From TamsinP: How To Write And (Not) Publish Your Posts (AHPC XIII Version)

 

"Good morning Ladies, Gentlemen...and Ray. My name is TamsinP and I will be the Senior Studio Tour Guide for your apprenticeship with AHPC Studios GmbH. As we have a number of first-time apprentices and some who are returning after a gap (also because there have been some changes to how we are doing things) I have been asked by Kurt von Paintheim, the Show Lord, to write a guide on how to prepare your directorial and production portfolios. I hope that this instructional post will help."

Tamsin's Terribly Terrific Tutorial To Challenge Posting

Before You Post

Just a little checklist for you to consider:

1. Have I taken photos of everything I am including in the post?
2. Are there at least 3 photos of everything, taken from different angles?
3. Have all the photos been resized to a maximum of 1000 pixels in either direction?
4. Have I worked out how many points I am claiming?

If your answers to all four questions is a resounding "Yes!", then you may proceed.

A Request On Behalf Of The Minions

"Given how many budding film producers and directors we have on this year's tour, please (please, pretty please) try not to overwhelm your poor, suffering, wretched minions with hundreds of posts every week. If you can combine multiple entries into a single post, that would be very helpful. That being said, you might want to do a separate post for "Studio" submissions."

"Remember, the minions are all volunteers and doing the minioning stuff does take them away from their own painting."

*Important Note 1: This post was originally written for AHPC XII and examples shown may reflect that.*

(aka - it took me the best part of a day last year, so I'm only amending text parts)

*Important Note 2: This cannot be repeated enough, and it makes sense to begin with it.*

Whatever you do...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

I repeat...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

For the avoidance of any doubt....

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

OK, it's not the end of the world if you do click "Publish" but it requires a bit of work to correct it. This is particularly important if you are writing the post ahead of your assigned posting day.

The above message will be repeated at the relevant point in the post. 

How to Create a New Post

1. Open the Challenge Blog (linky-link)

2. Click on "New Post" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). This will take you to this screen:

3. Click on "New Post" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). This will take you to the post editing screen:

Congratulations! You may now begin writing your post!

A quick word about post formats. There is a certain preferred "style", simply because it looks good on all screens. However, if you choose to format differently (within reason) you won't be penalised. Just take this guide as, well, a guide on how your post should look.

As a reasonable example of preferred post formatting, here's a post of mine from AHPC X (linky-link). 

Post Title

This is very important and there is certain information that must be included. Here is an example of how the Title should look:

A brief explanation of the different parts:

[draft] - This indicates that you haven't finished writing the post. When you are finished writing and happy for it to be published, change [draft] to [ready]. On your posting day, your minion will delete the [ready] from the title once they have finished scoring your submission.

[today] - As everyone has an assigned day for posting submissions (linky-link), please do remember to include this is your post title. For example, my posting day is Friday this year, so my post titles would start [draft][Friday] (nb - photo examples below are from AHPC XII).

"NB - The first and last few days of the Challenge are, traditionally,  "free-fire" and you can post submissions on any day of the week. Herr von Paintheim will advise you as to when the "free-fire" rule applies, you do not need to include [day] in your post titles during frefire periods."

"From TamsinP:" - Please start your post title with your assigned "handle" (linky-link). After all, we want to know who has painted those wonderful miniature masterpieces - no need to be shy! It's also a great help to the minion who will be scoring your post. You can either use a colon (":") or a spaced hyphen (" - ") as a separator.

"How To Write And (Not) Publish Your Posts" - Something that describes what you are posting. For example, if your submission is a warband of 28mm Orcs, you might make this part of the title "28mm Orc Warband".

(Nul points) - Please do include an estimate of how many points you think the submission is worth. The scoring per figures can be found in the announcement post (linky-link)

Just as a quick addendum, if your submission includes entries for AHPC Studios GmbH, please include the location name between the description and points claim, eg:

"Phew, that's the Title done with. Onto the main bit. Which should be quite quick and painless***."

Body Of Post

This is the part where you write your actual submission and add all your photos. Some people choose to start by adding a group shot of all the figures in their submission, some start with an introductory text. The choice is yours.

What we expect to see in the text of your submission is:

A description of the miniatures - how many, the scale (eg 28mm), what they are and the manufacturer (if known)

A summary of the points you are claiming for the figures and (where applicable) Studio locations, eg:

24 x 15mm foot @ 2 points = 48 points

12 x 15mm mounted @ 4 points = 48 points

9 x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 45 points

Casting Couch (Green Pass) bonus = 20 points

Total = 161 points

"NB - the points summary is possibly the most important part of the post from the minions' point of view as without it scoring your submission may be difficult (we don't want to spend an hour working out from your photos how many figures you are claiming). "

If your post contains multiple different submissions you can, of course, include a summary after each section and then a "grand summary" at the end.

Beyond that, feel free to write whatever you want. You can, if you want, write a tall tale interspersed with photos (RIP NoelW - you are definitely missed by us all). You can include a guide to how you painted the figures. Or you can just write "Hey guys and gals - here are some Orcs I've painted".

Adding Photos To Your Post

Yes, we do want to see photos of your painted minis. We do know that not everyone is a great photographer, that not everyone has the best lighting for taking photos, and we don't expect that.

What we do want to see?

• Photos that show how many figures are being claimed - if you are claiming 5 x 28mm orcs, we want to see a photo of the five orcs together.
• Photos taken from different angles.
  
• For odd-sized models, you might want to include size comparison photos to assist the minions
• Close-up photos if you dare!

How to add photos:

1. Assuming you have written a couple of paragraphs of text and wish to insert a photo between them, eg:

2. The first thing to do is click "Enter" to create an additional blank line between the paragraphs:

3. To add your photos Click "insert Image" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

This will bring up a menu:

4. Click on "Upload from computer" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

That will open this pop-up window:

5. Click on "Choose files" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). That will open your Folders, like so:

6. Find the folder with the photos you want to add, select them and click "Open" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

7. Your selected photos should appear in the "Add Images" pop-up window:

8. Make sure that all the photos you want to add are highlighted, then click "Select" (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo above). The photos should now upload to your blog post.

The last photo uploaded should be highlighted and there should be a menu box:

9. Please adjust the image size to "Large" for all your photos - click on the button indicated by the red arrow above:

I repeat, "Please adjust the image size to "Large" for all your photos" - there is nothing a minion hates more than having to spend several minutes resizing all 40 photos that someone has included in their post. No, I'm not looking at anyone in particular...or am I? (You know who you are!)

10. You can add captions underneath your photos. Click on the photo to bring up the menu bar and then click on the "A" button indicated by the red arrow in the photo below:

Underneath the photo you should now see "Add Caption":

Add whatever caption you like to the photo:

"There you go, wasn't that simple and clear*. Now you know how to add photos to your blog post, so that we can all see your lovingly painted miniatures!"

* amended from "clear and simple" to avoid confusion with a brand of soap

Just one more thing (TM Lieutenant Columbo) - please check that there is a blank line between text and photos and also between photos. It just looks nicer (and also makes it easier to correct any formatting issues).

And another thing (also TM Lieutenant Columbo) - please, upload photos rather than linking to photos on another site. Doing so avoids the possibility of broken photo links in future.

"Okay, so we have the post titles, scoring summaries, post text and photos covered. That just leaves one very important thing to cover before we go on to saving and (not) publishing your post."

***I might have been slightly "economical with the truth" when I suggested "quick and painless" at the start of this section.

On The Importance Of Labels And How To Do Them

Labels are pretty important as they allow people to search for specific posts. For example:

• all posts written by TamsinP
• all posts for a particular AHPC Studios GmbH location
• all posts that qualify for entry to the "Sarah's Choice" prize
• all posts with Orcs
• etc, etc, etc

So, how do you add labels to your post and what should you include? I'll cover these in reverse order...

What Labels To Include

• Your "handle" (linky-link) (eg TamsinP), as per the Post Title
• Scale of figures (eg 28mm)
• Period (eg WW2)
• Army/nationality/faction (eg Space Marines)
• Manufacturer (eg Warlord Games)
• AHPC Studios GmbH location if applicable (eg Casting Couch)
• "Sarah's Choice" if applicable (ie a female figure* is part of the entry)
• Anything else that you think might be helpful for people searching the blog

* for avoidance of any doubt, the female figure should be humanoid. Painting a bear and claiming it as a female miniature isn't the done thing, is it Ray? 

How to Add Labels To Your Post

In the right-hand sidebar, you should see "Labels" at the top:

To add your labels, start typing where it says "Separate labels with com...":

As you start typing, if anything looks like it might match the label you want to add, the "matches" will show below where you are typing:

In the photo above you will see that I have added "TamsinP" and started to type the next label - it has offered a match "Administration" to the "adm" that I have typed. As that is correct, I click on the offered match. One letter earlier in my typing, the list of "matches" was much longer:

If no correct "matches" are offered, finish typing your label, add a comma immediately after and click "Enter". That will create a new label:

"Is that all clear? Jolly good - we can move on now to saving and (not) publishing your post."

Saving And (Not) Publishing Your Post

Now that you have finished writing your post and are ready for it to go to the minions for scoring, etc, there is just one little task do first - go back to your Post Title and change [draft] to [ready]. All set? OK, let us proceed.

Whatever you do at this point...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

I repeat...

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

For the avoidance of any doubt....

DO NOT CLICK PUBLISH!!!!

OK, it's not the end of the world if you do click "Publish" but it requires a bit of work to correct it. This is particularly important if you are writing the post ahead of your assigned posting day.

This is what we need you to do.

Just above the red arrow, you will see a button marked "Preview" - click the arrow next to it. That will bring up a small menu:

Click "Save". 

NB - you can click "Save" at any point while you are writing your post. It might in fact be a good idea to do so every so often if your post is quite long.

Your post is saved and you can now either close the tab or go to the "Posts" screen if you want to write another post:

To do so, click on the little arrow above the big red arrow. That will return you to the "Posts" screen and you should see your post in the queue:

If all has gone to plan, you should see in orange "Draft" underneath the title of your post.

Now, you may be asking "how do I add links and videos" to my posts. Adding videos (use the "Inset Videos" button next to the "Insert Photos" one) is much the same as adding photos, but we do ask you to link from another site. 

Adding links (as I have done several times in this tutorial)  is quite easy.

1. Highlight the text that you wish to use as a link

2. Copy the URL of the page you want to link to

3. Click on the "link" button (as indicated by the red arrow in the photo below):

This will open a pop-up window:

Paste the link where it says to, and then check the box for  "Open the link in a new window". Click "Apply" and you should have created the link.

Phew! I do hope that I'm getting paid overtime for doing this as it's taken me much longer than anticipated*, what with all the screen captures and photo editing. 

What's that Curt? I'm doing this for free?!?!?!?! Again?!?!?!?!?!?!Yikes!!!!!

Anyway, that's enough from me for today. I hope that you have found this post useful. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

Toodle-pip!

Tamsin

 

* We'd originally agreed that Curt would include a link to my post from last year in one of his admin posts and I would add amended text to the joining document he will be sending out.

Skull Duel!

Roused from stasis, Skully McSkullface is firing up the Skull-o-meter™ to count your skullz for AHPC XIII!

Skully McSkullface reporting for duty

The winner will be the Challenger who has painted the most skullz. These can be any skullz in any scale- Prussians, Brunswickers, Nazis, undead, pirate flags, base decoration, or maybe something from 40K.

PaulO'G knows where to find skullz!

The winner gets to keep the skull of last year's champion! And last year it was the Snowlord himself, so it is a special prize indeed.

CurtC printed a 10mm undead horde to victory

Hall of Skully Fame:

• XII CurtC 475
• XI StuartL 1363
• X PaulO'G 543

To enter, tag your post with 'Skull Duel' and state in the post both how many skullz you have painted, and what your running total is. Feel free to enter the duel at any time in the Challenge.

StuartL has this one weird trick: scenery!

There will be regular skullicious updates throughout the gruelling months ahead, as well as a spotlight on skulltastic miniatures that have caught the unblinking eye of Mr S. McS.

AHPC Studios for Challenge XIII

 AHPC Studios, GmbH

Our wayward talent agent, Sidney Roundwood, has returned from scouting a prime location for our next adventure, and wow, is it a doozy!

From Sid:

'After last year’s voyage through planets and stars, this year we travel to the lavishly appointed AHPC Studios, GmbH.  Based on several acres outside Berlin, AHPC Studios is benevolently controlled by the infamous cinema director, Kurt von Paintheim, aka the “The Show-Lord”.  Ably assisted by his two hench-dogs, Oscar and Felix, and the leading studio-starlet, Lady Sarah, the Snow-Lord has invited all of you to AHPC Studios to assist in making some movie magic in miniature.'

(Updated) Here are the rules for exploring the great variety of cinema-inspired themes on the AHPC Studios lot.

1. Each Studio has a hobby task associated with it (see below). You must submit your work to your minion, get their approval (they may consult with other minions if he/she believes greater deliberation is required) and they will post it to the blog. You then can continue on to the next Studio;

2. Each successfully completed Studio awards you 20 one-time bonus points;

3. The Studios need different security passes to enter.  Each Challenger begins with a Green Security pass and can enter any Green Studio.  After you have visited four Green Studios, you will receive a Blue security pass, allowing you entry to the Blue areas located further in the Challenge Studio grounds.  If you complete four Blue Studio tasks, you will receive a Red security pass - which allows you to visit the studio of the Great Show-Lord himself. 

4. There are three ways you can move between Studios: by the pathways between Studios; along the Yellow Brick Road running through the whole site; or by being driven through the Challenge site in Lady Sarah’s Limousine;

5. Once a task is completed you can pass through it without having to do the theme requirements again (unless you wish to);

6. When you complete the task which is appointed to you by the Great Director, you can sit in the Producer’s Chair, and bask in the adoration of all the beautiful people out there, self-satisfied with your grand achievement.

Lady Sarah’s Limousine

At the (very reasonable) cost of you painting one single female figure, per relocation, Lady Sarah - star of the Silver Screen - will drive you in her luxuriously appointed limousine to any location within your security pass colour (Green or Blue), or back to a previously cleared colour pass area. Travel in her limo will award you 20 bonus points for the journey. The Limousine award can be collected multiple times. At the end of the Challenge, Lady Sarah shall judge all the female figures painted during the Challenge - including those painted to facilitate Challengers’ relocations in the Challenge Studio site - and award the winning Challenger a special prize.

__________________________________________

The Yellow Brick Road

The Yellow Brick Road runs through Challenge Studios. At the additional cost of painting a Cinematic miniature figure (of your choice, according to your discretion), you can travel down the Yellow Brick Road from any crossing point to any other crossing point on the site - which are denoted by the small traffic lights (note: The Director's Chair cannot be accessed by the Yellow Brick Road unless you've achieved 4 locations of both the Green and Blue areas). For your efforts you will also receive 20 points. This award can be collected for each use of the road.

__________________________________________

(Updated) The Gift Store

Are you looking for something to commemorate your visit to the AHPC Studios GmbH, or maybe a souvenir for those friends and family unable to make the trip? Come along to the AHPC Gift Store and see what we have to offer. Snow Lord (tm) snow globes, Replica flight attendant uniforms, delicious AHPC Studio crayons, we have it all.

Models entered as a Gift Store Special must be figures that you are going to give to someone else as a gift. Entries should explain why you chose the model as a gift for its recipient along with the usual photographs of the mini itself. Challengers can visit the gift store from any other point on the map without needing to use the Yellow Brick Road or Lady Sarah's Limousine (though you can if you wish). A gift submission will award 20 bonus points. Like Lady Sarah's Limousine and the Yellow Brick Road, the Gift Store bonus can be collected multiple times.

__________________________________________

Green Security Pass

These are Studios which allow access to all participants in the Challenge at any time. Feel the excitement on each of the Green-pass Studio lots as you join the huge array of extras and crew and watch magic being born.


Under Construction: Half-done, almost-done, or barely started. This is the studio for painting projects which are just not quite there yet.


Black & White: Paint something in grey-scale, with black and white being your colours of choice. Reconjure the elegance of the silver screen!


High Adventure: Whether it’s battling mummies in a pyramid, or scaling the Himalayas in search of a Yeti, the entries for this studio all remind us of the spirit of High Adventure, daring and risk-taking. All that, and fighting a giant Gorilla on the Empire State Building.


Historical Drama: The whole of history at your fingertips and painting brush-points. Which historical drama will you choose to paint in miniature?


World Cinema: Russian war movies, Bollywood excess, or Samurai showstoppers. The idea in this Studio is to paint a figure, vehicle or terrain item from elsewhere in the world from where you live now.


The Casting Couch: Every film needs stars and talent. Let your paintbrushes create one of the leading characters of your gaming experience. Champagne flutes will be handed around while you paint, as befits visitors to this most discrete of Studios.


1980s or Retro: You might remember the white socks. Or New Wave. Or maybe neon lit palm trees in Miami. Or just WRG 6th Edition Ancients. Whatever you remember from the 1980s, the 1970s, or indeed any time long past - your task is to paint something which screams “RETRO” to you.


Sci-Fi: From Aliens to the Mandalorian, from Solaris to Jules Verne - your mission here is to boldly go and seek out new science-fiction subjects to paint. May your paintbrushes live long and prosper.


Blue Security Pass:

These are the inner Studios on the Challenge Studios site. You need to have completed at least four Green locations to be allowed into these most-exclusive of Studio locations.

Books: Time to paint something from a famous book. It can be any book, as long as you think it would make a great subject for a film.

Swords & Sandals: The gladiatorial arenas of Hyboria. Chariot racing in the Colosseum of Rome. Battling strange gorgons on white-sand Greek beaches. Or climbing into the Wooden Horse of Troy. Whatever you’re painting in this studio, we’d love to see the shifting sands of ancient adventure, scimitars flashing in the dark, and maybe a few sandals too.

Fantasy: If you want to paint a hobbit, a dragon, a skeleton or a wizard’s castle, this is the studio for you. Anything goes as long as it’s from a world which is either fantastical, or pure-fantasy.

Arthouse: Darling! Come in, relax at the Cabaret, and enjoy the show! From cold-war European drama, to adventures conducted solely in 8th Century Mayan dialect. From miniatures created out of bottle-tops, to hair-roller armies. Everything artistic is welcome here - whether the art is visual, or just a pose. Want to paint a miniature in just pink paint? Obsessed with Carroburg Crimson ink? This is the Studio for you! Welcome to the location for the quirky, arty and the downright strange.

Superheroes: Bring a cape, and your set of flaming-lazer eyes. This is the place for painting Homelander, Batman, Buffy or Judge Dredd. But supe’s come in all shapes and sizes. Who’s your favourite superhero for painting in this Challenge?

Westerns: Anything goes, as long as its ‘Way Out West’. Your chance to Paint Gary Cooper, Sitting Bull, or - for the more lateral thinkers - Toshiro Mifune, Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker. Wagons roll !!


Red Security Pass:

If you have completed at least four Green locations and four Blue locations, well done! You’ll now be welcomed into the Studio of the Great Show-Lord himself to collect your Red Security pass. The Show-Lord will give you one task to complete. If you succeed, you’ll have earned the chance to sit in the Producer's Chair. Everyone… please be quiet…… shhh!! ….Lights. Camera. Action!

_________________________________________________

As usual, I'm sure we've (meaning me) missed something... If you think of anything that may have been overlooked, or something that has not been clearly explained, feel free to ask in the comments! We strive to ignore all queries with equal consideration.  :)

I'm looking forward to exploring AHPC Studios with you all!

Next from Administration: A Guide for Posting from our Senior Studio Tour Guide, Tamsin!

- Curt

RossM - An Untidy Hobby Desk and Challenge Painting Plans

RayR's recent post made me have a look at the calendar and realise that AHPC XIIII is 7 days away and I haven't started the ritual tidying of the hobby desk. The picture below shows the daily carnage that I call a hobby desk and a poor attempt has been made to start the tidy up.

More pictures to follow over the weekend - time allowing - including some of the prep work started for this year's challenge including:

• 28mm Republican Romans for SAGA: Age of Hannibal
• 28mm Carthaginians for SAGA: Age of Hannibal
• 28mm Late Romans
• 15mm Early Imperial Romans for ADLG
• 15mm Arabs for ADLG
• 15mm Thracians for DBA and ADLG
• 15mm Wars of the Roses for ADLG
• 6mm Punic and Macedonian Wars for Age of Hannibal (LittleWarsTV) and DBA

Looking forward to the off and following everyone's progress in paint. 

Cheers for now, 

Ross

 

Lee H - Back again, and not a moment too soon

Wow! Twenty Twenty Two shot past in a blur and here we are on the eve (almost) of another Painting Challenge. This will be my ninth time in the mosh pit and I'm all geared up, ready, and eager to get started. I set myself a modest points total, but as most of my work this year will be 6mm, that equates to a lot of minis. For a change, I am nearly* ready ahead of time. Everything* is primed, my consumables have been restocked and my long-running AHPC Spreadsheet of Doom is set and ready to start recording my completed entries. (* More figures from Baccus are on their way, but are clearly being delivered by an asthmatic carrier pigeon and may take a while to arrive!)

My desk is tidy, although a quick going over with a mini-vac is probably in order... there's a year's worth of sand, dust, and static grass building up in the corners and between the bottles. 

So what am I working on for Challenge XIII? Well, I'm back with 6mm this year (following a 15mm Foreign Legion outing last year) and I'm working on the late medieval period and the end of the Wars of the Roses. I  will be focusing on the Battle of Bosworth and its participants. I visited the Heritage Centre earlier in the year and the more I read about this battle the more interesting it becomes. I'm looking forward to exploring the battle and the seemingly endless theories on exactly where it was located, who took part, and how the two sides were deployed. Modern archaeology may have answered a lot of questions, but there are still lots of options to explore so this seems to be a battle that will just keep on giving. 

Best of luck to everyone taking part and I look forward to seeing the entries of Challengers new and old over the next few months. 

SimonG: Absolute Chaos -- How Come It's Starting Already!

Great to be back again for my third run around the AHPC -- despite all my plans to be well prepared I'm once again up to my neck in half finished projects.

For those that don't know me I'm a 50+ mostly retired Englishman who rediscovered my teenage hobby of miniatures just as we entered lockdown in 2020. Since then I've actually managed to finish one project (28mm HYW) but have several others still on the go.

On the deck for this time is the continuation of my 28mm skirmish Jewish Wars project -- with the major focus this time around being terrain. In fact a reproduction of one corner of the Antonia Fortress and Temple Mount circa 73CE.  This has been great fun learning lots of new skills such as MDF construction, paper crafts (for tiling), and working with clay to put a finish on all my fortifications.

As you can see it's still all a bit of a mess, today I've been trying to apply PVA sealant and hope to have it all undercoated for the kick off. It's a 1.2m square setup based on four 60cm square blocks. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you as I go along.

My other projects will be the continuation of my 10mm 1980s cold war Soviet/British project and expect to see more Black Rose Wars miniatures plus new this time -- Descent Legends of the Dark.

So lots to keep me occupied in my office come hobby room -- the cupboards are stuffed full of paints, brushes and materials all ready to go. The room is about 12' square, so not particularly large but theres plenty of storage in a void under the mezzanine floor of the next room up -- just mind your had as you struggle to get around in there. It's rapidly filling up with KR cases full of completed miniatures, terrain and the like.

So heads down to get all the prep work done before next Wednesday (when I promptly head off to Paris for the holidays) -- and hope to be sharing much more with you over the coming few months.

Side Duels Update

G'day All!

It's great to be back! Huzzah! As Wallah of All Things Duel I am raring to go once again. The Indifference Engine has been oiled, my impartiality polished and my abacus thoroughly shaken.

I've completed my first trawl through inbound emails and post comments to compile the following list of open side duels and their participants. I'd ask all those intending to engage in one or more side duels to review and make comment where I might have missed something. For a few people I am also not 100% certain of your Challenge handle so would appreciate clarification.

Here goes, last updated 16/12 after comments and feedback...

A Squirrel a Day

Most painted points at Challenge end. 25+ points of models per sub, excluding bonus points. Each point must be unique in army, scale or period. Different uniforms from the same army don't count.

• AdamC
• PaulS
• ChrisW
• MartijnN
• KerryT
• StuartL
• RobertH
• KyleC
• PhilH
• JezT
• BenitoV
• BenF
• MikeW

Skullz for the Skull God!

Most painted skullz at Challenge end. Barks has kindly offered to manage this one.

• StuartL
• Barks
• DavidB
• TeemuL
• GregB
• MikeW

Turnip28

Most painted points in the style of Turnip28 at Challenge end.

• CurtC
• Barks
• StuartL
• PaulOG
• AlanD

Airbrushes at Dawn

Use an airbrush for more than priming on as many subs as possible.

• DavidB
• CurtC
• MattW
• KyleC
• BenF

Carausius Emperor of Britain

Most painted points of Late Roman/Sub Roman Britain at Challenge end.

• CurtC
• PeterD
• KyleC
• IainW

SPQR

Most painted points of Roman armies from Caesar to Late Imperial at Challenge end.

• MattW
• PeterD
• SimonG

Neverending Cold War

Most painted points from 1950 to today at Challenge end.

• MattW
• DavidB
• SimonG
• DaveD

Codpieces & Ostrich Feathers

Most painted points from Italian Wars and Renaissance at Challenge end.

• KerryT
• CurtC
• IainW
• PeterD
• ChrisW
• MikeW

TFL America 500

First to paint 500 points (ideally using only red, white and blue paint).

• PhilH
• JohnE
• CalebG

RayR - AHPC XIII - Hobby Desk and Painting Plans

 

Looks like I'm a winner already? I can claim the "Most Messy Painting Desk in the Challenge"

I did plan a clean up, but couldn't be arsed in the end. I'll only make more mess anyway.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ray and this will be my 12th Challenge. I like you guys look forward to the Challenge each year and have been busy cleaning and undercoating figures for a while now.

I will of course be painting up figures for Donnybrook, which as you all well know I'm quite partial to.

There'll be figures for Vienna 1683 and a smattering of other stuff to. The Haitian Revolution will again make a appearance. Not that I really need anymore Donnybrook or Haitian Revolution figures???

But I shall be starting a new period and scale, shock horror???

It's all Reject Richard's fault, he's painted up some great figures for the French Wars of Religion in 2mm. So he made me buy some, I was going to get armies for one of the larger Nine Years Wars battles like Neerwinden or Steenkirque, but instead chose to go for a battle during the War of the Spanish Succession. Postie the Evil Warlord of Posties Rejects already has figures for the Battle of Blenheim, so I chose another theatre. Spain.

More specifically the Battle of Almansa 1707

For the Allies the British, Dutch and Portuguese there are 42 infantry regiments and 55 Cavalry squadrons. For the French and Spanish there are 52 Infantry regts and 76 squadron of cavalry. So I'm gonna be a busy boy!!!

The figures were calling to me in my sleep "Paint me, paint me", so I had a little practice as to how to paint them up, coached by Reject Richard. 

Here we have 2 regt of Dutch Infantry Torsay and Kepplefox, each regt has 240 figures!!!

And here we have 2 squadrons of the Portuguese Cavalry regt Naronja, each has 24 figures.

I've not yet decided how I'm going to decorate the bases, so I need to play around a little more.

These troops of course will not count as points in the Challenge, but I will post them up, with the other regts in their brigades.

Why 2mm you ask?

Well that's an easy question to answer.

Big Battles

I could never to Almansa in any other scale, if I did it would be scaled down so much, it would have nothing in common with the actual battle. Using 2mm, I could comfortably play the whole battle on a 8 foot board, 6 foot if you squash it up.

Cost (very important)

In 6mm a 240 man regt would cost you approx £20

In 15mm a 240 man regt would cost approx £135

in 25mm it would coast a staggering £443

In 2mm it costs 99p!

Yep 99p and that's with a few stands left over for the next regt as well!!!

Some gamers say, you might as well use counters? But that's what any figure you buy is, they'e all just counters.

Now I must admit, they are bloody small and are a bit of a bugger to see, so get yourself a pair of these badboys!

You too can look as cool as me?

Challenge XIII - {Insert Witty Title Here} - From StuartL

Hello all,

So, here we are at the cusp of another AHPC madhouse, and I for one am nowhere near as prepared as I should be. But, before we get into that, introductions are in order.

My name is Stuart and I have been gaming since the early 90's I guess. However, my first foray into wargames happened in the previous decade. When I used to visit my grandparents' house, I would often pass the time playing with my uncle's old airfix toys and 1/72 soldiers (nearly all were unpainted). He and I would line the men up and then take turns firing matchsticks at them from a spring loaded cannon. It wasn't the most well balanced ruleset, but it was fun. My first real exposure to wargaming came via everyone's favourite evil wargaming corporation, Games Workshop. I got Heroquest as a birthday present, followed by Space Crusade for Christmas. After that it was on to Space Hulk and Space Marine (the precursor to epic). At various times I think I played most of GW's games during secondary school and university. 

Originally I am from Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England, but in 2004, for a variety of reasons, I packed my bags and shipped off for Japan. My initial plan was to work as an English teacher for between 6 months and 1 year and then head back home to find a new job. All of my hobby stuff was left with my parents for my eventual return. However, I found that teaching English was a lot of fun and my 1 year plan quickly extended. Needing something to do in my free time, I found a local store that had a tiny selection of GW minis and picked up a box of Orcs, some tools and some paint. This led me to find my local gaming group, where I became an active member and to me requesting that my family start shipping stuff out to me. 

Fast forward to today, where I am still living in Japan, working as a teacher and am still in the same hobby group. I have been less active over the past few years as the group tends to play 9th edition 40K, whereas I'd much rather be playing anything else. I have a huge collection of minis for Bolt Action, Saga, Black Powder and more besides. I do like 40K, but the current rules feel bland and pointless to me. The newly released Horus Heresy rules are much more to my liking.

My initial plan for this challenge was to stay totally focussed on getting 2 or 3 armies completely finished. That lasted for about 20 seconds. I will still try to do the bulk of work on those armies, but I'm expecting to embrace my inner Squirrel and see what I have in my eclectic collection. I started building and assembling models for the challenge in early October, but due to real life issues taking up a good chunk of November, a lot of things got pushed back to December. 'Not to worry', I thought, 'December is always quiet at work'. Not this year. My boss decided that instead I should be as busy as possible in the run up to Christmas. Luckily, all is not lost. I still have a ton of minis built and primed from Challenges XI and XII in my stash. Speaking of.....

Unlike some of the challengers who live in vast sprawling mansions with enough room for a gigantic hobby space, I'm limited to a 6' by 9' room where all of my stuff must stay. Should anything stray from the room, my better half will immediately throw it into the trash.

My work area is pretty small. I don't have room for a monitor or a PC, just a small music player. Over the course of the last challenge, this tiny work bench hosted nearly 300 minis, so it seems to get the job done. On the back wall you can see a memo reminding me to do the chores and other tasks before I get too lost in painting. 

The main part of my stash is kept on a set of metal shelving racks. While I do try to sort stuff out every now and again, I am rapidly running out of flat surfaces on which to stack things. Included in that lot are numerous army cases, bits boxes and a full 6' by 4' WW2 Normandy beach board that I have only used twice in the eight years since I built it.

And this is my gaming table. It is made from the same metal racking as the shelves and is currently home to about 20 KR multicases and numerous boxes of plastic, metal and MDF. In the background you can see yet more shelves containing rulebooks, terrain supplies and yet more plastic. As you can see from the foreground, I am in the process of priming stuff, building things and it is all a colossal mess. That said, it is usually much, much worse. 

Having seen some of the neat, organised hobby spaces from other challengers, I am reminded of a quote. "If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning." Guess which category I am in. 

Oh yeah, I'll be minioning for the first time this challenge, if you are unlucky enough to be in my care, I apologise in advance.

See you all at the starting post!

Challenge XIII (Winter 2022-23) - RobH Intro

Good day all.  My name is Rob and  I've been a miniature gamer for slightly over 5 decades. Some may thing I have a problem. Some have asked why I don't suffer from the effects of lead poisoning. My main problem is the unpainted mound of figures. In my case neatly categorized and stored away in tin boxes. 

The wall of shame to the right of my work table

I have no plans. I will be attracted to whatever bright and shiny object should catch my eye.  I am certain there are unpainted minis in any box I choose to open. With temperatures in Montreal now regularly below zero, I will not be doing anymore prep until the spring thaw. Fortunately we are still a snow free zone.

Currently on the table, unfinished Victrix War Elephants,
Bofers AA Gun and crew by Bad Squiddo Games and,
some Roman High Command by Black Tree Design

Other distractions located to the left of my work table.

Behind me, the office and on the other side of the half wall, my bedroom. For me January is the start of my busy season with tax prep and then the Canadian income tax season. It is when I have the least time to commit to any gaming activity including the painting challenge and I will spend more time in front of the office computer than anything else for almost the next five months.

In the upper left there are 4 red tool boxes. In total I have 20,
each containing a fully painted army

And of course, none could take place without the constant supervision of her Imperial Majesty Josephine, Empress of Her World.