From RobP (Codsticker): Preliminary Bombardment

As is the custom this year, I am 'showing off' (for lack of a more appropriate phrase) my work area. Not much to speak of; it is the old front entrance of the house (we don't use it anymore) which I share with the kitty litter box (a pretty good indicator of where my hobby and I stand in the household). Currently sitting on it are some 15mm Sassanid command models which will be based for Field of Glory. On the left is an old dresser which houses hobby supplies: two drawers of paints; 1 of flock, static grass and foam turf; 1 of small terrain odds and sodds (fences, barrels, crates, etc). 

The photo below shows what I have prepared for the Challenge so far.  The RUB currently holds about half of my target this year: some 28mm Dark Ages, 28mm mounted ECW, LoTR Khand, 15mm Sassanid archers. Just behind it is a number of LoTR Khandish items still boxed that I hope to get to during this edition of the AHPC.

I do have most of the unfinished basement all to my self although most of it is taken up with work benches and my hand and power tools. I have about 25% of the space chock-a-block with painted and unpainted minis as well as finished terrain and terrain supplies. The 4' by 4' MDF and 3' by 3' plywood are finished skirmish tables and I have set up a temporary photography area

Yes, most of rough necks on the left are filled with unpainted minis/terrain but a couple do have finished terrain items in them. The half wall at the back of the photo has a mix of painted items as well as untouched games. So... I will have no problem finding something to paint for this challenge.

From KyleC: Hobby Area and some projects

So another year passes and we all meet up here once again.. And like all the regulars I am always in excitement of this time to get some serious hobby time in. Or at least that is the plan.. which has not gone down well over the past few years. Between moving, illness, and work.. things like life keep getting in the way. 

Though this year I do hope it is much different as I have begun to do much more painting in prep for the event, and also aligning my space to flow better for it. 

Behold.. my claustrophobic sized office space that encompasses everything one needs for a work/hobby division. 

Hobby zone and work space combo
No space left unused!

In the past I did have space upstairs that was more dedicated for painting and hobby. However I seemed to rarely use it as work made it nearly impossible to get away from the computer. And with the inclusion of my partners family from Ukraine now residing with us, I spent a bit of this year redesigning my office to hold more items than it probably should be. But it has seen an increase of painting as I tend to not leave the office now, and can paint in-between calls or before/after work without feeling guilty that I am not available for work. 

With my main work computer set up in front of me, and drawers filled with paints, materials, and models.. I have everything within arms reach ( including a drink fridge, and Mince Pies ) to keep me going. 

War of the Roses models. Some finished, many not.
Let's change that!

Plan this year is to get through a few of my armies that I have built over the past years and not got around to painting. More just moving from box or display case as we update or move house. 

Some of the bigger ones would be my War of the Roses army, Roman forces, and Dacians. Those being some of the more pressing ones I wouldn't mind getting completed this year. 

Historical armies. Romans and Dacians.

Couple other ongoing projects would be my Deathguard Horus Heresy forces. Although much is done with it over the summer, I have a lot of support vehicles and units to finish off with it. Including a few more units that are being finished up with printing that should prove to be quite a bit of fun. Quick shot to show where I got up to in August before working on a few other projects. 

Deathguard Horus Heresy Army

Also have the Cursed City boxset to finish that I will be following Marco's youtube tutorials for to get them done quickly ( airbrush and oils to be used heavily there ). The skeles got finishes, as did the heroes, but the rest of the mobs still need doing. So I do look forward to getting them done, and then more games being had with them all on the table. 

Skeletons for Cursed City

Some Orks need doing for a mate of mine that I have set aside for this as they are a bit easier and a good palette cleanser. 

I expect also a lot of random pieces at times. Star War Legions. Adeptus Titanicus. Age of Sigmar. Blood Bowl. Weird War 2 models. And likely whatever gets through the printer or makes me go Ooo that looks interesting. 

One of the biggest things for 2023 for me though is to get in more gaming. I have not had much time with it over the past years due to work and such, but looking to rectify that more this year. So a wide range of models, and armies will help me be ready for whatever game type one might want to play, and have it done in a bit of style. 

Looking through all the other setups, and hobby plans, this years is looking to be a right blast overall. Should be fun, and looking forward to it! 

From TamsinP: The Senior Flight Attendant's Office

 

Good evening Ladies, Gentlemen...and Ray! My name is Tamsin and (according to a tradition I self-established a few Challenges ago) I will be your Senior Flight Attendant for this year's exploration of, oh, what's that? It's a Studio Tour this year? No flights? Well, I never! Hmmm, quick rethink needed...

Good evening Ladies, Gentlemen...and Ray! My name is Tamsin and  I will be your Senior Studio Tour Guide for this year's Challenge. For those who don't know me, here's a brief bio.

In my early teens I discovered wargaming by chance. I was browsing history books in the town library when I came across a book which had been misplaced on the shelves - it was by Donald Featherstone and I decided to add it to my small pile of books to check out. I had seen painted figures before in David Chandler's "The Art of Warfare on Land" (I believe they were from Peter Gilder's collection), but hadn't been aware of wargaming. For a few years I played wargames using Feathertone rules and Airfix figures with a few boys from school, mostly WW2 and ACW. I also played RPGs and it was mostly those figures I painted using enamels and cheap, crappy brushes. However, as I got older other things (exams - bah!, other activities, etc) began to take priority and I pretty much forgot all about it.

Then I got struck down by a chronic illness in 2010 and was off work for several months. Around May 2011 I saw or read something sci-fi related and decided to check some facts on the internet. On one of the pages I looked at the chap had various pages listed in the sidebar and one was "wargaming". I decided to take a look and saw spaceship models and 25mm sci-fi figures. I vaguely recognised some of the ships - they were the ones in an advert I'd seen in an RPG magazine in the late 80s. I followed the link to Ground Zero Games, discovered the Full Thrust rules, eyed up the spaceships and realised that the bug had bitten me once again.

Reader, I bought some...

...and made my first foray of about 25 years into painting. Now, back when I was a teenager acrylics were new and weren't particularly good but I'd read that they were now the way to go. My first attempts weren't awful, but I really wanted to improve. That was when I discovered blogs and various websites explaining how to paint well. Then YouTube, but there weren't many channels doing painting tutorials back then; now there seem to be hundreds of them.

But it wasn't just the sci-fi gaming bug that bit. I remembered those lovely figures from that book and how as a teenager I'd wanted to have my own armies for ancients, medievals, English Civil War and the like and began looking at what was out there. I also wanted to find people to game with. Checking the interweb, I found a club (Central London Wargames Club) that met after work in a pub (bonus points!) that would be easy enough to get to from work - by that time I had recovered enough to return to work part-time - or from home. I went along one evening, introduced myself and watched a game to find out what the main figure scale and rules were. I bought the rules and a couple of army list books and looked through to decide which army I'd like to begin my journey with. As I'd always loved horses, I decided to go with a cavalry army - the Sarmatians. I initially ordered what turned out to be the last stock from Strategia e Tactica - the figures were nice, but tiny and the metal was a bit flimsy. So I ordered everything I needed from Donnington.

And so it began...

On 01 January 2012 I decided to record my wargaming and painting adventures in a blog of my own. I haven't looked back since. I started following other blogs, they started following me and so it went on and I'm still here at the end of 2022.

I discovered this wonderful event during its second running and decided I wanted to take part the following year. AHPC III saw my entry into these hallowed halls and I have become something of a fixture; even in the couple of years when I wasn't a participant I was still a minion.

But that's enough about me, what about my workspace?

The workbench

I'm in the fortunate position of being a single person living in a two bedroom flat, which means that I have been able to convert my spare bedroom into my hobby space. It's large enough for my painting desk, materials and some storage but the last has inevitably spilled over into my own bedroom and the lounge (which now also houses my 3D printer set-up).

Most of my paints

How the workbench would be set up for painting

I don't actually have anything being painted right now; the two glass jars are for my "dirty" and "clean" rinse water.  Switching between brush painting and airbrushing is quick and easy - move a couple of things out of the way, pull the spray booth forward and open it up, plug it in and away I go! For photography it just takes a few minutes to clear things away and get out my camera set-up.

I don't have room in my set-up for a computer or TV, but I do have space for a radio/CD player if I want music to paint to. As it can accept USB drives, I could listen to podcasts as well if I thought about it.

What will I be painting this year? I have one big project and a few smaller, related projects all from the 3D printing I've been doing over the past few months. There may be some non-related stuff as well.

My one big project? Well, it's a single 28mm vehicle. 

"A single 28mm vehicle is her big project? You've got to be kidding!"

No, not kidding at all. Let me explain. Whilst it may be a single 28mm vehicle, it is a rather large one - about 26" long, 17" wide and 9" tall, weighing in at about 2.5kg. And there's a normal-sized 28mm vehicle to go in it.

Fully playable (if somewhat cramped) interior

Some of you may recognise it as the 100 Ton Type S Scout Courier from the Traveller RPG. I missed the original crowdfunding campaign for it a couple of years ago, mostly because I didn't have a 3D printer at the time. Late last year the same company had a Kickstarter campaign for 1:270 and "tactical" scale versions of Traveller ships. I decided to back that campaign (despite the lack of a 3D printer) and went for the pledge level that included the 28mm ships (they'd also done the Type J Seeker variant and someone had done the 30 Ton Gig). 

Their Kickstarter campaign for the 200 Ton Type A Free Trader ship has just ended, but it is (for a little while longer) open for late pledges on My Mini Factory. I've backed that campaign as well but won't be printing the ship until next year.

"You mentioned 1:270 scale Traveller ships..."

I did indeed, and I have printed them. They may appear if I make good progress on the Type S.

Well, that's all from me folks.

Toodle-pip!

From Paul and Reilly: Showdown at the OG Corral

As ever, the onrush of the Christmas season is proceeded by the exhilarating bow-wave of another AHPC! Our Dad and Lad challenge continues this year for my 9th season and Reilly's 4th.

Preparations are in full swing at the OG Man Cave, but focused on construct and undercoat vice clean and tidy. Since Ms Man Cave moved out of the nest last year, we have requisitioned converted her old bedroom into our hobby lair which allows to paint and chat together (when I am in the country at anyway). Organisation is more a state of mind anyway, but we do shuffle things around randomly to reduce the risk of spontaneous combustion and drive eachother mad. And after having to keep things rather ship shape at work, a bit of creative chaos is welcome :-)

Our ferocious war puppies Odin (left) and Loki (right) will keep us company throughout

We are currently engaged in energised discussion regarding our AHPC Project list.  The somewhat dynamic to-do list currently includes is a pair of new Dungeon Bowl teams, some Horus Heresy figures, new units for my Wars of the Roses army, Necromunda goodies, and the curiously addictive madness that is Turnip28...

Having initially mocked me without mercy, Alan has now also succumbed to the root and proceeded down the Turnip path - so T28 challenge of sludgy misery will be a bit of fun!

As ever, its great to be back and I'm looking forward to the fun, inspiration and banter :-)

Challenge 13 Intro from Kerry T (Valleyboy)

 Morning, afternoon & evening all

This will be my second challenge, I must say taking part in my first challenge last year was I think the highlight of my wargaming year and I am so pleased to be a participant again this year.

I'm a proud Welshman (currently the butt of many rugby jokes) who moved to NZ in 1999, transporting what was probably then close to 7,000 15 mm Napoleonics I think at the same time. It goes without saying that 15mm Napoleonics are my first love and the collection has grown since then. There was a time when I would hide them all away as I was reticent to share with friends the secret of my nerdy hobby. I've come a long way in recent years though and am more open with friends an colleagues and am surprised how well my hobby habit has been received.

Last week we hosted the work Christmas party at our house. No hiding this time though, the games room was open to all and one of the spot prizes was given to  the staff member who closest in guessing  the number of figures on the table! 

In reality there is no doubt I'm a painter as opposed to wargamer, historian or collector. Thankfully I'm generally quite productive as I probably only watch about 3 hrs of TV per week spending my evenings  painting whilst listening to wargames podcasts in the evening after work

I'm a lucky man and now as I approach retirement have the luxury of a wargames room with a purpose built table. Most of my gaming these days is solo and though in the past 2 years I have taken an interest in skirmish games I am a BIG GAME enthusiast at heart and love nothing more than leaving a game up and playing it out over weeks. Some of this can be seen on my blog https://valleyboyinnz.wordpress.com/

I've been fortunate in the past to take part in several big games and was one of the original participants at Ayton (frequently written about by Henry Hyde) many years ago. I've been fortunate to take part in large multiplayer refights of Waterloo, Borodino & Leipzig organised here in NZ by fellow gamers - details on the blog.

The forces of Silverfernia capture some much needed supplies at Ayton in 2011

Borodino 2020, my Polish are in the foreground

At the moment I'm trying to finish off some AB French Cuirassiers in 15mm and having moved now mainly to painting 28mm figures forgot what a challenge it was but I think I might try and get some Young Guard painted up once the challenge gets going.

I have a short attention span when it comes to painting and like to flit from one period to another to keep myself productive. This coupled with my "oh look shiny"affliction means that I have a wide collection of unpainted figures. In fact somebody once described my hobby as being "all over the place", which I took as a compliment rather than the criticism intended!

Last year my entries were themed around P for project but this year I'm going to let myself loose with no boundaries and rummage around in the cupboard below.

I'm still waiting on some shield transfers to arrive and will still need to prep some Perry Miniatures coming for Christmas and some Oathmark Orcs. Thankfully I think I am well enough stocked in tufts and bases

My painting focus has always been on painting large numbers of figures I suppose and my subject matter in the coming challenge will likely involve  Napoleonics and Samurai in 15mm, while in 28 I hope to churn out some Dwarves, Orcs, Normans, Saxons, ECW and VBCW and maybe even some terrain. My main aim and hope I suppose is to try and make a big dent in my slow burn Italian wars project by finishing some Italians, Swiss, a few Landsknecht, Gendarmes, stradiots and finally Spanish. Hence my suggestion of a "My codpiece is bigger than yours" challenge. I also hope to drop a few Squirrel bombs again this year

The painting desk and reference library!

So I've myself a decent challenge  and in order to do this will need to find ways of overcoming my work commitments, ignore the rapidly growing grass and other needs in the garden and try and stay off the golf course 

Even on the golf course there'll be a reminder that I really should be painting!

Thank you all for your encouragement last year, it was such a positive influence, I cannot emphasise its effect enough. I'm looking forward to enjoying your company again for the next few months and being enthused by what you will showcase again. Best wishes

From MilesR: Challenge XIII Prep

 Frantic preparations are underway here at the Ubergeek Lair - well maybe not frantic but hurried.  First off is a clean up of my painting desk:

My collection of various paints is starting to surround the workspace - hopefully I don't get completely enveloped!

About 25 feet away from my painting desk is my "terrain workshop" were I do the bulk of the messy terrain work as the floor isn't finished.  It's still a mess with remnants of long forgotten projects littered about:

All of the required supplies have been ordered and mostly received - Mr Litko should be very happy me!

I am thinking about trying the new Vallejo version of contrasty - speedier paints but am not sure when they will be available here in the colonies.

As for projects this year - they are somewhat varied.   The will be a large 3mm ww2 project to play out the Peleliu Campaign at a company level complete with a full topographical map of the Island which will be featured in a future LWTV episode.

Following on Last year's dalliance with 10mm fantasy you'll be subjected to legions of poorly painted 10mm Dwarves and various opponents.  I'll likely also flesh out my 10mm Byzantines and maybe even some 15mm WW2 stuff.  I doubt there will be any 28mm this year but who knows when the skirmish fairy will strike and I'll succumb to year another tactical gaming craze.

People seem to be putting pictures of themselves in the photos.  Out of abundance of caution I shall refrain.  I will, however, provide a picture of Gus, my hobby partner.  To be honest, Gus isn't all that helpful with figure painting but he's aces with terrain.

Gus, "The Wonder Dog".  

Hey Vallejo - you may want to hire him as a "spokes-canine". Just saying.

Gus reacting with sheer excitement at the prospect of going down into the basement for a hobby session....

 

From JamesM: Challenge 13 Intro

Hi folks,

I suppose at this point I'm technically a veteran of the challenge, having participated for the first time in 'The Seventh' and each year since. I run a blog called Mad Tin Hatter!

I'm generally something of an 'anti-squirrel' when it comes to painting, normally focusing on my large collection of 15mm WW2 Normandy miniatures and painting to a planned order of battle. This year, I'm taking a bit of a break from that and attempting to paint a bunch of 28mm Necromunda figures. Alongside possibly some Battlefleet Gothic and 15mm Cold War Dutch. 

But I do have a few WW2 British softskins and such on the painting shelf as well - so don't panic!

As a Scotsman forced by love of a local lass to live in on the banks of the River Tees in North East England, I was lucky enough to land near and then meet DaveD and MartinC. They share my love for BIG games and we all have a similar approach to gaming. Through them I've had some fantastic hobby opportunities, including taking part in the filming of battle scenes for an award winning documentary. 

Gaming wise, I've a member of the North Riding Wargames club out of Northallerton, and we've been lucky enough recently to have Pendraken open space near us we can use for regular gaming. Thankfully as I tend not to be too attracted by hobby squirrels (I'm looking at you Martin!) gaming days there are not a hugely expensive problem for me. 

For painting space, I've a small home office which is 75% full of really useful boxes. 75% of those contain 15mm Sherman tanks. Please excuse the elbow pillow!

As mentioned above, I've diverted away from my usual focus of WW2 related projects for this challenge. Last challenge and into this summer saw me paint a full company worth of German halftracks and my efforts since then have returned to painting things plain green. I found the Dutch used no camo during the 1980's, so they were an easy choice, as DaveD finally tempted me to do a period at 15mm I already have at 6mm and 3mm...

This years pile of shame prepped so far. I've set a small target for myself, as I'm not the fastest painter - only 250 points. I am not used to painting 28mm stuff, so I'll be interested to see how my models look at the end of the challenge as opposed to the start!

Gaming wise, I became aware of wargaming back in July 1996 when a classmate in high school brought in a White Dwarf magazine and talked about Necromunda. I bought issue 200 of that magazine speculatively in August of 1996 and was hooked - funnily enough it was an issue with a Necromunda spread on the back page! Prior to this, I had played with my own made up rules using Lego (as microarmour) and skirmishes using 20mm Airfix figures, without any comprehension that other people did this and that there were things like formal rules with dice and rulers. I was involved in all things Games Workshop until around 2006, when my various collections were sold. In around 2013 I started collecting 15mm Flames of War British following a chance encounter at a gaming club I popped into. Since then, I've focused on 15mm WW2 Normandy gaming with the occasional foray into 6mm and 3mm moderns, 3mm and 15mm sci-fi, 10mm ACW, Cruel Seas, Full Thrust and Battlefleet Gothic. I do not collect games involving the chucking of spears...

I'm one of the regular Paint and Chat hosts during the challenge, alongside DaveD. I hope to get a chance to talk to some of you there!

 

From SylvainR - Welcome to L'Atelier des Jeux S.A.

A general view of L'Atelier des Jeux S.A.

 Welcome to “L’Atelier des Jeux S.A.” where the motto is: “It’s always a good plan to have a good plan”. It will be my pleasure to show you around.

But first, a few words about me, SylvainR, the CEO of this well oiled enterprise. I am French Canadian, now living in Regina but originally from Montréal, and I played my first wargame, PanzerBlitz, back in 1977. I started to play, paint and collect 6mm WW2 miniatures (we called them “Micro Armor”)  in 1981. Over the years, I tried other games and painted other types of miniatures and eventually got rid of all my collections before moving to Regina in 1998, foolishly thinking that wargaming was just a phase of my wasted youth. But in 2006, I met Curt and I got back into games and miniatures.

Department of Procurement

This is the Department of Procurement, where unpainted models and all kinds of bits and material are kept. Until May 2022, L’Atelier was well under way to completely finish all its projects, but after a trip to Montréal, the shelves were fully re-stocked. What happened? An old friend, RobertR, who introduced me to Micro Armor back in the 80s, had moved into retirement housing and was too happy, when he saw me, to give me his whole lifetime collection of WW2 and Cold War 6mm miniatures, saving them from the landfill. Robert was not just an avid collector, he was also “rescuing” miniatures from many other wargamers who abandoned their 6mm armies to move on to other interests. My good old WW2 Soviet army from the 1980s was there in the lot! This huge pile of lead filled about 3 suitcases. Just to give you an idea of the amount of metal it represents, there are enough individual infantry models to create over 20 battalions (each of about 320 men), which would be enough personnel to man a whole division. The collection is a mix bag of beautifully painted models, half finished projects and unopened blisters of all sorts. The models were mostly painted by Robert, but there are many models painted by others, resulting in a very interesting mix of colors and painting styles. I decided to re-base and finish the whole collection and I estimate it would take me at least 5 years to do so.

Department of Planning

This is the Department of Planning. This is where miniatures coming from Procurement are organized into projects. As you can see, lots of research is done to ensure the highest quality possible in organization and colors for our products. Projects are organized into “trays” and are then moved into the Department of Process. The miniatures currently being sorted are for the French and Polish armies. Unfortunately, few of these miniatures will make it to the challenge because they are already painted.

Department of Process

Trays arriving into the Department of Process are neatly arranged in prioritized order. New trays are stored at the bottom, and when the painting is done, finished models are stored starting at the top. Once the cabinet is full, I build trays (now with the help of Byron!) to store them in boxes. You can see in the glass cabinet finished units for the D.A.K. These miniatures, already painted (so would not qualify for the challenge), were simply glued to a base. You can have a glimpse at the CEO in the side mirror of the glass cabinet.

Department of Painting

Finally, we have the Department of Painting. Most of the colors are from Tamiya, because they closely match the various military camouflage of WW2 vehicles and uniforms. These are complemented by Citadel Colours and a few other products.

This is the end of the planned tour. I hope you enjoyed!

From ChrisW: Work space & introduction

 

No mountains or buttes this year!  (I promise)

Hello everyone!

My name is Chris and I hail from Ottawa, Canada. I have been in the hobby, on and off, since the early/mid 1970's. I have a  BLOG under my alter ego Menelduir, that I try to post to regularly, but these last 3 years have seen less gaming activity to report on. This main blog also has links to my other blogs that cover off on painting/building,  role playing games and VSF.  Please visit anytime and if you do please feel free to leave a comment.

My gaming life started with this book by Terence Wise. From there I progressed through Airfix rule books, various other historical games and then Warhammer. I have of course branched out beyond these early days into any number of genres with unfinished projects in all of them! A current favorite is Pulp Alley a small skirmish game for which I have amassed few hundred miniatures (exact numbers unknown but gads it must be 500+ at least, madness!) I have recently experienced a revival of interest in fantasy gaming courtesy of Fantastic Battles, a fun little game. As a result of this renaissance I have been dusting off my old collection, rebasing, retouching and in some cases repainting many of my old items. Occasionally I get around to painting some new items, maybe in this challenge!

As I approach my 62nd birthday I look back on my hobby life with mixed feelings. I certainly have had fun gaming and painting over the years but despite my long time in the hobby (at least on paper) I must confess that too many things interrupted my hobby activities (marriage, divorce, work, dating, family, human interactions, dogs, etc) resulting in my not gaming or working on my hobby craft skills nearly as much as I should have.  Now that I am retired, relatively settled, and dog less, I technically have more time to embrace my hobbies, but all too often I lack the motivation and/or focus to get things done. I still do not play enough games and gaming has always been the main inspirational driving force to increase my production. That is where this challenge enters the picture, it is the impetus I need to get stuff done.

But enough of this introspective rambling, on to brighter things!😀

This is my second AHPC that I have signed up for, AHPC XII being my first. I had a great deal of fun last year and was more productive than I could have ever imagined. However that production did not carry on after the challenge as I quickly returned to my old bad habits. So once again I rely on the challenge to force me to be more productive. Last year I was, perhaps, overly active in the challenge, pushing myself to the limit, and becoming quite compulsive. It came with a price as there were times when I could feel the muscles throbbing in my neck and back from being hunched over so much, but no pain no gain, right? 

This year I hope to be not so focused that I miss out on the rest of the challenge. Last year I summed up my involvement admonishing myself for not having looked up from the painting table long enough to see what other participants were doing. That will not happen this year. This time around I will take it a bit easier, I will look in on others throughout the week, I will take the time to 'smell the paint' so to speak, and wallow in the skills and accomplishments of others.

So this was supposed to be an introduction and a presentation of my painting area. I seem to have gone off on a tangent haven't I? Well here is my new painting area. 

Guides to the left, photo booth to the right, basing materials above, assorted supplies below and space for me in the middle.

I may have a paint addiction!

This was set up in June of this year. HERE is the post that talks about the 'great reorganization' of my room. The painting area is a brighter more spacious set up than I have been using for the last 10 years and marks a high water mark for my hobby areas in general. It is excessively lit by daylight bright LED lights (it has almost no natural light). There is room to have all my paints in easy reach, along with all my flocking basing materials and hobby guides. It also has plenty of space for many of my partially painted projects and I have room behind my chair to allow me to kick myself away from the table when a break is required. You can see a small TV and a stand with my Kindle Fire while my stereo is within reach to the right so I am surrounded by entertainment while I paint. I find that I sometimes like to listen to audio commentaries while I paint, along with listening to music and even listening to old favorite movies that I do not really need to be watched to be enjoyed. The kindle fire is where I cue up YouTube how to videos.

My previous painting area was crammed in next to the gaming table, merely turning my chair often resulted in the knocking over of anything near the gaming table edge. 

 

Dark, chaotic and cramped!

No room to 'kick back'

This new area is the culmination of decades of progression from small trays that had to be put away in between hobby sessions, to slightly larger small tables to repurposed desks that really never suited the task. In those days the process of setting up and digging out what I was going to paint often kiboshed the activity before it started.

I am fortunate to have found a spouse and a house that would allow me the space to set up such a permanent hobby area. Only 50 some odd years in the making!

So, what will I be focusing on this year you might ask? Well when I stop laughing I will tell you. 

You see, I have no ability to focus on anything, this will be another squirrel year for me. My one good quality is that I try to always prime and base anything that I buy as soon as possible. It allows me to immediately start painting something should the urge grab me. I dislike prep work and in the past it has been an obstacle to starting projects, so better get it done early. However I have found a few hundred miniatures that I missed and I have been priming them this week, just in case.

So possible items to paint this year

1. 17th century sailors
2. French/Indian war
3. Silver Bayonet
4. Renaissance pike and halberd units
   
5. Dr Who
6. Pulp
7. 20mm WWII
8. Warhammer fantasy
9. Epic 40K
10. WH 40K
11. All Quiet on the Martian Front
12. VSF
13. Back of beyond
14. Frostgrave
15. Dystopian wars
16. 15mm sci fi
17. Wild west and any number of other genres just lying about the gaming room
    

 I can hardly wait for this to start, have fun everyone!

 

Oh I just remembered maybe I can work on some Napoleonic 1/700 ships, or maybe the 28mm ships, then again there is also the...oh never mind😉 

MattW - A cunning plan my lord….XIII challenge intro

Dropped my hat in the circle again this this year, my fourth challenge! 

No codpiece challenge for me though! 

A transplanted Aussie living in western France. My wife and I are renovating a circa 1720 historically listed Maison Particular (basically a 5 story, 1200sqm 12 bedroom chateau sized building in town). My hobby room tends to move around the house as we renovate, currently up to my forth workspace move, but hopefully into my final workshop wargames space later this year (126sqm). I have been wargaming since I was ten years old (1970), first using the Napoleonic red book and airfix 1/76 Napoleonic figs graduating to metal mini figs later on. World War Two 1/72-20mm is the largest part of my collection (4000 figs and vehicles), followed by 28mm Napoleonic, then medieval and ancients. I also have a smattering of 20mm science fiction, modern and a big collection of 1/72 ww1 aircraft. 

My main project this year though wargames related is my planned wargames wing of the house which was the former servants quarters above the stables and carriage house, it will include a number of tables to a maximum of 20m long (to fit my big Arnhem table). The rooms will be for big linked campaign games for wargames holiday guests, a workshop with ducted spray booth, 3d printing area, and lots of display cabinets, a kitchenette , a 1940 WW2 RAF ready room officers style bar, my reference library and toilet amenities. 

My current workspace with quite a view of the neighbors 17th C hunting lodge opposite us. 

My current painting desk is in my current wargames room (countess Hercé, the former female salon on the first floor) while I complete renovations of my workshop and wargames retreat, this will become our 65sqm master suite eventually. 

The current Salon de Guerre

Challenge goals

I tend to be a bit of a squirrel, but I find that keeps me interested in painting so I always have side projects rotating through my desk….I will try to stay on target this year with the listed plans! 

I will add Work In Progress  for the challenge on to my two blogs Storm and Conquest for my ancients to ww1 and Kampfgruppewillow for ww2 and modern wargaming as we go along. 

My plan this year is 1000 points outside the AHPC studios and I plan to complete a few personal projects plus add armies for our wargames holiday business relating to local battles and sieges. 

Main focus this year

• 28mm Imperial  Roman’s 120 odd figs maybe more plus cavalry and artillery (main focus)
• 28mm Caesarian army project 120+ odd figs, artillery (second focus)
• 28mm German allied auxiliaries and cavalry 100 odd figs (third focus)
• 20mm American airborne, artillery, jeeps etc plus three Waco gliders 70+odd figures + 3 fighters for air support 
• 20mm Ww2 British Para - additions to my British para brigade, a supply section and drop area, complete three specific 1/72 horsa gliders for operation Tonga, plus my Hamilcar and tank, plus some jeeps and trailers transports. 
• 20mm Volkssturm fall of Berlin 3 battalions, artillery and bits. 70 odd figs plus artillery and AA bits 
• 20mm panzer Lehr - 70 odd figures plus half tracks, panzers etc for Normandy. 
• 20mm Cold War Warpac and Nato vehicles, plus VDV infantry regiment 100 figures  + 20-30 odd vehicles and 5 aircraft. 
• Terrain :- paint my growing pile of 28mm ancient, medieval and 20mm ww2 3d printed buildings 
• A few 28mm Napoleonic odds and sods Prussians, Austrians and French infantry and cavalry  60-180 figs planned and undercoated.
• Random 20mm vehicles, ww2 Dutch, ww2 Belgian, allied and German, just so I do not waste airbrush time really! 

I will also try to do a few pieces for the side adventures, mostly at a whim and if it involves aircraft (which I love building), naval or space ships.

All the best to everyone partaking in the challenge, may you produce pieces of art worthy of the brush God!

We are also offering a French Wargames Holiday prize for competitors, but I will let Curt explain that! 

Cheers

MattW 

French Wargame Holidays

Mayenne, France

MartinC Workspace and Plans and a picture to scare the kids

 Hi. So this is 9th challenge. Until the challenge I didn't know anyone else who wargamed and had only been to 1 wargames show. Now I'm in  a club and regularly put on games with DaveD and JamesM at shows. I'm Dave's labourer as he has no truck with equality.

I tend to paint a lot of things, quickly, so I tend to do well by weight of figures. I've never come top of the pile, as Miles is actually evil and makes Dave look like a soft touch. I've met Miles and he is annoyingly the nicest man in the world, something else he beat me at. So I sit 2nd on the all time list as the rose between those 2 thorniest of thorns.

I have the advantage of having a spare room to use as a painting room and occasional office. So obviously it's a mess

Pre challenge clutter and sorting out

It's all messy - I am. Yes that is a TV but I tend to have the radio channels on, esp the footie

Have this as your screen saver and the kids will never spend anytime on the internet

My plans are light this year, I've had a bad shoulder for 10 weeks and although I'm better now, I've no idea where I put my mojo. I have about 500pts worth of random stuff to paint, including grey scale WW2 for 02hundred. Once I've cleared them off the table I've got a 15mm Roman legion to paint and 10mm renaissance Polish and Ottoman armies. Then it's a raid of the lead mountain, to be honest my lead mountain is intimidating.

We will see how I progress as I'm minioning Sundays and I expect the Sunday crew to dominate the points table. 

Good luck to you all and I hope to see many of you on the chats, check out the challenge facebook page for links most nights

Martin