From Dallas: Ready for the After-Party (Challenge wrap-up)

Assembled production

Well, here we are at the end of the Challenge. I'd set myself a modest goal of 500 points which I ended up more than doubling. Still, it wasn't *quite* enough to get me into the top 25 - my good friend Greg pipped me by a mere 6 points! In any event, here's the breakdown of my Challenge production:

• 28mm foot: 75
• 28mm mounted: 3
• 28mm large figures/monsters: 5
• 28mm artillery pieces: 1
• 28mm tanks: 1
• 28mm landing craft: 1
• 28mm furniture/terrain: 12
• 20mm foot: 2
• 20mm cars: 1
• 20mm tanks: 1
• 15mm tanks: 3
• 10mm Titans: 1

self-portrait

I just want to end this post by again thanking Mr. Curt and all of his Minions for running the Challenge for all of us, and also to Lady Sarah and the Minions' other halves for their forbearance and tolerance of the time Curt and the Minions spend on it. Thanks also to my fellow Challengers for the kind words you posted about my work.

See you at the bar...!

BruceR, The End of the Beginning (I hope)

Here I am kneeling for the first time before the Snowlord with the painted offering.

Yes, I've not had a hair cut since November.  Up to that point I was doing my own.  Being used to a number 1 or 2 for the last 30+ years I told myself no cut until vaccinated.  I'm 2 days out from 2 weeks from my last jab and might keep the hair.  

This was my first challenge and I had a great time seeing and commenting on all the glorious hobby efforts.  I also found it very motivating to keep churning out paint and attempting to wind my way through the Chamber of Challenge.

Cheers to Curt and the Minions as without them all this would not happen.

Be safe and enjoy this great hobby.

I managed 111 28mm infantry

23 28mm cavalry

4 vehicles

1 boat

1 dragon and some assorted vignettes

17 of the Chambers of Challenge 

I painted fantasy, ancients, black powder, WWI, between, and WWII,

I still have the bug and even though nice weather has returned to the Dakotas I'm still on it.

More Pulp Figures for a 10 pack of Royal Navy Landing Party.

It's been Grand and I hope to join you all next year when the winds begin to howl and night turns bitterly cold.

BruceR

 

From KyleC - End of Comp Tally

So end of the competition and I survived it.. almost.. 

I say almost as March's workload (both day and night job) kicked it up a few notches.. although no travel the workload began to get a bit high and painting time got kicked back a bit.. 

And I think my post comp fazed look says it all.. 

Am beat.. but when I pulled all the models out I was pleasantly surprised at what had come of it all.. 

A crap ton of models are now painted.. and not just that but many of them make up full armies ready for when the lockdown in the UK here ends in a few weeks.. or at least is reduced enough for some home styled gaming in small groups perhaps..

With Viking army done for Saga, a second for got my War of the Roses time period, a heavy induction for the undead to use in Oathmark, some Necromunda models to play against as they were a commission, goblins, DnD heroes, some 10mm halflings to play warmaster with and other odds and ends here and there. 

I had gotten one more unit finished but not posted.. it just got that crazy last week, but here is a quick snap of it.. some undead linebreakers.. 

Which will definitely be helping very soon as some much needed hitting power.. 

So all in I got about 2400+ pts worth in this season and am more than chuffed on that! Thanks once more to Curt for hosting it, and those helping to run it.. and also to my life not making me having to move house once more in the middle of it! Huzzah!! 

Now onwards to the quarantine challenge where my first piece is already started on.. and final photos I hope to find time to post up there!

Until the next one! 

From PaulSS: Definitely, the wrap...

My goal for Challenge XI was to add to my collection of 28mm Napoleonics and I certainly started off with that, my first post being some French officers and ADC's

Continued throught the challenge with that, here are some Hanoverian landwehr

And even finished with a Parisienne mob.

My final 28mm Napoleonics Duel Totalizer being 28 mounted, 152 foot, 3 guns, 1 boat.

It was not all Napoleonics though, I also had plenty of other diversions while I meandered the Challenge Chambers, including plenty of livestock and many a Sarah the Sorceress entry. 

A rare foray into the Arthurian collection that has laid dormant many years.

And even a little bit of WWII 

Many thanks to Curt the Overlord and all the tireless minions who make this possible.

Everything is now boxed up for the trip back to the UK, and there is the wrap!

Hope to see you all again next year.

From Barks: AHPC XI Wrap-up

Did I really paint all that?

I can usually be found, post-Challenge, in a bit of a dazed state; lost and without focus after the frenetic work of the past few months. I felt I had a slow start, but got into my groove after a few weeks and started to use the Chambers of Challenge to focus my efforts. My Snowlord Challenge was two 28mm vehicles, which was every bit as tough as I expected. Other highlights included:

• Aliens
• Skull-infused graveyard
• Nazgûl on fell beast
• Ned Kelly
• Marble skull angel statue

One of the most useful parts of the Challenge is finding excuses to paint those little projects that have been gathering dust, and this year was no exception.

This year I got a bunch of Citadel Contrast to try out- and I have to say I'm a reluctant convert. It will find its way into many of my projects. And resin 3D printing will be a bigger thing for me in the future.

It has been great fun, thank you all very much.

Barks

From MilesR: What I Did Done Paint (and Build)

 

Curt commands us to show a picture of ourselves and our work at the end of every Challenge.  If you find yourself upset after gazing at my less-than-pleasing countenance, please direct any complaints, diatribes and/or lawsuits to the Snow Lord himself.

Because this year's challenge was so terrain oriented, my output was significant in terms of volume so it was difficult to get everything into one shot.  Also, my basement is a disaster after the flood so please excuse the untidiness of the space.

Lets take a stroll across my Challenge XI production.  There was a lot of Stalingrad terrain - the lowest tub was stuff built before the challenge but the upper two have things that were made and submitted this challenge (but don't fit on my game table).  Stalingrad is my most ambitious gaming related project and, to be honest, suffered from a bit of mission creep.

Here are all of the capital ships and torpedo/destoyer squadrons that the Russians had during the Russo-Japanese War.  The RJW was a project that was started during Challenge X and now completed in XI.

On top of my "mobile troop cabinet" are the Japanese fleet from the Russo-Japanese War and a 6mm Seleucid Army.

The terrain for the southern section of the Stalingrad  board and some Russian troops - I have a few more to paint up but am confident I'll be ready to put the game on IF Historicon is held in July.  If that convention does need to be cancelled then this game will be held in the Fall and Fall-in.  Either way, I'm putting this damn game on and, as always, choice commands will be reserved for Challenge participants.

Moving down the board are a bunch of Soviet and German tanks and another Russian infantry company.

At the far end of my table are some of the generic countryside hexes I made at the end of the challenge and a rather large 6mm Republican Roman army.

A final look down the table from the other end - in the upper right you can see part of my painting bench.

Oh crap! - I forgot to put out the Parthians - they're put away in a troop drawer and I am too lazy to set them out.  I need to build about 30 or so more of these drawers which will be a project for April.

One thing that is not recommended to do during a Painting Challenge is to have a flood in your  basement from a leaky water heater.    It's surprisingly distracting and forces a capital reallocation away from sensible things like buying miniature towards the frivolous such as a new water heater, drywall and new flooring.  Despite my whining, progress has been made on the restoration:

This is how my basement looked on Feb 6th, 2021

and it looks like this now.  Probably 2-3 more days work to finish up the project.

Despite a minor distraction of the flood, I am extremely pleased at how this challenge worked out.  I was able to complete two big projects (Stalingrad and the Russo Japanese War) and add 3 6mm ancient armies.

One big variance this year - I did not paint a single 28mm figure - that's a first for me!

The distribution of my points was very concentrated this year:

3,643 points is nothing to sneeze at but it's not as high as some past Challenge efforts - I would say the level of effort put in this year was the highest I've ever mustered - making hex terrain and a bunch of custom and kit buildings can be a bit labor intensive.  I was aided in this effort by no business travel - one of the few positive aspects of a lock down.

 

Perhaps the best point of this year's challenge was ending up in a three-way tie with Martin and Noel for tops in the points category.   To be mentioned in any way in the same breath with those two gentlemen is an honor.  I am still amazed that all of us ended up with same points level - what are the odds of that happening?

I very much treasure the privilege of participating in the Painting Challenge and that is due to the wonderfully supportive community that makes it up and the hard work that Curt and my other fellow minions put in to managing this circus.  Thank you all very much.

I hope all of you enjoy a wonderful and healthy summer, get your vaccines and we all put the nightmare of covid-19 behind us.

Miles

Final Skull Duel update: Who sits upon the Throne of Skullz?

Spoiler: It's Stuart.

Surprising exactly noone, Stuart's (nearly) unassailable lead was propelled into the skullosphere by his final post containing such skullicious delights as the wall of skullz:

Stuart has destroyed PaulO'G's record of 543 with a whopping 1363 Skullz! Stuart is now entitled to use PaulO'G's skull as a drinking vessel or dice cup.

Stuart's fiendish strategy was to paint squillions* of GW models which had the synergistic effect of putting him at the top of the leader board in two Side Duels. You don't get to sit on the Throne of Skullz by saying, "You know what? I've probably got enough skullz."

46 of the 84 Challengers painted at least one Skull- well done! The total Skull tally is a pleasing 3814. 

Here are the Skulltastic Centurions who splashed pigment on over 100 skullz:

1. Stuart 1363
2. Barks 502
3. NickJ 265
4. MikeW 256
5. KyleC 200
6. Millsy 181
7. PaulO'G 159
8. SanderS 120
9. PaulS 104

The final week saw an uptick in skullz. Here are some for your viewing pleasure:

Millsy

JonathanO

PeteF

SidneyR

DrQ

Skull of the Week:

Dallas

Finally, here's a painting of C17th Barks getting his Donnybrook on:

I didn't choose the skull life.

Congratulations to all Skull Duellists; the AHPC is always fun and a side duel spices things up. The Skull-o-meter™, Skully McSkullface, is now going to give his circuits a chance to cool down.

Barks

*skullionz

Final Duels Update - Games Workshop Minis Duel

The brushes have fallen silent, the paint is slowly drying on the pallet, could it be....? Yes folks, we are at the end of the challenge, so now it is time to see how the duellists fared. 

In the last update, most of our duellists had added something to their tallies. The previous scores were:

Barks - 410

Codsticker - 55

DrQ - 450

GregB - 5 

Paul O'G - 308

PaulS - 369

Reilly O'G - 503

StuartL - 1016

TeemuL - 282

So, it's time for the final scores. Surprisingly the entrants who didn't post up any models for the duels recently didn't do very well. In all fairness to GregB, he didn't initially sign up for this duel, he just asked in the comments if it was too late to join. Similarly Codsticker jumped in after the first update. PaulS' last post seems to have been in mid-February, so I'm not certain if he stopped painting or just forgot to tag his posts with his name.

Anyway, on to the scoreboard.

In 6th Place with 402 is TeemuL. Among his contributions was the awesome looking Tyranid Trygon. Certainly not the kind of creepy bug most people would be happy to see on their gaming table.

At number 5 is Paul O'G, scoring 423 points. Paul's Beastman army has been growing steadily and with this large unit of minotaurs it must be pretty ferocious.

Ranking in 4th is the skull counter himself, Barks. His final score was 431, helped in part by this marvelous bit of marblework.

At number 3, sitting on 585 points is DrQ. We've seen a lot of Orks and Dwarves in DrQ's growing armies over the past few months. Most impressively he painted up this magnificent flying machine.

Having beaten nearly everyone else, Reilly O'G gets the silver medal thanks to his total of 685 points. How did he get so many points? Spiders, spiders and goblins. If you thought TeemuL's bug was creepy, you'll love this next one.

To quote some recent buzzwords Stop The Steal! Yes, we all knew this was coming. Due to some (as yet unproven) backhanded trickery, StuartL is in 1st place with a whopping 1766 points, more than the next three duellists combined. The matter will be passed on to an independent adjudicator and steps will be taken to ensure that this kind of outcome isn't allowed to happen again. Proving that quantity has a quality all it's own, StuartL's last entry was 90 Catachan Jungle Fighters.

And that is it for the GW minis side duel. I hope that everyone had fun, whether they were an active participant or just watching from the side-lines. It has been a pleasure seeing everyone's amazing work and keeping track of it every few weeks. Hopefully everyone will be up for a rematch at some point in a future challenge.

Thanks for duelling!