Fast Grow Challenge: Mission Accomplished!
4th Nov 2026
Alex Gordon
That’s a wrap on the Halo Flashpoint Fast Grow Challenge!
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen new Fireteams coming to life all over the world, with an incredible amount of participation and positive energy from the Halo Flashpoint community.
There’s been an absolute ton of excellent Fast Grow content appearing across YouTube and Instagram, so if you haven’t already, have a browse through #HaloFastGrow and see what everyone painted for the challenge.
We’d also like to say a massive thank you to our friends at The Army Painter for supporting the challenge, supplying Team Mantic with plenty of paints and hobby gear, and providing the prize for our Fast Grow giveaway.
Fast Grow Giveaway Update
Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos for the Fast Grow giveaway. We’ve received a lot of entries, and plenty of lovely-looking finished Fireteams along with them.
We now need a little time to work through all the submissions and validate the entries. Once that’s done, we’ll carry out the random prize draw and contact the winner directly by email. So, if you entered, keep an eye on your inbox!
Now, let’s see how Team Mantic got on with the challenge.
Ronnie - Noble Team
RR: This was a blast! I'd been meaning to paint Noble Team and this was exactly the challenge I needed to get my brush out!
Because of the time limits, I kept my ambition in check - and went with the painting technique I've used for the last 35 years - basecoat black and dry brush up from there...with a dark wash at the end to hide all my mistakes!
Delighted with the result, used the same basing as my other Spartans...just in case I need a huge army of them at some point! 😉
Right, terrain next, then some games!
Duncan - Covenant
DA: Phew, that was a bit of a blur! My decision to paint five models, all with different colour schemes, seemed like such a good idea at the beginning…
It does feel great to have a whole fireteam painted and ready in such a short time though. One of the things I was looking forward to most was to finally trying out the Army Painter Warpaints Fanatics paints, and I have been very impressed with their coverage, smoothness and vibrancy. So a big thumbs up there!
I knew I would be using lots of different colours, so I tried to stick to a narrower range of techniques. Each model was base coated, before being given an all-over wash with either Strong Tone, Soft Tone or Dark Tone. I then applied a single highlight to most of the hard surfaces (like armour and weapons), and a drybrush to organic areas such as hair and skin. This bought me enough time to be able to lavish a little more attention on some of the fancier areas like the energy blade and the Hunter’s glowy bits.
All in all an enjoyable, if slightly hectic, experience! Next stop? Getting my Covenant on the gaming table!
Jonny - Fireteam Phoenix
JM: “Halo: Flashpoint Fast Grow Challenge? Completed it, mate!”
I’ve always preferred building and kitbashing models to painting them, as my many sad grey armies will attest. However, I’m always amazed at how quickly I can paint models when I have a challenge to work towards. Maybe I just need someone to challenge me every time I build a new unit!
Over roughly three evenings, I spent around six or seven hours getting these models finished.
Setting myself the task of replicating a Realtree camouflage pattern on a miniature was great fun and, despite a few concerns midway through the process, I think the final result achieved exactly what I was aiming for. I’m really pleased with both how the camouflage turned out and the models as a whole.
I particularly enjoyed working on the bases and tying them into the camouflage scheme, even using a branch from a real tree for this Realtree project!
Now that I have a fully painted Fireteam, I have no excuse not to get them on the table. I can’t wait to start rolling those D8s!
Alex - Brutes
AG: The Fast Grow has been a lot of fun! I do love a good slow grow, but this was a nice change of pace. I’m a naturally slow painter, but with only four miniatures to paint, getting them tabletop-ready quickly still felt manageable.
Overall, I’m happy with how my Fireteam looks. The Army Painter Quickshade dip wash did not disappoint! It does a great job of adding shading and quite a striking degree of contrast to your miniatures, especially once you’ve removed the glossy finish with a coat of matte varnish on top.
If I’d had longer, I’d have liked to add a few more highlights in certain areas - for example, edge highlights on the red armour. But the spirit of the Fast Grow was ultimately about getting your Fireteam to a good tabletop standard in a short space of time, which I think I achieved. I can always go back and add those extra touches later.
The priority for now is getting some games in with my newly-painted Brutes!
Dave - Banished Reinforcements
DS: I initially decided not to join the Fast Grow, because I’m notoriously bad at painting miniatures to any kind of schedule. But I share an office with Jonny, Ben and Duncan, who were all participating, and last week I got swept up in the excitement of seeing all those lovely Halo Flashpoint miniatures getting painted.
So, I suddenly had the burning desire to paint grunts. Colourful ones. I grabbed a box of Banished Reinforcements and took them home for the last weekend of the challenge, with a goal to paint one of each type, and one of each colour.
The models, as it turns out, are really easy to paint. You’re mostly focusing on the armour colour, as the skin and other details don’t take too much effort with washes and dry brushing. Dark Tone was my saviour here more than once. This meant that these were were completed in two long evenings of painting, plus another hour’s tidy up afterwards.
I’m really happy with the result, too. I still have the rest of the box to hand, so the Yappening has only just begun.
Kyle - Banished Reinforcements
KP: I think I most enjoyed connecting with figures that felt so iconic to me. Even though I haven't played with the pieces yet (now I can!), having an intimate familiarity with the models from my time playing the video games made painting them a personal experience.
And I have to say, I've used a wide variety of paints over the years, but the Army Painter Warpaints Fanatics range is hands down my favourite. The flow, the mixing, the coverage are all exactly what I'm looking for, and made achieving the colours I wanted so simple.
I know I don't have a full 200 points, so there's more work to do. Thankfully the Covenant are right around the corner, and I think that's where a real list will come together.
Dan - Atriox & Brutes
DM: Painting Atriox and his Jiralhanae was a fast and fun challenge! They’re satisfyingly chunky miniatures, and I’m really pleased with how their ‘winter mercenary’ aesthetic came across in the end.
To make sure they still looked recognisably part of the Halo universe, I wanted to get a couple of bolder colours into the mix to contrast with their earthy/metallic scheme - hence the red weaponry and blue base rims.
Tobias - Banished Reinforcements & Spartan Killers
TW: Mission accomplished! I’d originally only set out to paint the Spartan Killers, but my enthusiasm got the better of me, and I decided to add Banished Reinforcements on top. I also had to do it in an even shorter space of time, as I was away working at Essen for part of the challenge period.
Biting off more than I can chew? Not a bit of it! I managed to get everything done, and I’m very happy with the results. Bring on the next challenge!
Ben - Sangheili Mercenaries
BS: Fitting hobby time into a busy schedule is never easy, but I’m pleased to have proven to myself that I can paint a Fireteam and get them tabletop-ready in just a few lunch breaks and evenings! The technique I used (Army Painter Speedpaints over a metallic base layer) was fast and fun to apply - I’ll be using it again once the Covenant arrive in-store.
Until then I plan to continue working on this squad, adding highlights and finer details I skipped for time, and get a few games in at Mantic HQ!
Rich - ODST
RB: As I mentioned in the mid-challenge article, I made a bit of a false start with this - I didn’t really like how my original colour scheme was turning out, so I ended re-spraying my models and starting again.
No worries though, I still got them done in the end, and am much happier with the colour scheme now. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and can’t wait to get my ODST’s on the table!
Stuart - Fireteam Wolf
SK: I believe that painting is an expression of play, and you should never stop playing! I like to be quite experimental with my painting, and the Fast Grow challenge gave me the perfect excuse to try a new approach.
I started with a zenithal spray, followed by an ink wash, and then used the Army Painter Speedpaint Markers on top of that. (You may have seen that Peachy also used Speedpaint Markers during the Fast Grow Paint & Chat livestream!).
On top of the Speedpaints, I then laid down one more all-over wash, using a recipe very similar to “marine juice”, as popularised by Sonic Sledgehammer Studios - who, incidentally, also did the Fast Grow!
Having never used this exact method before, I wasn’t fully sure how it would turn out, but I was really happy with it in the end! I ended up painting quite a few more Spartans that I had lying around using this colour scheme, so my "Fireteam Wolf" is really "Fireteam Wolf plus Reinforcements!".
Anyway, it’s a great feeling to finally have a fully painted Fireteam.
Matt S. - Covenant
MS: The Fast Grow was a great idea. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, from picking the models to priming them in different colours.
Being an older wargamer, I stuck with what I know: standard paints and inks! Other than the primer, I only used brushes to paint the models.
I planned out my painting in stages from the bases first, then onto to base coats for the miniatures, then on to making them look as good as possible.
I really enjoyed painting the Covenant miniatures, especially the Hunter who is larger than what I normally paint. I also liked the short timeframe for the Fast Grow - I found it much easier to focus and not wander off to other projects, or turn on my Xbox!
Now Let's Get Those Fireteams on the Table!
Thank you again to everyone who painted alongside us, posted photos, made videos, encouraged other hobbyists or simply followed along during the challenge. It's been amazing to see so many people getting involved. And once again, thank you to The Army Painter for supporting the Fast Grow.
Now, the painting challenge may be finished, but this is only the beginning for all those freshly painted Fireteams. For Team Mantic, the next step is obvious: get them onto the battlefield and start rolling some dice. We hope you’ll be doing the same.
Let's go play some Halo Flashpoint!
