behind us, we have had hundreds of painters participate, working in virtually every scale and genre imaginable. The Painting Challenge has become a major part of my hobby life and I am mindful of the many good times and friendships which have stemmed from it. AND It's a nice way of whiling away the winter months. :)

Anyway, enough of the preamble, lets get on with the show.

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When I was reflecting on this being Challenge 8, I thought it would be fun to riff on the word 'eight' and to build a theme of ravenous, monstrous things that we all loved as kids (and, face it, many of us still do as adults).

So, Challenge VIII (or 'Challenge Ate') is dedicated to our most cherished, or feared, monstrous things. 

The Rules

The Challenge will extend from the beginning of Winter, 12:01 am December 20th , through to the first day of Spring, 11:59 pm March 20th, Central Standard Time.

Figures can be cleaned and primed prior to the start date, but you cannot start painting until December 20th. In order to be fully scored the figures should be based and any planned groundwork completed. The figures have to be painted by you. The Challenge follows the honour system in the completion and entry of figures. 

The figures can be in any scale and in any genre (pulp-adventure, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.).

In order to be scored, photos of all figures/units along with a short description must be uploaded to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring will be maintained on the blog's main page. I will send out an email to all Challengers prior to the event with further details.

Participants must have an entry submitted within the first month of the event (i.e. January 20th). Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the roster.

The Administrator (me) will participate, but my score will not have any standing in the Challenge (except for ridicule and any duels I'm silly enough to accept).

The Scoring

6mm foot figure = 0.5 point
6mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 1 point
6mm vehicle = 2 points

10mm foot figure = 1 point
10mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 2 points
10mm vehicle = 3 points 

15mm foot figure = 2 points
15mm mounted figure, artillery piece or large crew served weapon = 4 points
15mm vehicle = 6 points

20mm foot figure = 4 points
20mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 8 points
20mm vehicle = 12 points

28mm foot figure = 5 points
28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 10 points
28mm vehicle = 15 points

40mm foot figure = 7 points
40mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 15 points
40mm vehicle = 20 points 

54mm foot figure = 10 points
54mm mounted figures, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 20 points
54mm vehicle, limber, etc. = 30 points 

Other scales, miscellaneous models/figures will be scored on a submission-by-submission basis. 

New Insanity: Terrain Submissions

A new aspect to this year's Challenge will be the ability to submit terrain for scoring. This was a little tricky to figure out how to administrate easily, so I've tried to keep it simple: 

Think of a 6" cube. If your terrain piece (or collected terrain pieces) fill that cube, you get 20 points. If your terrain would 'fill' multiple 6" cubes, then multiply 20 points for each cube of volume. 

Terrain filling the 6" cube on the left would be worth 20 points. The composite group on the right, made up of eight cubes, would be worth 160 points.

Example 1: I've painted three 28mm barrels and six trees. They would roughly fill a single 6" cube. I would get 20 points for this. 

Example 2: I've constructed and painted a large 28mm manor that is approximately 12" wide, 14" long and 10" high. All in all, this would roughly take up 8 cubes worth of volume. This would give me 160 points.

Submissions of terrain should be sent in with a picture illustrating the scale of their work (a ruler laid alongside should do the trick). This will give your hard-working Minion a basis for scoring. Extra points for extra detail, scratch-built insanity, etc. will be left to the Minions to adjudicate as they see fit.  

The Minions

While I will serve as the master of ceremonies, I have also press-ganged a group of Minions to assist me in keeping this madhouse in order. Here are the poor sods, er, excellent fellows I've signed-up for this year's edition along with their day-in-the-sun:

• SidneyR: Monday

• SanderS: Tuesday

• RayR: Wednesday

• JamieM: Thursday

• Curt: Friday

• MichaelA: Saturday

Sundays will alternate for Theme Rounds and Theme Results (more on this below)

Challenger Personal Targets and Duels

Similar to previous years, I ask that each Challenger declare his/her points target that they hope to achieve by the March 20th deadline. Many participants have found this a great incentive to help maintain their pace over the three months of the Challenge. I encourage Challengers to pick a target that is just beyond your comfort zone, but still achievable. As a rough benchmark, 400 points is considered a manageable amount for someone who is new the the event and/or has a busy work/life schedule. Also remember that a significant amount of points can also be secured by participating in the Bonus Rounds (more on this below).

Relating to the points targets, many folks have a lot of fun issuing 'duels' to other participants in order to race to meet a declared target, paint the most figures for a specific period, etc. I leave this to the participants to organize, but we're happy to log the duels and keep track of their progress.


Point Thresholds & Prizes

There will be six point thresholds set out for the Challenge. Each time a participant reaches a Point Threshold his/her name will be entered for the prize drawn for that level. So, the more points you accumulate the more prizes you will be eligible for. We have many generous prize sponsors who I will introduce in a following post. The Threshold prizes will be drawn at the end of the Challenge.

Threshold I: 500 points


Threshold II: 750 points


Threshold III: 1000 points


Threshold IV: 1500 points


Threshold V: 2000 points


Threshold VI: 2500 points

There will also be prizes for the top three positions in points, Challengers' Choice, Judge's Choice and Sarah's Choice.

The Fortnight Theme Bonus Rounds

Same as previous years, we will have a series of thematic Bonus Rounds. Each Bonus Round asks Challengers to enter a submission that illustrates a particular theme. The Bonus Rounds are not mandatory, they are just a little bit of fun to pace out the the Challenge and allow people to gain some points and fame through presenting themed vignettes and single figures.


Those Challengers who submit an entry for a 'Fortnight Theme Bonus Round' will receive an extra 50 points on top of the regular entry tally.


Figures for the Theme Bonus Rounds should be 15mm or greater and can be of a historical or fictional subject.


These are interspersed every two weeks over the three months of the Challenge. Below are a listing of this year’s five theme rounds, along with their corresponding submission/display dates:

'Flight' (January 6th submission / displayed January 7th / voting results January 14th) 

'BFG: Big Freakin' Gun' (January 20st submission / displayed January 21st / voting results January 28th)

'Music/Musician' (February 3rd submission / displayed February 4th / voting results February 11th) 

'Childhood' (February 17th submission / displayed February 18th / voting results February 25th) 

'Monstrous' (March 3rd submission / displayed March 4th / voting results March 11th)

The theme submissions are to be sent in by 12:01 am (CST) on the specified date (In other words, get it done and submitted by Saturday night!).


For each bonus round I'll post a poll, listing all the round's entries so visitors can vote for their favourites.

The Call
For this edition we will be placing the cap at 80 participants, with a reserve block of slots being kept aside for those people who have participated in four or more Challenges. 

For those who have a reserve spot, please RSVP to me by December 3rd to confirm your participation, otherwise your spot will be made available to anyone who did not make the first deadline and are on the waiting list.

Otherwise, the remaining 42 places are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

For all those who wish to participate please send me an email, providing:

1) your full name,

2) country of residence

3) your blog address (if you have one), and

3) your points target for the three months of the event.

My email address is:

curtcampbell at mac dot com


I will post a comment below when all the slots are filled and again when the roster is complete.  (NOTE: The participant roster is filled.)

The Price of Entry

In previous Challenges I've asked each Challenger for a memento in the form of a painted figure, but this year I give the option of either providing me a miniature of a monstrous creature or to make a contribution to a charity of your choice. If you are struggling to decide on a charity to contribute to, I'd like to suggest a small donation the Regina Humane Society. The donation page can be found here. If you wish, you can make it in memory of our lovely Great Dane, Clive (who was a magnificent monster in his own right).

'Challenge Ate' starts at 12:01am December 20th!

See you in a month! Now, go get some figures prepared for painting!