'Airbrushes at 10 Paces' - The Paint Duels of Challenge XI

 

The the issuing (and settling) of side challenges, paint duels and grudge matches extends waaay back to the first Challenge and has since become a time-honoured tradition. 

These affairs de la brosse help participants to keep motivated over the length Challenge and create a fun atmosphere of smack-talk and brush-baiting.

For those who are new to this silliness, the paint duels allow a pair of individuals or small groups to test one another against a self-defined set of criteria. Maybe it's to see who can paint the most sailing ships over the length of the Challenge, or to paint figures within a particular historical period/genre; other duels might be created to see who can reach a specific points threshold first. Really, the sky's the limit - it's up to your imagination.

Over the years the side duels have become more formalised, with many of these clashes of brush and paint now enshrined in Challenge lore.

I suggest that those involved keep close track of their duels, but if you want to send me updates over the course of the Challenge then we'll be happy to keep track of the madness on the blog. We even have a special page dedicated for this. You can find the link to the Duels page on the top navigation bar.

Okay! Let's have some fun with this! I want to see jersey's pulled over heads, gauntlets thrown and seconds selected.

The Eleventh Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

 

Let's get old school.

Hey, it's November 20th.  Here in the Canadian prairies that means that the snow is in the air, the frost is on the trees and this hobbyist is ready to take solace in the warm indoors, his hobby desk and some good company. 

Welcome to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!

For our 11th edition of the Challenge we'll be adventuring through the dark vaults and dim passageways of... 'The Chambers of Challenge'. <cue ominous organ music>

The Basics

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

Miniatures (i.e. figures, vehicles, artillery, terrain, 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 in any genre (pulp-adventure, science-fiction, fantasy, etc.).

In order to be scored, participants will self-publish photos of their submissions along to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog. Up-to-date scoring (or as up-to-date as we can manage) will be maintained on the blog's main page. 

I will send out an email to all Challengers a few days prior to the event with further details on submitting your entries.

All participants must have an entry submitted within the first month of the event (i.e. January 21st). Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the Challenge roster.

I will participate, but my score will have no standing in the Challenge (except to serve as a rather lame pace car for participants).

The Scoring

Below is the scoring that will be used for the Challenge. 

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 = 2 points
10mm vehicle = 3 points 

15mm foot figure = 2 points
15mm mounted figure, artillery piece or large crew served weapon = 4 points15mm vehicle = 8 points

20mm foot figure = 4 points
20mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew served weapon = 8 points20mm 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

While admittedly not perfect, I want to keep things simple for terrain submissions, so we'll keep to our 6" cube format. Briefly, if your terrain piece (or collected terrain pieces) fills a 6" cube, you get 20 points. If your terrain would 'fill' multiple 6" cubes, then multiply 20 points for each cube of volume. 

Terrain filling the 6" cube on the left would be worth 20 points. The composite group on the right, made up of eight cubes, would be worth 160 points.

Example 1: I've painted three 28mm barrels and six trees. They would roughly fill a single 6" cube. I would get 20 points for this. 

Example 2: I've constructed and painted a large 28mm manor that is approximately 12" wide, 14" long and 10" high. All in all, this would roughly take up 8 cubes worth of volume. This would give me 160 points.

Submissions of terrain should be sent in with a picture illustrating the scale of their work (a ruler laid alongside should do the trick). This will give your hard-working Minion a basis for scoring. Extra points for extra detail, scratch-built insanity, etc. will be left to the Minions to adjudicate as they see fit.  

Changes to the Challenge

Okay, Here are the list of changes to the Challenge program:

1) The participant cap is set at 80(ish). 

Covid has put a damper on all of us in getting together with friends, so I'm increasing the participant cap this year to allow more people in on the fun. 

For all those wishing to participate please send me an email, providing: 

1) your full name,
2) your country of residence
3) your blog address (if you have one), and
3) your points target for the three months of the event.

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.

2) Self-Publishing to The Challenge blog (Sacre bleu!).

This is a big shift for the Challenge. Instead of minions posting people's work to the  Challenge blog, we're going to use the same format as the spring Quarantine Challenge where participants self-publish their own work to the blog. The minions will check the points, adjust the Challenge spreadsheet and then update the points roster on the blog.

3) The Theme this year is... 

With Sidney Roundwood's help we've extended the adventures of Challenge Island to give you 'The Chambers of Challenge'!

 

Please be aware the map below was sketched from an adventurer driven insane from his time in the Chambers. Keep posted for a more finished rendition.

Welcome to 'The Chambers of Challenge'!

Those doughty participants who choose to test their mettle can explore 'The Chambers of Challenge' by tackling the multitude of hobby tasks to be found that dread den of inequity. 

The labyrinth features a varied assortment of locations which participants can explore by completing a themed hobby task. Once they finish their task at a location they get bonus points and will be allowed to travel onto the next location. Each level requires that four chambers be explored before descending to the next level. Ultimately participants will make their way down to the 'Altar of the SnowLord' to face their final challenge!! 

In the next few days I'll followup with another post laying out the specifics of 'The Chambers of Challenge', its layout, its rewards and a more detailed map. (Sidney is still down in the Chambers of Challenge mapping its vaults and passages.)

The Minions

Keeping to form, I will serve as the Dungeon-Master-of-Ceremonies / Tormentor-in-Chief / Dread-Dork-Lord, etc. etc., but I will also have a happy group of 'Minions' to keep this adventure moving along. Here are the wonderful folks that I've volunteered to assist me for this year's Challenge (and, hey, I may have actually contacted a few to ask for their help):

• GregB

• PaulOG

• MartinN

• PhilH

• TamsinP

• ByronM

• MilesR

Personal Targets and Duels

Upon signup, I ask that each Challenger provide me with their name, nationality, blog and declare his/her points target which they hope to achieve by the March 20th deadline. 

Many participants have found the personal points targets to be a great incentive in maintaining 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 adventuring in 'The Chambers of Challenge' (more on this in a later post).

Relating to the points targets, many folks have a lot of fun issuing 'duels' to other participants in order to race to meet a declared target, paint the most figures for a specific period, etc. I leave this to the participants to dream-up, organize and keep track of.

WTF! No Prizes!?

Nope. With Covid causing enough challenges to businesses in the hobby I thought it best not to darken doors by asking for free stuff. This year we'll simply bask in the glow of each other's slack-jawed admiration, back-slapping accolades and feigned congratulations.

The Price of Entry

Each participant will be required to paint a figure as a gift for another participant. These will be awarded to those who have successfully completed the final adventure of The Chambers of Challenge. If you have a specific participant you'd like to paint for their prize please notify me and I'll make note of it. All prize figures must be completed and submitted for scoring during the first month of the Challenge.

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Challenge XI starts at 12:01am December 21st!

Now, sign up and get some miniatures prepped - I'll see you at the start line in a month!

Best Fathers Day Gift Ever

Excuse the gate crashing here but I had to share this.  These fine falls arrived on our lawn at lunchtime arranged by my wife and daughter.  I thought my fellow challengers would appreciate it.

Closing Awards for AHPC X

Well, here we are at the close of our tenth edition of the Painting Challenge and what a  wonderful ride it's been. All the votes have been taken in for 'Challengers' Choice', Sarah has made her selection for 'Sarah’s Choice', and I’ve done the same for the 'Snow Lord's Choice'. Whew! It has been a busy day, so please get yourself a can/glass/bottle/keg of your favourite beverage and settle in for a read.

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The Challengers' Choice

We had 27 nominations for Challengers' Choice with 77 people casting their votes. Every year it's such a treat to take in the gallery as it provides such a wonderful retrospective of the Challenge. Below you will find the top selections taken from all the worthy nominations.

Honourable Mentions 

Nick for his excellent WWII German Armour: Cats both Big and Small.

Christopher for his wonderful body of work.

Darrell's impressive Reconquista project

Third Runner Up for Challengers' Choice  

Nick, for his beautifully rendered sepia tone French paratroopers in Indochina

Second Runners Up for Challengers' Choice  

It's a tie! 

First, we have Tamsin's excellent body of work. Here is a small selection of her fine efforts:

...and also tied for 2nd runner up is Curt's Siege of Malta project:

The Challengers' Choice

The first place for Challengers' Choice goes to Sidney for his stunning 'Regiment duc de Luxembourg' from his delightful Laarden project! Bravo and well done Mr. Roundwood!

Sidney, for your prize you get a one-year's subscription to Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy, congratulations!

For those interested in seeing the voting results for Challengers' Choice, they can be viewed here.

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Snow Lord's Choice

I spent a delightful evening going through my short list for Snow Lord's Choice. Making the final decision was not easy, but I'm happy with my choice.

Honourable Mentions go to:

Bark's dramatic and wonderfully realized 'Elendil, Isildur and Sauron'

Byron's rather disturbing, but beautifully painted 'Sunstalker'

The Snow Lord's Choice for AHPC X goes to:

Nick's body of work. Absolutely stunning stuff, Nick. Witnessing your amazing brushwork always provides a sense of unworthiness mixed with inspiration. :) Well done.

Nick, for your prize you get a $50 CAD gift certificate from Northern Lights Terrain.

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Sarah’s Choice 

From Sarah: 

🎈Lady Sarah’s Balloon Service Presents The Most Coveted Sarah’s Choice Award🎈

Well, this has been a tremendous series of adventures around Challenge Island, sending the Balloon Service even beyond the Island itself and onto different continents and even alternate dimensions.

The Balloon Service “rose” to the challenge and soon discovered that Lady Sarah can handle multiple destination requests, seating capacity needs, constantly updating in-flight entertainment all the while keeping the Snowlord’s espresso cup full. It was a very good thing that this was not an alcohol-free challenge. 🥂

The entrants this year have been a remarkable tour through history; real, alternative, speculative and fantastical.

We’ve seen Angry Geisha’s (JezT), Sci Fi WRENS (SebastianR), Plague Doctors (RobertH), Fertility Goddesses (EvanH) and I think the whole range of ladies from Bad Squiddo, Spectre and Mansions of Madness/Chulthu/Pulp Figures. Even RayR has stepped up with his Moll Cutpurse and Mrs Nightingale (he’s come along way since the first Sarah’s Choice and the She-Bear incident).

Honourable Mentions:

I especially want to recognize Tamsin for her amazing collection of Pulp Figures, the fashionably dressed Flappers, creative prose and of course her role as Senior Flight Attendant and honorary member of the Balloon Service.

PeterD has also given us a lovely variety of female characters but I do believe that his lovely wife Lynn has had much input to their sartorial splendour. Thanks Lynn!

The Balloon Service was very busy in its’ “to-ing and fro-ing” around Challenge Island, consequently, the custom built Sarah’s Balloon and Pumping Station by Teemu is just the thing after the rigours of the Challenge. Especially as the station goes to “11” and I’m sure the balloons’ basket still has leftover fizzy beverages which need to be imbibed.

Runner Up #3

Samuli’s Dashing, Heroic and Lucky Pilot Olivia

What a dynamic and characterful figure, Olivia certainly looks the part of a veteran Great War Pilot. As Curt has the game “Death May Die”, I’m sure I will drafted into playing and look forward to playing Olivia.

Runner Up #2

JamieM Pilots Raven Skye and Betty Owens and Aeronefs

Fierce and stylish Victorian Sci Fi Lady pilots, they certainly look the business and definitely capable of navigating the aeronefs through perilous skies.

Sarah’s Choice Challenge X

NoelW Lady Sarah and Snowy (the Pekingese!?)

The yellow gown is lovely and suits the commanding pose of the figure. Absolutely this painted figure can be used in a wide variety of scenarios spanning a couple of centuries.

And it is quite obvious that THIS is exactly how I dress when I promenade with our own doggos Oscar&Felix.

Seriously though, all of Noels’ posts have been delightful and a very welcome diversion from the world as it is. 

For you prize Noel, I'm delighted to award you gift certificate from BigRedBat.

Thanks everyone for making such great figures, I wish I could bestow prizes and accolades to each and every one of you.

Be safe, be kind and pay it forward.

Sarah

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Congratulations to all the prize winners and thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us. Please contact me to work out the details for getting your rewards. 

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The 10th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has now concluded.  I’d like to thank our Challenge Sponsors for their wonderfully generous support. As I say every year, the Challenge doesn’t need prizes to be a success, but it sure adds a bit of gloss to the show. :) Hats off to our wonderful sponsors!

Finally, again, I want to thank you lot, the Challenge's participants and our brilliant minions. This funny little community would be nothing without the labour, the humour and good-natured support of all of you. It's you who make the Painting Challenge what it is.

In closing, I won't say goodbye, but simply see you later. For those who need a little distraction over the coming months, the fun continues with the Quarantine Challenge. Otherwise, enjoy the coming spring and summer, be safe, be excellent to one another and I'll see you back here next November.

- Curt