WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

If one is going to "play" in the environs of the Far East and the Pacific then a certain amount of jungle terrain is expected. Palm trees of varying heights peaking through and around my existing woodland bases should give the "effect" that closely mirrors what I have seen looking out windows while living in Singapore and likewise reflect what I can see now when I look from my balcony in India. Throw in a few broken temple pieces courtesy of a broken bargain store statue and I think the overall effect works.

The palm trees were a bulk purchase from China (via Alibaba) and the other foliage was a combination of typical aquarium offerings sprayed with different hues and shades of green. The bases themselves are 4mm laser-cut ply, that I did a while ago when the place I worked gave me access to some wonderful tools, the usual basing sand, a liberal spray of a typical brown for uniformity, with a light dry brush. This was followed by my regular anti-static grass, and then some clumps of green-tea leaves glued over hacked off pieces of a rubberised front door mat, to break up the base and give it some contour and shape.

Next goal for Far East/Pacific terrain will be some Japanese Bunkers, made in a "tween" scale (for both 20mm and 28mm), though erring on the larger side. I have the idea of doing a "false floor" that can be used to raise up the smaller figures, and sill make the terrain feature look "kinda right".

A FOUR POINT PLAN

A Najewitz original resin, scratch "ruined" by moi. (2025)

The following is a list of some of the scoring, at least the one's relevant to me, that are utilised by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge to measure progress while also promoting some friendly competition within the hobby.

28mm: Foot: 5pts, Mounted/Artillery/Crew Wpn: 10 pts, Vehicle: 20pts.
20mm: Foot: 4pts, Mounted/Crew Wpn: 8pts, Vehicle: 15pts.
15mm: Foot: 2 pts, Mounted/Artillery: 4pts.
Terrain: per 6"cube: 20 pts.

And while it's not something I could ever see myself doing, since I think I would find it adds "pressure" to the part of the hobby I already struggle with. Yet at the same time, I do like the concept as a measure of progress, especially since I "butterfly" between projects while trying to keep my procrastination and distraction at bay.

So while simply counting off the number of figures is one way to achieve a similar goal, I do like that this "scoring" offers a certain equity between scales. So if last year (2025-2026) was a gauge I probably scored approximately 200 points between foot figures, vehicles and terrain, and this could offer a benchmark with which to assess my progress over the next 12 months.

But knowing myself, I have to wonder is this a tool of measured accountability or merely another thing that is great in concept but that I will find lacking and unsupportive in practice? I guess there is only one way to find out?

So the four pronged attack that forms my cunning hobby plan for 2026-2027,

Rebasing - Three of my 20mm WWII armies: the IJA, Australians and Fallschirmjäger (Crete).
New Project - 28mm Bolt Action IJA.
A Diversion - Painting more 15mm ACW, mainly CSA to "bulk out" my army and bring some force balance.
Terrain - Too many options, but always a pleasant side project when I get tired of painting delicate work and just want to "slop" paint around and still make some gains.

There is enough variety here in terms of size, scope and type to keep me from getting "bored" and offer plenty of scope for supporting a year of steady progress.