From ChrisW AHPC 12 Wrap up post

 😶

So, I can hardly believe that it is over. The three months of the challenge seemed to pass in a blink of an eye but then again so did winter! It was the best winter I have ever had. I understand it was cold outside, and that it snowed, barely noticed I was just too focused on the challenge, which was a great thing. 

Now, however, I find myself adrift, rudderless casting about for something to fill the hours. At first I suffered through what can only be described as withdrawal symptoms. For the first few nights after the end of the challenge I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic convinced that I had stuff to work on, that I was falling behind on my projects, that I needed to paint something, anything. Morning would arrive and I would wake up with the same thoughts and rather than slowly returning to consciousness, I would instead spring forth from my bed, dress and be part way out of the bedroom before I realized that I was off the clock.

A similar thing happened to me when I (got) retired. I guess to some extent I finally found a 'new job', the challenge became my job, and on a good note as the saying goes, choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. I certainly never 'worked' all winter, but I did feel pressure (self imposed & good), and I did have deadlines, and for the first time I really enjoyed having deadlines and targets. I have only ever been productive when given a set timeline and goal. Two years without gaming resulted in no drive, no reason to get projects done. Now I was able to treat every Tuesday as a target date carved in stone, any other view would have seen me put off projects to next week or the week after.

I also want to say that the inclusion of planetary challenges was brilliant and much appreciated. It encouraged me to pull out miniatures that I had almost forgotten that I had. I would never have thought to paint up my Eldar titans if not for the need for some 'old robots'. I certainly had no plans to use them in a game, but now that they are painted maybe it is time for a game of Space Marines and/or Adeptus Titanicus. These mini challenges, including the alphabet and squirrel challenges really kept my mental hamster wheel spinning thinking of stuff to paint to meet these challenges.

So it is over and I can relax again. I now move onto the next phase, the post challenge clean up. Throughout the last three months I felt I just did not have time to waste to maintain a clean work area. I also ran into the problem of not having cleared enough space for finished projects, well its time to pay the bill.

Not a good idea to store painted figures this way !

Abandoned challenge projects

For the past few days I have been slowly picking at this mess gradually taking down the pile and creating a clear area once again. So now the main gaming table has been recovered from the above mess to...

The wrap up pictures!

Not certain what I add to this picture...

VSF, AQMF, BoB, Dystopian Wars, Pulp

Gypsies, Martians, Apes, VSF & Ice Warriors

A note on my point total, it was totally unexpected and certainly nothing in my life would have suggested that I could have had this success. I really do not stick to any project, the fact that I produced as much as I did and that I kept producing right to the end is very atypical for me. Already I feel myself slipping back into my old habits from before the challenge.

Prior to the start of the challenge I looked back over what I had painted during the same time period last year, that result was somewhere around 500 points, so it seemed right to set my target at twice that amount. Boy was I off! To put my success in better context, in all of 2021 I panted the equivalent of 2000 points, for 2020 it was 1300 points. well I almost doubled those two years, combined, in just 3 months, I am shocked!

How could I ever imagine that this challenge would produce such results! The thing is, of course, the points do not matter beyond a way to track progress, what is great is to have so much stuff finally painted! The sad truth though is despite how much got done, it is still just a small amount compared to the great unpainted pile. I also fear that come next December some of the projects that I had wanted to tackle this challenge will still be waiting for me for challenge 13.

Primed, some base coated, too many not painted

Challenge 12 results (as best as I could figure out)

• [515] 28mm infantry (including 109 female figures)
  
• [58] 28mm mounted
• [19] 28mm vehicles
• [01] 28mm Artillery
• [08] Larger 28mm monsters/robots
• [10] Tripods
• [46] Scenery items
  
• [23] Dystopian wars
• [08] Eldar titans
• [09] 28mm Cows
• [03] Big scenery items (about 831 points worth or 41.5 cubes)
  

This was my first challenge, hopefully not my last. I really enjoyed the challenge, it was well run and everyone was so very encouraging. I like the fact that it was not a competition, it was a gathering of like minded individuals that had a goal to paint some miniatures. 

However I was disappointed by one thing, me. I got too caught up on producing, not enough time looking around. I really should have stopped to smell the paint once in a while. So I submit to one and all a list of things I would (will) do differently:

• Comment more on others work. (There were just so many great posts) 
  
• Relax a bit, I don't have to paint everything
• Better, wordier posts (be more like Tamsin)
  
• Be even more squirrely (Live up to my sobriquet of an unfocused gamer)
  
• Maybe finish a few more projects that I had actually planned to do
• Get my posts ready sooner
  
• Select more realistic weekly and challenge targets that better reflect what I can get done  
• Less terrain building (that mountain took a lot out of me)
  

Again I thank everyone who participated in this challenge, and to those who organized and watched over us. I am so happy to have found this, it has been great!!!

P.S. Feel free to drop by and visit me at my blog

 Rants & Ramblings of an Unfocused Gamer