From Millsy: Epic 40K Imperial Guard Steel Legion Army (200 Points)

This is the kind of entry I *really* enjoy - an entire completed army in one submission!

These get a really big chunk of material off the painting queue, provide a significant sense of satisfaction and best of all typically make Curt's eyes spin in different directions. I have in one instance at least made a Canadian swear and that can only be a good thing to my mind. What's not to like?

To be fair, Curt is largely to blame for this effort. To quote his very own words from his Challenge entry pack...

"I will be responsible for  adjudicating the first few weeks and the last days of the Challenge (December 20th to December 31st and March 19th to the Challenge conclusion on the 20th). Unlike the schedule above, during these days anyone can submit as much as they like - so, go nuts."

Right then, Challenge accepted!

OK, preamble aside. This submission is 6mm scale and it's an Imperial Guard Armageddon Steel Legion army for Epic 40K. In game terms its just over 3,000 points, enough for a solid game but certainly with room to grow (I'm looking at YOU fleaBay). In Challenge points terms it's a measly 185(ish) points which made me laugh (it was either that or cry) when I did the math after finishing up.

OK here we go with the show and tell...

Shadowsword Super-heavy Tank Company (Forgeworld resin)
Three bad boys to frighten the biggest of enemy war machines or monsters.

Baneblade Super-heavy Tank
Just one for now but more to be added. He looks weeny compared to his resin brothers but don't let that fool you.

Leman Russ Tank Company
Complete with Commissar and converted Compensator Vanquisher long-barrelled option. These guys put the "Steel" in "Steel Legion" . There's a couple extra tanks in here as I had them lying about. That's two less to paint for the next company!

Drive me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!

Basilisk Artillery Company
Monster artillery barrages are just a radio call away. My mate hates these as they invariably mess up his pretty Space Marine formations. Haha!

Griffon Support Battery
Nifty little infantry close support artillery chappies. They're using a new super-secret refractor field to make them harder to target. Or I could just be a rubbish photographer. I like option one better.

Hellhound Squadron
Just the ticket for scourging heretics and xenos in the Emperor's name!

Hyrda Flak Platoon
Most important for keeping all those pesky Eldar fly-boys off the lad's backs as they get stuck in. More cutting edge refractor field tech in action!

Deathstrike Missile Launcher Battery
Just damn cool. Someone (not mentioning any names) glued a missile on *upside down* and was forced to have a stab at some trompe-l'œil style trickery to make the fins look like they have the proper detail. In my defence it's hard to see stuff like that with my mask on.

Mechanised Infantry Company
Loads of cheap-ass footsloggers ready to shine their deadly flashlights in the eyes of the enemy. The command stand is pretty nifty with the commander and is entourage protected by an Ogryn bodyguard. There's also a commissar to ensure everyone does their duty (e.g. dies to a man). Everyone gets to ride to their death battle in a Chimera transport.

Mechanised Infantry Support
Perfect for buffing up the infantry to a monster sized unit in-game. When you're not much of a fighter then numbers become a big thing. If you thought 6mm infantry were small, try painting 6mm *halfling* infantry.

• Ogryns + Chimera transport
• Snipers + Chimera transport
• Fire Support Platoon + 2 x Chimera transports

Rough Rider Platoon
These are just beautifully detailed minis. They're not much chop in-game but Ill be adding more just cause I really enjoyed painting them.

Thunderbolt Fighter Squadron
More miniature coolness. They'll be joined by some Marauder Bombers at some point.

Phew! That's everything. 47 tracks, 2 aircraft, 6 cavalry bases and 22 infantry bases (5-6 men per base).

All up it took me about five days to paint the army. I've been pretty hard at it doing at least 6 hours a day, sometimes as many as 9. At one point I spent 90 minutes on a hangout with DaveD just painting stowage! I really wanted these to look the business so invested a lot of time in the details and basing. I don't typically base my vehicles but at this scale it looks good and helps protect things like barrels. Kudos to Martin and Diane at Warbases for speedy service and quality product once again.

Not sure that this qualifies as a points bomb as the small scale stuff isn't worth much. There's about 130 infantry here but at 0.5 points each, well you get my drift...

So, the only thing that remains unanswered from my perspective is will this earn me another coveted "An Idiot in Paradise" tag? Go on Curt, you *know* you want to mate. :-)

Cheers,
Millsy

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Jeez Louise, that's a HEEEP of beautifully painted Epic stuff, Millsy - Wow.

Your descriptions of the units just cracked me up. I love reading silly sh*t like this when I'm beyond tired and waay over-caffeinated. But seriously, I think the blue, tan and red colour palette that you chose for these looks incredibly sharp, and the little details like the unit markings and crewmen really top them off nicely. Superb work.

As you basically finished an entire army in one go I'm going to top-up your entry to an even 200 points. Brilliant stuff and thanks for sharing it mate. An Idiot in Paradise indeed. :) 

From PaulOG: Fortified Royalist Stronghold! (20 Points)

To get my first runs on the board, my initial submission for AHPC VIII is to try out the new terrain category.  I love building terrain so new option has me a bit excited.

This is 6mm Castle to be used as the stronghold/baggage element for my ECW Royalist Army.  While Alan's traitorous Parliamentarians have clearly knocked a few stones loose, it stands strongly in the name of the King!

This a resin model, manufacturer unknown, which I have based on mdf and sculpted the surrounds.  There was a bit of damage since I bought it (some 15 years ago!) so I added a bit of detritus to make it look recently attacked and damaged.  Finally, I used some Noch brand flock with flowers to add some colour to the greys.

So a fun though somewhat time-consuming build, but its nice to get my first submission done in time for the New Year.  Points wise it takes up most of a single 6" cube (it is 6mm after all!) so 20 points I guess?

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Welcome back to the Challenge, Paul!

What a lovely looking ruin. It reminds me of the ones that Forge World released for Warmaster years ago. I really like the craggy hilltop it's mounted on and the groundwork you've done is excellent. It just needs a brave banner waving over the ramparts, showing the Kings Colours. :)

20 points for your debut on the roster. Well done, Paul!

The Sarah's Choice Award for Challenge VIII

The Sarah’s Choice Award is undoubtedly THE highlight of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. (You realize that for marital harmony I have to write this stuff, right?) :)

In the firm belief that there is little to compare to a finely painted female figure, the 

prestigious and much coveted Sarah’s Choice Award is awarded to the female figure which best captures the imagination of the Lady Sarah. While her tastes are eclectic and varied (she 

can be easily swayed into the fantasy realm, Pulp/Hollywood Noir, etc.)

, Sarah does have a particular fondness for Tudor, Regency and Victorian heroines.

From the lady herself:

'I am very much looking forward to the varied entries I know this years Challengers will bring, and am always delighted and deeply impressed by the imagination and ingenuity of the participants.

Good luck to one and all in your attempts to lessen your collections of lead, resin and plastic!'

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As an administrative note, please indicate any entries which you'd like to be considered by writing 'Sarah's Choice' in the Labels tab of the Post Settings.

Thanks!

From SidneyR: Flemish Horse from 1688 and Nordlingen beginnings (105 points)

Greetings fellow Challengers!!

With the Challenge now 9 days old, it's taken me a little time to post my first entry.  

Christmas very much 'got in the way' for me, but with the festivities now partly out of the way I've been able to spend a little more time with my paintbrush.

My first submission features the first half of a regiment of Flemish Horse, 6 cavalry figures, from the regiment of Pfilps de Vichet (and yes, I think that's the correct spelling - although any Flemish speakers can correct me).  The regiment was part of the forces raised by the Spanish Netherlands in the 1680s, which make them perfect for my 1688 project based around my fictional Flemish town of Laarden.  I chose to configure them as using pistols as their primary weapon of choice, and interesting contrast to the more impact-focused French Horse they faced in the field.

The figures are from the 25/28mm Wargames Foundry range, sculpted by the Perry Twins in the late 1980s.  I've added some greenstuff feathers to the hats, but otherwise these are pretty much the originals which have sat in my lead mountain for quite a few years.

I've also been continuing work on my 2mm Thirty Years War project.  After collecting armies for the battle of Lutzen in 1632, the next additions are based around the Spanish army of the Cardinal-Infante which made the long march through Italy and Germany to be present at the battle of Nordlingen in 1634.  Here I've painted some German horse, Spanish demi-lancers, a party of Croat scouts or vedettes, some Spanish commanded shot and (to balance things out) some Swedish and Finnish scouting horse.  The command bases are the Cardinal-Infante, and the Count of Fuensaldana, one of the Spanish-Imperial commanders of the later Thirty Years War.  

The bases are colour coded for ease of recognition on a snowy tabletop - blue for Swedes, Black for Germans and deep (Hapsburg) red for the Spanish.  I've experimented with some 1mm snow 'flock', which is quite fun.  It's really like a fine dusting of miniature cotton, but makes quite convincing show, which would be decent 'slush' in a larger scale. I added the labels for the commanders from a printed PowerPoint file, trimmed and glued on with PVA.

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First, welcome back to the Challenge, Sidney!

Lovely work as always Mr. Roundwood. Those venerable Perry castings have come alive under your brush. I always enjoy seeing your use of colour and particularly like the warm tones you've used for these fellows.  I also like that the tan round hats, with their jaunty feathers, help tie the unit together. Well done, sir!

Your 2mm work continues to impress, Sid. I had the pleasure of playing a few games with Sidney when we where in the UK this past year and can attest to the craftsmanship behind this project - it's absolutely stunning to behold. The light dusting of snow really helps establish the setting for these figures. I look forward to seeing your Nordlingen chapter of the Thirty Years War come to fruition over the coming months. 

Now, more please. :)

From Anthony O - Grav Tanks and some Space Clowns (40 points)

To finish off my entries for the free-for-all I painted up a Falcon and Wave Serpent Eldar Grav tank along with two random Eldar Harlequins I had hanging around.

The Falcon and Wave Serpent were painted using the blister pack foam, same as the jetbikes I posted a few days ago. I find this technique really quick and easy and hopefully these bigger miniatures will show you in better detail the effects that can be achieved. I had a few comments about using blister pack foam to do chipping, that's how I started as well before looking at a miniature one day and thinking that it could be using to more wide spread blending.

I did up a guide a year ago for Bolt Action LRDG vehicles using this technique to provide a cheap and easy alternative to traditional brushes and airbrushes. A major bonus is how cost effective it is as we all have buckets of foam lying around. If you wanted to take a look at that guide just search for Bolt Action - LRDG review and painting guide and it should pop up.

The Harlequins were an extra blister among the Eldar I obtained as a trade and I thought I would paint them as a challenge. I can't spend long on individual miniatures as I consider myself an army painter and I get bored easily so these were painted in around two hours. The miniatures are very detailed and were fun to paint. No idea if I can ever actually fit them into a list but that never stopped any of us painting things up before right?

For points the tanks are 15 points each and the Harlequins are 5 so a total of 40 points for this submission.

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Space Clowns. That kills me. How apropos.

<rant mode/on>

 I can't tell you how much Greg and I despised fighting Eldar, especially early lists run by our friend DaveV, who is an absolute artist at using these aesthetic freaks. With their insane weapons, unkillable Wraithlords, silly floaty-jetty things and ridiculous Farseers it was a guaranteed recipe for the snapping of crayons. Every time one of our Marine armies would face them, there would be nothing but smoking boots and Rhino parts by turn six. Infuriating. Whenever I see an Eldar army my hand immediately twitches, wanting to grab a hammer. 

Ahh, I feel much better now.

<rant mode/off> ;)

Lovey work Anthony! I can clearly see your sponge effect on the wings of the Falcon and Wave Serpent - very effective. Again, I really like the contrast provided by the black 'splinter pattern' on the hulls. 

For two hours work those Clowns are pretty darn impressive. I still want to hit them with a hammer but they'd just dodge away...

40 points for you - well done! 

From KenR : 28mm WWI Turkish Infantry (115 Points)

Entry 2 is here and it's more troops for my Mesopotamia collection. These fine fellows are 28mm Turkish Infantry from Woodbine Design Company.

As well as introducing new units I have decided to use the AHWPC to get some half finished units done as well. When I set off with this collection a few years ago I had no real plan other than buying some of those lovely new Woodbine Figures and finding a set of rules.

Having decided a while back on unit sizes etc (2 Fig HQ and 4 Coys of 6 to 10 Figs + a MG) I found that I was short on one battalion (notice I didn't think I had too many and sold the excess, typical gamer!) by 18 Figs and an MG (the MG being a base of 3 figures plus the MG itself) so these have been sat in the to do pile for a while.

So other than Cavalry that's my Turks (probably) done, there are lots more WWI to come though, with Brits, Highlanders and Indians prepped. I make it 21 figures at 5 pts a piece plus 10pts for the crew served MG for a total of 115 points.

Next up however will be the first dent in the second half of the big push this Challenge my 28mm early war Forces for North Africa, stand by for 3 Matildas.

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Very nice work work, Ken. Those Woodbine miniatures are real gems and you've done them proud (and you can never go wrong with having a red fez in a unit). I love your comment on the initial purchase, selloff and purchase again. Question: What rules are you using for this collection? 

115 points it is - Well done!