From TeemuL: Chaos Dreadnought (20 points)

My last mini of 2025 is big one. This is a Chaos Dreadnought from the 1980s. I guess I should have painted him (or her) in the all the colours of the rainbow to honor the past, but in the end I decided to make him a backup for my Kill Team project. The colours are those of Magma Hounds, a fan made renegade chapter - so not my own design, but my own intereption.

Being a dreadnought (made of solid metal) he also counts as a Big Stompy Robot, contributing to that side challenge. This will be most likely my only contribution to that Challenge, but one for the team!

Being an older model, there are only two skulls, one on each knee. He will open my Skull Challenge, too. A bit difficult to get good photos because of his size and my photographic skills, there's always a shadow somewhere...

I made a quick search and Dreadnoughts have been scored as 28mm vehicles in the past, so I ask for 20 points even though he is much smaller than a Rhino or Razorback for example. But I guess the spreadsheet is the spreadsheet and you have to live with it...

I hope I got all the labels regarding side duels... Unfortunately not a squirrel this time, but may be I'll paint something to join him later in the Challenge?

This last photo shows him with couple of his older (and smaller) friends.

20 points pretty please and Happy New Year 2026!

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Ooooh, an old school Chaos Dreadnought! Now, how cool is that?!  Definitely from the 80s as his upper carapace looks like it was designed by 'A Flock of Seagulls'. 

I like your pink and bronze colour scheme as it accents the creepy claw and works in nicely with his other pals. Such a groovy mini and cast in oh-so-satisfying-all-metal.

Well done Teemu, and Happy New Year to you!

- Curt

From Paul O'G: Dystopian Wars Russian Fleet (110)

I already own some Prussian and British ships for Dystopian Wars, so with this submission I start another fleet: Russians! 

Yes the background is AI generated but how cool is it!

Here is the original as proof!

I much prefer the older Spartan Games resin ships but they are getting hard to find now. These are an ebay rescue. A modest fleet for a small battle and I'm naturally planning expansions if I can find the ships at a reasonable price. All are painted in colours of the (real world) Russian Imperial Navy Pacific Fleet of the pre-dreadnought period.

Starboard bow aspect, that best is the Moskva!

Moskva Class Dreadnought looks like a floating citadel more than a ship! Large enough to fit the Admiral's voluminous drinks cabinet and dining set (just)

Borodino class Battleship -the manufacturer proudly states that "this industrial nightmare will forever haunt the ambitions of anyone who dares cross the path of the Russian Coalition" - cool!

These capital ships are escorted by 3 Suvorov class Cruisers and 9 Novgorod Frigates to provide AA and close range support for the bigger ships.

Starboard Quarter aspect

Based on previous AHPC Season scoring (which was Tamsin approved, so you know its a quality assessment!) Dystopian Wars ships have previously been scored as:

   1 point for a flyers & tokens

   5 points for Corvettes, Frigates & Destroyers

  10 points for Light & Heavy Cruisers

  15 points for a Battlecruisers & Battleships

  20 points for big Carriers and Dreadnoughts

This Fleet entry is therefore submitted for 20 + 15 + (3x10) + (9x5) = 110 points 

That's it for a little while from me - I'm going back to Australia for my daughter's Wedding!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2026 be good to you all :-)

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First, congratulations on your daughter's upcoming nuptials! That's very exciting for the family.

Funny, I have a soft spot for the old Spartan games version of 'Dystopian Wars' as well. I find the newer version lacks that historical touchstone of the original and the older models (like these) are much more characterful. I also remember the rules were a riot, with the 'exploding d6' rule, which often made for catastrophic (if highly entertaining) results.

I really like your Russian fleet here, especially the imposing and turret-festooned Moskva and Borodino. The clustered smoke stacks and circular frigates crack me up, but I love the whole aesthetic. It just works. 

I'll not question the authority of Tamsin as past points arbiter, and will acquiesce to your points tally. :)

Safe travels and have a wonderful time at your daughter's wedding!!

- Curt

From StuartL - Last minis of 2025 - 100 Points

Hi again,

    My second post for today, and hopefully a lot more positive than my previous one. 

    I'm lucky to have a long break over the winter period, and I have wasted very little time in getting pigment onto plastic. I have way too many projects on the go at any given time, so there is always something around for me to be working on. So, this post has a few small batches of minis that I had sitting in the (far too large) to-do pile. 

    First off, some Afghan tribesmen. Ages ago, I got a selection of Afghans and British troops for the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War from Artizan Designs. I've managed to get most of my forces done, but I still have a handful of Afghans to do. My plan is to play The Men Who Would Be Kings with them. These minis are all metal, and were really fun to paint. I went for simple colours for the clothes, but with some splashes of brighter colours for the turbans and sashes. Having done this batch, I kind of want to order more of them, Artizan do some amazing figures.

    The next set of figures from my work bench are some robots. I painted up a bunch of robot minis for This Is Not A Test for the challenge back in 2021. I have to admit that I haven't actually used them yet. But, that isn't a reason not to paint up more of them, right? These minis are all from Reaper Bones. The quality of them varies quite a bit. The big green one was super clean and crisp, whereas the robot at the back right is permanently leaning forwards, despite my best efforts to get it to straighten up.

    Being robots, painting was largely a case of base coating them in metallic colours, giving them a dark wash and then adding some highlights and spot colours for interest.

I'm going to be cheeky and claim these two robots' noggins look like skulls...

    My final entry for the year is a group of ten Anglo-Saxons. These figures are for Gripping Beast and will be joining my massive Saxon army (around 200 minis so far), for use in Saga, the new Pillage game from Victrix and possibly Hail Caesar once I get my Normans done. Having already done a lot of these figures, I can practically paint them in my sleep, so I blasted through these chaps in no time. While the sculpts aren't as pretty as the newer Victrix options, I find these very serviceable and they look good enough for gaming with.

      And that should see me done for 2025. I still have a lot more to do in 2026, so I will see you all then!

    Points wise, there are 20x 28mm minis, which should set me up for a nice, round 100 points. There are also entries for all 3 of my side duels.

My ongoing duels information:

Skulls - 141 (+2, assuming the robo-skulls count)

BSRoD - 5 (+5 for the robots above)

Squirrels - 6 (+3) - D&D Animals, 30K Militia, Plague Clowns, Afghans, Robots, Anglo-Saxons

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A great way to close out 2025, Stuart. I really like the Afghan fellas with their coloured turbans and the not-Terminators with their creepy glowing red eyes.  A very tidy 100 points for New Year's Eve, well done!

- Curt 

KenR - 28mm Arab Crusades Cavalry - 121 points

A bit of a surprise entry for me as although I had prepped some Crusades stuff it was way down my list but not having the right bases for my first Artillery entry made me grab the nearest thing, which was these.

12 x 28mm Gripping Beast Arab Heavy Cavalry with LBMS shield transfers, 50 x 60 bases with 2 figs per base and a flag made from another LBMS transfer. Nice and easy to score at 10 points each, chuck in a point for the banner and it's a 121 finish (sorry been watching the World Darts 😁)

A lot less complicated than the Napoleonic and Italian Wars stuff I have been doing I rattled through these in no time at all. They look a lot better than they should when the effort is taken into account !

I've also remembered to include a picture of my rear (ohhhh matron) in the post. We always neglect to back of our units but on the table it's the bit we see the most. When we finally settle on a rule set for the Crusades I'll decide on unit sizes but the 6 bases works pretty well for most sets, in fact it's an entire army in some 😆

Next up the first Canton of Swiss Pike Block number 1, have a great New Year everyone!

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Wonderful work Ken! These Warriors of the Faith look fabulous all ranked-up. I love their varied shield designs and devises. As you say, we often paint for our opponents as we frequently are looking at their backsides (except when they are retreating, but we're usually too annoyed to notice the paintjobs at that point). :)

I look forward to seeing your first Swiss Canton!

- Curt

From StuartL - (Please don't) send in the clowns - 65 Points

Hi all,

    Have you ever had a set of mins that you thought looked really cool, but then painting them turned out to be really un-fun? Because I have.

    A while back, I was browsing My Mini Factory, (which is a foolish thing to do for a person who doesn't actually own a 3D printer), and ran across some cool looking figures on the Titan Forge store. In this case, a collection of plague carrying clowns. Lacking any sense of self-control, I subscribed to the Titan Forge Tribe (a monthly membership that gives you access to all the files released at a massive discount compared to buying the files later, an even more foolish thing to do given the aforementioned lack of printer), and got the files and several more cool looking minis. 

    Luckily, I have a friend who will print some figures for me from time to time, and he ran me off a set of these disease-ridden circus freaks.

Acrobats

    I decided to paint them with sickly looking skin, and bright, yet odd-looking colours for their clothing. I wanted them to be bright, vivid and disturbing. Having settled on an off-looking green and a deep purple to contrast it, along with porcelain coloured masks, I set about painting these weirdos. 

Sideshow Freaks

    For whatever reason, I found the process extremely unpleasant. Maybe it was my choice of colours, I'm not sure. But, for whatever reason, I didn't enjoy painting these minis one bit. I am very happy that they are done, but it took a lot of perseverance on my part to get through them. The details were crisp and clear, there was no fancy trim or excessive detail like you'd find on some minis. I didn't use any special techniques or new methods. I just found the process a slog from the minute my brush touched a figure until the last tufts were glued down, and I don't know why.

Strongman, Ringmaster & Assistants

    So, having bought the files, paid to have them printed and then ground my teeth throughout the chore of painting them, what next? I have no idea. I picked these up because I thought they looked cool, but I never made a plan about how I would use them. (See my previous comments about doing foolish things.) I'll probably use them in a skirmish game sometime, one of my friends is always keen for Mordheim and the like, so I'm sure I can do something with them. For now, they will go into a box, as I really don't want to look at them for a while. Perhaps this is fitting given that I wanted them to look 'wrong'. Who knows?

    So, there are 13x 28mm minis in this pile, which will add 65 points to my tally. This will also add 1 Squirrel point for that side duel.

My ongoing duels information:

Skulls - 139 (no change)

BSRoD - 0 (no change)

Squirrels - 3 (+1) - D&D Animals, 30K Militia, Plague Clowns.

    I should have one more post, and a lot more positive in tone to come. Thanks for reading.

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Yep, been there, done that, have the minis in the display case.

I feel your pain, Stuart. I've had numerous runs like this. Funny thing is, if you return to them after a while you'll probably find that they're actually not that bad, maybe even good to your 'refreshed' eye? Funny how the noggin works. 

Anyway, even though you didn't like them, I think they look very cool. I like the colours of their garish costumes, their ghoulish flesh and the vaudeville/circus poses. I particularly like the Ringmaster. Actually, I think they would look spot-on as background figures for Carnevale or Moonstone. Well done, and great job on sticking through them to completion.

- Curt

From GregB - Onmyoji for "Hametsu" (5 points)

Carrying a tune en route to a confrontation with evil in feudal Japan...

If you peruse the archives of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and scan Curt's entries you will see a lot of cool stuff - among it a fair bit of medieval Japanese terrain and an amazing assortment of Japanese medieval fantasy heroes and demons. He uses these to play the excellent game "Hametsu" - a really cool, cooperative game featuring bands of heroes working to slay the evil Oni who threaten the survivors living in a post-apocalyptic feudal Japan. 

This past year Curt has extended this game to a group of us - Byron, Jamie, Nick and I have been pursuing a Hametsu campaign, with Curt hosting the table via Zoom while our heroes pursue their respective "Path of Legend" and confront fantastical evil demons. I've been playing an Onmyoji, a spellcaster skilled in the manipulation of energy, and the campaign has been a blast! An electric blast, specifically...Onmyoji can manipulate electricity, and my character has really leaned into this ability, cooking a fair number of demons!

Assortment of supplies to keep things ticking along.

Curt has a beautiful and complete collection of figures for the game, and his Onmyoji figure has done sterling work. But I have enjoyed the games so much I thought it would be super fun to paint my own figure. So I asked Curt to 3D print an Onmyoji figure for me, and he kindly obliged, and sent it my way. I thought "Awesome, THIS guy is going to be my first figure for the Painting Challenge this year!".

Don't let that strange helmet fool you - this guy is coming to bring the pain...

Um...so...painting a single 28mm figure should be a pretty straightforward exercise. But in a kind of weird "art-imitating-the-campaign" sort of this, this poor figure has experienced a level of abuse somewhat reminiscent of what happened to my Onmyoji in one of our recent "Hametsu" games, which saw the poor spellcaster take a tumble down a mountain.

For F*CK SAKES! I HATE IT WHEN I DROP MINIATURES!

This real life figure was knocked over on the painting table - THREE times! Somewhere the evil Oni are celebrating! The figure has a couple of delicate points, particularly the ankles, and the figure duly snapped at the ankles. The hilts of his katana blades snapped as well, and so did the bell on his wind instrument. I was able to reconnect - mostly - the sword hilts, and to get the poor fellow standing on his own feet again...but the bell of the wind instrument disappeared into the carpet, never to be seen again, I expect. 

Another step in the Path of Legend...evil will be slain and banished!

I almost gave up...but I didn't want to let the spirit of the sinister Oni win, so I buckled down and finished painting him. And so he becomes my third submission, instead of my first, and his instrument has been, well, let's say "customized". Now I just need to find a way to get this thing safely off to Curt...needless to say, given what this miniature has already been through, I'm a little nervous trusting that process...

Points-wise, it is only worth five points - but I'm glad to have him completed, and hope he can soon be raining arc lighting on the demons infesting the feudal Japanese setting of "Hametsu". 

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Hahaa! I absolutely love your Onmyoji, Greg! His mishaps on his journey to completion actually make the figure so much more interesting. 

Sorry to hear about his broken ankles and missing prayer bells, but perhaps these just help reflect his tumble down that mountainside a few games back. Maybe this is why his basket/helmet now has metal banding instead of bamboo. :) Also, I like that his long flute has been modified to a Japanese version of a Kazoo (maybe Kazu in the Hametsu world). He now truly portrays a grizzled veteran hunter - the bane of Oni (and music lovers) everywhere.  Fabulous. 

As a small consolation, I'm going to award another point for your perseverance and sticking it through. I look forward to him joining the ranks of his other comrades for our future games.

- Curt

From Millsy: Star Wars Legion Empire (225 points)

G'day All,

Another batch of Star Wars Legion hot off the painting desk - this time it's the Imps.

Scout Bikes, Scout Troopers and a Skiff

That sounds like the start of some sort of weird Star Wars joke - Scout Bikes, Scout Troopers and a Skiff walk into a Mos Eisley cantina.... I've already got some scouts in my collection so I've added a red unit insignia to help me distinguish the two sets of units on the table. I'm bulking out a lot of my existing stuff so I can play larger games using a community mod of Bolt Action.

The Scouts are time consuming to paint, navigating around the white to paint the black under suit, but they look pretty sharp when done. 

Stormtroopers and Transport

These fellas were picked up super cheap at MOAB to also bulk out my forces. I have something like 40 of the buggers now so there's plenty of chaff to get mowed down in various futile endeavours. Such is the life of a faceless, nameless mook in the service of the Empire! At least these guys get to ride to their inevitable demise courtesy of a 3D printed troop transport.

Inferno Squad

I really enjoyed painting these guys. Several different treatments for black to give them some variation isn't as obvious in the photos as I'd like but they look cool enough IRL so I'm happy with that.

Points total

• 2 x 32mm Scout bikes + riders = 50 points
• 6 x 32mm Scouts + Skiff = 50 points
• 14 x 32mm Stormtroopers + Transport = 90 points
• 7 x 32mm Inferno Squad = 35 points

Total = 225 points.

I think that'll be it for the Star Wars Legion for a while, although I do have a pile of Rebels to do and also a collection of 3D printed characters from The Mandalorian which I am saving as a special treat to reward myself at some point.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,

Millsy

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'Pew! Pew! Pew!!'

'Hey, I hit him!!' 

Said no Stormtrooper. Ever.

:)

Terrific work on these Imperials, Millsy! Even though the bikes may be a bit of a challenge, you've certainly made then look spiffy under your deft brush. They look keen and ready to fly into the side of a cantina or Bantha. Of course, the Inferno Squad looks much more efficient, ominous and chilling with their black uniform and gear (lovely contrast on the blacks btw). I also like the printed troop transport, though I wonder if they draw straws to be the poor buggers slung outside. Such is the life of an Imperial Trooper, I suppose!

Lovely work! I look forward to seeing what you shift gears to.

- Curt

From DallasE: Dug-In Panther (20 points)

Visitors to my house will likely recognize this model - it's been sitting on the sideboard primed for two years? Three years? Since the Earth began to cool? Who knows. But it's painted now. (In fact it had some grey drybrushing on the pavers but I re-primed over that a couple days ago). It's the "Dug-In Panther" model from Warlord Games' Bolt Action range. Can't remember where I got it (someone gave it to me as I know I'd never have bought it) but it's kinda neat all the same.

It's a resin casting, base and turret separate. The idea here of course is that the Germans have dug in a Panther tank basically as a bunker. Presumably the tank was nearly out of fuel with no chance of resupply, or suffered some nearly terminal mechanical problem, so the defenders dug a shallow ditch in the middle of the street, drove it in, and piled the paving stones back up around it.

I painted it in three-colour camo - base is GW Tallarn Sand, the green is Castellan Green/Death World Forest, brown is Vallejo Dark Brown/Steel Legion Drab. Then the model was washed with Agrax Earthshade, the dunkelgelb highlighted Tallarn again, and some sponge chips applied with AK German Camo Black-Brown.

 

The engine was done Mechanicus Standard Grey with Nuln Oil. Paving stones AK Dark Rubber/MSG/Dawnstone/Celestra Grey, and dirt started Rhinox Hide up through Dark Brown to Steel Legion Drab.

Honestly I can't see a great deal of use for the model on our gaming table as most of our WW2 games are set in countryside. But if we have a Berlin '45 game (ever) this will look pretty cool, as the Volkssturm gathered around it demonstrate.

Points: 28mm vehicle x1 = 20 points

Cheers,

Dallas

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What a cool ersatz bunker, Dallas. You'd done a great job both with the late war camo and with defining the bricks and freshly turned dirt. As you say, it will make a great objective for a Spring '45 game in Germany. Sort of a reverse 'Fury', eh? :) I pity the first Sherman/T34 to turn the corner on that street. Very nicely done, Dal.

- Curt 

 

From PeterA - 28mm ECW (25 points)

Hello all!

For my first entry into this year's Challenge, I present a party of Bloody Miniatures Dragoons for the English Civil War/British Civil Wars/Wars of Three Kingdoms (delete as the fancy takes you!). I love Bloody Miniatures' sculpts, not only are they metal casts, they are full of character and animation, and although nicely detailed are not overly fussy with too much detail. They are perfect for small-scale skirmishes, which are more reflective of the majority of encounters during the ECW than the better known battles such as Marston Moor or Naseby.

Four of these are from the BM Dragoons pack. The chap on the left of the picture is from their Casualty pack and the fellow in the buff coat is from their Dismounted Troopers pack. They are pictured in front of a backdrop from John Hodgson's range of Backdrop Books.

I am no expert in the uniforms of the ECW, but there is a very handy painting guide on the Bloody miniatures website which is available as a free download, which I have used when getting these done. Basically, it argues that whilst there were attempts at uniformity, they were of varying effectiveness and longevity. It also makes the point that therefore it is quite hard to get it 'wrong', and that each gamer will have to decide for themselves what they are trying to represent. For me, I have given every Dragoon a matching coat of 'blew', with a couple in matching trousers, and have gone for quite bright colours as that's what I like to look at on the gaming table (and I was captivated by the pictures of painted models on the Bloody Minatures website)!

 

The issue of what colour uniforms specific regiments is also quite a thorny one. For example, these figures represent Dragoons from Sir Henry Washington's regiment, who may have worn red or blue coats! As red is quite a popular colour choice for coats in the ECW I have gone for blue; I have plans to do a red-coated regiment of foote . 

I had actually painted the Dragoon in the buff coat before the Challenge, and just re-painted his coat sleeves blue to fit in with the rest of his troop, so he doesn't count for Challenge scoring purposes. I have more Bloody Miniatures in the queue, so hopefully these will be the first of many. 

5x 28mm foot figures to get me going = 25 points

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Peter!

These ECW Dragoons look terrific! Like you, I really like the stuff from Bloody Miniatures and coincidentally have a few on painting sticks as I type this. I really like your clean brushwork on these fellas and the basing look great. More please!

- Curt

From AndrewG: 'Red' Kelly's Gang (20 points)

“Cattle rustlers and horse thieves… the whole lot of ‘em!”

As I continue working through the small pile of Old West miniatures I bought many years ago, I have been able to put together two gangs in addition to the lawmen I showed last time. Up next in this series is a bunch I've labeled Red Kelly’s Gang. I had previously painted the rascal with the red necktie as a test model for the look I wanted, so I’m not including him in my points claim here. The remaining four gents however were completed during competition time to round out this crew.

If memory serves these are all dismounted versions of metal Foundry figures sculpted by Copplestone for their Old West Cowboys range. I wanted them to easily represent either side of the law, so while I’ve styled them as potential train robbers I could probably also just as easily use them as Pinkertons or other hired law enforcement deputies. I have a stagecoach that I’m currently working on that will be a likely target for them in an upcoming game, so they needed to pass for potential raiders (or protectors) of the mail and the fort commander’s lock box.

As far as figures go these are a relatively quick painting job. I have a good palette of browns at hand that either lean towards red or yellow in their tone – thus the majority of the colours are a mix of Vallejo and Army Painter browns - saddle, leather, oak, and bootstrap for example. A bit of Vallejo mahogany tends to be my go-to for weapon stocks, otherwise it’s just the usual washes and highlighting to bring them together. A splash of colour just to give the figures character, but not too much. Last a bit of blue and grey in the cloths and bandanas tie all the figures together, giving them a subtle uniformity for the gaming table.

Again, the bases are simple 2mm thick rounds, and were done with basing paste, grit from the driveway, and Vallejo or Tajima tufts. Vallejo flat earth was used to finish the rims. Two coats of varnish to seal them, and they’re ready to chase down the stagecoach or take on the Sheriff in any town!

Claiming 4x 28mm = 20 points.

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Some great looking desperadoes here, Andrew! As you say, a little spot of colour here and there does wonders for these fabulous figures from Copplestone. Terrific brushwork!

- Curt