Salute 2019 Bloggers' MeetUp

That dodgy character Ray has finally pulled his finger out and posted the details of this year's Salute meetup.

All bloggers are invited to meet up at 12noon at the red dot on the plan below:

Hope to see some of you there!

AHPC9 - The Final RoundUp Part 2 - The Stats

You're right. I did say on Saturday that my AHPC9 stats post would be the next day, but surely you know me better than that by now and realised it would be late.

As you should have worked out by now, this year was my most productive of all the six Challenges I have participated in scoring a total of 3426 points. I also achieved my highest placing, finishing 4th on the table (but a long way behind 3rd place); my previous highest placing was 5th in AHPC6 which was also the year I had my lowest final tally.

My previous highest score was 2522 points in AHPC5, although that year was 15 weeks rather than 13 weeks. I also didn't enter any of the bonus rounds that year. To allow a better comparison, let's adjust those to make AHPC5 13 weeks and remove the bonus round and Curtgeld points from both. I'll leave in the bonus points awarded for flags and at minion discretion for AHPC9 as I don't have those figures for AHPC5.

AHPC5: 
Deduct Curtgeld             2522-20 = 2502
Adjust to 13 weeks         2502 x 13/15 = 2168
Adjusted Tally               2168

AHPC9: 
Deduct Curtgeld              3426 - 20 = 3406
Deduct Bonus Rounds     3406 - 275 = 3131
Adjusted Tally                3131


That's a 44.4% increase over my previous highest output. Admittedly this time I'm not working, so have more time but the quality level I have been painting to has been substantially higher, particularly with the 28mm character figures but also with the rest of the 28mm. In other words, quality and quantity are both up this year. There were also many, many more 28mm character figures this year than in AHPC5 (71 vs 20) which take much longer to paint than those in squads.



Breaking down my scoring for this year a bit further:

Bonus Rounds - 275 (8.0%)
Curtgeld - 20 (0.6%)
Other Bonuses* - 29** (0.8%)
28mm - 1452 (42.4%)
15mm - 1650 (48.2%)
Total -=3426

*Flags, random generosity from minions
** I've deducted the 37 bonus points Lee added for the size of the Stronty Dog figures and included them in the 28mm total

Crikey! 3102 points of painted figures, vehicles and terrain in 3 months!

Breaking things down further:

28mm
Foot - 258 + 3 small crewed weapons/bits scored as foot
mounted - 0
Crewed weapons - 1
Vehicles -1
Terrain - 4 cubes* (I've included the Lady Sarah as terrain although it was scored as 2 vehicles)

* for the Challenge  a terrain "cube" is 6" x 6" x 6"

15mm
Foot - 535 + 4 small crewed weapons scored as foot
Mounted - 114
Crewed weapons - 27
Vehicles - 1


And by theme (as per my previous post; points include all bonuses):

World War 2
15mm Soviets:                           542 points
28mm Soviet Women                120 points
28mm early WW2 Aussies        622 points
28mm Waffen SS                       50 points
Total = 1334 points (38.9%)


Strontium Dog
28mm figures                              225 points
28mm SF terrain                           40 points
Total = 265 points (7.7%)


Medieval Asia
15mm Ming Chinese                   124 points
15mm Mongols                           445 points
Total = 569 points (16.6%)


Prohibition Era Pulp
28mm figures                               170 points
28mm freighter                            135 points
Total = 305 points (8.9%)


Fantasy
28mm Wolves                              145 points
Total = 145 points (4.2%)


SciFi
15mm Kra'Vak                             298 points
Total = 298 points (8.7%)


SYW Russians
15mm figures                               256 points
Total = 256 points (7.5%)


Miscellaneous
28mm animals                                4 points
28mm "survivors"                       160 points
28mm gladiators                           90 points
Total = 254 points (7.4%)

Well, it seems that in the rounding I've lost 0.1% somewhere!


I'm not too surprised that my WW2 projects made up nearly 40% of my total points, but was a little surprised about how much my 15mm Ming Chinese and Mongols made up.

AHPC9 - The Final RoundUp Part 1 - My Submissions

With 30 submissions by me this year, this will be quite a long and pic-heavy post.

Rather than going through them in the order they were submitted, I have sorted them into themes.

Let's start with World War Two as that was the biggest theme. There was a pretty good split between 15mm and 28mm for this period, with Soviets appearing in both scales.

15mm WW2 Soviets

The first entry for this was a single IS2 tank, part of my first Challenge submission this year:

Main #1:

*linky-link*

A bit later I had two submissions for the infantry and support weapons:

Main #17:

*linky-link*

Main #19:

*linky-link*

With all the T34s I had painted before the Challenge, these will allow me to field Russians for some games of "Big Chain of Command" - I have enough troops for two standard rifle platoons, a tank rider platoon, plus various support options. All I need to add are some engineers and maybe some light tanks.

All of these were from Plastic Soldier Company.


28mm Soviet women

I had two submissions for these, the figures are from Bad Squiddo Games

Main #2:

*linky-link*

Bonus #1 (Recon):

*linky-link*


28mm Early WW2 Australians

The biggest single theme within this theme was my Early WW2 Australian force, usable for North Africa and Middle East, but for my purposes they will be used for the Malaya and New Guinea campaigns. There were four entries here:

Main #5:

*linky-link*

This lot were a mix of Perry and Artizan metals.

Main #14:

*linky-link*

This M3 Stuart is a 1/56 scale resin model from Blitzkried Miniatures

Main #16:

*link-link*

These were Warlord plastic 8th Army, bought before they released the Commonwealth pack, so no slouch hats.

Main #21:

*linky-link*

These were Perry plastic 8th Army, with some figures getting Perry metal slouch hats. I also converted two to be Lewis gunners, with guns from Colonel Bill's.


28mm Waffen SS

The other WW2 entry was a squad of Waffen SS. They aren't intended for WW2 gaming (by me) but could be used for that. I actually bought them for a specific scenario/campaign for Strontium Dog games.

Main #13:

*linky-link*

The figures are Warlord metals.


And that leads onto one of my fun projects, Strontium Dog. I had two entries for this theme, the miniatures and some terrain.

28mm (actually 35mm?) Strontium Dog

Main #10:

*linky-link*

The shack, watch tower, wind turbine and solar panels come with the starter set; the two drink can pieces are from Warbases.

Main #12:

*linky-link*

The figures are metal from Warlord Games. For the painting of these I did try to emulate the comic book/graphic novel style as closely as possible.


Having jumped from the 20th to the 23rd century, let's hop back in time to medieval Asia.

15mm Ming Chinese

There were two entries to bulk out my reasonably large (but nowhere near the size of my Koreans) Ming Chinese army, providing them with gunpowder troops.

Main #7:

*linky-link*

Main #9:

*linky-link*

The arquebusiers and rocketeers are by Grumpy (via Eureka); the commanders are Old Glory 15s.


15mm Mongols

A few years ago I painted up a small force of Mongols to use as allied/mercenary support for my Koreans. When our club switched to ADLG for ancient/medieval games I realised that with a few additions I could field a Mongol army for those rules, and with a few more additions I could field a small army for FoGR. The army is now just too big for a foolscap box file!

I had two entries for these, one of cavalry, the other of foot:

Main # 8:

*linky-link*

Main #24:

*linky-link*

All of the figures are from Donnington Miniatures.


Skipping forward to the 20th century again, an ongoing fun side-project of mine has been prohibition era figures for my fictional city of Salutesville.

28mm Pulp

There were seven entries from me for this theme, mostly civilians, but with a few gangsters.

Main #4:

*linky-link*

Bonus #4 (Water Feature):

Lady Sarah, a disreputable tramp....freighter

*linky-link*

Main #15:

*linky-link*

Main #18:

*linky-link*

Main #20:

*linky-link*

Main #22:

*linky-link*

Main #25:

*linky-link*

The ship was an MDF kits from TT Combat, the figures are a mix of Pulp Figures, Eureka and Dixon.


That's enough historical stuff for now, so let's take a trip into fantastical realms.

28mm Fenrisian Army

Main #3:

*linky-link*

These wolves are for a Dragon Rampant warband. The figures are a mix of Warbases, North Star, and Foundry; Fenrisulfr is from Bad Squiddo Games.


OK, time for some more SciFi I think.

15mm Kra'Vak

This force of aliens is fir use with the Gruntz 15mm rules.

Main #11:

*linky-link*

Main #23:

*linky-link*

These figures are all from Ground Zero Games.


Time to return to reality and history I think.


15mm Seven Years War Russians

Just the one entry this year for these, but it was a good sized one.

Main #6:

*linky-link*


That just leaves some miscellaneous entries to finish off this post with.


28mm Bunnies and Chickens, Main #1

*linky-link*


28mm Gladiators, Bonus #2 (Sport):

*linky-link*


28mm "Survivors"

Bonus #3 (Mercenaries):

*linky-link*

Bonus #5 (Fellowship):

*linky-link*


Hopefully this post will show why I will be taking a short break from painting to recover! I will be back tomorrow with Part 2 - The Stats.

AHPC9 - Glad It's All Over!

Well, what a ride that was! I submitted my 25th entry yesterday:

*linky-link*

And started on another, but realised that I wouldn't get it finished in time. So I decided to chip in and help Curt with processing all the last day entries. For my part, I went through 26 submissions; I think Curt sorted a similar number.

I've finished in 4th place with 3426 points, my highest score out of all six AHPCs I've taken part in.

And now it is time to rest up for a short while before I do a round-up post of all my submissions.

AHPC9 Day 90 - Wednesday Workbench 20 March

As I write this post, there are just under 17 hours remaining to the end of the Challenge, so I thought this would be a good time to do a quick workbench post. It also provides a good opportunity to show just how many paints I end up having out on the table when I'm doing a bunch of pulp figures.

The six figures you can see have since been finished and given a coat of Klear. In a short while I will be airbrushing them with matte varnish. To be followed by photos and writing up the post.

What you can't see are another four figures that I have decided to start on. They weren't primed so I have done that and also given them a dark wash to shade the recesses and show up the details. I may even manage to finish them before the deadline.

AHPC9 Day 89 - Tuesday Update 19 March

It's the penultimate day of the Challenge and we are in the "free fire" period when people can submit posts whenever they want. I've had two entries submitted and posted.

15mm Adolescent Kra'Vak Infantry and Cavalry:

*linky-link*


15mm Dismounted Mongol Archers:

*linky-link*


The Mongols saw me sail past my increased target. I am now in 4th place with 3376 points. I haven't stopped painting though - there are a few pulp figures on the paint table right now, which should tip me over 3400 points.

Promo Post: Mel Bose's "Terrain Essentials" Kickstarter

I don't think I've ever done a "promo" piece on this blog, but there's a first time for everything.

Some of you may have come across Mel Bose on his YouTube channel "The Terrain Tutor". For those of you who haven't, I do recommend checking it out.

*linky-link*

Well, he's been persuaded to write a book on making terrain and a Kickstarter campaign was launched on Friday (it finishes on Sunday 14 April). The initial goal to fund the basic 96 page book was funded in just under 7 hours and two stretch goals (all the stretch goals will be to add extra pages to the book) have been unlocked, with more to come.

Here's his video introducing the Kickstarter campaign:

I've backed the campaign (I believe I was backer #9!).There are a number of options for backing - PDF only, book only, PDF and book.

Dave Taylor is handling the publication side of the book - he had his own successful Kickstarter last year for his "Armies, Legions and Hordes" book so knows everything what needs to be done. He's also been involved in editing before, so should be able to remove any extraneous "watchacallits" and "crack ons" that might slip in from Mel.

AHPC9 Day 86 - Saturday Workbench 16 March

As the late, great Sid James might have said "Blimus!". We're only a few days away from the end of the Challenge. So few that I can count them on the fingers of one hand.

I thought I'd do a quick post this morning before I start painting so that you can see what is currently sitting on my paint table. No, it's not the Kra'Vak - they are finsihed and the post was submitted yeasterday (it should appear on the Challenge blog tomorrow as we are in the "free fire" period now). Yes, it's the Mongols. But on foot, all 42 of them. Why on foot? Well, against some troop types such as elephants, Mongol cavalry do have an option to dismount in most rules.

I should be able to get them finished by end of play on Monday, which will leave me two days to get some other figures painted. Probably more pulp. Not that I'll really need to as the Mongols will put me past my increased target.

AHPC9 Day 83 - Wednesday Workbench 13 March

Just a quick post today to show what I'm working on right now. If you've been following my carious Challenge posts, you might have spotted that these are some more 15mm Kra'Vak.

At the back are some warbeast riders which I have finished painting (including washes and highlights). At the front are some infantry. These are the original sculpts, a bit smaller than the more recent releases, so I am painting them up as juveniles/adolescents.

I should have finished painting them by lunchtime tomorrow; I'll be sticking them on bases and adding gunk in the afternoon, to be followed by dry-brushing of the gunk on Friday. As I'll have some time waiting for gunk to dry I will be starting on the next project to not waste time, probably the Mongols.

AHPC9 Day 82 - Tuesday Update 12 March

Today was the last of the Tuesday schedule for posting. From Sunday until the end of the Challenge it is "free fire" when we can post as soon as we have stuff finished.

I have two submissions posted today. The first was some more early WW2 Aussies, this time Perry plastics as Militia troops:

*linky-link*


I didn't think I'd have a second entry finished in time but the painting went really quickly and they were done - another set of pulp figures for my collection:

*linky-link*


These two entries have upped my tally to 3214 points towards my increased target of 3350. I'm still in 5th place, but just 10 points below AlexS - it looks as though we might be jostling for 4th place next week (the gap to 3rd place is just too big for me to catch up).

AHPC9 Day 79 - Saturday Workbench 09 March

I finished highlighting the Perry plastics today and they have all now been airbrushed with Klear. Tomorrow I will be gunking the bases. While the gunk is drying, I will probably make a start on another set of pulp figures.

With just 11 days (and a few hours) of the Challenge left, I'm definitely on track to bust through my initial target of 3000 points. I will be increasing my target after the final bonus round results are announced by the total of my bonus points (rounded up a bit).

You may be wondering what to expect from me in the final week of the Challenge. Well, there will almost certainly be:

• more 28mm pulp
• more 15mm Kra'Vak
• more 15mm Mongols
• maybe some other things, who knows? I certainly don't!

AHPC9 Day 76 - Wednesday Workbench 06 March

Phew! Somehow I have managed to get the basecoats and initial wash done on all 40 of the Perry plastics. I was working in batches of 20 for that, but will be dropping to batches of 10 for highlighting. The painting should be finished by the weekend, and then I can do the basing on the whole lot.

I haven't decided what to paint after these are done. I guess I'll just pick whatever takes my fancy - there are a few options left in the paint queue.

AHPC9 Day 75 - This Week's Submissions

I only had two submissions to the challenge this week (plus the bonus round entry), but they were enough to add 323 points to my tally.


My first entry was the rest of the 15mm WW2 Soviets:

*linky-link*

This comprised a tank rider platoon, 2 scout squads, some officers, a medic, some spare NCOs (for attachment to support weapon teams), a spare LMG team, eight AT rifle teams and four teams each of Maxim gun, 50mm mortar, 76mm mortar and 120mm mortar.

When the Challenge is over I'll need to magnetise all the bases for storage/transport.


The second entry was another group of pulp figures:

*linky-link*


This afternoon saw me start work on the Perry plastics for my early WW2 Aussies. I've got the basecoats done on the first twenty and will be doing an initial wash shortly;

AHPC9 Day 74 - Fellowship Bonus Round & Quick Update

Update: now edited to add the links!

All the entries for the final bonus round, "Fellowship", got posted very late last night. Including my set of student housemates and pet.

My post can be found here: *linky-link*

The full gallery can be found here: *linky-link*

There are some fantastic entries for this round - clearly my fellow contestants have been saving their best for this round. Please do take a look and vote for your favourite entries (you can vote for more than one!).


Quick Update

The 15mm WW2 Russians are finished and submitted, so no pics of them today. Yesterday afternoon I began work on some more pulp figures:

These should easily be finished in time for Tuesday and then I can crack on with the last of the early WW2 Aussies.

AHPC9 Day 72 - Saturday Workbench 02 March

The bits in front are the mortars and Maxim guns

March already? Doesn't time fly when you're chained to the paint table!

I actually got the rest of the 15mm Russians painted a little quicker than I'd expected, which meant I was able to gunk the bases this morning. With a bit of luck, the gunk will have dried by tonight and I'll be able to paint and drybrush them. Base edging and matte varnishing will get done tomorrow morning, before I add flock.

As they'll be finished tomorrow, I'll probably paint up some more pulp figures as a palette cleanser before I start on the Perry plastics for my early war Aussies.