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-- Year 11 --
March -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Space Marine
April -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- From the Scrapheap
May -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- May Day!
Summer Side Quest -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Mega Open Round
June -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Slow and Steady
July -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Sidekick
August -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Weathered
September -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Chaff
October -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Halloween Special
November -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- All Your Base Are Belong to Us
December -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Open Round
January -- Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Shiny New Toy
February -- No Poll -- Challenge -- Vote -- Finish It!

Year is not over, but as some people are wrapping things up I wanted to start the retrospective thread. Time to look back on what we’ve done, and plan for the future!

Due to some ties, and adding another fixed month in Feb, not a lot of polls this year. I think people enjoyed the Finish It, so unless there is serious pushback, we’ll keep that as another fixed month. Which will make a 3rd of the year set. If anyone has any thoughts on things to change for year 12 ( ) now’s the time to speak up. If not, we can continue to keep plugging along. It feels like there might be an ebb in participation, but I’m not sure if that’s just a global thing we are cought up in, or if there is stuff we can do to boost things up a little. Thoughts, and ideas for topics, are alway welcome.

Any thoughts for a summer side project again?

Thanks as alway for everyone who participates and helps out. Special call out to Midget Gems for the league table.

--

And my personal retrospective:

If my count is right, that’s 57 minis. Which is crazy, seeing that the normal cap is 60. But for September we lifted the model cap, so a lot bodies there. But there were other months (April, February) where I was picking 5 out of a bunch to enter. There were 2 months were I didn’t finish my whole entry. I’m still trying to wrap up the jump intercessors. Overall a good assortment of minis. 6 different armies. In something that I’m still baffled at, my Apothecary won me my first win in May. Some of my favorites this year were the soulblight. The mounted wight king, a few specific skelies, vampires.

The summer side project got me painting about 2,000 points of soulblight, many of whom were also in the monthy comp. Still plenty of undead lurking in the shadows, which might see the light of day if the topics line up. And there is always October.

This month saw the last of my Tyranids. Started in 2020, my hive fleet has showed up in 16 different competitions here. While there is a chance we’ll see more, it’s unlikely.

The Necrons are on the rise though, So I’m going to try to wedge them into the comp whenever I can. I’ve got a little less then 2k points of them either in the primed pile or the PoS to get done, and these comps help a lot with motivation. January is just the start for them.

Overall real happy with what I’ve done this year. Lot of high quality work, good mix of stuff, knocked out a bunch of goals/milestones. Looking forward to the next one!

Big thanks and respect for the Midget Gems and Nevelon for hosting.
None of this would of been possible without you guys.
@Nevelon - That is aLOT of units, how many points is that? (challenge related units finished, including more than 5)
I do not play the war games; my finished models are packed away and live as an images online; therefor the monthly challenge plays a major role (53.7%) for me in getting stuck in the hobby. And is largely responsible for the turnaround.

Finish it Feb sounds good to me.

I dropped out of the hobby for past 2 years because of life, but jumped back in 2025/08 Painting challenge (chaff)
My interest lvl in the hobby is akin to any other form of escapism (book, movie, game, ets)
As long as the global world things, politics, and worldviews stays away from it, then I am good.

Do not have topic ideas my self, but enjoy being surprised/challenged by topic.

Since 08/2025 I finished: 19 models if the bases count as models.
8 bases for cannon crews
3 scratch build cannons
3 dwarf golems
5 scratch built ooze monsters

 Mothsniper wrote:

@Nevelon - That is aLOT of units, how many points is that? (challenge related units finished, including more than 5)

Adding the Include the stuff you culled down to the 5 best makes that math real tricky.

Here is my 2025 total output:

Add to that from 2026:
10 Necron Warriors - 90 points
1 Necron Skopeck Lord - 90 points
3 Tyranid Neurotyrant and 2 neuroloids - 105 points
11 Tyranid Termagaunts - 66 points
3 Tyranid Zoenthropes - 100 points


By faction:
Eldar:
Just the seer. He’s on a diorama base, and not a game ready one, but would technically be 65 points.

Ultramarines:
What you see is what you get. For the comp I managed to finish 5 marines, 221 points. I still have the rest of the squad of jump intercessors in progress, one of which just needs to be based and decaled. I could technically finish him today.

Tyranids:
September actually let me count the 24 models I painted in the month. This February I needed to pick 5 from the 17 I did. 7 termagants and 11 hormagaunts fell outside the scope of the comp, and were painted on the side. So 41 models and 426 points

Soulblight:
All of the Soulblight (barring the vampire on foot, who was done before the comp) can be included due to the Summer Sidequest. So 78 models, 1,910 points. But my “pick 5” for April was from a lot of 31 models. And the only reason I can’t count the vamp is I started her 2-3 days early.

Deathwatch:
Deathwatch is one guy, 15 points

Necrons:
11 guys, 180 points.

So to make a long story short (Too Late!) I painted 137 models 2,817 points for the comp and comp-related activities. The percentage of com year vs. calendar is a little skewed by the tryanids and necrons I did this year, but also the jump chaplain and 10 of the scorpions (5 which were picked for the comp). But the lion’s share of my output is via the comp.

3,172.5
2,817 from comp too, think most would relate to that ratio.

I like to count total, because you are still working on them because of the challenge.

 Mothsniper wrote:
3,172.5
2,817 from comp too, think most would relate to that ratio.

I like to count total, because you are still working on them because of the challenge.

Last year was an abnormality. I normally struggle to get close to 100 models painted. My nominal goal is 52 (one a week, a steady achievable goal) but I can generally hit in the 70-80s. Of course, this year is off to a rocking start as well, so we’ll see how it ends up.

What I make up in volume I compensate for with quality. No Golden Deamons here. Just mid tabletop quality work.

One a week sounds glorious, I would love to advance my armies (these days, Kill Teams) at that kind of rate but instead I shoot for one a month. Thanks to the comp, I was (almost, but not quite) on track again last year.
March '25 Space Marine - Ork Kommando Slasha Boy

April '25 From da Scrapheap - Ork Kommando Rokkit Boy

May '25 May Day! - Ork Kommando Comms Boy

June '25 Slow and Steady - Ork Kommando Snipa Boy

July '25 Sidekick - Ork Kommando Boy (did not finish in time for the comp, but still commenced as a result of the comp and finished/added to the squad eventually)

August '25 appears to be missing from my roster; I'm guessing life got too hectic around this time to have the time to paint

September '25 Chaff - Ork Kommando Grot

October '25 Halloween/Spooky - Ork Kommando Nob

...and it was at this point that my Kommandos squad was complete, again, all thanks to the motivation provided by the monthly competition

November '25 All Your Bases -

December '25 also missing, again, I blame reality

January '26 Shiny New Toy - Pious Vorne

February '26 Finish It

So 10 minis all told; some years I'm not even on the mini a month pace but that's okay. Not only did I finish another Kill Team which I have since gotten two extremely enjoyable games in with, but I also got my first ever podium (after only 9 years of competing in these things) with the Kommando Nob who took third place, and then followed it up with another podium with Pious. So a slow year, but a good year. Looking forward to another year of these with all of you in '26!

Another year done

Go have a look and see your position in the 25-26 league table, I hope you all enjoyed painting and the challenged helped get some models done

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/732117.page#9481149

Thanks, Midget Gems, for keeping the league table updated. It seems like a lot of work.

My year in review, Dakka Challenge edition.

March 2025: Up Through The Ranks


I don't play 40K anymore, and even when I did I didn't play Space Marines. That said, they models are fun to paint.

April 2025: Hryothyogg, Ogre Captain


I love me some old Jes Goodwin Ogres.

May 2025: Kids To The Rescue!


Before starting these models, I had planned to paint them like the Chiquita Banana kids (comics readers Of A Certain Age know who I'm talking about), but it turns out the models look nothing like the kids in the ads.

June 2025: Mutant Warband:


These models pass the arm's length test, but the mold lines were a bear to clean up.

July 2025: Wasteland Weirdos:


From the same company as the Mutant Warband (Black Site Studios), these guys were easier to clean and simpler to paint.

August 2025: Wasteland Lawman:


Yet another Black Site model. I should have photographed this model from a much lower angle.

September 2025: Martians:


I went in big on the Mars Attacks! Kickstarter. I have not, however, played the game. The minis are fun, though.

October 2025: Run Away!


I saw a preview of these models (Wargames Atlantic Civilians), and decided right away that I would paint some for October. I still have a whole bunch more still on sprue, but they'll more likely be assembled with weapons.

November 2025: Catachan Jungle Fighters:


I originally bought the aquarium plants for Ghost Archipelago terrain, but they worked pretty well for this project, as well.

December 2025: Grubb Street Ne'er Do Wells:


Most of the minis I've bought over the last ten years or so were from random Kickstarters, including several from Midlam Miniatures.

January 2026: Women of the Resistance:


Also, several Bad Squiddo Kickstarters.

February 2026: Snakemen:


Now matter how long I am in this hobby, no matter how many cool new minis I buy and paint, I always go back to my Oldhammer Chaos models.

Thanks to Nevelon for keeping the Dakka Challenge going. I likely wouldn't be painting without it.

Space Marine: Mentor Legion Stormtalon - despite a couple of minor rough edges (I totally forgot to do the pilot's arm gold, just the vehicle's engine), very happy with how this turned out. Also my first foray into doing the primary colour with the primer spray, which is a neat little effort-saver I've come back to a few times since.


From the Scrapheap: Brother-Captain Howell Fragman - tried a couple of new things on this, the leopard print cape obviously, and also holding back on highlighting the stone decoration colour to keep the whole palette dark and moody. Fragman took a trophy in the local gaming group's anniversary contest, which netted me five Intercessors, who're fittingly set to be painted as more Star Leopards. Since the Terminator Captain was also available in the super cheap issue one of Combat Patrol, I also now have twelve of them for future use.


May Day!: Hospitallers Chapter Inceptors - inevitably one of them did subsequently get knocked off the shelf and needed to be glued back to his stand. Between that and the hassle of holding the minis directly while painting because I didn't trust the stands, I definitely prefer the 'one foot touching a piece of rubble' approach recent jump boys have been taking, and should I wind up with any other flight stand marines they'll be getting converted that way too.


Mega Open Round: The War Bitch (aka Natalie) - I do still get folks from the gaming group wondering if I'll field her one day, but like a lot of the larger stuff I've done, only if I get around to getting a proper magnet case (currently I just use a plastic box with foam layers).


Slow and Steady: Marines Errant Terminators - when I learned to use contrast paint instead of solid paint for fine lines, most notably 'sketching' out the grids for check patterns. That's seen use on a number of minis since.


Sidekick: Apothecary Cholet - a fun little kitbash, but I don't feel like I pushed myself in any way on this one, so he's just a 'yeah that's alright' addition to the shelf.


Weathered: Plague Marine - my first attempt at a Death Guard, deliberately trying to play up how gross they look rather than painting clean lines and highlights. Stumbling into doing the whole thing with inks over a white base turned out well, and that's become my standard approach for Death Guard.


Chaff: Da Grot Primarchs - pretty rudimentary painting (although as always I enjoyed taking my time with some of the fine details), but I've had this idea ever since second edition when I was wondering if there was anything interesting I could do with all those plastic gretchin, it's nice to finally have it done. Experimenting as I went landed on the high-contrast vibrant green skin tone, which I like and plan to use with the Orks that we're all assuming 11th edition will bring (I have my Waaagh picked out already).


Halloween Special: Kanedanette - honestly, didn't work as well as I'd hoped. The base paint job is decent but unremarkable, my eye wasn't in on the fine details, the built up 'smoke trails' and lightning arc off the wheel are identifiable but not impressive, and by the end of painting I was just kind of going through the motions to get it done. Still, every finished mini is an accomplishment, whether it's a standout or just another addition to the ranks.


All Your Base Are Belong To Us: Flesh Tearers Dreadnought Brother Gatekeeper - very happy with the effect of leaving the front armour off, taking away the 'beer belly' that normally draws the eye with the Redemptor chassis and instead making the flat plane of the 'chest' the key feature. I do plan to do a factory NuDread at some point though, probably a Ballistus if I ever get around to buying one.


Open Round: Christmas Marine - another one of my old colour schemes, although with more conversion than I usually do, tweaking the ankle to change the posture and switching around the arms, whereas normally my Rogue Trader jobs are just standard new minis with maybe one or two minor alterations if it's something really critical to the look of them.


Shiny New Toy: Myphitic Blighthauler - I bought this specifically to be able to try the all-inks paint job on a vehicle, and the Blighthauler's nice and cheap. My Death Guard 'army' at this point, besides the old metal Plague Marine, is this plus the Kill Team starter set seven, of which I've finished a couple of, and recently a Rhino. With Orks coming up I don't see myself committing to a Death Guard force this year, but it's a project I might come back to and expand in the future.


Finish It!: Chaos Jump Lord - not particularly enthusiastic about this conversion, if we're being honest, which is probably why it sat around for ages until this month's theme prompted me to commit, and also why I dawdled for most of the month with other projects before finishing her. Did at least have fun with the small details, particularly painting the chestplate and cape as a corrupted Storm Lord (which is why she's named Stormy now).