Tuesday 26 March 2024

From KyleC - Chaotic painting comes to an end..


And with that the challenge is over for another year. As many have shown their bounty, and work allowing finally, here be my offering to the chaos gods if painting. 

First off thanks to Cute and Sarah for running this once more. Always a pleasure to participate and more so to help Minion it! Shout out to the Sunday Crew for keeping me busy Saturday nights prepping for Sunday! 

Looking back it was a smaller painting collection than previous years for me. Due to work trips abroad, minioning, and general lethargic nature due to health. 

But I was happy to reflect as see that I had painted enough for 3 full armies in 3 completely different genres of gaming systems of which they are of 3 different scales! 

The big one obviously is the Legion Imperialis army that I spent a fair chunk of time both printing and painted. Plus also getting in games with! Something that is normally amiss for me during the challenge time period. 

I was able to really focus on building up a decent sized Death Guard force with a side of World Eaters here. And seeing how they play just makes me want to print and paint some more! 

The star wars legion collection was built purely for the campaign our club was running. And I have to say that Mof and his Dark Trooper robots were a force to be reckoned with. Scoring top marks in all but 1 game, while giving none in return. Last game is still to be had but might not happen as the result won't change my top spot in the campaign apparently. So more games of LI will be happening instead. 

I do like how the Storm Troopers in particular came out. It was much better than the previous ones and I suspect it will be nice to see the other 40+ of them lined up in the same fashion. 

And finally the latest focus.. my Warriors of Chaos for The Old World. I have really put more focus on the quality of them as well as the output to get enough for a game. Still waiting on said game but it might happen soon enough. However when it does at least my army will look slick! 

For the library donation, I will be doing that when I visit back home in Canada this April. Either in Duncan where my folks live, or Nanaimo when we look at the campus for Jr who might attend there in a few years. 

Thanks again for checking out my painting, and commenting on the Sunday Crew posts! 

I leave you with my surprised face getting 2nd place for painting in a tournament I attended during the challenge. Surprised Canadian is Surprised. 

Sunday 24 March 2024

From Codsticker: Time Well Wasted

 I hesitate to call this 'another successful' AHPC for me as, for the second season in a row, I missed my target. However, it was a another really enjoyable challenge even though I didn't get quite as many minis painted as I had hoped. My goal was to get through all of my Bloody Miniatures backlog, which I nearly did. At this point just one pack of infantry (The Ragged Trained Band) is not quite finished; however, I never got to even priming the 12 cavalry figures. 



One of my favourite aspects of the hobby is the 'moving diorama' nature of the war game. I love looking at table tops that are as wonderful to view as the minis on it. That is the perspective I took when photographing my figures for The Challenge; I wanted to take photos of them in the setting in which they will be used. As my daughter moved out permanently (so I am told...) in August her room has become both a miniature photography studio and hobby store room. She would be appalled.



Thanks to Curt, Sarah, and all the Minions, especially Kyle who was my Sunday minion. I am already thinking about next year and look forward to seeing everyone's hobby endeavours next winter.









Saturday 23 March 2024

From Bartek R: When life gets in the way

Having been MIA for the duration of this Challenge, this post feels part mea culpa and part a thrown towel. The short version - I started a different job late last year which was busy, but it amped up this year (long days, long weeks, some weekends). And when that wasn't nipping at my heels,  'real life' stepped in to fill the gap. Sooo, my entire contribution this Challenge was...read 'em and weep...a whopping 35 points (with Library bonus) of 40K greenskins, from a 1000 pt target.  

Below is what I'd intended to get done - a 28mm Caesarean army (mostly Warlord pictured, some Foundry in the wings). This will be a slow burn over the next few weeks months.

The grand project for the Challenge

I did have a cunning plan to get with the program, jump on the team and come on in for the big win by taking a week off work, painting 9-5 and delivering salvation in a points bomb. Yeah, no, alas. What had been planned for a few weeks ago kept being shifted but finally happened this past week.

The almost-rans
 

So, apologies to Millsy and the Antipodean Friday crew for not pulling my weight, and to those who missed out on a place in the Challenge (honestly, if I'd known...). Of course, thanks to Curt and the 'back of house' crew who keep things ticking along, and, lastly and importantly, to everyone who took part - I've (at long bloody last) had a few days to indulge in perusing the posts. Some stellar stuff.


 

from Ray R - Challenge Wrap up

 


Hello everyone

Well that went quick, didn't it?
Can't believe the Challenge is over for another year.
I'm already thinking about, what I can get ready for December and Challenge 15????

Thanks got to Curt & Sarah for all their hard work setting up and throughout the Challenge. Thanks to my Minion Teemu, and to all the other Minion's, I know how much time it took out of my painting schedule, when I was a minion!! Lastly a big thanks you to all you other Challengers who all help to make this Challenge what it is today. Especially those who found the time to comment on my posts, I really appreciate the encouragement.


Austrian Lothrengin Infantry & Bavarian Arco Horse


Ottoman Infantry, El Cid statue, St Dominic fountain, Highland Cattle, Star Wars AT AT's


Haitian Revolution Infantry and Cavalry

This year 25/28mm figures were dominate. I painted up...
127 x 25mm infantry figures
20 x 25mm Cavalry figures

The rest were various scales
2 x 1/1200 scale ships
1 x 54mm figure
3 x 2/6mm figures

In total 153 figures.

I always try and aim for a top 30 finish and top 10 finish would be preferred, but I'd have had to paint up another 600 points worth for 10th place, so was not achievable. I'd like to think my illness played a big part in that, but I'm not convinced that I could have painted up another 600 points worth of figures, if I had another month to paint!!!

Here's my performance so far in all the Challenges

Challenge II 4940 points 1st
Challenge III 2586 points 4th
Challenge IV 1227 points 17th
Challenge V 691 points 37th
Challenge VI 681 points 36th
Challenge VII 1093 points 24th
Challenge VIII 662 points 40th
Challenge IX 2274 points 8th
Challenge X 1687 points 11th
Challenge XI 2260 points 8th
Challenge XII 2168 points 7th
Challenge XIII 1111 points 27th
Challenge XIV 1160 points 25th

AHPC XIV: The Statistical Round UP

Well it's finally time to do the statistical round up of Challenge XIV.  I know, I know we skipped last year but there is no reprieve for any of you THIS year.  Buckle up, there's a load stats coming down the information super highway towards you AND they aint got no brakes.....

dun, Dun, DAAAAHHHHH.......


Anyway lets first take a gander over our standard statistical table.  I warn you, this table is formatted seductively what with it's columns and decimal places and those "come hither" spelling and grammatical errors.  It really should come with a parental warning and would likely get banned from a Florida public library.


As you will see, good 'ole XIV was a steady performer - pretty much reight down the "average fairway".  If XIV was a person, you'd want them to be your neighbor - their yard would look fine so as not to detract from your property value but not so good as to make your neighbors think you are the one bringing the neighborhoods property values down.


Through 13 weeks of "pigment positioning frenzy" 83 participants made it to the end and put up 77,735 points.  Was that the best challenge in terms of collective productivity?, no - Was it a GREAT challenge in terms of artistic expression and Fun?  Hell Yeah.  Achievement UNLOCKED!


The island/room bonus concept continues to really shape how people approach the challenge with 573 of the 689 total submissions (83%) being associated with one room of the library or another.  Some of those assocaitions were a bit on the tenuous side but lets not quibble

AHPC XIV Stats Summary:
XIVXIIIXIIXIX
Total Points77,73585,42186,64682,61968,878
% of Target112.00%126.34%101.35%121.68%109.00%
Participants8383978468
# of Submissions6897858851,261956
#Planets/Chamber/Island Spots573551626518437
Avg Subs per Participant8991514
Avg Pts per Submitter9371,0298939841,013
Avg Pts per Submission11397986672
Total Points per Week5,9806,5716,6656,3555,298
Figures Painted
28MM
Inf5,5096,9367,3376,7654,785
Cav / Art831683609798454
Vehicles10815721597122
15MM
Inf3,6892,4732,8352,5192,083
Cav / Art289855423527588
Vehicles355143162196144
6MM
Inf3,4654,5211,1002,5192,496
Cav / Art751342192695471
Vehicles50816424830235
Terrain "Cubes"113294178125191
Points Distriution
28mm48.90%52.27%54.33%52.95%44.85%
15mm14.63%11.13%9.99%10.55%11.14%
6mm4.50%3.43%1.43%2.44%3.18%
Terrain2.90%6.88%4.11%3.03%5.54%
Chamber / Island Bonus Pts14.75%16.22%15.72%22.94%25.12%
Other Scales14.33%10.07%14.42%8.10%10.18%
Total100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

We did see a continuation of the trend of fewer but larger submissions per participant and the average points per participant still hovering around the 1K level.


28mm is still the favorite scale but has finally slipped back under 50% of the points, with 15mm staging a very nice come back.  Terrain saw a significant decline but that was likely due to one particular participant not doing a lot of terrain - the less said abut that miscreant the better.

Now some of you prefer to look at data via both gaudy and vulgar charts vs the pristine look of a data table.  For the life of me I don't understand it but it seems to be what the masses want and who am O to say what's cool (data tables) and what's blinding obviously not cool (charts).  Look at me being all non-judgemental and such!

Another way to look at the progress of the past 14 challenges is to convert the total points into equivalent 28mm figures - when that minor bit a of is performed it seems we have collectively painted the equivalent of 181,720 28mm Infantry figures - that's a lot.

Just think of the storage space needed to 182K figures.   It's just under 1,300 square feet of shelf space.  I dont know about you but I dont have that much space in my house!

Economic Value Add
This section tends to be the most popular but does require a little explanation.  As an enterprise, the AHPC does represent a form of economic stimulus for the hobby as we purchase miniatures along with the supplies to paint and base them.  Moreover we will also likely replace those resources consumed in this enterprise with new ones.  Professionally, I live in a world of unit economic analysis and, as a financial services professional, you know you can trust me - when have we ever let you down?

The process used to calculate the Economic Value Add of the Challenge involves the determining the three pillars of miniature valuation:  

Pillar 1: 28mm Equivalent Figures
Convert the total points into equivalent 28mm infantry figures.  This one is pretty easy divide the total score by 5 points per figure: 77,735 divided by 5 equals 15,547 figure equivalents

Pillar 2: Cost per Figure 
Estimate the unit cost of painting a figure.  This step is a bit more complicated and breaks down the total cost of a figure into three components.  I did factor in a standard inflation rate of 10%, which is a real inflation rate (removing the cost of energy which have been impacted by that criminal activities of a certain Mr Putin)

Figure Cost: 
The cost the figure itself which includes postage, taxes and such.  The figure costs have have been increase this year from $3.30 to $3.63  

Consumables:
Paints, glues, basing materials, Xacto blades and other items that are consumed in making the figure.  Bear in mind its not just the cost of the paint on the figure - your paint wastage on your palette has been factored in.  Please note medical costs from xacto blade mishaps are factored into labor costs below.  Consumables are estimated at $3.30 a figure

Labor:
Painting a miniature takes time, your time in fact and time IS money so we need to factor in a Labor cost.  This has always been a hotly debated component as different people paint at different speeds and quality varies and some of you have rather high opinions of your own value - yeah, yeah, yeah - blah, blah, blah. By the way that hourly rate is $15.40 - congrats on almost earning as mush as a Star Bucks Barrista

Pillar 3: Economic Velocity
It just takes one glance at out respective lead mountains to realize we purchase more than we paint.  In fact theres an economic term for that called velocity - after many year of costly research and field experimentation, scientist have determined that for every figure painted, 5 are purchased, hence a base velocity of 5.  This value has been adjusted upward to 5.25x to reflect stress buying induced byd the current global instability.  When in doubt, buy lead - an addage that seems to fit a lot of different occasions.


The formula for total EVA is just to simply multiply the three pillars together - easy, peasy right?

Without further ado - I present to you the EVA calculation for Challenge XII - drum roll please.....

Ecomonic Value Add (EVA)
CHALLENGE XIV
Total Points77,735
Equivalent 28mm Figures
15,547
Previous
EconomicChallenge
Value Add(AHPC XIII)
Cost per Mini$3.63$56,435$3.30
Paints etc$3.30$51,305$3.00
Painting TIme$15.40$239,423$14.00
Sub Total$22.33$347,163$20.30
Velocity5.25$1,822,6045.25

Wow - we've created a rock solid 1.8MM boost to the world economy of miniature manufacturing.  You can take that number to the bank! (1)


(1) Terms and conditions apply, past performance may or may not be indicative of future performance and if you trust me, well you get what you deserve.....

In terms of total EVA created over the challenge - we've just crossed the $20mm threshold.  If only Curt had had the foresight to negotiate a flat rate commission to be paid by the lead moguls of Nottingham.....

Halls of Vallejohalla

Finally it's time to pay homage of our "Heroes of the Painting Wars" - the top performers from Challenges past who our enshrined in the hallowed halls of Vallejohalla, where ones paint pot never dries out and it's paint water magically turns to beer when you drink from the wrong cup.  The first stop in our tour is the hallowed list of the "Top 25 Individual Performances in a Challenge". These are the painting beserkers of our time


RankChallengeChallengerPoints
19NoelW6,268
212ChrisW6,072
313GrahameH5,500
48KentG5,343
59MilesR5,051
610NoelW5,011
72RayR4,940
88NoelW4,880
913ChrisW4,778
102KentG4,724
1113MartinC4,644
1212MikeW4,601
138MilesR4,550
149MartinC4,470
154AndrewS4,180
165DaveD4,138
177MilesR4,125
183ChrisP4,076
107MartinC4,051
2014KentG3,889
218ByronM3,881
225MarkO3,854
238MartinC3,844
2412MartinC3,813
2510MartinC3,789

Challenge XIV saw only one name added to the top 25 - KentG and his massive 3,889 Points - well done Kent, you are now OFFICIALLY famous.


Now lets us gaze upon the lifetime points summary for the top 50 of 970 total challenge participants over the past 12 years.  This is a "body-of-points" look at what people have achieved over the various challenges they have participated in.


RankNameLieftime Points# of ChallengesPts/Challenge
1MilesR39,361133,028
2MartinC36,790103,679
3DaveD25,265131,943
4RayR20,292121,691
5NoelW19,80244,950
6TamsinP18,77692,086
7MikeW17,42272,489
8Millsy17,324111,575
9GrahameH17,09562,849
10KentG16,40744,102
11ByronM15,069101,507
12DavidB14,55591,617
13GregB13,970131,075
14ChrisW13,74234,581
15SanderS13,543101,354
16AlexS13,516131,040
17StuartL12,60862,101
18AlanD11,764101,176
19Curt C11,31112943
20FranL11,29461,882
21KenR10,91811993
22Barks10,73191,192
23AdamC10,68891,188
24KyleC9,34171,334
25EricM8,86042,215
26IanW8,76971,253
27JohnM8,67910868
28FrederickC8,59032,863
29PaulOG8,46010846
30TeemuL8,2789920
31SamuliS8,0079890
32PeterD7,86411715
33LeeH7,6829854
34KerryT7,61632,539
35JamieM7,4588932
36PeteF7,36361,227
37PaulSS7,09751,419
38BrendonW6,8597980
39IainW6,4807926
40SteveM6,2567894
41ScottM6,18961,032
42AaronH6,14661,024
43ChrisP6,10532,035
44MichaelA5,9517850
45KevH5,86122,931
46SylvainR5,6569628
47TimB5,57322,787
48MarkO5,50722,754
49AndrewS5,45422,727
50ClintB5,34741,337

t really is a wonderful chart, save for the creepy guy at the top.  Please note that the tally is subjected to constant challenge and change as there is a certain person who runs this challenge and is a well known quantification anarchist.  he has been known to use different spellings of  peoples OFFICIAL challenge handles handles in a deliberate attempt to prevent accurate enumeration.  I'm not naming names but until recently there was both a CurtC and just a Curt  in the database.  That infamy has been corrected but other horrors yet may lurk within the inner warrens of the spreadsheet of Doom.  

We have several honorary levels based on total points.

First there is the 10,000 club, for those individuals who have scored at least 10,000 lifetime points.  This tier saw the membership of the 10k club swell to 19.  Congratulations, you will soon be contacted to get your measurements for your rose colored smoking jacket.  \

As we move up the ranks, there were no new entrants in the fabled 20,000 club, which has 2 members DaveD and RayR.  I know it can be VERY difficult to have the concepts of both exclusive / member only and RayR coexisting in the same logical entity but there you have it - the math just doesn't lie  Finally there is the LEGENDARY 30,000 club which also only has two members - the honorable and deserving MartinC who is a role model for us all and some other guy we don't really need (or want) to speak about.  Will next year's challenge see one or more entrants into the 40K club?????

Well there you have it, thats stats round up for Challenge XIV is done.  I shall now step back in bask in the warmth of your adoring admiration of my mathamagical incantations and remember kids - always carry the one!

I look forward to confusing you even more as I answer your questions.