The AHPC XV (2025 edition).

 

So everything is starting for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge once again.

It runs from December 21st 2024 up to March 21st 2024 and as usual I missed out on the sign up period, as there are only 80 places available.

So once again I'll just be painting and gathering points for my own personal challenge and to clear some of the backlog.

I also have a couple of projects which I need to get completed or game worthy, as I've signed up to an online campaign for 2025 (more on this when it actually starts) and i want to get my Old World forces on the table I'll probably focus on those things.

The scoring system is as before:

10mm foot figure = 1 point.

10mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew. served weapon = 3 points.

10mm vehicle = 6 points.

28mm foot figure = 5 points.

28mm mounted figure, artillery piece or crew. served weapon = 10 points.

28mm vehicle = 20 points.

I'm including the 10mm scoring as well, because Fraser gave me some Legions Imperialis stuff to work on, so I may as well score points for those!

As for the total I'm aiming for, a good benchmark is meant to be around the 300 point mark, and in the last challenge I got 475 points completed.

This time around I think I'll try to push things a little and try to get 600 points worth of gear finished off during the three months of the challenge.

With that said, may our paints never dry, may we not drink our paint water, and may the challenge be fruitful!

Until next time, have nice day...

Yellow Platoon, H Company, 352nd Death Korps of Krieg.

 

"ON MY WHISTLE, ADVANCE!" came the shout down the line. Great coated infantrymen clutched their lasrifles, waiting with anticipation to begin the charge towards the objective.

Knelt in the dust and rubble, Sergeant Thieres gave a last prayer to the Emperor as he check his laspack for charge before slamming it home in his pistol. He looked around at his men readying themselves and gave a last brief.

"Our entry is the hole blasted in the wall opposite us. We have an open street to cross first, so as fast as possible, no stopping or bunching up".

The scream of overhead artillery was replaced with the booming retort of explosions and then a shrill whistle announced the start of the charge. Each Lieutenant blowing their whistle in turn to get the men moving.

Hurling himself out of cover, Thieres ran forwards, his bellowed cry of terror and rage lending him the strength to charge the enemy strong point.

 A guardsman Infront of him doubled over suddenly and dropped onto the ground lifeless, half a dozen others in the charging group fell, crumpled in the debris. With no time to mourn or check, Thieres urged his men onwards and made for the objective building.

More were cut down before they reached the building, Thieres slammed his back into the wall, his heart pounding with adrenaline.

He released a stick-grenade from his belt, priming it and threw it through the breach where it detonated with teeth loosening force. Smoke and screams coming from within.

Before the enemy could recover, he charged through, snapping shots left and right from the hip, the bright las-shots glowing in the smoke.

Two bloodied rebels looked before him, the Sergeant cut them down with a series of swift shots before his lasgun was wrenched away.

Throwing a haymaker, the rebel backed off giving Theires time to draw his pistol and Chainsword, before diving back into the fight. The rebel swung the butt of his rifle at Theires' head, swaying aside he kicked the man in the groin and slashed his Chainsword down, cleaving from shoulder to waist and killing the man.

More troopers poured through the breach, and Theires knew they had to keep moving, a single grenade amidst their number now could stop their assault in its tracks. He roared with the release of fury and adrenaline, and continued the slaughter...

*****

So finally I made headway on the Krieg force for Fraser again*, the last time was the Company Command Squad, this time it's a bit more substantial.

Yellow Platoon, H Company, 352nd Death Korps of Krieg Regiment:

A 5 man Platoon Command Squad and two 10 man Infantry squads, this is the minimum size platoon, and I have another 20 men to add to this platoon before it's done.

This organisation is the classic style from 5th edition and backwards, but it can be organised for 10th edition, making the force suitable for most editions of 40k that Fraser wants to play with them.

I picked these up again, because the Plastic Crack Podcast run an Open Painting Competition each month, and Novembers was "A Company/Battalion/Command for your game" and the closest I could get was a Platoon.

There is no prize for this OPC in the group, just the satisfaction of getting something done.

So here is the Lieutenant and the Command Squad. All their left shoulder plates and the flag trim are yellow to denote which platoon they belong to:

One of the squads, I themed this platoon around advancing so they got most of the running legs from the boxes I opened up:

The second platoon, the urban based are really showing their contrast here:

An overhead photo of the entire platoon, showing more of the bases off:

And a final group photo of the finished models. Like the Command Squad, I tried to vary a few of the greatcoats in shade, but it hasn't come out very well on the photo:

Originally I intended to do the minimum sized Company of Two Platoons worth of troops, with an Autocannons squad thrown in for extra.

But real-life got in the way and I simply ran out of time to get Red platoon  or the Heavy Weapons finished.

Here is a photo of the two platoons and one Autocannon team in progress, just after the Agrax Earthshade stage:

They'll be finished soon, soni can chalk them off of the "to-do" list.

Now onto the reveals of the new KRIEG stuff which is coming out in January next year. But this point everyone will have seen these photos, so I'm just offering my personal opinions on them.

The Command Squad is a mixed bag for me.

The top two models, the Standard and the "Grenadier" are misses personally. They just seem to lack that spark to make me WANT them. Whilst not as Lacklustre as the Sanguinary Guard or Inquisitor Coteaz reveals, I feel that these two and something further down are the weakest:

Sticking with the command squad, the officer is alright, I'm not a fan of the excessive detail going on on his chest plate. The medic however...now we're getting somewhere, he has the perfect look of creepy healer which you'd expect from a.medic in a gas mask. I also like how his greatcoat isn't button up at the knees, but hangs straight down:

The Commissar is brilliant, much better then the Cadian Commissar, but the vox operator and servo skull make great models. I always feel like 40k needs more gothic weirdness like servo-skulls and such, something which seems to be lacking more and more with Games Workshops "corporatization":

The Krieg Field Artillery is a must buy**, it has that perfect mix of historical flavour and 40k Gothic Sci-Fi fuckery which is what made classic 40k it's own beast:

And then we get to the Engineers... definitely the weakest offering of the reveals.

I'm not sure what they were thinking mixing the Grenadier's and Engineers together into one model, but it's just odd. The engineers always had the smaller jacket as they majority fought in tunnels or at the "sap" end of the tranches being pushed forward, the smaller jackets giving them greater movement.

And the Goliath, what the fuck were they thinking turning it from a remote controlled tank into a damn Roomba?

Those are just my thoughts on the reveals, the Deathriders I won't cover because things are already in motion with Deathriders and Fraser has 16 of the Forge World models which I've started to build, I have suggest that he just gets the mounted officer to add to them, but we'll see.

So for a while yet, the Krieg will have their time to shine, more so with a project I've signed up for, but more on that in future posts.

Until next time, have nice day...

*I'd make a terrible Commission Painter, given I've had these models for over a year now from him and haven't gotten anywhere sorted with the army...

**Or it would be if I was bothered about actually fielding only GW models.

A day after the reveal, the internet was greeted with at least three different STL files to 3D print of the new stuff...take from that what you will!

Hobby Spending - November 2024.

 

A basic supplies month for spending for November, with just a couple of washes bought to replenish stocks.

The main numbers:

Hobby money spent:

1 pot of Agrax Earthshade: £4.25.

1 pot of Seraphim Sepia: £4.25.

Total for November ber: £8.50.

Budget for September: £50.

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £85.40.

I've labelled some of this month as "Hobby Money" because I did buy other products when I went to Element Games, however these were presents from people.

At the end of September I celebrated my fortieth trip around the sun, and the accompanying fanfare that birthday includes.

I was trying to get hold of the Forces of Fantasy and Ravening Hordes books for The Old World from my family, but everywhere I tried seemed to be out of stock.

Element Games had both of them in the other day, so I was sensible and picked them both up, meaning I can now put together a proper army to play games with Cardboard Fortress, as TOW is definitely his game at the moment.

Both books were £27.50 each, making the pair of them £55 in total, not too bad.

Where did I leave my Chaos Warriors?

So, until next time, have nice day...

November Motivation.

 

As Christmas approaches...

Remember this if anyone tries to say you have too many games/rulebooks.

 Until next time, have nice day...

Mechanicum Thanatar Siege Automata.

 

With the recent releases of the Adeptus Mechanicum for Horus Heresy and Legions Imperialis, I decided to finish off a model which has been languishing on the rear of my desk for far too long.

This is a Forge World resin Thanatar, the one which has just recently been replaced by the new plastic kit.

As mentioned I'd previously work on this and then stopped, this was how it looked earlier this evening.

Mostly finished, notable points are the highlighting on the yellow and black areas, and final assembly before drybrushing the base.

After those bits were done, I quite like the glowing blue of the plasma mortar.

The model was missing something, so I decided to try a technique I'd seen on YouTube about chipping the armour panels using a bit of sponge and some tweezers.

I cut off about a half-inch square from the farm and bundled it up in the tweezers end, before pulling out the Leadbelcher.

It gives a very subtle armour chipping effects, but one which I feel pulls the model all together and looks a bit more "lived in" so to speak.

The flash has wash out the plasma coils, but they are painted with the turquoise contrast.

The hazard striping are a suggestion from Fraser after talking about what the model needed, we're both fans of the 2nd/3rd edition look of the universe, where hazard striping was everywhere, even on boltguns!

Some of the turquoise has bled back into this photo, and you can see the drybrush I used to represent kicked up dust from the urban ruins*.

Speaking of the urban ruins, the tank trap pieces on the base are Forge World resin gates, suitable cut, posed and damaged to look like concrete tank traps on the base of the model.

Out from Dommwas the catalyst for this idea.

With that out of the way, and in Martian red, I looked at other colour schemes and found this example.

That looks so good in the black with the rust gathered in all the recesses. If I could go back in time and start again with this model. I probably think I would follow this guy painting my own as it looks really really nice.

Duncan has one which he wasn't happy with how he'd started to paint it...hmmm...

Until next time, have nice day...

*Fraser initially wanted all his armies to match basing wise, so an urban, destroyed city was chosen. But that 

The Solar Watch - Part 5.

 

They had burned for Mercury as soon as the last members of the watch had docked. Their sleek starship contrasting with the slab sided bulk haulers and security forces of the Imperial Navy, slid through the darkness, engines burning bright blue.

"What did Yor'Tar Dawne say exactly?" Custodian Caesarian Allux asked, striding into the huge briefing chamber, surrounded by his squad mates. Their armoured boots ringing on the polished floor.

"Greetings Allux, as gruff as usual I see" Vexilla Sanish said.

"I have no time for pleasantries when threats are in Sol!" Allux snapped, several other Custodians nodded or watches impassively at the arrival.

"Noted" Sanish replied, moving to the projector table and activating it with a sprinkling of unguents before pressing a series of buttons.

The machine flared into life, the long range auspex scans of their ship giving them a topological map of the Mercury Command Hive, a glowing eagle icon represented Yor'Tar Dawnes' current position.

"From what we were told, the heretic Herath, who translocated away from the assault of squad Maecanius. He has reappeared in the Mercury Command Hive and a hidden cult had risen up. Yor'Tar Dawne is currently combating..." Sanish trailed off staring at the pict flickering in the air.

A collective gasp rose as the Custodes watched.

"What is that?" Tristraen Gallimadean asked, pointing to a spot on the pict.

The top of the Command Hive appeared to be glowing on the 3 dimensional hologram, growing brighter with each passing second.

"Scanning for details" the servitor attached to the auspex said, "cannot comply, insufficient data".

The entire top of the hive flashed bright white for a second before disappearing and being replaced with an angry red stain on the pict.

"Holy Terra" Allux gasped.

Ominously, Sword-Champion Yor'Tar Dawnes' icon had disappeared from the pict.

"Burn the engines harder, get us into teleportation range as quickly as possible" Vexilla Sanish roared, "And get us in contact with Yor'Tar Dawne!".

*****

Another four Custodian guard have been finished for the Solar Watch force.

Not much to say about these as they follow the same paint and basing schemes as laid out in previous posts.

With these four done, it brings the total count to:

To do:

• Shield-Captain 
• 4 Custodian Guard
• 3 Allarus Terminators 
• 6 Venatari

Done:

• 2 Sword-Champions
• Vexilla
• 10 Custodian Guard 
• 3 Allarus Terminators 

So with sixteen models or the thirty now completed, I am very happy to say I'm past the halfway point of this army.

Up next is mostly the bigger specialist unit of the jump-pack equipped Venatari, who are brilliant models. Let's hope GW or FW don't bin them off like most of FWs other catalogue of models*.

Here's a couple of fully finished photo's of everything so far:

Until next time, have nice day...

*Recently nearly all FWs Imperial Guard kits have gone out of production, along with a lot of the Imperial Guard characters on the regular GW web store. My beloved Catachan's as well...but the reveal isn't too far away for what is being released next year.

Trench Warfare - part 1.

 

As I continue to drag myself forcibly out of the hobby funk I've been in for the previous could of months, I decided to make a start on some scratch-built terrain.

I've always watched terrain crafting videos on YouTube, and used to make various terrain projects with my late father. Granted these were for railway modelling, not Wargaming, but the basic skills* are all the same.

When I was building the table, I took the opportunity to rip some various size terrain bases from an extra sheet of 6mm MDF I had previously purchased.

Hills, Woods, Building bases and two sets of four foot long trench systems were planned out and ripped from the sheet. The edges being beveled to an angle with an electric sander**.

Cutting ahead in the photos here, I have already glued down the polystyrene which will form the scree of the trench, where the dirt has been thrown to create cover.

Craters were also dug into this at several points down the line.

I wasn't happy with the height of the trench compared to a model (these are game pieces after all not diorama's) and I wanted a little extra detail at the back, so I took some 5mm foamcore and added a small hollow all the way down the length of the trench. The idea is that the duckboards will be damaged or missing in places and this will give me a good way to add some limited water effects and variation to the flooring.

And the obligatory destroyed section from a direct hit.

As in the previous Crater build, it was on with the aluminium tin foil to smooth out the land forms.

And parts 1 and 2 together to see how they line up.

Then as per the previous build, it was on with the forbidden battery, of interior filler, PVA, brown paint and water mix to get a basic covering of the land down and to smooth out some areas.

Once this was dry, I did a second coat of it in. Few places, then covered the entire piece in OVA and builders sand before grabbing whatever nearly empty can of spray paint I could find (in this case Flames of War British Desert) and using that to lock in the sand layer.

I'm not entirely happy with the joins between sections,  it I can live with it, as once again, these are gaming pieces, they're going to get knocked about being out into storage and taken out for the games like.

At this point I decided to check what it was actually looking like with a few models.

I was quite happy with that, so turned my attention to the next step...

Duckboards, the wooden floorboards which stopped soldiers standing in water and mud for months on end and suffering from trenchfoot.

Not a job I was looking forward to but an essential one.

First step was to gather supplies, taking my son to our local McDonald's garnered these coffee stirrers which would be extremely useful...and cheap!

Then it was just on with the job of cutting them to length in bulk. A good podcast or film in the background helps with this immensely.

Once this was ready, with no other choice, it was down with the PVA and on with the boarding. Time consuming, but worth it.

I initially started off with water down PVA but it wasn't sticking. So I switched to neat PVA and once it had started to grab and I had the flooring done, I slapped a couple of coats of watered down PVA over the entire thing.

The same process was used with the wooded revetment (vertical) boarding which holds up the wall of the trench.

For supports I turned to a bag of BBQ skewers I had picked up at the end of the summer when everything was reduced in the supermarkets.

With some cheap superglue these were glued to every joint of the revetment boards and left to dry, leaving me with this.

The entire piece was then given another two or three coats of watered down PVA to seal and secure everything in place.

I'm working on the second section of trench and am aiming to get all four feet of this side done before I start painting it so it will match along the full length.

I'm going to go back in with some filler/paint mixture and add some built up dirt around the joins between the floor and wall, and maybe add a few crates and supplies up and down the length.

Nothing overtly period specific or 40k specific, as I have been eyeing up the Wargames Atlantic WW1 range which looks awesome and their STL additions are brilliant. So these trenches will remain generic in order to be used for multiple periods.

I'll post an update with the second part once it's at this stage.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Sadly, with the rise of plastic and pre-built terrain over the past years, these scratch-building skills seem to be dying out amongst hobbyists.

**I did so many in one go that I was joking that I would give myself vibration white finger (a disease caused by using vibrating power tools for extended periods of time over and over again, ex-miners suffer a lot with it. My father got a claim in the late 90s/early 00s when the UK government was paying out for it.