Squirrel Duel

 Hello fellow challengers and tree-dwelling rodent aficionados,

When I asked our most benevolent Snowlord about the status of the annual side duels, I was informed that nothing official was happening this year, but that if I wanted to run a Squirrel Duel, I could.

So, it falls to me, to once again put on the hat and bushy-tailed uniform of the Squirrelfinder General and invite you all to partake in the Squirrel Duel.

What is the Squirrel Duel? What are you blathering about?

For any newcomers, or amnesiacs joining us, the Squirrel Duel is a side challenge to the main AHPC event. During the course of the AHPC, challengers are encouraged to paint models from as many different scales, genres and periods as possible. It is a celebration of diversity and disorganisation over focus and discipline, an opportunity to get those odd models out of the to-do pile, and a way to have fun between batch painting your 1000s of identical figures.

So, if you have a hard time focusing on something for more than 30 seconds, have a pile of shame a mile high, and are just generally a little nuts, feel free to join. Entry is free, there are no minimum targets, but there are also no prizes beyond the envy of your peers and the adoration of the masses.

What do I need to do?

The Squirrel Duel is simple. All you need to do is paint 25 unique points of models (See the Snowlord's post on points scoring), to score 1 Squirrel Point, and make sure you tag your post with 'Squirrel' in addition to any other tags you add. Now, having done this before, I worry that I may not have been clear enough. When I say, tag your post with 'Squirrel', I mean you absolutely must tag your post with 'Squirrel'. If you do not do so, I cannot find your post and you will not accrue points for the duel. Is that clear? Good. (Narrator's voice "But, it was in fact, not clear and many challengers failed to tag their post with 'Squirrel').

At the end of the challenge, the challenger with the most Squirrel Points wins. 

What do you mean 'unique'?

The Squirrel Duel isn't just about painting as many models as possible, it is also about painting different models. So, each Squirrel Point requires you to paint something different.

The guidelines are as follows.

Painting models in different scales. (E.g. 28mm Romans and 6mm Romans) - That's a Squirrel Point.

Painting models in different genres. (E.g. Vikings and Elves) - That's a Squirrel Point.

Painting models in different periods. (E.g. Victorian British and WW2 British) - That's a Squirrel Point.

If two units would normally be considered part of the same army, then they do NOT count as a Squirrel Point, even if they are wearing different uniforms. If you would expect to see them on the same side of the table during a game, they are NOT a Squirrel Point. If you need to be an expert in uniforms from a particular date to understand the difference in the lace on the cuffs marks the unit as being part of a different army, they are NOT a Squirrel Point. 

Terrain will not be counted towards Squirrel Points.

Finally, some models can be difficult to clearly differentiate. You may paint two Pirate crews, one in red and one in yellow, for your own games and hobby, but both would be counted as 'pirates' and therefore are NOT a Squirrel Point.

Sorry for being so strict, but every year there is some confusion as to what is or isn't counted.

Additionally, bonus points awarded by minions are not counted towards the 25 point threshold.

If you split a Squirrel entry over several posts, make sure to include a group shot in the post claiming the point.

So, what do I need to do to enter?

Simply respond to this post below. Let me know your blogger handle (and your posting name if they are different). Then, simply tag any posts you think are applicable for entry with the tag 'Squirrel' and I will have a look at them during the course of the challenge. Anyone can enter at any point in the challenge, and I will be posting periodic updates to keep everyone informed.

It isn't required, but it is helpful if you include a list of your Squirrels at the bottom of each post, so I can see what you think you have scored and can hunt down any rogue rodents that I may have missed. 

Anything else I should know?

Sandbagging (Holding back the majority of your work until the very last post) is heavily frowned upon. While a surge at the end is expected, I'd like to see a steady pace of Squirrels from all entrants please.

I will be joining the duel myself so any claims of cheating or underhanded tactics are probably merited. :)

And don't forget to tag your post with 'Squirrel'.

(Narrator's voice "But in the end, half of the posts were not tagged with 'Squirrel' and the Squirrelfinder General had to spend hours of his free time reading through page after page looking for the missing entries.")

Antipodean Antics - The War Library Prize

Attention Australian and New Zealand Challengers!

Every year we look forward to The Challenge, choosing, prepping and undercoating our miniatures and eagerly awaiting the starters gun. 

Woohoo! AHPC time!

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way we lose a bit of focus, get distracted and struggle to find motivation in the summer heat. This year 'The War Library' have decided to help you along a little.

Every Australian and New Zealander who completes at least 75% of their stated target points will have their name put into the draw for a $100 Gift Voucher.

We're making a list and checking it twice!

 

At the conclusion of the Challenge one of our sharply dressed barrel persons will draw a name and we will present the winner with the $100 Gift Voucher to use on The War Library website.

Enjoy the Challenge, brushes up! 

- The War Library (JohnS)

Tamsin's Terribly Terrific Tutorial for Challenge Posting (AHPC XVI Edition)

  

I decided to keep last year's image. So, sue me!

"Good morning Ladies, Gentlemen... and Ray. My name is TamsinP, and Curt has asked me to reprise the tutorial post I first wrote in 2021, updated in 2022, updated again in 2023, updated yet again in 2024 and have now updated again for this year's Challenge. This is intended to help out new Challengers and some returnees who may need a refresher, I do hope that you will find it instructive..."

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 lost souls we have this year, 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, posts for the bonus theme rounds *should* be kept separate, as should terrain submissions."

"Please 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 in 2021, a few more hours to update in 2022, a couple more in 2023, plus another couple more in 2024, so I'm only amending relevant text parts and some links)

*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. Curt will advise you as to when the "free-fire" rule applies, you do not need to include [day] in your post titles during free-fire 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 Bonus Theme Rounds, please include the theme 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) Bonus theme round name, 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

(third theme)* = 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). "

* Curt hasn't posted details of the Bonus Theme Rounds yet, so I have no idea what they are or how many bonus points are available. 

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 Bonus Theme Round
• 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)
• Bonus Theme Round if applicable (eg Third theme)
• "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

 

* (2022) 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.
(2023) Curt suggested that he was going to tweak my 2022 post himself, which I assumed meant "Tamsin, I think you really ought to tweak it yourself so that I don't make a complete mess of it. By the way, do you think this new bicorne suits me?"
(2024) "Tamsin, my dear, would you mind awfully reprising your splendid tutorial on posting and update it to this year? Yes, yes, I am aware that I haven't posted the theme locations or the posting day assignations yet, but you don't need those do you? Oh, you do? Ahhh, errmmm, well, perhaps I should post those given that the Challenge starts in three days.Oh, by the way, the streamers on this new mirliton I've acquired don't look too flouncy do they?"
(2025) Curt wrote "In a few days I'll be posting Tamsin's VERY DETAILED guide on submitting entries to the blog." in the post announcing the participant roster. Naturally, based on previous years' experience, I took that to mean "Tamsin, my dear, would you be so awfully kind as to update your excellent posting guide?" and just cracked on with updating it for this year's Challenge without waiting to discover (with horror) what new headgear he has acquired.

The Theme Rounds for Challenge XVI

Greetings Challengers!

As a departure from the map themes that we had for the last few editions of the Challenge, we'll return to the old school monthly theme rounds from our early years.

The themes are:

1) Empire: Submit a freshly painted figure (or figures) and/or terrain piece illustrating the rise or fall of an empire. The empire can be one from history, myth or fiction.

2) Toy Story: Submit a freshly painted figure (or figures) and/or piece of terrain that evokes a beloved toy (or set of similar toys) from your childhood. Tell us the story behind your submission.

3) Resistance: Submit a freshly painted figure (or figures) and/or piece of terrain illustrating resistance by a group or individual. The subject can be from history, myth or fiction.

The scheduling of each theme is as follows:

The submission deadline for submissions to the Empire theme is 11:59pm CST Saturday January 10th. Display of all entries will go up on the 11th on the Bonus Theme page, with online voting running the following week.  Results of the voting poll will be announced on Sunday January 18th.

The submission deadline for submissions to the Toy Story theme is 11:59pm CST Saturday February 7th. Display of all entries on the 8th, with online voting running the following week. Results of the voting poll will be announced on Sunday February 15th.

The submission deadline for submissions to the Resistance theme is 11:59pm CST Saturday March 7th. Display of all entries on the 8th, with online voting running the following week. Results of the voting poll will be announced on Sunday March 15th. 

 

One entry per theme, and each entry provides 50 bonus points on top of the regular point allocation for the figure(s), and any terrain.

For those who wish to participate please mark your theme entries with the theme's title to help us with identification and organization.

Looking forward to seeing what people come up with this year's themes!

- Curt

Terrain Submissions and Scoring for Challenge XVI

'Under the Eye of Byron'

Hello Everyone, Byron here!

As Curt mentioned in his opening post for the year, I have been roped into volunteered to being the terrain minion for the year. Many of us were upset last year by the exclusion of terrain painting since terrain is such a big part of miniature gaming and painting.  There were several reasons for it, not the least of which being that certain submissions of terrain were: A) scoring huge points for very little apparent effort and B) the points scored were based simply on volume and not any relationship to the amount of time/effort being applied. 

Since this challenge is really all about having fun and getting things from our mountains of shame actually painted and on the table I discussed with Curt about bringing terrain back into the challenge. Due to various different issues with any hard and fast scoring system for terrain, I came up with the idea of having one person score it for everyone so that a single consistent view was taken for adjudicating the score for each piece of terrain and Curt agreed to give it a shot this year and see how it goes.  

To be clear, please do NOT blame Curt for anything you do not like about the new terrain system.  While the old system had issues, and we all know that, Curt has been very diplomatic (as always) and has not wanted to throw anyone under the bus, so has not even told me the exact issues he had, or examples of the problems as he sees them. This is entirely my take on the issues of why terrain was removed and how I see making everything as fair and event to people that both choose to paint terrain and those that choose not to.

Now, please keep in mind a few things:

• Being a long time gamer and having painted WAY too much terrain for tournaments over the years, and being terrain designer and seller, I have a pretty solid idea of how much time/effort any given piece of terrain should take to get to a table top standard.

• As Curt has alluded to with his comments about my diabolical nature, I am harsh on everyone, but no more than I am harsh on myself and my own painting!  So, if you do not like the idea of me judging how long I think a piece should take to paint, please remember terrain is optional to paint! 

• I personally view points as superfluous to this challenge, as I view the idea of painting 10,000 points of miniatures just to win $50 or $100 worth of prizes kinda crazy. I get that points are important as a measure of how much painting we have each done, but I have never viewed them as anything other than that.  After all, this is a painting challenge, not a painting competition. All to say, I have never argued about points awarded to my figures (as I simply don't think they matter) and will NOT argue or even respond to comments about points awarded for terrain. 

• You are not forced to paint terrain, so if you disagree with the system outlined here, please just don't paint terrain and if enough people feel that way Curt will either chose to got back to no terrain or find a different system of scoring that addresses the issues in a different way. 

How will points be awarded? 

With all the warnings out of the way, here is the long and arcane way Terrain will be judged for points:

1. I will look at a piece and determine how long I believe it would take me to get it ready to an acceptable table top standard, meaning to a simple standard that you would take to a club or tournament game, NOT the insane levels that people go to for demo games or painting competitions. It's an estimate based on the size and complexity of the terrain piece to be painted.  
2. The time estimate will NOT be entirely for the paint job done to the model, for the simple reason that the challenge does not do that for figures. Case in point a crappy simple Necron painted by me that took 2 hours and is barely passable as tabletop quality gets the same 5 points that someone like Nick or Sydney gets for one of their gorgeous 40 hour plus paint jobs.  
3. While the paint quality is not going to affect the score the paint techniques and amount of painting will affect the time estimate. If I look at the same piece done by two painters and one is done with a single colour of spray paint and a little dry brushing and the other is clearly painted with great care and detail I will view that as more time spent (but again not in a direct correlation to paint job quality).
4. I will multiply that amount of time by the amount of time it takes to get a 28mm rank and file model to a decent tabletop standard.  Since most people paint a simple rank and file figure in about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, I am going to assume a 2 hour period to get 5 points when painting figures. Therefore if I think a piece of terrain would take me 4 hours to paint, it will get 10 points so its roughly the same as painting normal figures.  

In theory this will work to be fair and even to everyone.  This allows things to be score appropriately for what they are.  Size of model will still matter but will be adjusted to ensure that it is not simply about how big the terrain piece is but how much painting is actually done to it.

Comparison of flat rate vs. adjudicated scoring

Examples of past issues and how they would now be scored:

• Someone could paint a super plain building (like one of the basic Infinity buildings I sell that are basically boxes with almost no detail and no interiors) that are 6" cubed of volume but they can be spray bombed or airbrushed in 2 minutes and then dry brushed the corners and put a little graffiti on it and spent a grand total of 10-15 minutes on the building and then villainously claim 20 points per building due to volume. Realistically you could paint at least 5 of these in the same time as a normal 28mm figure so it should only be worth a point or two.  
• Alternately someone could have a small pile of rubble (maybe 2" of volume) that is made up of chests, coins, books, rope, pots, pans, etc.  To paint all of the detail on this piece would take at LEAST 2 hours, yet under the old system 2" cubed would only only score 2 points.  Clearly it would take the same time as a standard 28mm figure to paint something like this and should score 5 points just like a figure.
• Some terrain is large but has no (or very little painting on it), for instance forest sections can be massive (2x 6" cubes per forest is not uncommon), but all that is normally being painted is the base work.  Previously a forest section with pre-made trees might score 20-40 points simply because of its size, yet clearly there was 10 minutes of painting done to the base, so it should maybe score a single point.  Now, obviously if the trees are GW or other brands of trees that are all plastic and need each and every leaf and trunk painted just like a figure, then it would score many more points, but if a submission is a bunch of model railroad trees stuck on a painted base, that's a point or two. 
• No distinction was given between a 6" cube of a building like the basic box described above or a 6" cube of a building that had brick and stone exterior, shingles, window frames, and a complete interior.  In the past both would score 20 points.  Under this system the super plain one might score 2 points, while the super detailed on would be viewed as needing 6+ hours to paint and score at least 15-20 points.

Hopefully the intent here is at least clear and understandable even if the exact details are left a little vague (on purpose).  This is being done to allow everyone to submit terrain as they would like, and I will be looking at it and making a time estimate and painting effort and score based on that.   

Terrain Submissions 

So, for the few brave readers that have not run away in tears of anger, frustration, confusion or dismay, here is what should be covered in a terrain submission:

• Size of the terrain piece: A rough measurement of the terrain for width, depth, and height.
• Pictures: There should be enough pictures to show the terrain piece from enough angles to see all the painted areas, which included the interior if it was painted.  If no interior pictures are shown then I have to assume it is not painted. There should also be at least one picture with a measuring tape and a figure of the same scale as the terrain by the terrain piece to help with the sizing.
• Title and Labels: Please ensure you have "Terrain" in the both the title of the submission and in the Labels section, this will make them much easier to find and score on time.
• ONLY include terrain pieces in your terrain submissions.  To keep things simple and separated your miniature submissions should be on your normal day to your normal minion, and terrain submissions with be separate from them and submitted for Sundays (but may be published over the course of the week if there are too many any given week just so that we do not flood out the normal painting submissions that day).  
• Standard submission information: Other than the few specific requests above, terrain submissions should follow the normal submission requirements (formatting, a bit of a story, history, or how it was painted, etc, etc)

 
That's it, hopefully a bit clearer than mud. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments. Otherwise, I hope to see a lot of cool terrain pieces being submitted over the Challenge!

- Byron

 

The Participant Roster for Challenge XVI

Hello Challengers!

Below is the participant roster for this
season's outing. Yep, we have a big group this year, but I'm especially excited to see that we have the largest number of new participants (noted in green), with 19 joining in on our paint-spattered mayhem.

If participants see any mistakes please let me know so we can properly update the 'Spreadsheet of Doom' TM.

In a few days I'll be posting Tamsin's VERY DETAILED guide on submitting entries to the blog. This will be especially helpful to the new people for which all of this is quite new.

Tomorrow, Byron's byzantine and diabolical rules on submitting terrain will be available, and on Sunday I'll introduce the details on the three Challenge theme rounds. 

So, LOTS of things are happening in preparation for the start of the Challenge!

Have a great weekend everyone!

- Curt

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# / Participant / Points Target / Minion-in-Charge / Posting Day

1 / AaronH / 600 / Dallas / Monday
2 / AaronP / 300 / Millsy / Friday
3 / AdamC / 500 / Sylvain / Wednesday
4 / AdamW / 1000 / Dave / Sunday
5 / AlanD / 750 / Millsy / Friday
6 / AndrewB / 1000 / Greg / Thursday
7 / AndrewG / 300 / Peter / Tuesday
8 / AndrewS / 450 / Dallas / Monday
9 / ArthurS / 100 / Greg / Thursday
10 / Barks / 600 / Millsy / Friday
11 / BartekR / 300 / Sander / Saturday
12 / BillA / 400 / Sylvain / Wednesday
13 / BrianC / 1300 / Peter / Tuesday
14 / BruceR / 600 / Sylvain / Wednesday
15 / ByronM / 500 / Dallas / Monday
16 / ChrisW / 2000 / Sylvain / Wednesday
17 / ChristopherS / 500 / Sander / Saturday

18 / DallasE / 500 / Peter / Tuesday
19 / DarrellH / 1000 / Dave / Sunday
20 / DaveD / 750 / Greg / Thursday
21 / DaveV / 350 / Peter / Tuesday
22 / DavidB / 1500 / Dallas / Monday
23 / EdwardG / 400 / Sander / Saturday
24 / ErikP / 400 / Sylvain / Wednesday
25 / FrederickC / 1500 / Peter / Tuesday
26 / GavinB / 500 / Dallas / Monday
27 / GeoffT / 1000 / Millsy / Friday
28 / GrahamB / 600 / Greg / Thursday
29 / GrahameH / 1500 / Dave / Sunday
30 / GregB / 1200 / Sylvain / Wednesday
31 / HarryV / 1220 / Peter / Tuesday
32 / HayesW / 320 / Dallas / Monday
33 / HerrRobert / 100 / Sylvain / Wednesday
34 / IainW / 500 / Greg / Thursday
35 / IanS / 1000 / Dave / Sunday
36 / JP / 500 / Sander / Saturday
37 / JamieM / 1000 / Greg / Thursday
38 / JeremyM / 300 / Greg / Thursday
39 / JezT / 250 / Dallas / Monday
40 / JohnB / 350 / Peter / Tuesday
41 / JohnS / 750 / Millsy / Friday
42 / JonathanO / 400 / Peter / Tuesday
43 / JulieW / 400 / Millsy / Friday
44 / KenR / 2500 Peter Tuesday
45 / KentG / 1000 / Millsy / Friday
46 / KerryT / 2500 / Millsy / Friday
47 / KillianF / 600 / Dave / Sunday
48 / KristoferD / 356 / Sander / Saturday
49 / LeeH / 600 / Dave / Sunday
50 / MarkE / 300 / Sander / Saturday
51 / MarkG / 500 Sander / Saturday
52 / MattK / 400 / Dallas / Monday
53 / MartijnN / 1000 / Sander / Saturday
54 / MartinC / 1500 / Peter / Tuesday
55 / MattT / 250 / Dave / Sunday
56 / MattW / 600 / Millsy / Friday
57 / MikeF / 700 / Peter / Tuesday
58 / MikeW / 1500 / Dave / Sunday
59 / MilesR / 3000 / Sylvain / Wednesday
60 / Millsy / 1500 / Greg / Thursday
61 / NickY / 750 / Millsy / Friday
62 / NormS / 400 / Dallas / Monday
63 / PaulOG / 500 / Sylvain / Wednesday
64 / PaulSS / 1000 / Dave / Sunday
65 / PeterA / 500 / Dave / Sunday
66 / PeteB / 400 / Sander / Saturday
67 / PeterD / 500 / Sylvain / Wednesday
68 / PeterW / 400 / Greg / Thursday
69 / PhilH / 200 / Peter / Tuesday
70 / PhilM / 650 / Dave / Sunday
71 / QuinnM / 750 / Sylvain / Wednesday
72 / RafaelO / 400 / Sander / Saturday
73 / RaulM / 300 / Peter / Tuesday
74 / RayR / 1200 / Dave / Sunday
75 / RhysH / 600 / Greg / Thursday
76 / RichardM / 2000 / Millsy / Friday
77 / RobH / 500 / Dallas / Monday
78 / RobertT / 300 / Sylvain / Wednesday
79 / RossM / 350 / Dallas / Monday
80 / SamuliS / 450 / Sander / Saturday
81 / SanderS / 1000 / Sander / Saturday
82 / SarahHC / 250 / Greg / Thursday
83 / ScottR / 2000 / Sylvain / Wednesday
84 / SebastianR / 250 / Peter / Tuesday
85 / SidneyR / 600 / Greg / Thursday
86 / StephenS / 400 / Millsy / Friday
87 / SteveA / 500 / Dallas / Monday
88 / SteveG / 350 / Millsy / Friday
89 / SteveM / 800 / Sylvain / Wednesday
90 / StuartL / 1000 / Millsy / Friday
91 / SylvainR / 1000 / Peter / Tuesday
92 / TeemuL / 1600 / Sander / Saturday
93 / TimP / 330 / Dave / Sunday
94 / TomCx / 100 / Greg / Thursday
95 / TomL / 1000 / Sylvain / Wednesday
96 / Curt/ 800 /Anyday Baby! :)

The 16th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Hey there! If you want to get some figures painted over the winter, and have a bit of fun along the way, you've come to the right place as we're a month out from the 16th edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!

The Basics

The Painting Challenge runs from the first day of Winter, 12:01 am December 21st, through to the first day of Spring, 12:01am Friday March 20th, Central Standard Time (CST).

Miniatures (i.e. figures, vehicles, artillery, etc.) can be prepared, assembled and primed prior to the start date, but you cannot start painting until December 21st. In order to gain full points. The figures should be based (if appropriate) and any planned groundwork completed. The figures have to be painted by you. 

The Challenge follows the honour system in the completion and entry of figures. 

Miniatures can be in any scale and from any genre (pulp-adventure, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.).

The Challenge provides a simple (if imperfect) scoring system so participants can establish a benchmark to work towards. To be clear, the Challenge is NOT meant to judge peoples' painting, but to simply help inspire them to get stuff done.

For purposes of scoring, participants will create draft blog posts of their work on the  Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring (or as up-to-date as we can manage) will be handled by our intrepid team of Minions and displayed the blog's main page. 

I will send out an email to new participants a week or so prior to the event to provide additional details on submitting your entries to the Challenge blog.

Please Note: All participants must have at least one entry submitted within the first four weeks of the event (i.e. January 21st). Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the Challenge roster. Yep, remember, this is not called a Challenge for nothing. :)

 

The Scoring

Below is an outline of how the scoring of entries are handled:  

• 6mm foot figure = 0.5 point 

• 6mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 1 point 

• 6mm vehicle = 2 points

 

• 10mm foot figure = 1 point 

• 10mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 3 points 

• 10mm vehicle = 6 points  

 

• 15mm foot figure = 2 point 

• 15mm mounted figure, artillery piece or large crew served weapon = 4 points 

• 15mm vehicle = 8 points 

 

• 20mm foot figure = 4 points 

• 20mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew-served weapon = 8 points 

• 20mm vehicle = 15 points 

 

• 28mm foot figure = 5 points 

• 28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 10 points 

• 28mm vehicle = 20 points 

 

• 40mm foot figure = 7 points 

• 40mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 15 points 

• 40mm vehicle = 25 points 

 

• 54mm foot figure = 10 points 

• 54mm mounted figures, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 20 points 

• 54mm vehicle, limber, etc. = 30 points

Other scales, miscellaneous models/figures will be scored on a submission-by-submission basis. 


Terrain Submissions

To the delight of many previous participants, scored terrain submissions will be returning to the Challenge! Long-time Challenger Byron will be in charge of adjudicating terrain submissions on each Sunday. In a few days he'll be posting his arcane and sadistic methodology for scoring terrain, so stay tuned.

The Return of the Theme Rounds

Those doughty Challengers who wish to to gain bonus points can gird their loins to participate in three theme rounds where they are asked to paint an entry specific to a particular theme. These are scheduled for January 11th, February 8th and March 8th. 

The theme rounds are voluntary. Participants do not need to enter them to enjoy the Challenge. It's an extra diversion for those wishing to try some theme-based challenges.

In a few days I'll follow up with a post laying out the specifics of the three themes.

Our Marvelous Minions

While I am the first to nudge the wagon down the hill, the actual hard work of steering the Challenge along is done by a group of great people who manage each day's submissions. Here are the 'Daily Minions' for Challenge XVI:

• Monday: Dallas

• Tuesday: Peter

• Wednesday: Sylvain

• Thursday: Greg

• Friday: Millsy

• Saturday: Sander

• Sunday: Dave

• Terrain (Sundays): Byron

We also see the return of MilesR who will be our spreadsheet wrangler (it's a cantankerous thing that always needs appeasing). Thank you guys for stepping up to help for this year's edition!

Signup, Personal Targets and Duels

For those wishing to participate please send me an email, providing the following information: 

1) your full name (no, not your cool nerdish handle, your actual name),
2) your country of residence, and 
3) your points target for the three months of the event (see below).

My email address is:
curtcampbell at mac dot com 

I will post a comment below when the roster has been filled and will follow-up with an email in a couple weeks detailing the specifics of the event.

Points Target: Many participants have found the personal points targets to be a great incentive to maintain their pace over the three months of the Challenge. I encourage participants to pick a target that is just beyond your comfort zone, but still achievable. As a rough benchmark, 300 points is considered a manageable amount for someone who is new to the the event and/or has a busy work/life schedule. Also remember that a significant amount of points can be secured by tailoring submissions to this year's various themes (more on this later).

Duels and Side Challenges: Related to the points targets, many people have a lot of fun issuing 'paint duels' or side challenges to other participants. This could be racing to meet a declared target, painting the most figures for a specific period, etc. Feel free to dream up your own bit of fun and we'll cheer you on!

The Cost of Entry

Last year we had great success with our donations to Doctors Without Borders and the Glow Mission. Thank you again to all those who supported those worthwhile causes. This year I ask participants to donate to a charity of their choice and mention it in an early entry. 

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Challenge XVI begins at 12:01am December 21st!

Now, sign up for the Challenge and get you minis prepared for painting! We'll see you on the start line in a few weeks!