From DaveD - The Wrap up.

 Well thats a wrap for my 10th challenge . I had a deliberate steady target , and a list things that were to be completed - most of that survived - and my target was indeed met . The left field half way through was a diversion to Vietnam - thanks to MartinC - cheers mate. 

Due to the day job hassles I have only had time and the technical ability (blogger currently hates me)to comment on a small number of your wonderful posts  but there have been some great entries -,well done all 

Lots of 15mm WW2 completed , more fur the  Sudan , and the start of Vietnam

 

I have lots laid in for next year - in advance of my early escape from the daily grind this summer. 

So thanks Curt and Sarah , the various minions and Miles for the spreadsheet of doom ..

Until next time 

Huzzah!

From StuartL - For a Few Skulls More - Wrap Up Post

No plan survives contact with the enemy, and that certainly held true for me somewhat. Before the challenge details were announced I had resolved myself to not get carried away with painting up random things and instead focus on getting a few armies done.

And then Curt announced the Chambers of Challenge.

And then Curt announced the Squirrel Duel. 

Oh well, it was a nice plan while it lasted.

Instead, I dove into my stash of models and started pulling out old projects and potential new ones like a dervish, trying to find something for every chamber and as many Squirrels as I could along the way.

I was able to maintain some focus though. By setting up the GW Minis Duel and entering into the Skullz Duel, I could at least guarantee that I would be getting something done.

At the start of the challenge, I had set myself several goals. 

First a target score of 1750 points. Secondly, I had entered 3 Duels and wanted to do my best in each of them. Finally, I wanted to finish in the Top Ten this year.

Well, I finished with a total score of 2745 points, nearly 1000 more than my target. (I feel sad that I didn't paint 1 more mini for a nice round number). I won 2 of my 3 Duels, I'm guessing I came 2nd or 3rd in the Squirrel Duel, but the final tally for that duel hasn't been announced yet. And, my final position was 6th place, which I am very happy with.

Anyway, enough chin-wagging and chit-chat, on with the pretty pictures.

One of the areas I focussed on was my Warhammer 30,000 collection, painting up the core of an Ultramarines force, some World Eaters and a couple of characters for scenarios.

The other area I put a lot of time and effort into was Warhammer 40,000, painting up an Iron Warriors force, a bunch of Space Sharks, a few Necrons and a mass of Imperial Guard infantry. Plus some Skull-tastic ruins.

Some old GW Lizardmen and Skeletons added more of the bulk of my points, along with some specialist games figures for Blood Bowl, Necromunda and LotR.

My historical output mainly took the form of batches of 25 points (aka 1 Squirrel) for the various Chambers. Having done a lot of historicals last year, this year I've just been adding to various projects.

Some miscellaneous fantasy and SF minis also got dragged into the Chambers, and I am sure they'll all come in handy as NPCs and the like once I can get back to playing RPGs again.

And finally, the obligatory mugshot and a very crowded table. I painted 441 models during this challenge. In comparison, from December 2019 to November 2020, a period which includes Challenge X and the Quarantine Challenge, I painted 382 models. So in the last 3 months, I have painted more than I did in the previous year!

Honestly, that is far more than I thought and sadly/hopefully I will probably never achieve this much again. The effect of Covid on my job has not been that bad compared to some, I am still employed and still getting paid. However, my work time and salary have been cut by around 40-50% compared to previous years. Add in working from home a lot and my painting time has been greatly increased. Still, I would rather have a bit less painting time and a bit more money, after all I need to buy more models to replace the ones I have painted. Fingers crossed the effects of the Corona virus pass quickly and all of us can enjoy a booming economy and fewer health worries by the time the next challenge rolls around. 

For those of you entering the Vaccine Challenge, I will see you there (No Duels, I promise). I hope you all enjoyed Challenge XI as much as I did and I look forward to painting with you all again next year.

Napoleonic and Donnybrook Duels - The final scores on the doors!

Firstly apologies to all involved with my lack of updates on these two Duels, Time just ran away with me, as well as I was painting like a man possessed!

The Challenge is all over for another year, only another 9 months to go for Challenge 12!! I'd like to thank all who appeared in the Napoleonic and Donnybrook Challenges, I had a lot of fun in both.

We have a clear winner in the Napoleonics, Noel lept in at the death and squeezed Paul out of the top spot and 2 adventurers failed to post a Napoleonic figure. 

So here are the final tables

Napoleonic

1. Noel 1605 points
2. PaulSS 1389 points
3. PeteF 1095 points
4. RayR 457 points
5. Sander 320 points
6. IainW & MattW 0 points

Apologies if I've missed out any posts or points, it would have been easier for me if everyone had labelled their posts with the Napoleonic Duel, sigh......

Noel's French

Paul's Hanoverian's

Pete's French

Ray's Emigre British

Sander's British

Donnybrook

1. Ray 1020 points

2. Curt 75 points

There were only two entrants to the Donnybrook Challenge, I think Curt felt sorry for me? But he did get off to a flying start early on in the Challenge, but that was his one and only post! Where as, I painted a few figures more for my Donnybrook madness.

Hopefully in Challenge 12 others will join in??????

Ray's Ottomans

Curt's Spanish/Italian Mercenaries

Well done to one and all!!

Ray

ScottM - Challenge XI Wrap Up

And so ends another paint challenge. For me the paint challenge is motivation to get a crap load of figures painted in a realtively short time. Its a perfect chance to carve a nice hole in my unpainted figure pile. Its also a chance to get figures painted that I either wouldn't paint at all or would take an extraordinary amount of time as I slowly ground through them. So here's a brief tour of what I got painted.

The whole lot and the goofball behind the brush.

The first group is this large contingent of British Rangers/backwoods militia for the French and Indian War. Probably don't need any more.

I've probably got enough to build a sizable force for either Sharp Practice or Muskets and Tomahawks.

The next lot are World War 2 figs.

The bulk of these are Soviets with a smattering of Germans thrown in. I'm in the process of painting an early war Soviet army for a friend and this will render the to-be-painted pile into only a handful of figures.

Next up is my Samurai

This is a project I've been working on for 9 years now. Bloody hell, that's a ridiculous amount of time to spend on one project. I usually paint a handful of bases every year. This years contribution will go a long way to forming the core of my second army. I imagine you'll be seeing more of them in future paint challenges.

Next is a motley collection of sci-fi and fantasy figs.

Most of the fantasy figs will find use in either Frostgrave of Warlords of Erehwon. The two Star Wars Legion vehicles actually completed my Legion paint pile.

Next is this large group of 15mm Ancients.

A few years ago I did up armies for New Kingdom Egyptians and Hittites. Not sure why I picked this period. Both armies are pretty much complete but I had all these leftover bits. And to be honest, I really didn't enjoy painting them. I had originally set myself a New Years goal of painting 6 bases this year. Well, here's 15 bases. Mission accomplished!

Next up is a pair of standalone units.

The horse and cart are good for all sorts of settings. THe ECW gun and crew are for JonathanO to pad out one of his ECW armies.

And finally are the terrain pieces.

This is two separate sets of pieces. The watchtower has been sitting in my basement for a few years and the challenge was the perfect opportunity to get it painted. The 15mm buildings went along perfectly with the 15mm Ancients and will also see action in my future 15mm Arab army that I'll be working on.

So that wraps it up for another year. Thank you to Curt and the minions for running the paint challenge. For me its always the highlight of the winter months getting to see everyone's awesome work and the support the contributors show for one another. Cheers and see you all next challenge!

Scott

MichaelD - The Fruits of my Labors

 Once again I feel very grateful to Curt and everybody for maintaining this wonderful Challenge. So many fantastic painters and supportive friends. Thank you. This year I think I completed a personal best in terms of points, although I'm disappointed I wasn't able to get my act together to participate in the theme challenges. I bought a few miniautres for it, but then got so caught up in my main plan that I never really worked them in. Next time. Anyhow here are the group shots:

I had two big game-changing experiences over the past 3 months. The first is thanks to PaulSS, who suggested (on Facebook) using Trello for painting projects:

The other was painting 10mm. I always had middling success with 15mm, but really enjoyed speeding through my Union ACW figures. Not only am I looking forward to getting division-sized battles on a reasonable sized surface (soon!), but look at this:

I can probably fit a whole side in one cigar box!

Thanks again to everyone for all the support and inspiration!

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

Assembled production

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

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

self-portrait

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

See you at the bar...!

BruceR, The End of the Beginning (I hope)

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

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

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

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

Be safe and enjoy this great hobby.

I managed 111 28mm infantry

23 28mm cavalry

4 vehicles

1 boat

1 dragon and some assorted vignettes

17 of the Chambers of Challenge 

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

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

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

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

BruceR

 

From KyleC - End of Comp Tally

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until the next one! 

From PaulSS: Definitely, the wrap...

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

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

And even finished with a Parisienne mob.

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

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

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

And even a little bit of WWII 

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

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

Hope to see you all again next year.

From Barks: AHPC XI Wrap-up

Did I really paint all that?

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

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

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

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

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

Barks