from Paul O'G: Season 16 Wrap up

Aloha everyone!
Another AHPC Season comes to an end - this was my 11th but the first I've entered while living overseas (which was quite challenging!). World events and work travel cut into my time but that made my brush time all the more enjoyable for its restorative effects.

Somehow, it always feels like more while I'm painting it! :-)

This year saw me tackle some different projects: Dystopian Wars, Astronauts and Cosmonauts on the moon, a new Crimean War army, and some Retro- SciFi figures. Naturally, the broad shift away from GW figures meant my skull count was well down this year!

I tried something different with a YouTube video of my output. Click to play!

I really enjoyed the return of the Bonus Rounds this year and entered all three. I was thrilled to pick up a shared second place in the "Toy Story" theme with my Moon Walkers.

Overall I posted 828 points, exceeding my 500 point target and surpassing a 'career tally" of 9,000. Perhaps next season I can attempt to crack the 10,000 point milestone!

The struggle is real: well done Alan!

Thank you fellow challengers for making it such fun, particularly our ANZAC paint and chat crew for the banter (and having Curt dial in for the start was especially cool!). I hope we can continue these sessions post challenge. 

Some statistical analysis to keep Miles happy!

Accolades as always to Curt, Sarah and the fabulous minions who enable the entire enterprise. I deeply appreciate the time, effort and focus you deliver with a wonderful sense of humour.  

Aloha & Mahalo! Until next time everyone :-)

From Paul O'G: Galactic Gals! (70 points)

My final submission is my entry for Sarah's Choice: Retro Sci-Fi ladies.

In the vibe of pulp era fiction such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, these jetpack equipped Astro-Angels brook no argument!

The Astro-Angels

The Angels are a compact but highly capable squad deployed for boarding actions, sabotage missions, and planetary patrol operations. Their barracks is also the source of the Angel Martini; a cocktail with a reputation across Starbase Epsilon-4 for its remarkable strength and suspiciously high fuel-cell compatibility.

Team Leader: Sergeant Stacy – Tactical leader. Cool-headed and decisive, Stacy keeps the team focused when missions go sideways, which they frequently do. 

Team Members:

• Polly Plasma – Assault trooper with nerves of steel. Known to walk straight into alien nests with only a smile and a plasma rifle.

• Trixie Tachyon – Scout and reconnaissance expert. Fast, agile, and always the first through the hatch during boarding actions.

• Vera Vega – Veteran blaster specialist and the squad’s steadiest shot in close combat.

• Cassie Comet - Practical joker and a crack shot with a Rocketship Burst Laser.

• Molly “Deadeye” Dawn – When missions require heavier firepower, Molly's signature plasma grenade launcher gleefully turns entrenched enemy positions into expanding clouds of ionized debris.

  

Technical Specialist:

• Daisy “Dynamo” – Engineer and mechanic of the Angel's rocketship Calypso. Daisy keeps the patrol ship flying long past the limits recommended by Galacteer maintenance protocols. When accompanying the team in the field, she provides technical support, demolitions expertise, and a fathomless capacity of dry wit.

  

Captain Roxanne Rayburn - Callsign: “Starfire”

As one of the Galacteer’s most capable field leaders, Starfire commands the Astro-Angels. She is renowned amongst patrol crews as calm under pressure, lethal in combat, and impossibly photogenic in danger zones. A combination that has made her a favourite subject of Galacteer newsreels and recruitment posters across the frontier worlds.

And what team doesn't need a few Red Shirts to come along as a support act? Starfire and the girls often work with Rex “Skylark” Rourke, Ace pilot, and his plasma-cannon toting buddy Bruno “Bulkhead” Kessler.

Together they keep the Galaxy safe from savage aliens, barbaric Space Pirates and the merciless Robots Legion!

Miniatures by Hydra Miniatures and based old school with sand (that I collected from Waikiki Beach!). I tried some new colours and techniques (like lipstick!) that were challenging. These models are close to 40mm so I will claim 7 points apiece for a total of 70. 

That brings my Challenge to a close - thanks once again to Curt and the amazing Minion team who bring all of the goodness together!

From Millsy:

This post is every bit as epic as it sounded when we spoke about it earlier in the week Paul. That mind blowing green paired with the purple vinyl and the bright, super saturated reds, yellows, pinks and blues are marvellous. I feel just like I'm reading a Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon comic.

What a great way to wrap up. 70 retro-tastic points added to your tally mate. Love em!

Cheers,
Millsy

From PaulOG: Russians of the Crimean War! (345 points)

Presenting my first two Russian battalions for my 28mm Crimean War project. While the Russian Army of the time was renowned for having largest cavalry contingent on the continent, Infantry still made up the bulk of the Army. These are typical Line Infantry battalions of a Regiment, each of which fielded 4.

Two Battalions with Regimental officers advancing in Attack columns 

I used different shades across the greatcoats to show varying wear and quality in pre dye-fast colours, and gave the units some identity with one unit sporting a mix of helmets and forage caps (mutzes) which became more common as the war progressed, and another with more strict NCOs ensuring all the troops wear their issued helmets! 

1st Battalion - all in helmets

I enjoyed a good dose of the inevitable "basing dilemma", badly overthinking it before deciding to go with groups of poorly drilled troops with intermingled casualties, representing both bad training and a stoic intent to get to grips with the invaders regardless of cost! Groups of 8 figs make a line unit in Sharp Practice and I figured that four units per Battalion would give some good 'visual heft' as the attack columns advance.

2nd Battalion with mixed helmets and forage caps

Figures are mostly plastic Warlord figs with some metal models by Great War Miniatures mixed in. The former are relatively monopose, but the seperate heads let you impart some great character with modest turns. The latter are wonderful sculpts and mixing them in gives a more dynamic look. Colours by Battle-Flag.com

Normally I hate doing faces but these were very satisfying to do

This project was to be a full Regiment of 4 Battalions plus an artillery battery and a troop of Cossack cavalry...but when real life got in the way I opted to not sacrifice quality just to 'get it done'. I really enjoyed building them and the rest will follow post Challenge. Pity I have no nice mat or terrain in this country to pose them on!

The army grows: this submission plus the skirmishers from Bonus round 3

These units and the two Regimental Officers tally 67 x 28mm foot plus 1 mounted, totalling 345 points: my biggest submission of this Challenge to take me across my 500 point target line. Just in time!

Now feverishly working on a last minute 'something else'...

From Millsy:

I'm pinching this from fellow minion Sylvain so I apologise in advance mate!
We've been talking about these on and off at out paint and chat sessions so I couldn't resist when I saw the title of the post.

I have to say I am NOT disappointed and I 100% endorse your decision to stick with the quality vs. quantity approach Paul. You've done a smashing job and the mix of bulk plastic miniatures with metal command and casualties mixed in really looks the business.

Cracking work buddy and a stonking 345 points added to your tally.

Cheers,
Millsy

From Paul O'G: Lunar Supply lander (15 points)

I've got a brief window at home before my next work trip - just enough time to complete this remote Lunar vehicle, to go with the Astronauts I submitted as the second Bonus Round entry. 

Technically this lander is named the "KANGA-R.0.0" (love it!). It's perfect as an objective for games of LUNAR, where it will deliver key supplies (like air bottles and suit repair patches) for the moon walkers to fight over. This is resin print and was a special release model by Black Site Studio for Adepticon 2025. 

Its a 32mm scaled vehicle but a small one so, so I think it appropriate to downgrade and classify it as "artillery/crew served weapon" for 15 points (instead of 25).

 

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Sylvain: A simple lunar vehicle, but your color scheme is so evocative of the glorious days of space exploration. And your moon surface for the base is spot on. I wish you fun games with this "objective". Fabuleux! 

From Paul O'G: Russian Cruiser Reinforcements (30 points)

A small Cruiser Squadron to reinforce my growing Russian Dystopian Wars fleet. After a couple of weeks travelling away from the Hobby bench (for the best of reasons!) its was nice to get these finished and meet this week's deadline.

Disclaimer: I have used AI to generate a more contextural background.
The models themselves are unchanged and are my own work.

Like the rest of my fleet these are an Ebay rescue, and as a bonus they came with nicely magnetised turrets. I've painted them up in more grungy wartime colours to contrast with the rest of my Fleet. I used historical paint schemes again, this time from the Russo-Japanese war. I like to think of these ships are the offensive night patrollers - going out ahead of the main force to screen against marauding torpedo boats

Yes, they're 'nice" I guess but...

The right backdrop makes quite the difference!

3 x Cruisers at 10 points each, for a total of 30. Thank you!

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Sylvain: Paul, you will have to show me how to AI my pictures, it's astonishing what you can do. But the paint job is even more amazing: with a few well applied touches of bronze, your ships seem to be brimming with power. I can foresee fun games for you. Bravo! 

From Paul O'G: Dystopian Wars Russian Fleet (110)

I already own some Prussian and British ships for Dystopian Wars, so with this submission I start another fleet: Russians! 

Yes the background is AI generated but how cool is it!

Here is the original as proof!

I much prefer the older Spartan Games resin ships but they are getting hard to find now. These are an ebay rescue. A modest fleet for a small battle and I'm naturally planning expansions if I can find the ships at a reasonable price. All are painted in colours of the (real world) Russian Imperial Navy Pacific Fleet of the pre-dreadnought period.

Starboard bow aspect, that best is the Moskva!

Moskva Class Dreadnought looks like a floating citadel more than a ship! Large enough to fit the Admiral's voluminous drinks cabinet and dining set (just)

Borodino class Battleship -the manufacturer proudly states that "this industrial nightmare will forever haunt the ambitions of anyone who dares cross the path of the Russian Coalition" - cool!

These capital ships are escorted by 3 Suvorov class Cruisers and 9 Novgorod Frigates to provide AA and close range support for the bigger ships.

Starboard Quarter aspect

Based on previous AHPC Season scoring (which was Tamsin approved, so you know its a quality assessment!) Dystopian Wars ships have previously been scored as:

   1 point for a flyers & tokens

   5 points for Corvettes, Frigates & Destroyers

  10 points for Light & Heavy Cruisers

  15 points for a Battlecruisers & Battleships

  20 points for big Carriers and Dreadnoughts

This Fleet entry is therefore submitted for 20 + 15 + (3x10) + (9x5) = 110 points 

That's it for a little while from me - I'm going back to Australia for my daughter's Wedding!

Happy New Year everyone! May 2026 be good to you all :-)

________________________________

First, congratulations on your daughter's upcoming nuptials! That's very exciting for the family.

Funny, I have a soft spot for the old Spartan games version of 'Dystopian Wars' as well. I find the newer version lacks that historical touchstone of the original and the older models (like these) are much more characterful. I also remember the rules were a riot, with the 'exploding d6' rule, which often made for catastrophic (if highly entertaining) results.

I really like your Russian fleet here, especially the imposing and turret-festooned Moskva and Borodino. The clustered smoke stacks and circular frigates crack me up, but I love the whole aesthetic. It just works. 

I'll not question the authority of Tamsin as past points arbiter, and will acquiesce to your points tally. :)

Safe travels and have a wonderful time at your daughter's wedding!!

- Curt

From Paul O'G: Astartes Apothecary (9 points)

Hello everyone! Returning for my 11th (non-consecutive) Challenge - this time in a new hemisphere which means it feels like I started a day earlier than usual! Love the new location but its a been a relatively dry year hobby-wise so I'm thrilled to be back at the brushes :-)

Opening my season is a Space Marine Apothecary I've been saving, really liking the evocative posing, having just extracted the progenoid from the deceased battle-brother at his feet. He stares contemplatively at it in remembrance of his fallen comrade before it joins the others he has dangling around his neck, speaking to other recent losses (and ultimately the complete futility of a grim darkness of a far future where there is only War, but I might be reading too much into that...)

My whole Black Templar army is painted in the very restricted "Zorn Palette" as a homage to GW illustrator John Blanche, which means only four colours are used (Black, Titanium White, Ochre Yellow and Red), which is a fun limitation to work with. Mars style basing matches the rest of my force.

Skullz: 7 (I feel they could have done more...)

Submitted for the usual 7 points for a 'heroically" scaled Primaris size model and maybe a couple more for the casualty figure? - a modest start but its great to be back!

____________________________

Welcome back to the Challenge, Paul! 

I was great to catch-up during the Antipodean Paint & Chat and I was curious to what you were working on, and now I know! You've done a fabulous job on this Apothecary, with his white armour and creepy medi-servo arms. The cracked red Martian soil gives a great counterpoint to these relatively monochrome figures. Terrific stuff.

7 points for this Primaris and a couple more for his poor, flattened battle-brother. I look forward to the other projects that I know you have on the burner!

- Curt

Tuesday

 Yes! Its time for another "This Tuesday in History"!!!

2004 - Facebook launched (not fact checked!)

1945 - Yalta Conference foreshadowed the coming Cold War

1826 - "Last of the Mohicans" is published, inspiring the first FIW wargamers 

1194 - the ransom for Richard I "The Lionheart" is paid to his captor the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI

146BC - Third Punic War came to a conclusion with the raizing of Carthage

But anyway, on with the Tuesday show!!!

Welcome to Tuesdays!

I am Minion Paul, abased Servant of Snowlord Curt, and I will guide you through the weekly Tuesday realm

I will consider your submissions, rewarding and punishing accordingly. So Tuesdays can be Inferno, Purgation or Paridiso, according to your efforts. You have been warned...

This is my third cycle as Minion, with a couple of guest appearances as Duels Wallah thrown in also. It's also the first time in 10 years that I haven't participated myself, having recently relocated to a deserted tropical island in a different hemisphere (OK, its hardly deserted, but I don't own a brush or pot of paint at the moment so you get the point!)

Actual image from the pre-Challenge Minions' conference, at Snowlord's palace of the damned (Absent:Lady Sarah)

Who better than a grumpy, non-painting Minion to ensure the Tuesday crew get the full Inferno experience! Bwahahahah! I might change the spelling in your submission to proper King's English, or even (gasp!) use the metric system; True Devilry!

Seriously, there are some great submissions today with wonderful variety in subjects and topics. I'm looking forward to working with the talented Tuesday crew during the Challenge.

Let the paint flow!

Paul

Tuesday Minion

PS Its a bit weird doing this from almost the same time zone as Curt - for us antipodeans its usually 17 hrs and the international dateline between us, which requires a bit of weekly mental math!

Adieu Season 14 from the OG Boys!

Another year and another great Dad & Lad hobby event! Naturally, we lost some productivity by playing games against one another, but its a great problem to have and we both met our challenge targets which was great! 

From Paul: 

With my work schedule having me away for more than a third of the Challenge, I set a modest target to achieve 8,000 lifetime challenge points (over 10 Challenges) but ended up cracking a thousand points for only the fourth time, which was nice!

More lead models than plastic this year, so it felt like a thousand points worth carrying it!

I had a couple of different projects prepped but in November & December we enjoyed a few games of To The Strongest, which reinvigorated our stalled Roman Civil Wars project from AHPC IX. That became a throughly wonderful focus and I've now got the army ready for the tabletop to face Alan, which is exciting! Naturally, there was space for some Beastmen to celebrate the release of The Old World too :-)

And I was pleased to be able to help in my own small way, as the Duels Wallah and Guest Minion when required. I look forward to returning the support crew again in the future.

From Reilly: 

While thoroughly distracted with preparing to move house, I set a low bar to get the last few units done in order to finish my 3000+ point Warhammer Fantasy Battles Spider Goblin army. Whilst happy that I managed to get the few units done, inevitably with the release of The Old World more units to paint came flooding in and the project continues to grow. 

These massive spiders never cease to impress me
with their presence on the table... before they die.

From us both: Many thanks indeed to our Minion Millsy (the Antopodean 'paint and sip' sessions were excellent!) the broader minion crew that made Season XIV happen, and the wonderful AHPC community for their encouragement, banter and kind comments.

As ever the lion's share of gratitude goes to Curt and Lady Sarah - another wonderful hobby event, and thankyou for your tireless enthusiasm and passion for this project!!!

See you next year!

From Paul OG: Roman Baggage elements (33 points)

Yes I know I said I had submitted my last post but I got home from my travels early enough to get these baggage elements finished before I departed again.

First up is this Centurion's Tent by Debris of War. A lovely one piece resin model, it really sets the Camp scene well. The design is of leather panels stitched together with goat skin reinforcing over the seams

And if you are setting up the Centurion's tent, then it needs supplies- in this case a wine cart! This is by War Bases and comprises a mdf wagon, metal oxen and a resin insert for the wine amphorae. I added the grass to give the impression of straw packing around them

Points wise:

• the tent has the volume of approx 1/8 of a standard terrain cube, being 2.5 points
• for the cart I propose 12 points, being 2 x 28mm Oxen and 2 points for the cart & wine jars

How thematic that my last post is dated on the Ides of March!

From Millsy: Good to see you safely home from your travels Paul. Clearly the lack of brush time has been playing on your mind if you jumped straight back onto the tools on your return! I've always found these Roman tents a weird affair, so overengineered with all the ropework on the outside but they're certainly iconic for the same reason. Nice work on the oxen and cart, I like the way you've represented the straw packing. I've scored the cart as a vehicle which means your total is 33 points for your final(?!?) entry mate.

From PaulOG: Last Hurrah Legionaries (118.5 points)

I'm away for work and wont be back until after the Challenge. I'll complete my Duel Wallah duties from afar but this is my last submission for AHPC 14.

Despite having planned (and acquired models) for tribal warband allies for Caesar, I recently discovered that in fact... I cant under the army lists! Oops. An emergency resupply of legionaries was required.

So here are two more Legionary units, using 1st Corps models and taking me to a total of 10. Frustratingly, these are smaller sculpts to the rest of my army, more true 25s really. That said, they look good on their own bases and their poses give them a different look to my other troops. Shield decals by LMB Studios, and 2 fancier ones were hand painted for the Centurion and his Signifer to mix things up.

Another Command Figure to take charge on the wing, a Warlord sculpt this time. Nicely detailed but  more statuesque and fancy in style, as befitting his rank. Maybe a wealthy Senator's son spending time with the Legions to further his political career back in Rome after the campaigning season.

Ave Caesar!

Next a pair of Lictors, destined to accompany Caesar on my army's command base. I got the General's famous white charger done but sadly ran out of time for the man himself and really didn't want to rush such an iconic figure. So here they are, albeit unbased - mea culpa!

Their broad flat features and big noses are very Wallacus and Gromitus!

And finally a Hoplomachus for my gladiator ludus, filling a gap in my retinue. This style of fighter was modelled on the Greek Hoplite and was distinguishable by his spear, small shield and greaves. Traditionally, a Hoplomachus would be paired to fight either a Threax or Murmillo.

I've gone all-in with the Hoplite style and am very happy with how he turned out with the matched red and white apparel.

That's 22 completed figures @ 5 points each (110) and 2 more unbased @-25% (7.5 points) for a total of 117.5 points. Added to my tally of 882 gets me to...999.5 points for the challenge. So I've hoping my hand painted shields are worth a bonus point between them to squeak me over the 1k milestone, and I throw myself at the mercy of the Minion :-)

From Millsy: Ave dudorum! Very nice indeed Paul and despite the difference in size I'm sure these will fit very well alongside your other units in the army. Wallacus and Gromitus made me laugh out loud, so I feel I must respond by asking "Plus caseus Gromitus?" Your efforts will be missed for the remainder of AHPC 14 but with a bonus point you at least sneak over the line and hit your target for the year. Safe travels and hurry home mate, my Numidians are keen for a fight!

From PaulOG: Allied Gallic Cavalry (132 points)

These two units are Crossing the Rubicon for me - I just don't do units of cavalry for any period, so these took some working up to. But at last, here are my Allied (Mercenary) Tribal Cavalry to fight for Caesar.

Gallic Cavalry with attached General and retinue

Having procrastinated for years, these brought me real joy and I did the models in a weekend, including hand painting all the shields. These aren't anything special, but they are special for me - I even tried a dappled grey for the Chieftain as a stretch goal. To be honest, it took a few goes.

Look at those great Gallic moustaches!

I've done something a bit different with the basing too - I wanted to depict them as a thundering mass of terrifying horse flesh bearing down on the trembling legionaries of Pompey Magnus. So they are on deeper bases to give them space for dynamic placement, and I chunked one of them up with even more figures to depict the attached General and his retinue.

I bought the figs second hand, and while I'm certain the Command figs are Crusader models, I'm not sure about the rest.  All are metal though, so these bases have a very satisfying heft when you pick them up :-)

So there they are - a dozen 28mm mounted figs for 120 points, pending any hand painted shield bonuses. If AHPC is about pushing oneself, either in productivity or new styles, then these Cavalry models have certainly taken me out of my comfort zone and helped me round out this Army project. Thanks for the encouragement!

From Millsy: I'm really pleased to hear you've enjoyed painting these Paul given how much you dislike cavalry as a general rule. Sometimes once you start enjoying something it sticks so maybe in future mounted minis won't present such an obstacle. Your end product here is absolutely smashing I have to say and if mine had come out so well I'd have been equally pleased. Beautiful work especially the shields which I'm awarding an extra point each. Cracking effort mate!