Thursday, 2 April 2026

KenR - Challenge 16 Wrap - Its all about the Pike !

 


Another year and another great Challenge, my first as a retired gentleman ! I always find it hard to get all the figures I've done into one photo and this year was no exception. I set a hefty target of 2500 and fell a bit short with 1700 ish but I'm more than happy with the overall output.



The big project was the 28mm Swiss Pike Block (and a bit), 128 figs for one complete Block and 32 more figures to make another block upto 128 figs. Stuff like this is not for the faint hearted but the end product is well worth the effort. The figs are from Perry, Steelfist and Petes Flags. The flags (to confuse everyone) are from Flags of War.

In addition to the Pike I added a group of 48 Spanish Cavalry to the Italian Wars collection, these figures are from TAG with Flags from Petes Flags. I painted a small group of 6 Cavalry in between each larger group of foot figures, something I've been doing for about 6 months prior to the Challenge. I've found it a great way to have a Palette refresh and keep momentum going.





Outside of the Italian Wars I added a few bits to my ongoing Plancenoit Project, a Battalion of 32 Prussian Landwehr along with some Prussian Guns. I also did some French Command Stands which was a surprise to me as I usually forget to do them until after an army is finished 😅  All figs are Perry

The final group of figs were some 28mm Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry for the Crusades which were done in a couple of small batches as mentioned above.

That leaves me to just thank Curt once again for organising this wonderful event and all the other participants for being so friendly and supportive.

I shall be donating to my chosen charity which is the Bradford Burns Unit Trust. For those who don't know I support a football club in the UK called Bradford City. Tragically during a match in 1985 one of the main stands caught fire and 56 people were killed, nearly 300 were injured. As a result of the fire a specialist unit was set up in Bradford and the knowledge gained and research done there has helped to develop new treatments and techniques to help burn victims across the world.

Hopefully I will see some of you around shows in the UK or you might tune into my Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast every now and again, either way I hope to see you back on the start line for Challenge 17 on 21st December 2026.

Until then, Sithee 

Regards Ken 

The Yarkshire Gamer

31 comments:

  1. Fantastic painting as always Ken. The varied figures in the pike unit give the unit a really dynamic look.

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    1. Cheers, one of the advantage of plastics is the ability to individually pose them 👍

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  2. There's quantity and quality, a fine Challenge from you Ken! See You in December!

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    1. Many thanks Teemu, see you later this year !

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  3. Those are impressive. Very nicely done and so many. I'd be happy if I could manage a fraction of your output.

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    1. Thank you, retirement has really helped 👍

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  4. What a wonderful bunch of painted figures! Great work Ken!

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  5. A fantastic Challenge, Ken. Well done!

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    1. Thanks mate, hopefully see you at Salute 🫡

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  6. Fantastic output, and thanks for promoting the Challenge on your blog (that's where I heard about it.)
    You've produced a really great lot of figures there at top quality too.
    See you round the shows.

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    1. Cheers Tim, lovely to see you on board 👍

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  7. Grand job Ken, now I thought a man of leisure would have hit his target 😆. All those retirement interruptions . I know the feeling . Have a great Salute

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    1. Cheers mate, hard work this retirement lark !

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  8. Fantastic looking units as usual Ken, I hope to see your stuff at Partizan

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    1. Sadly I've not got an invite to Partizan so there will be no game from me this year 👍

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    2. That’s unfortunate - glad I met you at Hammerhead. Question is will you be at Recon if it runs?

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    3. I will be, always try and support the local show if I can, sadly missed Recon last year but that was only last minute personal stuff

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    4. I hope to be there look forward to seeing your game if you run one.

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  9. Fabulous work, Ken, just tremendous. I also really like where you decided to do your donation. A great cause from a tragic event.

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  10. Great sight, what a mighty challenge that was, I enjoyed your painting story

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  11. Fabulous challenge Ken. Looking forward to photos of your Salute game.

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  12. Glad to see you are making good use of retirement! Wonderful figures as ever - grand stuff!

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  13. Tremendous work as always Ken - what really blows me away is that cavalry for the Italian Wars...just stunning stuff.

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