Gearing up for the Analogue Painting Challenge

It is almost time for the 8th Analog Painting Challenge. For those not familiar with the Challenge, the concept is simple: you publicly set yourself a goal to paint a certain amount of miniatures in three months (running from 20th December to the 20th March).  You then post the results on the Analog Painting Challenge blog and see what others are doing also. The kind owner of the blog and his minions then keep a running tally of your accomplishments to see how you do compared to your goal.

The idea is to encourage people to paint. It's not a real competition, though it has competitive elements of course. Moreover, you can directly challenge your friends who partake in the Challenge if you like. To track your painting goal, a system of points is used. So, for instance, a fully painted and based 28mm figure is worth 5 points, while a 15mm figure is worth 2 points. Mounted figures, and support weapons are worth double (so 10 points for 28mm) and vehicles triple (you guessed it! 15 points!).

A useful addition to my Afrika Korps.

Last year I set myself a goal of 400 points (that's eighty 28mm miniatures) which I almost made. I'm gearing up to do better than last year. Though you're not supposed to put any paint on the minis before the start of the Challenge, you are allowed to assemble and base coat your models. So it's time to for me clear that backlog of miniatures!

These guys have been sprayed grey ready for the challenge.

So what to finish... I have that Afrikakorps project from a few blogs ago that I need to start. I've got all the miniatures and vehicles I need assembled and I've added in some support weapons.

These are being assembled and undercoated ready for the challenge.

And then there are 'a few' other side projects I've got on the go. I still have to finish my Algoryn for Beyond the Gates of Antares and to finish those Freeborn conversions I did a while back. How time flies!

Ferals for Antares.

The Challenge is a good reminder to put miniature painting back into my busy schedule. After all, I should be doing the equivalent of the Analogue Painting Challenge every quarter (3 months), not just once a year!