FROM JohnB: Whats that coming over the hill is it a monster?

Nope its an AHPC wrap! Mind you "The Automatic" (welsh indie rock band) hit was a cracker Well I have had my best year at AHPC and its my third year on the trot signing up. With a photo splurge what have I learnt? I have again learnt a lot from the other 70 odd entrants plus their figure and basing ideas as well as some of their figure/painting combinations all inspiring me to buy and paint yet more figures but actually paint more! woohoo 700 plus points worth or 13 micro projects if you like. plus I started to do stand up painting! yep stood at a bar style bench set up and doing sprints - short paint sessions of 15 minutes - 45 minutes, which led to my mini paint palette method as I tended to use one colour.

ok this paint is 4 days old but the method does work on small amounts of paint used over say 24 hours oh and the tissue is meant to be kept wet!!!!! On with the results - I am particularly pleased that I painted the ECW Tumbling Dice unit, maybe that project will get a kick start now.

Finishing the 1848 Hungarian Steam Engine having scratch built it for AHPC15 was very satisfying. You need two airfix rockets.........and a lot of cursing.

The Irish Brigade unit using Strelets Louis XIVth range was also a hit - I have admired their range for a long time - too long and never painted any. Now that has been fixed maybe more will follow.

I hope you all have seen the error of your ways and realise that injection moulded plastics in 1/72 is the way to go - queue woops of laughter about this madness of mine. Seriously I hope you have all enjoyed painting what you like and love.

That said I am glad I painted my 40mm Vikings to celebrate Ian Kay's retirement at Irregular Miniatures - I am happy for him yet sad to see such a vast traditional figure range sail off into the sunset.

And I painted my first printed figures - Italian support weapons in 20mm from MarDav.

Plus ca Change! And I sorry for my Minion Peter who was hoping to see my French Dragoons completed - I am off to the allotment for the year so this is as far as I got! Lets hope those red monsters don't get me.

So a big thank you to everyone who took part and of course especially to Curt and all the minions and duel runners and anyone I have missed. Hope to be back in the 17th challenge later this year.

JOHNB: tuesday terrors: IRREGULAR VIKINGS in 40mm (25 points)

Squirreless again! The Vikings failed the test..... First though you get a sample of Irregular Miniatures 1848 Range! of course repurposed from their other ranges! Enjoy Danes, Romanians, Tuscans, Modenanians and Parmese oh, and a cafe selling wargame figures......

In March Ian Kay who runs Irregular Miniatures will be retiring and his business will cease production. As someone has said he cast a million figures in 45 years and they travelled to wargamers all over the globe.

Ian Kay represents that era of the metal miniature where sculptors often were manufacturers as well. I met Ian at wargame shows where his stand was an extension of his workshop - it was not flashy but a veritable mine for figures piled in recepticles with the ranges laid out on shelves above.

A far cry from todays pre packed and branded ranges on offer.

I have even met the man at his home when I collected some figures but wanted to do a size comparison check first. He said just pop in when I was passing. He was just so accommodating and I thank him for that and his service which I found to be excellent.

All the best Ian for your retirement.

For some people Irregular were or are marmite - the rugged nature not loved or the style unappreciated.

In years to come people will recognise that these figures were an artform in the same way that a printed digital STL file is an art form of sorts - at least if it gets painted!

The cast metal figurine is most definitely a piece of sculpture and the mere fact that flames, heat and sweat are involved means its a very human creation.

We should celebrate the metal casters even more so as their kind diminish. As it happens I bought these 40mm Vikings at a cafe in York - back in 2022!

It is a pity the sets came in threes...............

They have since sat in a corner but in pursuit of squirrels I suddenly thought - their different. Only after painting them did I consider the 25 point cut off. Its hilarious as this AHPC I have done quite a few items for squirrels without considering their below the points threshold. heyho.

Whats more I had a varnish disaster with these figures - a first for me.

I had decided to play around with some washes and super diluted some colours to create bland cloaks on two figures. Two days of drying before varnishing did not prevent the vallejo matt varnish reigniting the washes. However I stopped and actually decided I had just made them a bit more timeworn!

The paint jobs are a mixture of citadel and vallejo paints regular and contrast even the odd one dating back a decade or more and still in great condition. However I also used some windsor and newton sepia ink wash over the initial white primer which while excellent for shading may have contributed to my varnish issues.

TOTAL POINTS are 3 x 40mm vikings = 3 x 7 points = 21 points.

First of all thanks for taking me down the Irregular Miniatures memory lane John.  For me if I was looking for that niche figure, or one that could be morphed into a niche figure, Irregular was THE go to place.  Looters with torches, wagons, odd animals, medieval bombards - check, check and check!  Love these old school vikings and the old school paint job that suits them to a tee.  I'm round you up to 25 for the nostalgia.

From John B: Friday Crew: 1848 Modena Dragoons (Lust) (84pts)

When I stumbled on 1848 (a lone warrior article on 19th century warfare) I quickly became absorbed by the Italian Wars of Independence. I also quickly discovered that the three wars also traversed uniform revolutions and seemingly few figure ranges were available in any scale. Well it turned out that this period between the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War/Franco Prussian War saw troops still wearing Napoleonic uniforms alongside nascent spiky helmet/kepi uniforms. So I have pundered all sorts of ranges to get what I want. However these figures are from a period relevant range. We won't talk about submarines and machine guns but lets say the 1848 inbetweenie era has a lot going for it. Today I have returned to the Italian peninsula after last years AHPC14 preoccupation with the 1st Schleswig Holstein War. The wars in Italy were fought against a backdrop of duchies and small states jostling with the big guys like the Kingdom of Naples, Austro Hungarian Empire and the odd French intervention. One such duchy the Duchy of Modena had a story that sums up the conflicted nature of the peninsulas occupants. The Duke of Modena remained loyal to Austria even eventually taking his whole army into exile to serve the Austrians.

In the first war of independence (1848/1849) the army remained in place and the revolutionaries set up a provisional government after the Duke departed on the first occasion. The small army of the Modena Duchy only had 1 mounted squadron of Dragoons who were disbanded but then reinstated by the provisional government. So these Dragoons can be men of Duke Francis V or men of the Provisional Government of Modena. Take your pick as it all happened so fast that uniform regulation changes were patchy at best or non existent - maybe an arm badge or a piece of cloth tied to headgear marked you as revolutionary while wearing the oppositions uniforms. The figures are actually Neapolitan Dragoons from Irregular Miniatures (Yorkshire UK) and are in their metal 20mm range.

I reckon I get another 20 points for lusting after painting these light blue dragoons for a fair while. And I get 8 mounted figures of the 20mm variety. Scoring is therefore 8x8= 64 plus 20 pts for the 2nd circle of the Abyss completed. TOTAL SCORE = 84pts

I agree that the mid-19th century is a very colourful period for wargaming.  At some point between 1845 and 1875 almost everybody fought anybody, and the contrast between Napoleonic uniforms and tactics and "progressing" technology is fascinating. The chaotic situation on the Italian penisula only adds to the fun, and these Modenan dragoons are great for that!. I guess this also (narrowly) satisfies the criteria for Lust, so I won't deny you your bonus. Another 84 points then, well done.

Martijn

AdamW - 15mm Limbers for Limbo! [215 Points]

My first time here as a challenge participant and my first submission.   As a newbie I thought I'd just add a brief introduction. I'm an historical wargamer, mainly in 15mm. I play once a week with a group of friends in Sunny North Devon in the UK, and we fight historical battles, as opposed to made up scenarios.

I'm hoping to make a dent in the lead pile by taking part, but also want to try and complete the side challenge 'Divine Comedy' for fun.  As an historical gamer this is a little trickier, but I think I have plans for all the sections with some cunning thinking.

My first entry here is for the First Circle: Limbo.  I apologise in advance, as they aren't the most exciting subject.

 I have been playing some Hungarian revolution  (1848-1849) battles and have picked up various figures to bolster the forces.  I was short of limbers and managed to pick up a bunch cheaply. They needed some wheels and a shed full of horses, so I've dug deep in the spares box as well as purchasing some used ones. I've also picked up some new horses from Irregular miniatures.

Some of the limbers I have painted in green to be used for my Russian Civil war troops as they are short of limbers Comrade.

In the pictures are 32 limbers, 128 horses and 30 riders, HOWEVER, I have only painted 54 horses and 29 limbers. The rest were already painted, and just needed some touch up work and basing.

So I'm only claiming for:-

15mm horses x 54 @2 points = 108 pts

15mm limber x 29 @2points ?? = 58 pts

Limbo bonus = 20 pts 

Total points = 186 215pts

I will work on the photography and hopefully some of my other entries will be a bit more exciting than these rather dull limbers. 

Good luck all of you and I look forward to seeing what everyone paints.

____________________________________

First, welcome to the Challenge Adam, it's terrific to have you join us this year!

Nothing wrong with an artillery park as your debut post. ;) That is a tremendous amount of teams and limbers, but then again artillery takes up a significant amount of space on the battlefield and what better way to illustrate that but with scads of limbers, teams and caissons. Well done! I look forward to see what else you have for us over the next few months. 

We'll score the limbers at 3 points each which will increase your total to 215 points. A very tidy sum for you opening volley!

- Curt

From KentG: 28mm ACW Confederate limber, pirates, peasants, science fiction romance, gift shop and Sarah's cart (points 216)

 Well surprise surprise another week has sped bye, as I write this.

It is the first of Feb and I almost wonder, is time passing fast simple because of the amount of painting we are doing?, as if we are turning the hands of time with each brush stroke in this post we have a few different figures which I really  enjoyed painting.

We start with a 28mm six horse Perry Miniatures Confederate the gun and Limber plus 3 figures by the gun are from their plastic artillery set the rest are metal. 

After doing the 6 horse limber for the union I was mad enough to decide lets make this one longer and add an artillery piece.

I don't know how often I say it but I do love painting Perry Minis.

Next up we have 4 figures from a peasant set 3D printed by Wargames Atlantic I'm entering these into romance section of the Library and Sarah's cart the Lady with the can of food is for Sarah's cart the rest are part of a love triangle but the green eye of envy has hit.

You cheeky wench you try and use food to steal my man from me well I won't have it, if I can't you you nobody will. I'll blow you and this piece of skirt into the next life Bang bang.

Now with the use of Sarah's cart I'll do the science fiction entry into the library.

We have a lone figure from the doctor who world 28mm Cyberman

We have another couple of pirates from Irregular Miniatures I hope to get a bunch more done before the end of the comp. I really enjoy these so full of character.

Lastly we have the first 3 x 40mm figures these will be entered into the  library under gift shop. They were a gift to me and once painted they will be an unexpected gift back.

There is almost the full set of these by Eureka Miniatures these are a real nostalgia moment, many years ago Eureka miniatures sent me one to paint and display, so when a friend gave these to me just before the comp I was like, I know these and was quite excited. It comes with tables and chairs and animals so should be very cool when they are all done. 

              Points

            1 Confederate limber 6 horse 6 figures 60pts

                                           1 limber               10pts

                                           1 cannon             10pts 

                                            Total                    80pts

            7 x 28mm foot  = 35pts

            3 x 40mm foot =  21pts    

                                                  Total 136pts

            Library points 

            Romance 20pts

            Gift shop 20pts

            Sarah's cart   20pts

            Science fiction 20pts

                                                    Total 80pts

            Grand Total of 216pts

From Millsy: What a weird and wonderful collection of stuff you've presented us with here Kent. It's great to see the Cyberman at last following our chats, and the limber is beautifully done BUT the pick for me is the WA peasants. They're both very well painted and the story you constructed around them actually made me laugh out loud.