Post Challenge Analysis

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge ended last week and its taken just a few days for me to miss it. For three months my hobby activity has been highly focused and productive and now its over there is a big void in my life. Don't get me wrong I wasn't painting feverishly every day, I wasn't turning out massive units of exquisite 28mm figures, and while I was very happy with my thirteen hundred points it was nothing compared to the top five painters. I'm sure I'm not alone in being a serious procrastinator for 9 months of the year. The beauty of the Challenge is that the constant (but overwhelmingly positive) pressure of a timetable and deadlines has kept me on-track and feeling very satisfied.

With the Challenge over its time for a little introspection and analysis (cos I'm a bit anal in that way). I record and plan extensively during the Challenge and this means I have a lot of useful data collected to analyse my work over the last three months. So here it is; My Painting Challenge in five charts.

Progress Chart - I leapt ahead of my weekly target at an early stage and was able to maintain and extend this 'lead' throughout the Challenge. I owe a lot to a very patient wife who game me plenty of space to indulge my hobby. It's also true that going part time at work has meant I have had more free time to paint and blog over the winter. 

Points by Period - Not surprisingly it was my Anglo Zulu War project that accounted for the bulk of the points I earned this year. However I also earned a significant 14.8% from Fantasy figures, mostly during the Bonus rounds. 

Points by Scale - Equally unsurprising is the fact that I earned most of my points from 6mm figures. At just half a point per figure that means to earn big points you need to churn out big number and this is where 'Thousands' of Zulu's came into their own. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the scoring system set up by Curt but I think it will be a long time before we see a top three podium place being occupied by a 6mm painter.

Points by Type of Entry - I'm always tempted to skip the Bonus rounds to focus just on my given project, but when 22.6% of the points earned come from these rounds its hard not to want to take part. And by the end of the Challenge I have a load more display models to find a home for...I'll have to buy a new display case soon. My existing arrangements are already crammed full and I'll be hard pressed to find space for this years contribution. 

Challenge Expenditure - This year I decided that I would keep a closer eye on what I spent, directly connected to the Challenge. I start buying models almost as soon as the competition ends so some of this expenditure dates back to April last year, although the bulk of the outlay took part immediately before and during the event. In total I spent £657.06 with the majority on figures. The surprise for me was how much I spent on consumables at £269.62. However it has to be said I didn't use up everything so some of this will continue to supply my hobby activities for months to come. 

Right, with that bit of naval-gazing over its time to get back to the important job of preparing for the next Painting Challenge in just 9 months time. Salute is just a few weeks away and this will be my first opportunity to start buying the models I need for the next bout of winter painting madness. 

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!

Looking Forward!

While everyone else is busy dropping points bombs on poor Curt I decided to go out quietly with a fun little vignette. So here is "Looking Forward" to the next Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. For me the end of the Challenge is the culmination of my most productive period of the year. I hit my target (and then some) and now I can relax into a summer of gaming with my newly painted figures. This is also the time when I begin collecting new models and books and looking ahead to 9 months of preparation and growing anticipation for the next Challenge. 

I have no idea where I got these two 15mm figures. I guess they were a freebie from somewhere but try as I might I can't recall where from. These two cheeky chaps are full of character and were good fun to paint.

Incidentally this last entry resisted all my efforts to photograph it. Until now I have used my high end compact camera to photograph my entries but I just couldn't focus close enough to get a good shot for this model. So next I retrieved my trusty DSLR with an assortment of different lenses. I tried a macro lens but couldn't get the colour balance right, then I tried a telephoto from a distance. All the pictures were rubbish so in the end, in desperation, I whipped out my phone and took some pictures on that...and they were the best of the lot and are the ones I have used! Seriously, thousands of pounds of camera equipment and I end up taking pictures on an £80 camera phone!!

I have to admit to being a bit worn out after the frenetic activity of the lest three months, and it will be good to take a break. The treble 0's will be packed away and Ill be moving on to 4" brushes because I have promised to do some home decorating! Now all that is left for me to do is take some Body of Work photo's to post early next week. This years Painting Challenge has been excellent and I'm constantly in awe of the quality and quantity of the entries. When I describe the Challenge to outsiders I never refer to it as a mere competition. Instead I always call it a Festival of Painting and this years event has once again raised the bar in terms of quality and variety. A huge thank you needs to go out to Curt (and the minions of course) for running such an excellent event and I for one am already looking forward to the next AHPC in just 9 months time! 

Isandlwana Hill

With all my planned figures painted and two weeks left of the challenge remaining my mind began tuning towards a final 'Body of Work' photo. Then I thought it would be cool to lay out my British and Zulu's against a backdrop picture of the mountain of Isandlwana. This train of thought could only go one way and it wasn't long before I had a moment of inspiration/madness... and the next thing I knew I was building a mountain in my living room!

Let me start by saying that I have not built a lot of terrain before and certainly nothing on this scale, so this was a major learning curve for me. One thing that was evident from the beginning was that I was using the wrong materials; I had the wrong tools; and the less said about my technique the better! However I am happy with how this turned out and when I get myself properly tooled up  I will be making more terrain in future!

This isn't an accurate 3D model of the mountain, rather a rough approximation based on modern photo's and contemporary drawings. I think its recognisable as Isandlwana and is certainly acceptable for wargaming at home and in Posties shed-o-war.

'Last Stand' Cave.  

According to Zulu accounts one lone infantryman of the 24th is supposed to have held out in a cave only to run out of cartridges before being overrun and killed. If true he would have been possibly the last man to die in the battle. 

This model is made up of five layers of foam, each a little over 2" thick, so the whole model stands 11" high. The bottom layer is a little over 17" long by 10" so its 'footprint' on the games table will demand some attention! I spent a long time get to the top I spent ages trying to work out the dimensions for the purposes of scoring this is a little tricky but here are a few pictures and my size calculations.

I spent a long time trying to work out the dimensions for the purposes of scoring this model for the Painting Challenge. Terrain scores 20 points per 6" cube (216 cubic inches) and at 832 in³ this model is the equivalent of 3.8 cubes or 76 Points. Minion Ray graciously bumped this up to 80 points so I'm very happy with this as my last major project of the Challenge.

24th Foot in Skirmish order

As promised (foolishly) a few weeks ago I have been painting the same six companies of Infantry in march order, line and now in skirmish order. This should give the British player a lot of flexibility with his troops and also means I can scale games down to quite small, single company actions if a scenario demanded it.

Each company consisted of 16 figures which I have now split into four bases of four infantry. These can be placed touching each other to form a skirmish line which has double the frontage of a formed company or with a gap between each base to represent an extended line.

I have now painted pretty much all my British figures so I think, for now, that's the last of my Anglo Zulu War project for this challenge.

The same company shown Marching, Formed line, Skirmish and Extended order. 

Its not my last entry though... I have a few 'special' entries for my parting shot and the field is wide open with regards to scale and theme, so watch this space.

Imperial Mounted Infantry

The 1st Imperial Mounted Infantry (IMI) were an ad-hoc unit made up from troops of four different infantry regiments (the 3rd, 13th, 24th, and 80th). This proved valuable as all the men had experience as a regular foot soldier which made them a more versatile as a scouting and skirmishing force. There were two IMI squadrons, each consisting of 150 men, NCO's and other ranks. 2nd Squadron was attached to 1 Column under Wood with 1st Squadron commanded by Lt Col Russell was part of 3 Column under Glyn.

On 22nd January all the 1st Squadrons officers and 80 Other ranks were attached to Lord Chelmsford's force, leaving just 31 men (1 troop) at the Isandlwana camp. Its unclear from what I have read if these 31 men were a single troop or men from each of the four troops that were excused duty for various reasons. If they were left as Isandlwana for medical reasons then they were extremely unlucky. Whatever the reason for them being left at the camp the IMI acquitted themselves well during the battle and were able to give covering fire to the retreating British troops. Only 11 of the 31 survived the massacre and probably only because they were able to reach their horses and effect an escape.

Typically the IMI were armed with Henry-Martini rifles like the majority of British forces in the war however I have read that in January 1879 they were armed with Carbines.  The retained their foreign-service helmets and red regimental tunics, but were issued with brown Bedford cord breeches, riding boots and a brown leather ammunition bandoleer. They retained their white haversacks and water-bottles but discarded the rest of their valise equipment while on mounted service. As the name suggests, the mounted infantry invariably dismounted to fight, with one man in four was designated as a horse-holder.

I have painted just the unfortunate Troop of 1st Squadron left behind at the camp. I have also made up an NCO command stand (all the senior officers were with the rest of the squadron). I have also used some spare infantry figures to make up the same unit as a dismounted skirmish unit. Five mounted figures and 4 foot will earn me a whopping 7 points!