Painting Together: The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

This week I am talking about the benefits of painting together to get projects finished.

Collaborative painting, whether that is sitting down with friends or taking part in a competition like the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, can boost productivity and keep the paint flowing. I have painted whole armies during previous challenges, sometimes two at a time! This year I'm tackling something new but I know that whatever I start will be finished by the end of the competition in mid-March.

 

French Archaeologists and other Civilians : Revisiting and old Project

The sands of the Algerian desert part to reveal a group of French civilians examining old bits of pot, drinking wine, and listening to a scratchy gramophone. All very civilized in the middle of nowhere…until the locals decide to attack of course! Then they will need the protection of a detachment of Legionnaires. Meanwhile, a handful of indigenous labourers and their overseer are working in the background thinking how strange these overdressed foreigners are. 

I’m briefly revisiting my Foreign Legion/French Colonial project from 2022 and completing a group of civilian models that were on my to-do list at the time but have sat neglected in my Pile-o-Shame ever since. I had got as far as priming and mounting them on sticks…and that has been where they have stayed for the last couple of years. This year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge gives me a chance to get these done and to clear my conscience of a side project not completed. 

I have also painted a couple of half-sized ‘irregular’ units consisting of civilian adventurers and explorers who have taken up arms to protect themselves. 

Just a handful of models but they are done now and start to feature in some of my games. 

Collaborative Painting: Rising to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

Painting in collaboration or competition with other wargamers is a fantastic way to boost your productivity. I'm taking part in this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and every year that I have participated my painting output has gone up. Whole armies can be completed in just three months, with the gentle support and encouragement of other wargamers.

AHPC Update 2

The first two weeks of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge are done and I thought now would be a good time for an update on my progress so far, and how I keep track of my target as the event unfolds.

Resolutions for 2022

Well, we survived 2021, so maybe it's time to change things for the better in 2022. Time for some New Year Resolutions. But how can we ensure that these are not short-lived plans and instead look forward to ticking off resolutions as completed?

The Benefit of Collective Painting

Last weekend the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge came to an end. This online competition brought together over 80 participants all working towards their own personal goals in a huge celebration of the power of collective painting. But now that the Challenge is over, how can we keep the motivation to paint going?

I hope you found that video interesting and if you did, please like, subscribe and share. 

Merry Christmas!

It's a little bit early but today's episode of The Quarantined Wargamer Merry wishes everyone a very Happy Christmas. I'll be taking a couple of weeks off so there won't be a TQW next weekend but I'll be back in the new year with fresh content and more of my trademark rambling nonsense! 

The next episode of TQW will be on the 3rd of January and, hangover permitting, I plan to discuss the perennial favourite of wargamers across the word, our hobby-related new year resolutions.

While I'm taking a week off with the Channel I will continue to be posting stuff here on the blog because the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge begins tomorrow and I'll be using my Christmas break to wrap up some early entries. The usual rule is that the Challenge blog gets exclusivity on your entry for 24hrs after which photo's can be reposted on your own blog if you have one. The submission format is a little more 'free form' this year so we won't be corraled into a fixed posting schedule but I'm planning on doing a weekly wrap up of my entries for the normal Wednesday posting slot here on BLMA. 

Keep safe, have a lovely Christmas, and keep rolling high!

My Analogue Hobbies Campaign

A little over four weeks have now passed in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and I thought a little review of my progress would be in order. For me, the Challenge begins way before the Dec 21st start date, usually getting underway just a few days after the last challenge has ended. I'll start thinking about what big projects I want to get done and begin the long process of restocking my supplies at the next show I attend (usually Salute) and as I get closer to December the shopping reaches a glorious crescendo. The final month of preparation usually also includes a lot of construction and priming of models so I can hit the ground running, and this year I have been off to a fantastic start.

My personal target for Challenge Ten is to beat my previous personal best of 1307 points. I had a reasonably clear idea of what projects I wanted to complete but I went into the competition knowing that I probably didn't have enough points worth of figures waiting in the wings. The opening four weeks have seen me make excellent progress towards my target, indeed I am ahead of where I need to be at this point. As I have progressed I have identified additional projects and my estimated final points total is now within a gnats whisker of my aim point.

The chart shows that I am significantly above my week-to-date target but this is a bit deceptive as I am taking a few days off in February (for a short holiday) so I need a bit of headroom to cover that interlude. I also have several ideas for large Frostgrave buildings that I want to build from foam and these take a long time to construct and will naturally take time away from painting projects. So I expect the weekly points totals will reduce as we near the end of the Challenge and again, the headroom I have now will help significantly if I am to keep to my target. Overall however I am very happy with how things are going and as I have found in previous years the challenge is the perfect antidote to painting prevarication and inertia! 

Pauravan Indian Longbowmen

I'm fascinated by the story of Alexander the Great and have been since I was a kid. Over the years I have read plenty of books about this giant of history and have long been fascinated by the fact that these Greeks made it all the way to India in a time when the sub-continent was largely unknown outside of myth to most Europeans. I've been toying with the idea of building a Classical Indian Army for a long time but other projects have kept me busy. Now, at last, I'm ready to make it a reality. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to game with this army, but I'm looking forward to painting it none the less. The order of battle I have gone for broadly corresponds to that fielded by King Poros at the Battle of the Hydaspes and that means lots and lots of bowmen.

It's worth noting that most of the information I have gathered regarding this army has come from the WRG publication The Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars by Duncan Head. However, I have also tried to refer to original source materials such as the translated works of Arian wherever possible. The interweb has made this process much easier of course and I have been able to track down magazine articles and other sources as well. Few Indian sources survive and I have struggled to find the translated versions, although I will continue looking (and suggestions are welcome!). What we do know of Northern India in the 4th century BCE was that it was divided into many small tribal monarchies and that war between them was probably common.

Indian Infantry wore sandals and a simple high waisted kilt, usually made of white cotton. The longbow was probably as long as the later English Longbow but made of Bamboo; it's unclear how powerful they would have been in comparison. Arrian suggests they were very powerful but I have not been able to find more contemporary sources to corroborate this. The bow was strung with hemp or sinew and given the damp conditions prevalent in this region for much of the year its hard to say how effective these weapons would have been. The arrows were 4ft 6in long and made of cane or reed. The real strength of these units was probably not the weapon so much as the quantity of firepower that could be directed at an enemy that would normally be as lightly protected as those firing.

The core of the Army of King Poros at the Hydaspes was the Longbowmen and I have opted for eight units of these - a total of 288 infantry figures which should earn me 144 points in the Painting Challenge and get me firmly started towards my target figure. 

High density foam mess

No sooner have I sorted my Operations Room out than I start making a mess in it. And what a wonderful mess! For the first time ever I have space to work on multiple large projects at the same time. Up until now, I have had to co-opt the dining room table, and then only for limited periods at a time. Now I can spread out, make a mess...and leave it there as long as necessary. So what's on my table? Well, currently lots of high-density foam. I've spent the last couple of weeks busily cleaning and priming miniatures ready for the start of the Challenge in a few days time, but now I'm beavering away on lots of foam terrain. 

I've never worked with this material before so I'm learning 'on the job' so-to-speak. Much of the terrain you see here is pre-cast resin stuff that I picked up at Warfare a few weeks ago but the first bits of homemade wall can be seen, along with a Tower. This latter piece was very much a test item as it was the first thing I had a go at. I learned a lot about the properties of this material, and how to work it. Future buildings will hopefully be more elaborate and ambitious in scale. Expect to see a lot of this in the Challenge, as I need enough buildings to cover this table (when it isn't being used as a workbench). I probably should have started practicing with this material much earlier, but at least I'll have some of the resin stuff to paint early in the competition, and my home made stuff will follow later on. 

Planning for the Challenge

I've been feeling a little bit 'unfocused' for a while. Not quite between projects so much as struggling to bring several to a conclusion. I have a number quite usable armies for different periods that I want to expand and I have some vague ideas for future projects that I don't want to rush into. In short this particular wargames butterfly has become stuck in a web of his own making! Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a 'slump', I'm not struggling with time (any more than usual), I've just allowed myself to become distracted by multiple projects to the point where I have ground to a halt unable to make any clear decisions. So this week I have been giving some serious thought on how break the deadlock and I'm using the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to drag myself out of this stalemate. 

In previous years I have gone into the painting challenge with a very clear 'project' as my goal. One time it was painting 6mm armies for the 2nd Punic War; The year before last I focused on a  Pyrrhic army and last year I painted thousands of Zulu's for an Anglo Zulu War campaign. I'm glad I did these projects but it has to be said some were difficult to keep up with. In every case I completed my painting list but said to myself, I want to come back to this and expand at a later date. That date has finally come. Unlike previous years I'm not heading into the Winter Painting Challenge with a huge target list, rather I have a series of small additions to each of the previous projects that I wan't to work on. In short I'm finally getting around to the fun stuff after the hard slog of building the core of several armies. 

2nd Punic War

The biggest additions are a long overdue expansion of my 6mm Polybian Romans. I've ordered enough figures to double my existing Hastati, Principes and Triarii as well as some more Generals and Hero figures. I'm also considering expanding some of the Allied units that go with this army but for now I have left them off my order. The biggest challenge I think I am going to have with these will be getting them to look like the units I already have painted. Thankfully I keep detailed notes when painting new figures so I should be able to keep the painting consistent with those I did three years ago. I'll also need to pay special attention the the basing so they match what I already have. 

For my Carthaginian army I have ordered some more African war elephants. The plan is to re-base my existing pachyderms on bases of three per base rather than the two per base I have now. I'm not doing this for any game purposes, this is purely an aesthetic issue for me. I just think the completed elephant units will look more intimidating than they do now, especially when they are moving towards your troops!

I have also bought more Celts to add to Hannibal's army. These are large deep units with a lot of figures per base and particularly scary when deployed. They will make a very useful (and very colourful) addition to the Carthaginian forces that I already have. 

Pyrrhic Army

I'm not planning on a massive change to this army at the moment. I have some more Generals and Hero models to complete, and I think I have some additional heavy Cavalry to add to the army. To be honest, I love my Pike units, but I almost reached a point (pun intended!) where I wanted to chuck the whole lot in the bin. I wish I had bought the cast pikes rather than open handed figures I went with because the pins I used were not only incredibly difficult to attach but are also very painful when trying to move a unit on the table. The units may look spectacular, but they are a nightmare to store safely and are very difficult to game with. These puppies have drawn more blood than any models I have ever owned or painted before!

Anlgo Zulu War

My Zulu War project last year was by far the biggest I have undertaken so far. I painted a LOT of Zulu's and redcoats last year but they represented only small portion of the troops I wanted to complete. In particular I didn't paint any Natal Native Contingent so I have now bought some and will be working on these soon. I'm hoping to add four or five companies to my existing British forces. A lot will depend on how enthusiastic I get for this but I have also bought some Natal Native Horse and some Boar units to compliment my existing troop options. 

One thing that has been a huge distraction (but but a thoroughly enjoyable one) in recent months, has been a renewed attempt to write my own set of rules for the period. Its been a difficult process but I think I have a working framework in place, although I am still trying to flesh this out in detail. I'm in no hurry to complete this though and when the Challenge kicks off again I probably won't have time for more work on it. I think that putting the project aside for a few months will actually be a good thing because it will give me time to ponder several ideas that haven't been included yet. This is definitely a long term project and one that I will be revisiting again in the new year.

What a Tanker!... in Two Theatres

Earlier this year I started building up a collection of vehicles to play What a Tanker! My main focus has been the war in the Western Desert between the British and Italians during Operation Compass. I have therefore ordered a few  more vehicles and some terrain to continue and expand this project.

I have also been revisiting the idea of playing some Normandy Campaign games using this rule-set. I already have a selection of Tanks from the period and quite a lot of terrain but both need expansion. Some of this featured in my first play-test of the rules but I need to add some terrain if I hope to run a large game for the Rejects. The first additions in terms of armour have been ordered along with some pre-painted terrain to expand my current collection. I'm even considering some ideas for more scratch built terrain (more Boccage!?). A lot will depend on how much progress I make during the Challenge and how motivated I am! Watch this space.

So have I come to any conclusions?
Today I have spent a couple of hours working on my plan for the Challenge and I feel much more focused as a result. At the very least I now have a clear to-do list down on paper rather than vaguely tucked away in a corner of my brain (a scary place with lots of cobwebs). I have a lot of prep to do before the Challenge starts but I feel confident I'll be able to hit the ground running when the starting pistol fires. 

Painting Challenge 8 - Body of Work

The 8th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has now come to an end and 76 painters have put down their brushes and no doubt taken a deep sigh of satisfaction and relief. This was my fourth time taking part and this time around I set myself an ambitious target of 1000 points; a big ask when painting mostly 6mm figures. Well I blew my target out of the water and achieved a personal best that I never would have thought possible just a few months ago. My final tally came to 1307 points which I am very VERY pleased with. And here's a picture of everything that I completed during the Challenge.

LeeH body of Work  - AHPC VIII

Smashing my target! 

What we have here are mostly Baccus 6mm figures and the beginnings of two armies for the Anglo Zulu War of 1879. I say beginning because I reckon I'm less then half way through my Zulu's and I still have a lot of British units still to paint, and that's just so I can recreate the Battle of Isandlwana. Talking of which here's a quick picture of the battle with the forces I have completed so far. 

Isandlewana, January 1979

And a more detailed look at the British Units I completed over the last three months.

24th Foot Marching

24th Foot in Line

24th Foot in Skirmish

Artillery and Gatling Guns

Imperial Mounted Infantry

Bell Tents

Cattle

Ox Waggons

All the British I have completed thus far

Not forgetting the Zulu Army... It looks like a lot but these represent just 14,000 warriors and there were somewhere in the region of 21,000 at the Battle of Isandlwana.

iNgobamakhosi Regiment

iMubbe and Isanqu

Nokenke

umCijo

umHlanga

Zulu Commanders

Riflemen / Skirmishers

And the whole Impi as it stands right now

I always enjoy the Bonus rounds, even if the categories sometimes give me a headache. This year I was able to take part in all the Bonus rounds and here's what I came up with.

Flight

BFG

Musician

Childhood

Monstrous

This just leaves the extra's I did as regular entries.

Jingle Bells!

Bromhead

Looking Forward

I'm rally happy with my output this year. My own target of 1000 points was a real challenge for me and one I thought I would struggle to achieve. I owe my success in no small part to a very understanding wife who has given me plenty of space to get on with my painting. Of course the payoff fer her is that I have promised to get some home decorating done now so I'll be swapping my brushes for something a little larger in the next few weeks. The break from painting 6mm figures will no doubt give my eyesight a rest!

Flight of the Falcon

I'm sure I'll not be the only person to say the Bonus rounds were a real challenge to fill this year. I have collected a lot of interesting figures over the years and can usually find something to put in a category but this year I was really scratching my head for ideas. I did eventually find this model by Midlam Miniatures and so this is my 'Flight' entry.

The quality of the model is really high and I'll be buying more from Midlam in future as I thought their models were very modestly priced for such well sculpted figures. This guy is a medieval lord of some kind, out hunting with his Hawk. I built up the base with cork chips and plaster to he is standing on some crag presumably overlooking a good hunting ground.