BartekR - Challenge XIII FNG deployment - “Hey Sarge, which end of the brush do I point at the enemy?”

G’day,

Next up at the crease/batting plate of introductions: I’m Bartek (or Bart, or BartekR in case there is another Bartek here), from Canberra, Australia. You can also call me 'The FNG'. Long time lurker, having followed the challenge (and Curt’s gaming shed build) from the shadows for some years, first-time participant. Excited but with no small degree of trepidation.

This pretty much sums it up

The hobby space – where it will all go down

My hobby room, library and study/office are all wrapped up in a compact 2.9 x 2.4m space, with a desk reserved for what I think is a decent hobby set up. All the essentials are there - paint and tool racks, and reference books - as good as it is, some of the other posts have prompted workstation envy. My PC table in the middle, the opposite wall is an ongoing battle for shelf space between more reference books, wargames rules, role-playing titles, magazines and boardgames. Given space constraints, this is not were my hoard lives, and the real challenge with the Challenge will be what I do with anything I paint – we (two cats, two humans) live in a small (by Canberra standards) 1950s ex-government cottage. But, that's tomorrow's problem...

Compact...and largely untested

Gaming pedigree – please allow me to introduce myself…

Being heavily hooked on to military history since childhood, I was an easy mark to get into gaming (I grew up in Poland – in the bad old days – and everyone in my grandparents generation and above were touched by war, so accounts of Poland’s historical conflicts were as ready as mother’s milk). I got into gaming in what I suspect is pretty much a well-worn path for others around my age. Gateways of scale models, plastic 1/7X figures, library loans (Ospreys, Featherstone’s Wargames Through the Ages and Quarrie’s Tank Battles in Miniature title on Russia  were repeat loans) and second-hand copies of Sven Hassel novels and Military Modelling. Early ‘wargaming’ was fairly hands on and kinetic – I like to think of it retrospectively as harking back to H.G. Wells: trench systems dug in the back yard were plastic soldiers would be exposed to fireworks, lighter-and-spray flamethrowers and sniper rocks or marbles. My first Citadel set (Dungeon Adventurers Starter Set) came courtesy of CANCON ’86.

Somewhere in all that along came Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader (Battletech came a poor second, on the back of memories of the Robotech tv series). Games were played on dining tables and floors with often reckless interpretation of the rules –and yes, we did use repurposed household items as vehicles (all fear the Imperial Army’s latest mark of tracked shampoo bottle armour, with its heavy converted Panzer IV turret!). Alongside this reading, a steady drip of reading (but not playing) RPGs (Warhammer Fantasy, Twilight 2000, and Call of Cthulhu).

Fast forwarding montage through the years – uni, time in crap campus bands, relationships/breakups, group houses, booze, jobs. All very much devoid of gaming bar PC games, easy empty calories and no storage impost. Then, in 2003, I found myself doing shiftwork with access to eBay on the work system (long blocked) and some extra pennies. Thus began the last two decades (minus) of the Golden Hoard(ing) - interspersed with more of the above real life distractions, deployments and postings overseas. Given I fall foul of the butterfly ‘oh look so shiny’ effect like a cat to an unsupervised steak, the end result is a somewhat overwhelming stash of historical, fantasy and scifi miniatures and models.   

The problem with all this accumulation (pile of shame, stash etc) is that embarrassingly little hobby has been done over the time). Insert here a touch of imposter syndrome – feeling like the MAMIL with a $10K bike which is only ridden down to the local café. [I’d echo ChrisW's intro post remarks about regret at not building up skills in the time given; for me, with often failing motivation despite best wishful thinking]. Lack of habit and headspace (mindfulness/focus...call it what you will) to hobby regularly has been a big issue. Doing something about this is a 2023 resolution, as is finding time to do the things I enjoy around other demands.

Cat companions Oscar and Satchel - counting down the days

Approach to the Challenge – eating an elephant

Reading about people’s prep has reminded me of that old saying, ‘prior preparation prevents p… poor performance’ – well…I’m definitely the recruit running down the road trying to work out how to wear webbing. To date, not a single figure has been undercoated so far. (In my defence I did get back a few months ago from 2+ years of FIFO work overseas so the past weeks have been spent getting back into normal life rhythms, doing work around the house including lining the (bloody) legacy metal shed before it become a sweat box in summer – I did at least set up the painting station set up. 

So, what’s my approach to the Challenge? The adage ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’ (if slow is baby steps stumbling all over the place) is a good one here: building habits and getting better is my aim here. Beyond its motivational boost, it’ll be very much an exercise in staking out painting/hobby time as a regular habit and (re)developing basic skills – a crash course in painting techniques across scales and themes. I’ll also using it as a vehicle to revive a very defunct (and currently utterly empty) blog (by all means, take the bait and click the link – it’s mostly an empty page with a fancy font title).

Given that aim, I’m not looking to progress projects per se rather spreading myself across scales and genres for the practice. And having read the AHPC Studios Challenge, I suspect know I will be sucked into that. The shortlist includes:

And so onto the elevator to hell…going down. YAAAHOOOOO...

 

ByronM - The madness is about to begin...

 "Well, it's almost that time of the year once more", I said merrily one morning over coffee a few weeks ago.  "Christmas vacation?" asked the wife.  "No, even better!" I replied quickly.

"What's better than that?", she inquired and then continued, "It's too cold for another motorcycle trip, and I am starting a new job soon so it's not a southern vacation".  If you were here, you could have heard that questioning worried tone in her voice that only a wife sensing impending financial disaster can have.

"Why it's time to prep for the painting challenge of course, and then to get more stuff painting as soon as holidays start!", I said cheerfully.

The reaction was immediate and terse....  "No more new projects this year!  You have more than enough that you started over the last several that are not done, and we are looking for a new house and need to keep minimalist so we can clean and move fast when we do." I am sure that there was more, as the next time I looked at my watch 30 minutes had past, but much like Charlie Brown sitting in his classroom (man, that dates me doesn't it) all I heard was wah, waah, wah.... 

(I expect to get smacked for this, but it's still funny and worth it)

So, with that warning in mind, what did I do?  Did I stop all plans of future expansion into new and exciting areas of miniature wargaming?  

Hell no!  

I immediately starting printing figures for Horus Heresy in 15mm that a few friends have started playing, saw that Malifaux had a 3rd edition out that I had not tried yet and had to get going on, starting printing a new 10mm Lizardman army for Kings of War, and printed some terrain to go with several games.

Then I went and visited Curt and got introduced to Turnip28...  That led to printing more models and terrain for the challenge.  

A unit of Fodder for Turnip28 printed and primed and ready to go!

 <I sense another smack incoming>

Now, in some far remote part of my brain, I know that Kim is correct (DON'T TELL HER THAT OR I WILL NEVER LIVE IT DOWN!!!!) that I have way too many unfinished projects kicking around and that I really do need to finish or get rid of some.  But, having a war gamer get rid of miniatures though as all of you know is as likely as Golem giving up the one ring willingly, NOT gonna happen even on a cold day in hell!!! 

So, with all of that in mind, and in an attempt to both appease the wife in some small way and to "Slay the Gray" I have made a list of just some of the projects I have on the go, and am going to endevour to get at least 3-4 of them finished this year, although I am going to try for more than that, but let's start out with reasonable expectations, unlike something like"No more new projects this year!" 

Byron's Projects of Shame and Impending Divorce if not Resolved

• Malifaux gremlins (assembled and primed last year but never touched)
  
• Malifaux ten thunders (started way back in challenge 8 or 9)
• Arena Rex Egyptians (started in challenge 10 )
• Arena Rex Collusium (planned in challenge 11 and never started)
• Kingdom Death (finish some survivors I assembled and based up for challenge 11)
• Western Commanche Indians ( started last year but only painted the mounted ones, not the infantry)
• Western Texas Rangers (primed and based last year but not touched)
• Ork Vehicles for chariot game (2 done, but 4 still sitting from challenge 10)
  
• Hagglethorn Hollow buildings for Frostgrave (printed and sitting for 2 years)
  
• Dwarf Frostgrave faction ( printed last year and not touched)
  
• Mierce vikings (primed last year then didn't touch)
• French 28mm Napoleonic unit (I assembled one last year and then didn't touch it, and I try to do one unit a year)
• Kings of War 10mm terrain (printed and primed last year)
• Gaslands terrain (printed but not even primed last year) 
• Gaslands Cars (want to finish at least 1 more faction)
  
• 6 or 8 Napoleonic tall ships to expand my fleet (way back from challenge 8 or 9)
• British WW2 army (started challenge 10 as part of the theme weeks and then left sitting)
• German WW1 unit (from my great war collection, I found 2 primed and ready to go units)
  
• MORE MORE MORE

Add to the above the new projects I have that include the following:

• Iron Warrios for Horus Heresy in 15mm
• 10mm Lizardman army for Kings of War
• At least 1 unit for Turnip28 with Curt 
• SEVERAL single models or units from various games that I just want to paint

As you can see I have a whole lot of crap to get at least started on this year....  The stuff in the image above is everything I have either primed or waiting to be primed that I could find quickly and dig out for a picture, I have WAY more stuffed away in boxes and cupboards.  

However, I am so far behind getting things done and even just getting things ready for this years challenge that I was not even going to write a starting blog post this year.  Curt however has shamed me into it, so I got to work the last few days cleaning up the painting area, priming a pile of figures, and (of course) printing more to add to the pile of grey.  Which led to this post.

Above is my painting area as it stands right now... Tidy, but still a mess as everything basically got stuffed randomly into drawers and cupboards, so there is much more to do! 

Part of the reason I am so behind this year (besides work being busy, and looking for a new house with shop) is the fact that we got a new puppy this year.  While he is so much fun, he is also a lot of time and effort (worth it, but still).  So, here is hoping that Kaiser will help with painting this year as he seems to like sleeping by my feet while I am painting, so that is a good thing so far!

Kaiser looking to see what I am doing

With all of that said, I hope everyone has everything all prepped and ready to go and that everyone has a blast this challenge!

Best of luck everyone,

Byron

SidneyR - Painting Table and Challenge XIII Painting Plans

 

According to my desk calendar, dear fellow Challengers, we are now just five days away from the annual chaos of modelling, gluing, sanding, painting and varnishing that we all know and love as the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  Challenge number thirteen, in fact.  

To some a scary number, loaded with superstition and fear.  But not to any of us, I hope...

I think this is my tenth Painting Challenge - gosh, how many figures have I ended up painting in these Challenges?  A few, at least - though perhaps not as many as fellow-Challenger and all-round Statistics-God Miles might have (double-) counted!  

I've been looking forward to this Challenge in particular as last year's (Challenge XII) was blighted by a family bereavement, which made it very difficult to do any painting or stay motivated.

One year further on, and I'm hopeful that this Challenge will be a very enjoyable journey.  And as part of the pre-Challenge excitement, I have cleared my painting table a little and finished off a few projects in advance.

I always try hard to keep the painting table free from a lot of clutter, but over the years the paints, varnishes, inks and bottles of Acrylic Flow Improver, not to mention brushes and painting palettes, have encroached even further onto what should be the clean areas in which the magic (...coughs...) takes place.  I have a feeling that many of you have the same experience!

As for what I am hoping to paint in Challenge XIII, I'm expecting that my main theme will be painting Japanese (and Japanese-inspired) figures for use in the small skirmish game I've been working on for the past couple of years.  Here's a few of the next batch of figures being prepared, together with some eclectic terrain pieces.  

While we started the writing the "With Flashing Blades" skirmish rules for an Alexander Dumas-inspired "Three Musketeers" game, since those are just about finished we have moved the action to the same time-frame (the seventeenth century) but across the world to Japan.  I've loved that evolution, and I'm in the process of building some Japanese terrain pieces which will hopefully find a home in the Challenge at some point.

The details are, of course, a closely-guarded secret, concealed confidentially in one of my notebooks.  Which partly means I need to translate insane scribbles to sentences ... but you get the idea.

It'll be a great Challenge and looking forward to seeing all your entries very soon!

Very best regards.

From TamsinP: How To Write And (Not) Publish Your Posts (AHPC XIII Version)

 

"Good morning Ladies, Gentlemen...and Ray. My name is TamsinP and I will be the Senior Studio Tour Guide for your apprenticeship with AHPC Studios GmbH. As we have a number of first-time apprentices and some who are returning after a gap (also because there have been some changes to how we are doing things) I have been asked by Kurt von Paintheim, the Show Lord, to write a guide on how to prepare your directorial and production portfolios. I hope that this instructional post will help."

Tamsin's Terribly Terrific Tutorial To Challenge Posting

Before You Post

Just a little checklist for you to consider:

1. Have I taken photos of everything I am including in the post?
2. Are there at least 3 photos of everything, taken from different angles?
3. Have all the photos been resized to a maximum of 1000 pixels in either direction?
4. Have I worked out how many points I am claiming?

If your answers to all four questions is a resounding "Yes!", then you may proceed.

A Request On Behalf Of The Minions

"Given how many budding film producers and directors we have on this year's tour, please (please, pretty please) try not to overwhelm your poor, suffering, wretched minions with hundreds of posts every week. If you can combine multiple entries into a single post, that would be very helpful. That being said, you might want to do a separate post for "Studio" submissions."

"Remember, the minions are all volunteers and doing the minioning stuff does take them away from their own painting."

*Important Note 1: This post was originally written for AHPC XII and examples shown may reflect that.*

(aka - it took me the best part of a day last year, so I'm only amending text parts)

*Important Note 2: This cannot be repeated enough, and it makes sense to begin with it.*

Whatever you do...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

I repeat...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

For the avoidance of any doubt....

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

OK, it's not the end of the world if you do click "Publish" but it requires a bit of work to correct it. This is particularly important if you are writing the post ahead of your assigned posting day.

The above message will be repeated at the relevant point in the post. 

How to Create a New Post

1. Open the Challenge Blog (linky-link)

2. Click on "New Post" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). This will take you to this screen:

3. Click on "New Post" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). This will take you to the post editing screen:

Congratulations! You may now begin writing your post!

A quick word about post formats. There is a certain preferred "style", simply because it looks good on all screens. However, if you choose to format differently (within reason) you won't be penalised. Just take this guide as, well, a guide on how your post should look.

As a reasonable example of preferred post formatting, here's a post of mine from AHPC X (linky-link). 

Post Title

This is very important and there is certain information that must be included. Here is an example of how the Title should look:

A brief explanation of the different parts:

[draft] - This indicates that you haven't finished writing the post. When you are finished writing and happy for it to be published, change [draft] to [ready]. On your posting day, your minion will delete the [ready] from the title once they have finished scoring your submission.

[today] - As everyone has an assigned day for posting submissions (linky-link), please do remember to include this is your post title. For example, my posting day is Friday this year, so my post titles would start [draft][Friday] (nb - photo examples below are from AHPC XII).

"NB - The first and last few days of the Challenge are, traditionally,  "free-fire" and you can post submissions on any day of the week. Herr von Paintheim will advise you as to when the "free-fire" rule applies, you do not need to include [day] in your post titles during frefire periods."

"From TamsinP:" - Please start your post title with your assigned "handle" (linky-link). After all, we want to know who has painted those wonderful miniature masterpieces - no need to be shy! It's also a great help to the minion who will be scoring your post. You can either use a colon (":") or a spaced hyphen (" - ") as a separator.

"How To Write And (Not) Publish Your Posts" - Something that describes what you are posting. For example, if your submission is a warband of 28mm Orcs, you might make this part of the title "28mm Orc Warband".

(Nul points) - Please do include an estimate of how many points you think the submission is worth. The scoring per figures can be found in the announcement post (linky-link)

Just as a quick addendum, if your submission includes entries for AHPC Studios GmbH, please include the location name between the description and points claim, eg:

"Phew, that's the Title done with. Onto the main bit. Which should be quite quick and painless***."

Body Of Post

This is the part where you write your actual submission and add all your photos. Some people choose to start by adding a group shot of all the figures in their submission, some start with an introductory text. The choice is yours.

What we expect to see in the text of your submission is:

A description of the miniatures - how many, the scale (eg 28mm), what they are and the manufacturer (if known)

A summary of the points you are claiming for the figures and (where applicable) Studio locations, eg:

24 x 15mm foot @ 2 points = 48 points

12 x 15mm mounted @ 4 points = 48 points

9 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 45 points

Casting Couch (Green Pass) bonus = 20 points

Total = 161 points

"NB - the points summary is possibly the most important part of the post from the minions' point of view as without it scoring your submission may be difficult (we don't want to spend an hour working out from your photos how many figures you are claiming). "

If your post contains multiple different submissions you can, of course, include a summary after each section and then a "grand summary" at the end.

Beyond that, feel free to write whatever you want. You can, if you want, write a tall tale interspersed with photos (RIP NoelW - you are definitely missed by us all). You can include a guide to how you painted the figures. Or you can just write "Hey guys and gals - here are some Orcs I've painted".

Adding Photos To Your Post

Yes, we do want to see photos of your painted minis. We do know that not everyone is a great photographer, that not everyone has the best lighting for taking photos, and we don't expect that.

What we do want to see?

• Photos that show how many figures are being claimed - if you are claiming 5 x 28mm orcs, we want to see a photo of the five orcs together.
• Photos taken from different angles.
  
• For odd-sized models, you might want to include size comparison photos to assist the minions
• Close-up photos if you dare!

How to add photos:

1. Assuming you have written a couple of paragraphs of text and wish to insert a photo between them, eg:

2. The first thing to do is click "Enter" to create an additional blank line between the paragraphs:

3. To add your photos Click "insert Image" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

This will bring up a menu:

4. Click on "Upload from computer" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

That will open this pop-up window:

5. Click on "Choose files" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). That will open your Folders, like so:

6. Find the folder with the photos you want to add, select them and click "Open" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

7. Your selected photos should appear in the "Add Images" pop-up window:

8. Make sure that all the photos you want to add are highlighted, then click "Select" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). The photos should now upload to your blog post.

The last photo uploaded should be highlighted and there should be a menu box:

9. Please adjust the image size to "Large" for all your photos - click on the button indicated by the red arrow above:

I repeat, "Please adjust the image size to "Large" for all your photos" - there is nothing a minion hates more than having to spend several minutes resizing all 40 photos that someone has included in their post. No, I'm not looking at anyone in particular...or am I? (You know who you are!)

10. You can add captions underneath your photos. Click on the photo to bring up the menu bar and then click on the "A" button indicated by the red arrow in the photo below:

Underneath the photo you should now see "Add Caption":

Add whatever caption you like to the photo:

"There you go, wasn't that simple and clear*. Now you know how to add photos to your blog post, so that we can all see your lovingly painted miniatures!"

* amended from "clear and simple" to avoid confusion with a brand of soap

Just one more thing (TM Lieutenant Columbo) - please check that there is a blank line between text and photos and also between photos. It just looks nicer (and also makes it easier to correct any formatting issues).

And another thing (also TM Lieutenant Columbo) - please, upload photos rather than linking to photos on another site. Doing so avoids the possibility of broken photo links in future.

"Okay, so we have the post titles, scoring summaries, post text and photos covered. That just leaves one very important thing to cover before we go on to saving and (not) publishing your post."

***I might have been slightly "economical with the truth" when I suggested "quick and painless" at the start of this section.

On The Importance Of Labels And How To Do Them

Labels are pretty important as they allow people to search for specific posts. For example:

• all posts written by TamsinP
• all posts for a particular AHPC Studios GmbH location
• all posts that qualify for entry to the "Sarah's Choice" prize
• all posts with Orcs
• etc, etc, etc

So, how do you add labels to your post and what should you include? I'll cover these in reverse order...

What Labels To Include

• Your "handle" (linky-link) (eg TamsinP), as per the Post Title
• Scale of figures (eg 28mm)
• Period (eg WW2)
• Army/nationality/faction (eg Space Marines)
• Manufacturer (eg Warlord Games)
• AHPC Studios GmbH location if applicable (eg Casting Couch)
• "Sarah's Choice" if applicable (ie a female figure* is part of the entry)
• Anything else that you think might be helpful for people searching the blog

* for avoidance of any doubt, the female figure should be humanoid. Painting a bear and claiming it as a female miniature isn't the done thing, is it Ray? 

How to Add Labels To Your Post

In the right-hand sidebar, you should see "Labels" at the top:

To add your labels, start typing where it says "Separate labels with com...":

As you start typing, if anything looks like it might match the label you want to add, the "matches" will show below where you are typing:

In the photo above you will see that I have added "TamsinP" and started to type the next label - it has offered a match "Administration" to the "adm" that I have typed. As that is correct, I click on the offered match. One letter earlier in my typing, the list of "matches" was much longer:

If no correct "matches" are offered, finish typing your label, add a comma immediately after and click "Enter". That will create a new label:

"Is that all clear? Jolly good - we can move on now to saving and (not) publishing your post."

Saving And (Not) Publishing Your Post

Now that you have finished writing your post and are ready for it to go to the minions for scoring, etc, there is just one little task do first - go back to your Post Title and change [draft] to [ready]. All set? OK, let us proceed.

Whatever you do at this point...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

I repeat...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

For the avoidance of any doubt....

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

OK, it's not the end of the world if you do click "Publish" but it requires a bit of work to correct it. This is particularly important if you are writing the post ahead of your assigned posting day.

This is what we need you to do.

Just above the red arrow, you will see a button marked "Preview" - click the arrow next to it. That will bring up a small menu:

Click "Save". 

NB - you can click "Save" at any point while you are writing your post. It might in fact be a good idea to do so every so often if your post is quite long.

Your post is saved and you can now either close the tab or go to the "Posts" screen if you want to write another post:

To do so, click on the little arrow above the big red arrow. That will return you to the "Posts" screen and you should see your post in the queue:

If all has gone to plan, you should see in orange "Draft" underneath the title of your post.

Now, you may be asking "how do I add links and videos" to my posts. Adding videos (use the "Inset Videos" button next to the "Insert Photos" one) is much the same as adding photos, but we do ask you to link from another site. 

Adding links (as I have done several times in this tutorial)  is quite easy.

1. Highlight the text that you wish to use as a link

2. Copy the URL of the page you want to link to

3. Click on the "link" button (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

This will open a pop-up window:

Paste the link where it says to, and then check the box for  "Open the link in a new window". Click "Apply" and you should have created the link.

Phew! I do hope that I'm getting paid overtime for doing this as it's taken me much longer than anticipated*, what with all the screen captures and photo editing. 

What's that Curt? I'm doing this for free?!?!?!?! Again?!?!?!?!?!?!Yikes!!!!!

Anyway, that's enough from me for today. I hope that you have found this post useful. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

Toodle-pip!

Tamsin

 

* We'd originally agreed that Curt would include a link to my post from last year in one of his admin posts and I would add amended text to the joining document he will be sending out.