The Thirteenth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

 

 Hi All!

It is November 20th, and with the coming of winter it is also time to plan for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!   

For this season, our 13th, we'll be making our way through the film lot of 'AHPC Studios, GmbH', a loose cluster of stages, workshops, offices and film sets. It is here that we will offer participants to partake various Silver Screen themes. More on this below. 

The Basics

The Painting Challenge will extend from the first day of Winter, 12:01 am December 21st, through to the first day of Spring, 12:01am March 20th, Central Standard Time (CST). 

Miniatures (i.e. figures, vehicles, artillery, terrain, etc.) can be prepared, assembled and primed prior to the start date, but you cannot start painting until December 21st. In order to gain full points, the figures should be based (if appropriate) 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. 

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

In order to be scored, participants will self-publish photos of their submissions along to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring (or as up-to-date as we can manage) will be maintained on the blog's main page. 

I will send out an email to all participants a week or so prior to the event to provide additional details on submitting your entries to the Challenge blog.

An Important Note: All participants must have an entry submitted within the first four weeks of the event (i.e. January 21st). Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the Challenge roster. Yep, remember, this is not called a Challenge for nothing. :)

The Scoring

Below is an outline of the scoring that will be used for the Challenge.  

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 points15mm vehicle = 8 points

20mm foot figure = 4 points
20mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 8 points20mm vehicle = 15 points

28mm foot figure = 5 points
28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 10 points
28mm vehicle = 20 points

40mm foot figure = 7 points
40mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 15 points
40mm vehicle = 25 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. 


Terrain Submissions

We'll retain our imperfect-but-it-works  6" cube format. Briefly, if your terrain piece (or collected terrain pieces) fills a 6" 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" square 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.

Example 3: I've painted a few bits of scatter terrain. I estimate they only 'fill' around a 1/4 of a 6" square cube. This would get me 5 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.  


Changes to the Challenge

Okay, Here are the list of changes to the Challenge program:

1) The participant cap is set at 70(ish). 

Last year we pushed the limits of the Blogger platform in having almost 100 participants, so this year we will set the cap at around 70 in the hope that nothing blows up. :)

2) The Theme this year is... 

'AHPC Studios, GmbH'! We've returned from the extra terrestrial space of last year's 'Challenge Sector XII', and give you a film studio from the golden age of cinema. 

Welcome to 'AHPC Studios'!

Those doughty Challengers who wish to to test their mettle can enter 'AHPC Studios, GmbH', exploring the expansive film lot, and engaging with the various themed challenges within. 

NOTE: For illustration purposes only. This is NOT the map.

The studio will feature a varied assortment of locations which participants can explore by completing a themed hobby task. Once you finish a task at a location you will get bonus points and will be clear to travel on to the next location. 

Remember, participants do not need to embark on this journey of madness to enjoy the Challenge, it is a voluntary diversion for those wishing to try some theme-based challenges.

In the next few weeks I'll followup with another post laying out the specifics of 'AHPC Studios', its final layout, and its rewards.

The Minions

Keeping to form, I will serve as the Dungeon-Master-of-Ceremonies / Tormentor-in-Chief / Dread-Dork-Lord, etc. etc., but I will also have a happy group of 'Minions' to keep this adventure moving along. Here are the wonderful folks who have taken the Snowlord's shilling to assist me in this year's Challenge:

• Monday: PeterD

• Tuesday: TamsinP

• Wednesday: MilesR

• Thursday: Teemu

• Friday: PhilH

• Saturday: StuartL

• Sunday: Martin and Curt

Signup, Personal Targets and Duels

For those wishing to participate please send me an email, providing: 

1) your full name,
2) your 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 the roster has been filled and will follow-up with an email in a couple weeks detailing the specifics of the event.

Many participants have found the personal points targets to be a great incentive in maintaining their pace over the three months of the Challenge. I encourage participants to pick a target that is just beyond your comfort zone, but still achievable. As a rough benchmark, 300 points is considered a manageable amount for someone who is new to the the event and/or has a busy work/life schedule. Also remember that a significant amount of points can be secured by adventuring in 'AHPC Studios' (more on this in a later post).

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 dream-up, organize and keep track of.

The Cost of Entry

Last year we had great success with our donations to the Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation and so I thought we'd keep our shoulder to the wheel for this edition. Accordingly, the cost of entry to the Challenge is a donation (in the amount of your choice) to this worthwhile charity based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada. Living Sky provides a safe place for injured and orphaned wild animals to grow and mend until they can return to their natural habitat, while also encouraging public tolerance and understanding of wildlife. 

If you can, please send the folks at Living Sky a brief email, noting your donation and that you are a participant of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Thank you!!

_______________________________________

Challenge XIII begins at 12:01am December 21st!

Now, sign up, and get your miniatures assembled and primed - I'll see you on the start line in a month!