From RossM: The First Post, 15mm Late Crusaders (40 points)

I am late to the party this year and there have already been some great entries posted. 

There are quite a few things in the pipeline, however, these three stands are the first completed for AHPC XV. In line with tradition, these have been painted from the "other choices" rather than figures specifically listed. Call it creative licence. 

These 15mm figures are from Gladiator Miniatures (Fightings 15s) and are an addition to an ever expanding ADLG Late Crusaders army.

Painted to represent Military Order, specifically the Knights of Jerusalem with a nod to artistic licence in the use of colour across the figures. 

From a gaming point of view it is enough to recognise the units on the table. 

These three units start my entries to this year's AHPC and will collect for me a few points as well as some motivation to keep on painting. 

9 x 15mm cavalry @ 4 points each totalling 36 points. 

Cheers for now
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Better late than never Ross! And Crusading Knights are always worth waiting for :-) 

They look great in their Jerusalem surcoats and livery!

15mm is a wonderful scale to get the massed look on the table and the flurry of banner help achieve that effect, so enjoy some bonus points for those as well

- Paul

From FrederickC - Medieval German Army for De Bellis Antiquitatis [Director's Chair] (162points)

 There is now less than a week left in the challenge, and I have been knocked out of 'The Top Ten'. Will I be able to claw my way back against the fierce competition of the 'Power Painters'? Too many factors out there to make a prediction.

Ten days ago I received an email from the Snow Lord that read as follows - "Okay, do you have anything that you've been avoiding for whatever reason, or perhaps something that you've been meaning to get to, but it's always managed to slip back to the rear of your hobby desk? Let's do something along those lines so I can tease out an Oscar level performance from you."

I give you the animated movie, 'Ritter Trenk' which I hope will fit the bill.  

'Ritter Trenk' from 2015

My submission is a De Bellis Antiquitatis army for the High Medieval Period, specifically IV/13(a) Medieval German 1106 - 1235CE consisting of 1 x 3Knights (General), 4 x 3Knights that can dismount to 4Blades, 4 x 4Spear, 1 x 4Crossbow, and 2 x 2Psiloi(Skirmishers). This is another army that has been sitting in the 'Pending' tray for at least quarter century. I had bought it as an alternative to my Teutonic Order army that I had been using in a local biannual DBA tournament, but never got beyond the priming stage. It gathered dust for many years in a tray on top of my filing cabinet before being put in a storage box where it was 'out of sight, out of mind', keeping my unpainted Spartan army company until now.

The figures are all Gladiator Miniatures from prior to the line being taken over by Black Hat Miniatures. Since 2018 they have been available from Fighting15s. While some of the figures look a bit chunky, I liked the attention to detail that the sculptor put into the armour. The only down side was that the mounted figures don't come with spears, so I had to make them from florist wire. I probably thought I needed to have bright colours on the figures, so I had primed them in white rather than black so many years ago. They were painted using Vallejo acrylics, including all the shield designs. The foot figures looked a little too clean, so they got a wash of Citadel Seraphim Sepia at the end. Here is the final result.

 

IV/13(a) Medieval German 1106 - 1235CE

5 stands of Knights with the General in the center

A side view to show off the shield designs

4 stands of dismounted Knights that count as Blades

4 stands of Spears

1 stand of Crossbows and 2 stands of Psiloi

 

The points being claimed are as follows:

40 x 15mm foot figures @ 2 points = 80 points 

15 x 15mm mounted figures @ 4 points = 60 points 

1 x Director's Chair @ 20 points = 20 points

I may try to squeeze out one more small submission before the deadline. Otherwise, I will see you all on the 'flip size' for the post-challenge wrap up. Cheers.

A wonderful set of medieval figures and a great entry for the Director's Chair. Hand painting shields on 15mm seems like a lot of work, so I have added a couple of bonus points to your total.

- StuartL

From RossM: 15mm Crusaders (27 points)

Here is the first of a few posts of finished items for the end of this years AHPC.

A small addition in both numbers of figures and points, however every little counts. These are part of a second DBA sized army that has been getting painted over the last 12 months to boost this towards an ADLG army. 

The figures are from the Gladiator Miniatures Crusaders range and paint well. 

The colours reflect the Knights of Jerusalem, although I haven't been able to find any suitable decals in 15mm scale for their shields. It's the shape of the cross that is causing the issue. 

The knights and sergeants never may the painting table this time round...

In terms of points, this works out as:

11 x 15mm infantry - 22 points

1 x 15mm cavalry - 4 points

1 x 15mm horse casualty - 1 point

Sub-total 27 points

Running total 147 points (59% of 250 revised total and 20% of 750 original)

Stay safe and paint.

Ross

From Millsy:

Lovely work on these Gladiator Games minis Ross. I've painted a few and found them difficult for a number of reasons but you've really proved how good they can look treated right.

Speaking as a fellow crusader who hand painted a bunch of Knights of Jerusalem heraldry in 28mm a couple of Challenges ago, I'd encourage you to try free handing the heraldry. It's all straight lines and dots and looks better en masse anyway. It's easier than you might think and certainly not as daunting as a Maltese cross.

Group shot from RossM

Another year, another Challenge ends. This is my ninth time in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and it has become not only an annual event but a great source of inspiration and motivator for myself and many others.

Hats off to Curt, Sarah and all minions and participants for making this such a great experience.

This year saw my points total exceeded for my highest score in all the Challenges I have participated in. Whilst this isn't a target that many would struggle to achieve, I have always been a slow but steady painter.

So here are the painted offerings from this year's Challenge all together.

The 28mm submission

The 20mm submissions

The 15mm submissions

Selfie

One of the strange parts of our hobby is that we invest considerable amounts of money and time in collecting, assembling and painting our chosen miniatures. Some, my wife for one, would say too much of all. Then  we put them all in boxes only to be seen every once in a while.

The entire submission for AHPC X 2019-20

Thanks again to eveyone involved in this hobby extravaganza and see you all in the QC2020.

Cheers, Ross

From RossM - 15mm Wars of the Roses (156 points)

Final post for this year's challenge sees the completion of a DBA army in 15mm.

The Wars of the Roses DBA 2.0 army in 15mm from Gladiator Miniatures without options comprising of 1 element of Knights, 4 elements of Blades, 6 elements of Bows and 1 Art.

An element of hand gunners has snuck in to the picture taking the force beyond the 12 elements for the army, 

The flags are from Citadel Six and are self adhesive that I placed on thin paper before gluing in place on the lances. The colours are for Buckingham's retinue and somewhere safe there are also some for Oxford's retinue. 

Buckingham's Retinue

Oxford's Retinue - sorry for lousy pic

An additional elements of cavalry, Light Artillery and spearmen for the continuation of this army into a 200 point ADLG force. 

Additional Knights and Cavalry elements beside Buckingham's mounted Knights. 

The first of three command stands for the ADLG army using up the odd figures here and there. 

This completes my Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge X for 2019-20 and I am pleased with the figures painted and the different styles of painting used and results achieved. 

The points so far

9 x 15mm Cavalry - 36 points

55 x 15mm Infantry - 110 points

2 x 15mm Artillery - 8 points

Giving a total of 154 points for this army. 

The running total 

594 points or 118.9 % of the Challenge total achieved!

Cheers for now

This ia a fine way to complete your challenge. This is a lovely looking army and there will be a flag bonus, just to bugger up your maths

Martin

From MartinN: Ludi incipiant (60 Points)

Another year, another challenge! I'm pretty happy to have joined this years extravaganza again, the 6th time running if I remember correctly. To start things off and ease myself back into painting after several weeks, if not months, away from the painting table I decided on a Gladiator by Crusader Miniatures.

I rather like the new 'Challenge Island' format thus couldn't resist to join in in the fun. As a place to make landfall‚ Sander's Sand Dunes‘ seemed like a good spot from where to explore the island in the company of a red clad Gladiator. Always a good idea to bring some muscle along when landing on a foreign coast, eh? Heading along the  Path of History‘ towards‚ Where X marks the spot‘ should be straight forward enough, but taking advantage of the one or other flight by Lady Sarah's Balloon Service could also prove to be a worthwhile distraction. After all the journey is the destination.

And as I'm a cheeky sod I'll also maximize the effect of my first foray into the heart of Challenge Island by offering up my trusty gladiatorial companion here as the entry fee to be paid for this most worthwile of endeavors. He's a brute of a man, but somehow I got a feeling, that it might need brains to claim the final prize.

So, this first submission to this years challenge should net me a rather handsome number of points by my reckoning:

- 5 pts for a single 28mm miniature
- 25 pts for the entry fee
- 30 pts for completing the ‚Sander's Sand Dunes‘ quest

60 points in total if my math is correct. As for whom I'd like to reward this miniature to I'd love to give it to the first fellow participant who's painting up a Gladiator himself. Failing that the first person having submitted a 'Roman' themed entry.

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Nick!

Wow, you've treated this brutish fellow to your 'usual' beautiful brushwork. Nice and vibrant, with a few cuts and scrapes to show that he's been out mixing it up. I'll make a note to keep track for the first Gladiator or Roman entry - in fact, upon seeing this lovely figure I may have to get something cued up right now! 

In the meantime, Sarah Airways looks forward to booking your upcoming trip across Challenge Island. 

60 points for you, sir. Well done, Nick!

From RossM: Final post for AHPC IX (160 Points)

So, we draw near the end of yet another fantastic Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and this is the eighth I have participated in.  Before I introduce the entrants for this post; just want to say a huge thanks to the minions, fellow painters and of course the Snow Lord himself - Curt. The challenge makes the dark months of the early year fly and is a highlight the hobby year.

This figure is this year's Curtgeld and his brethren have been used in past games of MERP as Black Numenoreans. Given the theme of Fellowship and the request for enemies, I looked for something just that little bit different to pass on and a pre slotta Citadel C09Dark Elf was just the ticket. 

Now I have a confession to make; the figure is based on a 25mm hex base and has been since undercoating. Normally there would be nothing wrong with this, however the Curtgeld figure would sit on a 25mm round base. The dilemma that I faced as I continued to base and flock this figure on a hex base rather than rebase it. Hope that is ok, Curt?

More retro figures from Citadel and more of their classic Skeletons, another six to be precise. Not much more needs to be said about these to be honest.

No kilts to lift here

Yet more 15mm Late Crusaders from Gladiator Miniatures, this time the cavalry arm of a Late Crusader DBA army. Following suit from the earlier figures from this army there are both Brother Knights in red surcoats and Brother Sergeants in black surcoats.

More infantry for the same army and two additional command stands for the same army in ADLG, have the figures and enjoy the game so might as well.

All of the Crusaders as a group shot.

Two stands of Arab swordsmen to oppose the above. Don't know who makes these, probably Minifigs or similar. The undercoat has gone a bit grainy on these and unfortunately this has effected the final wash on the figures. Too old to try and strip them so grainy they will remain.

Another stand of Late Romans that required three figures to be matched in to painting from approx 15 years ago. The figures are front left as seen in front rank and the first and second figures from the left in the rear rank.

The figures are from Wargames Foundry and are still some of my favourite for this period, if perhaps a bit small in comparison to the likes of Gripping Beast and Footsore.

I cut the spears to the wrong length and didn't notice until the figures where glued in place in the unit.  Oh well, its only a couple of mm.

Shown with their fellows who are waiting on basing

Shown below is the entirety of this year's challenge from me and this year I have learnt a couple things for next year:

• Don't change your mind 3 weeks into the challenge and start prepping other figures

and

• Never, ever start rebasing the largest ancients army you have in 28mm, or any scale for that matter 

In terms of points I make this

1 x 28mm figure (Curtgeld) - 25 points
6 x 28mm skeletons - 30 points
15 x 15mm cavalry - 60 points
15 x 15mm infantry - 30 points
3 x 28mm infantry - 15 points

For a total this entry of 160 points.

This will take my overall total to 354 points out of 500 planned for (see comments above)

Thanks again to everyone and I am looking forward to Challenge X later this year.

Cheers, Ross

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First, thanks so much for the wonderful Curtgeld figure Ross. I love these old school Citadel models and this guy's an absolute corker (don't sweat the base, it looks wonderful).  

Wow, what a great assortment you have for us as your closing entry. Skeletons, crusaders, arab swordsmen... this has all the makings of a fabulous adventure movie! I have to admit that my favourite of the lot are the Late Romans, bravely holding the line in their matching shields and Imperial standard - wonderful stuff.

Great work Ross and I look forward to you being with us for Challenge X.

- Curt