The Arena Challenge is complete! You didn’t think we forgot about it, did you? If you’re new to the Arena, in short, it was a challenge to a group of painters from within our offices to complete a selected force by the end of last November. This time, we focused on Combat Patrol for Warhammer 40,000 and Spearhead for Age of Sigmar, with each contestant picking an army and needing to finish their selected box at a bare minimum, while they were free to paint beyond that to their heart’s content.
We started strong with a lot of enthusiasm, having 12 contestants sign up to brave the multicoloured challenges of the Arena. They each had to paint a test mini for their respective 40K or AoS forces to start with, before then moving onto the first unit (or two). We last checked in on them over the summer, and you may have already noticed a slight fluctuation in numbers. As is often the case with many a hobbyist, the dreaded adversaries of “real life,” “jobs,” and the ever-present hobby butterfly syndrome took its toll. Where 12 entered, now only 5 remain.
No doubt, many of our fallen challengers will pick back up their force at a later date when inspiration strikes, but for now, we can crown our 5 winners, beating out all the rest to claim the title of 2025 Arena Champions. As you’ll see, several of them even painted up a “few” more models than were required, more than making up for those who faltered before the finish line. At the end of the day, fun was had, models were painted, and hobby was enjoyed, which makes everyone a winner!
Ian: When motivation strikes, you just keep going. That was one of the best experiences of painting an army I have ever had, and I have painted quite a few, I can tell you! It's always a mixture of quality and quantity; you want a good enough standard to be happy with, and without each model taking SOOO long that you think you will never finish. This hit all the right notes. I didn't want to stop, so I kept going, all Summer long.
I'm happy to admit that each model will never win any prizes, but as a collection, I am proud and will be using them on the tabletop. I tweaked the process as I went along, and by the end, I was completing approximately 10 models a week or a couple of the big dudes.
I always thought swarm armies were daunting because of the total number of models you end up painting, but with a limited speed paint palette and some good music in the background, everything came together. Now, first I need to find somewhere to put this collection and then consider what's next, I quite like the idea of Skaven...
Lasse: Painting up this combat patrol was a great learning experience for me. Colour selection has always been my Achilles' heel, so going for a strong, simple theme really helped me here. I knew I wanted them to be rusty, so the easiest choice for the lenses was a complementary blue, and that was basically it. Using Warpaints Fanatic Fresh Rust and Dark Rust thinned down with water or caked on in bit clumps was key to getting the look, but the final drybrush of Warpaints Fanatic Gun Metal and Cobalt Metal really sells the effect. And it’s such a fast way to paint - I only had to be neat with the lenses, everything else is just splashed on! I’ll definitely get a lot of use out of that technique on future projects.
We’ll have to see how much action these rusty robots get on the table this year, with both Trench Crusade and a new edition of Blood Bowl to play as well, but I hope they’ll be as deadly as I’ve made them look!
Danni: I really enjoyed painting the Nighthaunt models from the Spearhead box. But 30+ models is still somewhat of a struggle when you are relatively new to miniature painting, even if most of it is done with Speedpaint.
You still have to base them and paint that part, so it can be a bit overwhelming. But I really like the outcome. I hope I can find some more time to paint in 2026. I already have several things lined up that I am really stoked about, but I also have a big pile of shame that needs some attention. Hopefully, there will be time for it all (lies).
Sarah: Finishing up my army was so much fun! I am the impatient type, so using Speedpaint Markers was the absolute right choice for me. I have completed my army using only the Speedpaint Marker Starter Set and the Hoplite Gold Speedpaint Marker. I do admit, I would have liked the luxury of being able to use the skin colour and add the purple and pink colours that were released later, but I didn’t have access to those when I painted my army! And, honestly, having a limited palette is also a nice challenge and has probably also ensured better coherence between the different units in my army.
I used Pallid Bone to paint the skin of all the miniatures in my army, and Blood Red to paint all the fabrics. Their hair was painted with Grim Black, and the snake tails with Orc Skin. I used Hardened Leather for boots and other leather and wood details, Polished Silver for weapons, and a lot of gold details with Hoplite Gold. I used Gravelord Grey for the bases, and Fire Giant Orange, Magic Blue, and Zealot Yellow to paint some other details on the miniatures. In that way, I got around all the colours in the set.
Next time, I will for sure use Speedpaint Markers as well, because they are so much faster and require much less prep and cleaning time. It is really nice that the range now includes a total of 20 colours, so you get some more nuances to choose from. Speedpaint Markers are definitely the way for me. Now, I’m considering using them to paint some board game pieces as well!
Oliver: Another round of the yearly painting challenge here at The Army Painter is completed, and I am extremely happy with my Arena project for 2025.
Like the Tau force I did last year, I feel I managed to conjure up another striking scheme that really pops on the tabletop, and I cant wait to expand the collection over the coming years.
An airborne Drukhari force is just so visually stunning, and I’m sure there will be more Raiders and Venoms on my paint desk in the future. I hope to see either the Tantalus back or another new, bigger hovercraft for them in the next edition of the game.
For now, though, this force is on hold for a little while, as I ponder which project I should choose as my ´new year - new army´.
The new John Blanche sets are very tempting to use as palettes for a different creative challenge. Always new avenues to pursue in this hobby...
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We encourage you to participate in the Arena Challenge at home by painting your own Combat Patrol or Spearhead with Warpaints Fanatic, Air, or Speedpaint. Be sure to tag your posts with #thearmypainter and #arenachallenge so we can follow along with your progress!
