Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge: Pregame


The stars aligned this year and I'm finally able to participate in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. The challenge runs from December 20 to March 20, and participants score points for painting up figures during that timeframe. There are prizes for those who manage to hit various point thresholds, duels between various challengers and thematic bonus rounds, but it's primarily a fun diversion for the miniature painting community to help motivate each other in getting our figures painted up.  I've been an observer for the last 4 or 5 challenges, but a variety of work and life situations always prevented me from signing up. This year I finally get to take a shot at it.

Here's what I'm hoping to finish during the challenge:

  • Fireforge Medieval Foot x48 (240 points)
  • Gripping Beast Arab Foot x40 (200 points)
  • Fireforge Cavalry x12 (120 points)
  • Rogue Trader era GW figures x20 (100 points)
  • Ancient Spanish Foot x16 (80 points)
  • Ancient Numidian Elephants x2 (30 points?? They're pretty beefy)
That's a total of about 770 points, and represents half of my lead pile. Since this is my first year I'm aiming for only 400 points, but I hope to exceed that and polish off all of these figures. I'm looking forward to the contest, but I'd love to hear any tips from "old hands" who've racked up points in previous years.

10 comments:

  1. I'm taking part for the first time as well, and I'm going in with nowhere near the planning and forethought you've brought to the table. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing your works on display!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck indeed ! But I fear if this is half of your lead/plastic pile then you need to get some more stuff LOL .

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's a good looking list. Keen to seen what you do with them!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool. It will be my third time around. It's great fun and the submissions are inspirational as well as motivational.
    My advice is...think Marathon not sprint. Steady pace is best. Having a few days or a break week is OK. Skipping your weekly submission day to just lay down block colours on lots of stuff can mean a huge submission the following week. Don't get caught up in a competition but only challenge yourself. Variety can help as well when you have had enough of painting little dudes from the same force....switch and come back to them later.
    Cheers and it's going to be awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Kiwi is spot on. I start slowly and build up to speed. I also like to throw in some small side projects to change the pace up a bit. Pick one week where you try to go all out and see how many models you can get done, just for the heck of it. I did 30 ECW infantry in one week last year. It was a grind, but that's still my best painting week ever. The challenge can give you some great memories and is a great way to get things done. Enjoy it and Good Luck!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This will be my 5th attempt at the Challenge - The cadence is almost always a burst of activity for the first few weeks, then a slow plodding pace and finally another burst of activity at the end. I've found painting for a project tends to help - Most of the stuff I paint during a challenge is required to put on my annual Historicon game so having that hanging over my head is a good motivator.

    Just remember to have fun and make fun of Ray

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good luck with your challenge.

    I've done different challenges in the past and have found that for me a clear weekly or monthly goal is a must. I tend to work in an assembly line style and paint lots of models at once, but I also finish lots of models at once. It can get a little tedious, but seeing the project completed is very satisfying.

    Be sure to share your progress. This can be work-in-process shots or the completed units. It has helped me to get feedback from people and sometimes tips as well.

    My last suggestion is to work a little every day (or almost every day). This keeps the momentum moving and helps to keep you (or me) from skipping weeks at a time. Even if I can only get 30 minutes of paint time in, the little bits still add up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's all about fun at the end of the day so do what feels right and don't worry about targets too much (unless that's your thing). Getting a lot of prep done pre challenge helps a lot and keeps the momentum going

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like a good plan and some very well prepared minis. Last year I had a clear plan which I followed week by week and managed to collect my 750 pts. with some efforts. But afterwards my hobby batteries were empty for a couple of weeks and I had to regain my 'mojo'. This time I'm aiming at only 250 pts. but want to have some time of 'paint what I like'. So knights the one week, paras the other and maybe an ogre the third week. Just what pleases me. I'll see how this strategy works.

    Good luck!
    But most important: Have fun!

    ReplyDelete