In this final segment on my experiences with how to get inspired to complete mounds of hobby progress; I wanted to discuss the method that has helped me out the most over the last few years specifically: The Hobby Progress Challenge!
Sure having that horde army may seem like a great idea. Until you realize you have paint them all...
The illustrious hobby progress challenge has been around on a variety of websites and online communities since I'm assuming the dawn of the internet. However, I'm going to highlight a couple of challenges that I have participated in over the past few years and how they have spurned me on to complete additional units for my armies. I will also discuss several local players and highlight their continuing hobby progress with these different challenges.
What is a Hobby Progress Challenge (HPC) and why does it motivate people?
At its' heart a HPC is a contest of sorts, which pits various forum members (if it run online) against each other to complete a set number of units or models in a prescribed period of time. The exact numbers and specifics can vary greatly from challenge however. Generally what I have found is that members have an X amount of time (usually a month) to complete X number of units or models to get a forum award (badge or signature) or a possible prize.
For some folks the badge or potential prize helps to motivate them throughout the year, however I found for the overwhelming majority of folks out there the primary drive is knowing that you have positive support (via comments and suggestions) from other community members as you complete your projects. Too often I hear comments about big forum sites, stating that they are negative with comments, or you never hear any feedback from others. Being involved in a HPC essential mitigates that issue from the get-go, creating a positive bubble in any group.
Being part of a larger community is sometimes a good thing for hobby progress!
My Experiences with the HPC:
I have participated in only two HPC with two different forums over the past several years. One on the FreeBootaz forums run through 40k Radio and Battlefoam, and the other run by the Independent Characters. The Freebootaz challenge focuses on completing a unit a month, regardless of the original condition of the model and fulfilling a series of focused challenges for additional prizes (community donated to individual winners). The IC's HPC focuses on completing an army list (1850pts) with different rewards and points going to completing fluff and terrain for the army. Each month you have to post a picture of the unpainted model and the month that it is going in for the challenge; then a finish picture in order to get credit. I have participated in the IC's challenge four times now (completing the challenge in the first two years....failing in the third and trying my best so far in the fourth!).
Why I joined the HPC:
I initially joined the HPC to help motivate myself to complete more of my Grey Knights, especially the units that I had somehow managed to collect but knew I was not really going to field all to often. Through reading positive comments and getting a fair bit of positive feedback I was able to get my armies done two years in a row. Cutting through my mountain of models was great, but getting feedback and discussion surrounding my hobby was great and has led me taking new chances and new strategies with my Imperial armies.
These are metal models excavated from Fort Ticonderoga in the Adirondacks. These models are about three hundred years old. I can only assume they were completed in a HPC of yester-year in Colonial 'Merica.
Experiences with the HPC:
The HPC forced me to organize my collection into smaller monthly segments. I had to initially figure out from the start what units I could reasonably finish in a single month, and which ones I would need a vacation or a long weekend to complete. Once I organized my thinking into smaller segments, completing the models was not as daunting or as difficult of a prospect. However, getting the units done towards the end of the challenge was tough and involved some serious time commitment to get them finished off. Ultimately though the year long HPC's were a marathon of painting, as opposed to the sprint race I have found myself in while getting ready for a tournament. Planning months where all I painted was a single independent character became more important so I could spend my free time doing something other than hobbying.
Like taking time to read a good book.
When I failed in the HPC is was entirely my fault as any free time that I had to hobby completely dried up over several months and I was never able to get back into the groove of things. I found that once I fell out of painting for the HPC I did not have a lot of forward drive to paint new units and all forward progress on my guard stopped.
This year so far, I have been able to keep pace with things. For the first month of February I have to complete a single Tech Priest, which I have nearly finished off. I'll be updating this blog with some finished pictures this week (as pictures are indeed due by the end of the month!). For the following month I'm working on my Reaver-Titan, which will be a project of a much different caliber. I have been trying to figure out different monthly commitments and projects to tackle over the following few months that will help me to make a bigger dent in my backlog of Guard units.
Local Member's Experiences with Hobby Progress Challenges:
JamesI- A local Blood Angels player and moderator on the Bolter and Chainsword joined the Freebootaz challenge to paint a unit every month last year. He made a lot of progress over the year and completed the challenge. While he added a lot of new units to his BA army over the course of the year, he took the opportunity to paint some additional Chaos units for his growing Chaos Space Marine army. By having the challenge to motivate him, he was able to complete several models he otherwise would not have bothered with at the time.
Jholtmusic- A local Blood Ravens player started with the IC's HPC last year. He used the challenge to help motivate him to complete a large number of Blood Ravens units throughout the year, and by the end of the challenge he had a sizable force. As he painted through his army he continuously pushed himself and learned some new techniques and improved his abilities greatly. His army is looking better every single day and he now has a good force to pick and choose individual units from for local tournaments and events. He is currently working on a new challenge this year, starting out big with a Knight-Titan. He will be painting a large Legion of a Damned force using Grey Knights for the rules. This is going to be a great looking force and will look great with existing armies.
Fitting Imperial Propaganda for the HPC.
I hope that discussion on the HPC helps to convince folks out there to join up with any HPC that is offered on a forum that you frequent. I would highly suggest joining the IC's HPC this year as it is being run by Loopy, a local gamer in the Capital Region. There are some amazing projects being shown every single day on the boards and I know that they will only get better as the year continues.
As always thank you for your time,
-Skip
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