From PaulSS - Terrain, wildlife and livestock (40 Points)

A collection of miscellany from me today, I need to work more on my planning.

Before the challenge started I got built and primed in preparation a whole load of terrain and the last of that was painted today. Firstly, five six inch long sections of fencing that I made on tongue depressors that will come in handy for marking boundaries or denoting road edges, etc.

These were made with matchstick for the posts with split coffee stirrers for the planks. The gates are made from lolly sticks.

I also built a couple of hills, the large one is about nine inches across and two inch deep and the smaller one is about a six inch diameter an one inch deep.

I bought a hot wire cutter last month so was determined to get some use out of it. The hills look a bit of an odd colour in these photos, but blend in quite well with my usual terrain cloth.

I've not been buying figures for a few months now, but that has not stopped Victoria picking me up a few treats. Back in August we were in the UK and attended 'The Other Partizan' where Warbases furnished her with the ideal gifts for me.

The first one painted today is the stag and hind from the Red Deer set, I can see though that at some stage in the process I managed to chip some paint off of his magnificent antlers, likely will get touched up again tomorrow.

For an idea of size this pair are on a 40mm base.

She also picked up for me a splendid pair of Longhorn Cattle that will come in very useful in our games. I now have quite a lot of potentially stampeding livestock for our Sharp Practice games.

This pair are mounted on a 50mm base to give an idea of the size.

So, all in all, not a lot of output today, but between cracking on with these I did managed to prepare and make a start on some other stuff.

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Great work Paul!  The bespoke fencing is terrific, and the longhorn cattle are very majestic, but I particularly like your vignette of the deer. That is a great set of sculpts and the paintjob on the stag is excellent. We have so many around here that it's often dangerous to go out on the highways at night for fear of hitting one (which will easily total a car at speed). 

This nice grouping will net you a tidy 40 points. Well done, Paul!

From John M: Let's Start with some Napoleonics (68 points)

When the challenge first started 10 years ago, I believe all I painted was Napoleonics. Interesting, I hardly ever paint Napoleonics now, mostly because since migrating to 18mm from 28mm, I find them just too hard to paint. I have left it to the experts.

I did have, however, a British Foot Artillery Battery sitting around and I needed a Nassau colonel for Göedeck's Brigade in Perponcher's Division at Waterloo. The artillery was easy enough, but unfortunately AB Figures did not have a mounted Nassau colonel. I am not a great one modifying figures but I did not have much choice here, so I cut off the head of Nassau-Ussigen officer and put it on a Belgian mounted officer. I think it came out ok.

So with out further comment, aside to say good luck to all the participants and thanks again Curt for doing this yet another year, here are some 18mm AB figures!

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Yes John, you and I are the only gits with all 10 editions under our belts.  It's hard to believe that the first one was exclusively focused on Napoleonics. In fact, it was only until the 3rd Challenge where we allowed non-historical entries, and even then only from 'The Hobbit'! But now we're all modern, and civilised - heck, we even let in people from Alberta! :)

So, it's nice to see you returning to work on something from your salad days, even if its in a smaller scale. I can't stand doing artillery - it's all those bloomin' spokes! But hats off to you as you've done a stellar job on these lads. Cripes, you even did a head-swap - next you'll be hitting us up with zenithal highlighting!  

68 points for you, John. Great work! Now, this makes me want to do some Napoleonics as well. Time to put on the parka and delve into the frozen mysteries of the Lead Shed...

MarkB: First entry - Soviet Standard Bearer at Sander’s Sand Dune (61 Points)

Hello all,

For my first ever post on the Analogue painting challenge I thought I should start at Sanders Sand Dune. The theme is something red. What better way than with a fine Soviet banner? I got this figure from Salute in 2017 and it seemed to capture the feeling I was after really well. It is in 28mm, but her feminine petit proportions made her quite tricky to paint. I thought she should be offered as my entry fee to be donated to a worthy winner. Feel free to make a claim in the comments if you’d like her! She would make a nice command figure for Bolt Action or a jump off point for Chain of Command.

I’ve got lots of historical figures to paint along with a few sillier distractions so hopefully you should see a good variety of things coming from my posts. It’s also important that Jasper and Guy from the WSS blog don’t get too far ahead early on.

I think this should score:

5 for the 28mm figure.

25 for my entry fee figure.

30 for completing Sander’s Sand Dune.

So a total of 60 points! A bit of a cheeky way of scoring so many points but I’ll be pleased if this goes to a good home and gives somebody else pleasure!

Looking forward to seeing everyone else’s posts.

Cheers

Mark Backhouse

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Welcome to the Painting Challenge, Mark! It's wonderful to have you with us.

Ah, I see it's another cheeky interpretation on Sander's 'Red' theme - well done! This lass can join Paul's Che to form a Challenge Collective. :) Nice and clean work, Mark. I also quite like her basework and the free-handing of the hammer and sickle on the red banner. Lovely stuff. 

If someone would like to call dibs on Mark's excellent Heroine of the Great Patriotic War just let me know in the comments or by email.

Don't feel abashed by the points nab, Mark - I did the very same with my first entrby! In fact, I'm going to give you an extra point for the banner. Yurah Stalino!

Again, welcome to the madhouse. I very much look forward to seeing what you come up with over the next three months.

-Curt

From KenR: 3 x 28mm M13/40 Tanks (a tanking) (65 Points)

Well it's lovely to be back folks ! Merry Xmas and a happy #AHPCX 👍

Last year saw me going all fancy lute playing Renaissance style with my 28mm Italian Wars Papal Army, this year I am going up to 11 with a full on headbanging Heavy Metal theme, Tanks, Tanks and when I've done them some more tanks.

So this entry is 3 x 28mm Blitzkrieg Miniatures Italian M13/40 tanks with the Command tank of the troop adorned with a Perrys Miniatures Commander. Those of you who follow Yarkshire Gamer on other social media may have seen the primer disaster I had with my first attempt (some M11/39 Tanks) they are back being resprayed whilst these boys stepped up to fill the breach of entry no 1.

The three tanks have been given a base coat of Army Painter Desert Yellow, after that I have built up some layers of shading with Vallejo Acrylics before adding some basic washes and weathering to make them looked lived in, all in all a nice steady away first entry.

Last year I had a plan and it worked pretty well ! So this year I have a plan too. I set myself the personal challenge of a unit of Cavalry a week, it was only 6 figures but it got me back to the paint table even if I was having a bad week just to get that unit done.

This time I'm going for 3 tanks a week, once those are done I will look at other stuff (I have some Italian Wars primed from last years challenge still hanging around).

So get ready for Panzers, Italians and plenty of Caunter.

Points wise it's three 28mm vehicles at 20 each with one 28mm crew figure at 5 points (I know crew figures are normally half points but this lad is literally all there !) for a total of 65 points.

Hope you have a great Xmas, personally I will be working during the holiday, but don't worry I will have a smile on my face on payday 😁

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Ken! It's wonderful to see you back in the ranks.  Though I was concerned about your primer issue at the start-line I see you've recovered handsomely.

Love the pasta tanks! Your desert recipe looks bang-on and I really like the subtle weathering you gave them (and that sitting tank commander is just ace). I have a soft spot for the M13/40 as it was my first 'big boy' build (1/35 Tamiya) as a kid. I've always liked the Italian-designed vehicles of WWII, though from my reading they suffered the same malady as their sexy sports car brethren in requiring a full-time mechanic, lots of swearing and a parts depot to keep them up and running. 

65 well-earned points for you. I look forward to seeing serried ranks of AFVs roll off your table this Challenge, Ken! 

-Curt

From AdamC: Victory Ships begin off loading from Douglas' Shallows (48 Points)

Hello folks its nice to be back for another Challenge.  This years I open up with a little scratch built project that would seem to count as messing around with boats right?  If not I guess my first entry will run aground...

Six Cargo Ship Objects (CSOs for short a play on a friends joke about using TLOs truck like objects in World War Two land games).  I mean occasionally you want some merchant ships for a game but usually you want spend your money on something a bit more combat oriented. So I built my own.

They are loosely based on the profile of the Victory Ship. Each ship is built with two short craft sticks (popsicle sticks) and some additional bits a pieces of wood for the superstructure and cargo hoists. The smoke stacks are made out of old plastic spear hafts.

Up front you can see the one Tanker type ship I built the.  I did the ships in a sort of "Dazzle Camouflage pattern" I don't know if Victory ships ever had this sort of paint scheme but I didn't want them to be too boring.

The goal was to make them approximately 1/2400 scale which is the scale I use for World War II naval games. Shown here with a Benson Class Destroyer, so they might be a bit shorter than they should but close enough.

Here is an over head view.  The should have some 40mm or 3" deck/AA guns but weapons that small would be hard to model from scratch (you don't see the 40s on the Destroyer above) so I just didn't worry about these. They'll mostly play targets/objective anyway. Points since 1/2400 scale isn't listed I'll suggest 2 points each as that is the smallest vehicle scale available so 12 points (But  please adjust as you feel appropriate).

Plus the 30 for collecting the Map Point for 42 Points to start my campaign... now to hump these supplies inland to Cooke's Crevase. 

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First, welcome back to the Challenge Adam!

Well, I definitely applaud and envy your ingenuity and craft skills - this fleet of Victory Ships definitely look the business. As you say, we often end up spending our hard-earned sheckles on stuff representing the 'sharp end', whereas the important support elements frequently get neglected. I also like your take on the 'dazzle' camoflage and rest-assured that some Victory Ships did indeed sport this type of paint scheme during the war. 

In the past we've scored 1/2400 ships at 3 points each so with that being the case this will give you a tidy 48 Points as you lay anchor in Douglas' Shallows. Well done Adam!

-Curt

From TomM: Voor vorst, voor vrijheid en voor recht! (43 Points)

Okay, so that title is actually from our Belgian national anthem, and translates as "for king, for freedom and for rights" but it suited as the title for this entry.

And that entry consists of my now fully painted Belgian army for Blitzkrieg Commander 4, all models coming from Scotia Grendel's Belgian range, drabbed with some French.

Coming in at a 1000 points, this is a small force I've build because 1) I`m Belgian and 2) is a good size for quick kitchen table games, either solo or to teach new players the basic rules at home.

The army itself consists of a CO and an HQ, as well as a Recce squad of infantry.

For fire support, I choose a 47mm AT gun, an 81mm mortar and a 105mm artillery field gun.

These will provide the support for 3 platoons of Infantry.

And then I took the full armoured might of Belgium (as per the rules, no matter how big the force, these are all the tanks you can take), consisting of 3 T-13 tank hunters, 3 T-15 light tanks, 3 FT-17 tanks and the heaviest we had our disposal, 3 AMC35 tanks.

So all in all for the points, this will grant me the following:

27 infantry models at 0.5 each = 13.5 points
3 guns at 1 point each = 3 points
13 vehicles at 2 points each = 16 points

For a grand total of 32.5 points of Belgian Bravery!

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Our first 6mm entry of Challenge X, excellent work Tom. I like seeing these often overlooked forces getting some of the limelight. T-13 tank hunters? AMC35s? Wow, talk about outliers of the armour world. Awesome. 

Your math is a bit off on the vehicles, so we'll put you at 43 points in total. That being said we're having a little issue with our points spreadsheet, but we have our mathemagician and spreadsheet boffin Miles looking into it, so your place on the roster will be updated as soon as we can. 

'No Miles, before you use the blowtorch try unplugging it and plugging it back in again...'

From MattK: Riders of Rohan (120 Points)

I had grand ambitions of getting these posted in the first day of the challenge but alas real life got a little in the way again this year. One of my short term goals is to play through the new War in Rohan book so I've been hammering away on my Rohan Army to go alongside the Uruk-Hai I started last challenge. First entry from me for this challenge is 12 Riders of Rohan.

These are regular plastic Games Workshop Lord of the Rings figures mostly painted in a mad dash yesterday evening.

Twelve 28mm Cavalry should net me 120 points and put me up on the board. I can't wait to see what this year's challenge has in store.

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Well Matt, you've put the extra time to good use as these Riders look terrific (I love the mass of them). I've always had a soft spot for these figures as they look so dynamic and seem very evocative of the books' description of the Riders.  I also like your clean brushwork, especially on the shields, and the bases really give the impression of them galloping across the plains of Rohan. Lovely stuff.

120 points for your debut on the board. Welcome to Challenge X, Matt!

From DaveS: More Nightstalkers (40 Points)

So, I've been busy, and have managed to finish some more of the Night Stalkers force that i was working on.  First up I've completed another 3 of the Scarecrows, to give me 5 (and likely more than I'll ever need for Vanguard)

These are the cheap, disposable foot troops, and I have painted them the same as the previous ones, albeit without the Orange Pumpkin heads.

Next we have 5 Spectres, the bog standard missile troop of the force.  Another 5 of them, in a VERY  simple paint job, that I think looks good next to the Scarecrows (and mimics the official scheme seemingly)

Overall, that's another 8 28mm figures, which I think should be good for another 40 points to the total.  Now to try and find something nautical.

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Good to see that you're cracking on with your Kings of War 'Nightstalker' project, Dave. Those scarecrows are suitably scary, wielding their garden implements and sporting creepy hats. The Specres are rather unsettling as well, with the odd lolling tongue to give them some contrast. Great stuff.

-Curt

From TamsinP: 28mm Pulp Gangsters #1 (25 points)

Two entries in two days? Why, yes! As I'm going to be away and not painting for a few the next few days, I thought I'd get a few more figures painted and submitted to tide me over.

Whereas the figures for my first entry were brand new, these ones were prepped ready for AHPC 7 - have no fear Phil - there are plenty more of them should I visit Hawkins' Hill.

Four of the figures are "Two Bit Hoods" from Pulp Figures; the other is from Dixon Miniatures. Some of you may recall that in my final submission last year I had realised late on that I'd accidentally swapped a "Two Bit Hoods" figure with one from the Dixon "Bonnie & Clyde and the Barrow Gang" set. Well, the figure I should have painted last year was this one:

But the one I painted was this:

Reuniting them with their proper sets:

Two Bit Hoods

Bonnie & Clyde and the Barrow Gang

Didn't notice that long strand of static grass when I took the pic

I didn't use the wet palette today (although at times it would have been helpful). I also haven't varnished them yet as I finished them slightly too late to be using the airbrush - that will get done in the morning.


For scoring:
5 x 28mm foot figure = 25 points

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I always enjoy seeing your Pulp work Tamsin, especially when they feature the models from Bob Murch's line - they're so characterful and fun. I particularly like the fellow in the camel coat and red scarf (he obviously didn't read the memo on Hood dress code). I also admire the effect of the concrete pavers for your basework. They seem very evocative of the period.

25 points for you Tamsin. Excellent stuff. What's next? 

Challenge X Information Bulletin

Hello Challengers!

Just a short information bulletin and a few silly requests.

1. When you draft up a Challenge Island submission please write in the location (I.e. Sander’s Sand Dunes, Piper’s Peak, etc.) in the ‘Label’ area. This way it makes it easy for all of us to spy navigate who has done what for each area on the island. I'll make up a gallery for each location, so we can keep track of the various entries.

2. Except for Snowlord's Peak, you can revisit Challenge Island locations as many times as you like, but you will have to redo the task and you won’t get the bonus points on any repeat visits. Yes, no points-mining with multiple balloon trips (though Sarah may come up with some sort of frequent flier scam promo to keep things interesting).

3. Please don’t use pointy brackets when labelling your post as <Ready>. Yes, I know that’s what I originally asked you to do, but it turns out I’m an idiot. Who knew? (Well, actually, Sarah knows, but that's beside the point). In fact the pointy brackets makes 'Ready' invisible in the preview screen! Wow, kinda like a superpower, but not really.

4. The tariff figure(s) can be of anything and in any scale. If you want to paint one for a fellow Challenger just let me know and I'll make note of it for when they reach the summit of SnowLord's Peak. Otherwise I'll let you know who's been awarded your figure and you will be responsible for sending it to the lucky recipient. This way everyone both provides a prize and gets a prize. I know, it all sounds very Bolshie, but I think it should work nicely. 

Let me know if you have any other questions that I can dream up impenetrably complex rules for - its all part of the full service offered here at the Painting Challenge.

-Curt Actual Out