The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Welcome to the Painting Challenge. Here you will find the fabulous, fevered work of miniature painters from around the world. While participants come from every ethnicity, gender, age and nationality, they have three things in common: they love miniatures, they enjoy a supportive community, and they want to set themselves against the Challenge. This site features the current year's event along with the archives of past Painting Challenges. Enjoy your visit and remember to come back soon.

Thursday, 23 December 2021

From AlanD - Romanians from Uranus/Caprica (70 points)

Hello everyone, and what a great pleasure it is to be back in your company for the Challenge! Thank you Curt and Minions for making this highlight of the hobby year possible.

One of my goals for the year is to paint a Romanian army for WWII, using the figures from Great Escape Games. With very few changes, I'll be able to use this for Battle Group, Bolt Action and Chain of Command, and against Soviets from 1941-1944, and Hungarians or Germans from August 1944 until the end of the war. Not the most visually exciting army, but I've tried to liven them up by placing them in early winter with snow bases to contrast with the Fifty Shades of Mud colour of their uniforms. I've gone for the look of snow when it's still melting a bit, and after years of mockery over failed attempts to make realistic-looking snow, I'm feeling good about this. I anxiously await 'Miss Smilla' Curt's judgement.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, while German troops were being constantly sucked into the fight to take the city, their flanks were held largely by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops. When the Soviets launched Operation Uranus in November 1942, the Romanians were rapidly overrun, lacking the artillery and armour necessary to hold a major Soviet offensive. As a result, I think we can consider the ill-equipped troops left unsupported by their German allies as doomed, and worthy of claiming Caprica on the Quadrant map. Really, with Operation Uranus, I should be claiming two planets - but is Uranus a planet anymore? I lose track.

Anyway- this first squad of 10 with the Caprica bonus should get me on the scoreboard with 70 points.

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Oh, that's very nasty, slushy, miserably looking snow, and I say that in the best possible way. Well done, Alan! I think it's great that you're doing one of the unsung Axis contingents of WWII. The Romanians, Hungarians and Italians often got the icky end of the stick, both from their opponents and their unthankful allies, so it's good to see them getting some representation on the tabletop. I look forward to seeing more of these in the coming months.

Welcome back to the Challenge, Dux!

- Curt