Delayed update still counts, right?

So, first off, my Guild Ball models are unassembled.  I hope to rectify that soon.

But, all of my SAGA Jomsvikings are assembled, primed, and have at least one color on them.  I have been working on them, and I hope to have the Hearthguard done in early January.  The warriors will take a little longer, but they should be done fairly soon.

No word on when my Abyssal warriors will ship, but once they get here, I will begin assembling them, with an eye on getting my AdeptiCon army ready.  That one will be a little tight.

And yes, I am still working on Warmahordes stuff.  Right now, it is looking like I will get to actually play in a Steamroller this weekend, so I am trying to work on those models at least a little bit.  Not sure that anything will be done, but nothing will be bare metal or plastic.

Quick mid-day update

Yay!  All of my Jomsvikings are now assembled and primed.  I can start painting on them tonight.  I plan on getting my three Guild Ball brewers assembled tonight or tomorrow, so that I can work on them this weekend as well.  And I have a terrain project in the works, which fortunately should not take much time to set up.

Slow progress is progress

Personal life threw a big honking monkey wrench in my plans the last couple of weeks.  But, at the moment, my Jomsvikings are almost all trimmed and primed (the hard part has been drilling out the hands to put the weapons in).  With any luck (and some hard work), I should have them all primed and ready for painting before the weekend.

The Scots are another story.  I haven't even looked at them.  Sure, it's only 41 models, but they will have the same issue with drilling holes, but I'll be working on them soon enough.  Ahead of them, however, will go my Guild Ball Brewers.  I only have the three, but I hope to add another couple after the holidays.

And, whenever the Abyssals from Kings of War show up, I can start on those as well.  I hope to get in a few games before I have to start putting models together, so that I can figure out what I want to definitely get assembled and painted in time for AdeptiCon.

Just call me Rip Van Gamer

So, yeah, I did very little gaming over the last few months. I joined a few leagues, played a few games, but was busier than I really liked, and did not have much time for anything that wasn't real life.

But, November is winding down, and I actually have more time in December than I do in October or November.  I've registered for AdeptiCon, but only for two events at the moment - a Kings of War event and a SAGA tourney.  I have not really played either game much prior to this, so I'm not expecting to win either. 

More later, but I have some armies to start work on.  I am leaning toward Scots or Jomsvikings for SAGA, but that's not set in stone, and may change in the next month or two.  And I am probably doing either Kingdoms of Man or Abyssals for KoW, but again, not set in stone.  Heck, it would not be overstating it to say that neither is even set in Jello.

Curse you, real life!

Real life had to take priority for quite a bit there.  School has started, which means usual craziness that happens for September and October before everything really settles down.

I have been painting - in fact, I have finished 17 Risen since my last post, which is something.  (Heck, it's about as many models as I finished last year, but that is beside the point.)

(It's a lousy cell phone pic, but they are done, sealed and based.  I need to go back an add arc markings, but that's a rainy afternoon kind of project - the sort of thing I do right before AdeptiCon or something.)

I don't have a pic, but I recently replaced my airbrush (cheap learning model), and have been doing quick base colors on a bunch of Mantic Elves.  I backed Kings of War earlier this year, and part 1 of my pledge has arrived.  Sadly, most of it was for other people in my FLGS - my real army does not arrive until late this year, so until then, it's elves and proxy basing.

I've also been working on some Infinity models (USAriadna), and since I have joined a Malifaux league, I need to start painting my Ten Thunders as well.  Most of them are primed, so its really just a matter of actually starting them to get me going. 

Plus, I have some more terrain pieces in the works.  I am in the process of building the master copy, so I can make a mold, and then churn some of them out.  I am also working on a board for a Breast Cancer Brawl event, and an Infinity board for a special event.  The latter two are still in the planning stages, but the BCB board needs to be done by this time next month or so, so I should be starting it next week.

Complete lack of motivation

So, the past couple of days, I have had absolutely no motivation to paint, assemble, prime, or, in general, have anything to do with my collection of miniatures in the basement.  I did the test colors on some FSA & Planetfall figs, and I like it, and it's not too time-consuming, but I can't bring myself to sit down and work on them.  My Infinity figs are still sitting in the box, and I need to get them assembled if I am going to learn how to play this weekend.  I have some WM models that are actually very, very close to being finished, but no incentive to sit down and do them.

I'll force myself to go down and do some work, and maybe that will get the ball rolling.

The problems of being an altaholic.

So, my FLGS is going to start some different fall slow-grow leagues in the middle of next month.  Right now, there are plans for leagues in Malifaux, Warmahordes, Firestorm Armada, 40k and Infinity.  I plan on playing in 4 of them.

Fortunately, I already have the needed minis for everything.  I can play either Terrans or Directorate for FSA, anything I want for WM, Combined or Ariadna for Infinity, and more than a couple crews for Malifaux.

But I would like to have everything actually painted by the end of the league, which is the hard part.  I think I need to spend some time in the next few days assembling things, and maybe really learning how to play Infinity.  And brushing up my Malifaux rules.

There and back again

So, I missed close to 2 weeks because I was at the Shrine of the Mouse, aka Walt Disney World.  Always a good plan to escape the heat and humidity of a midwestern August by heading to a swamp in Florida.  I love it, but I could do without the 90+ degree heat and heat indexes of 110. 

But, despite a SNAFU on the part of the USPS, I came back to some minis - some Directorate ships for Firestorm Armada, and the Revenant models for SAGA.  With summer winding down and the kids heading back to school soon, I am hoping to really get some painting time in soon. 

But first, I have to catch up on the lawn and the laundry.

Back from GenCon

I (sorta) just got back from GenCon, and boy is my wallet empty.  I did not buy everything that I wanted to, only because some of it was sold out almost immediately.  I did manage to exercise some restraint - I had a shopping list planned, and I generally stuck to it.  I'll make a longer post later today; I've only just woken up, and the coffee has yet to really kick in.

Only one more sleep to GenCon

I leave for GenCon tomorrow - a solid four days of working at the booth, spending way too much money, getting no sleep, seeing friends, losing (and sometimes winning) games, and general having fun.  I still have to pack my armies, label and pack close to 60 items for the auction and consignment store, pack clothes, and do some things around the house.

FSA tourney report

I got to play in an FSA tourney yesterday.  I went in expecting to lose, but that's okay, because I had only played a couple of games of 2nd ed FSA.  I just wanted to get some games in, which is the same expectation that I have for any games at GenCon. My list was dictated mainly by what models I had, and what I was most comfortable with. (Eg, I have a carrier, but haven't tried it yet, so I did not take it.)

I fielded:

Tyrant battleship, with +1" Mv, +2 PD, -1" turn limit
3 Hermes crsuiders, all with +1 shield
3 Artemis destroyers
4 Missionary frigates
4 Armsmen frigates

I faced Ba'Kash and two different Sorylian fleets. The Ba'kash player just rolled over me - his frigates outflanked me, and my torps just could not get to his carrier. (I played poorly, which is part of it, but I was trying to use my cruisers, battleship and destroyers to crack his heavy cruiser, and not having any luck.) I did bad, bad things to the first Sorylian; a combination of lucky dice rolls, and most of his force was either ambush or in reserve, so everything got to shoot at his battleship. I did not kill the BB when I had the chance, and it cost me a couple ships in the end. I also should have spent a battle log point to ensure that my reserves got onto the board on the final turn, instead of letting him have the free points. (Lesson learned).

The second Sorylian player tabled me, and I barely did enough to him to avoid hitting -10 on the battle log. I played passably well, and he said that my fleet wasn't bad - it just needs some tweaks (which I know). My lesson on that game was just how powerful nukes can be.

So, my quick lesson thoughts are:
Buying MARs for extra PD and shields were worth it. That extra shield or PD (or both) kept my ships alive much longer, often being the difference between a crit and just a point, or even taking no damage at all.

Next time, take nukes. They will force the other players to either spread out their fleet, or risk the extra damage. Plus, Terran nukes are cheap.

Remember that you can reroll beam weapons in range band 1. The Tyrant shot at something, and I had a bunch of 1s, commented on it, scooped, and went on. A couple minutes later, with my next squadron, I realized that I could have rerolled those. I might not have done any better, but I sure as hell would not have done any worse.

Terran destroyers are evil. Full stop + hidden killer + maneuverable is bad enough, but if I make the fore weapons into nukes, all I need is a clear firing lane.

The cruisers were kind of meh. I'll try them again, and spend the extra points for nuclear torpedoes.

Missionary frigates did not do much, and were barely useful in hunting down enemy ships with Difficult Target. I need to try shunting them in or bringing them on the flanks as reserve. Armsmen frigates were almost always more useful, and I used their torps to take out Difficult targets with a decent rate of success.

The weekend was a bust

Well, a bust in the sense that I got no games in.  At all.  On the other hand, I spent hours at the FLGS on Saturday, talking about Planetfall and FSA (which is good, because I am hoping to play in an FSA event next Sunday), and helping four players through some games of Warmachine.  These weren't demo games; the players all had 15 point armies, but they were still new to the game, and I was glad to answer questions and offer advice when needed.

I also worked on a couple of 4' x 4' boards for a friend, and got a little painting done, and had time to start reading through the Planetfall rules.  I also think that I have all of my 40k Marines rounded up, so they can go off to Bartertown.  Need to raise some cash for GenCon, and pay for a couple of Kickstarters that I am interested in.  And get some more SAGA models.

It's heeeere

Yeah, my Planetfall stuff arrived today.  Between looking at that, painting, and making some terrain, I had a good evening of hobby time.  I hope to prime my Planetfall stuff (well, some of it) over the weekend, and maybe get some games in tomorrow or Saturday.

So much for a resolution

Been way too busy lately - a wedding, the 4th of July, and family in town have kept me away from any sort of hobby time.  Finally, things are mostly settling down, and tomorrow, I am expecting my starter box of Planetfall to show up on my doorstep.  I have also been building terrain, and, in fact, rather than post anything else here, I am going to go and actually work on my various hobbies.  I have an FSA event I can enter in a bit more than a week, and I think I might want to have some things painted for it.

Quick note on Robotech

Robotech Tactics has been on my mind lately, in part because Palladium has made noises about changing from the current 6mm scale to 15mm scale.  Sure, because that will fix problems.  Except that then price structure, game play, terrain, inter-era compatibility, etc are all thrown out the window.

Anyway, on Beasts of War, they announced that the scale won't be changing. I'm glad the scale isn't changing - I probably would have dumped the game at that point.  I've been putting together a lot of Malifaux minis lately, which has helped put some of the RT stuff back in perspective.  Yan Lo has a goatee - which is separate from the head, and has to be glued on.  One of the Oiran has three pieces for the head - the back, the face, and, in between them, a staple-shaped piece that is part of her hair or something.  Each of those are as annoying as some of the RT models - but I am only doing a couple of them.  The RT models were annoying for a bit, but after four or five Zentradi pods, something clicked and they got easier.  (I'm not saying easy, mind you, just easier.  Still haven't done enough Veritechs for them to get easier though.)

Individually, the RT aren't the worst I have had to put together; it's just the number of them needed that really makes it a problem.

A wedding and two new games

I was gone last weekend - we went out of state to attend a wedding.  Fortunately, it was in the town where I went to college, which meant that I could see friends and nearby family, and revist the old stomping grounds.  Most of the game stores (hell, all of them, I think) that I used to hanfg out at are all gone.  But new ones have arisen in their place, and I wound up with two new games - Boss Monster and a Pandemic expansion.  Both will be getting played soon.

Anyway, continuing on my thoughts about Kanban boards and being overwhelmed, I need to take a pic of the current board and decide what to do.  I did get some stuff built the last couple of days, and I should be able to prime later today.  I think that, for the most part, this week I shall concentrate on getting some paint onto some Malifaux figs.  Next week, I think I will concentrate on FSA (and hopefully Planetfall).  The week after that, Warmachine.  And then I think it is on to GenCon (or near enough), so I will also be spending time the next few weeks getting ready to put things up for auction.

With that in mind, for today, I have two or three Ten Thunders models to assemble, and about a dozen of them to prime.  I plan on doing that today, plus basing some of the Kings of War models, and putting some base colors on some Malifaux figs, though I don't know whether it will be more Ten Thunders or the Latigo posse.  Or Gremlins. 

Now - as a sidebar - I said that I would be concentrating on Malifaux.  That's largely true, but I should have my Rhulic colossal coming in the mail tomorrow, so when it shows up, I might start putting that together.  Because I want to field it. 

A little overwhelmed lately.

It's really a side effect of the kanban board.  See, the more organized I am (or, the more I can write down what I am actually working on), it can go from overwhelmed (but not knowing why) to actually seeing the scope of what I need to do.  So, on one hand, it's nice seeing the progress of things across the board, but it's also depressing, because no matter how fast I assemble and prime, painting is a bottleneck.  And, no matter how much I assemble, I have hundreds of models to go. 

So, I'm keeping the board idea.  (What?)  Yep.  But I might change it up a bit.  Maybe I try to schedule and list only one game per week.  Maybe I cap the board in its current state, and nothing that is not on it can be added until something comes off.  I don't know.  I do know that, so long as I make painting and modelling a daily (or almost-daily) activity, then sooner or later, stuff actually does get done.

No update over the weekend

Why not?  Because I ran a Warmachine event on Saturday, and yesterday was Father's Day, so I was kind of busy.  I am going to be posting something later tonight.

Belated Thursday update

So, yeah, today is late.  And no pics.  I did get a decent break in the weather, and managed to clear almost everything in my "To Be Primed" column (though I have built several more minis since then), but I was in the basement working on making the mold boxes and pouring the rubber for a few more molds.  One is done, another three are in progress, and I have two more waiting in the wings.  With any luck, tomorrow night I will have two or more molds available for casting.

In under the wire

It's still shy of midnight, so yes, I am making an update post for the day.  I was going to make it earlier, but got sucked into a movie, etc, etc.  Not much painting today, and I did not assemble any miniatures (and it was too damp to prime, for the most part), but I did work on the next set of terrain that will get the resin treatment.

So, this is still a WIP, but I like the way it is coming along:

And from the side:

It's 4" x 3", and once, this is done, I will be making a 90 degree corner.  Then, I can make the molds for those two, and start work on some 15mm and 28mm sheet metal walls (and corners for the same).  Those may actually be ready for a mold by the weekend as well.

I'm behind in my painting, but I felt like making some terrain, so I did that instead.  It was better than no hobby time.  Tomorrow, I may well be inspired, depending on the USPS.

Still on track for lots of updates

First off, my board has changed a little bit since last week.  Let's take a look, shall we?

Big change - something is in the "To Base and Seal" category.  It would actually be done, but it's been pouring or humid for the last few days, and I can wait for better weather to seal it.  Likewise, all of the Bayou boss box is now assembled, with most of them waiting for better weather before priming.  I am putting test colors down on a Tesknes and a Goristi model, just to see how I want to paint them.  Most of the Wrath of Kings models are assembled, but not yet primed, although I still have about 35 or 40 to go.

But yeah, I now have an almost completed model on there.  The first since probably mid-April.  For a game I don't even play.  But I need to get more done - 3Haley and some other models are on the way.

(Don't bother complaining about mold lines.  I didn't care about this guy, I really just wanted to see how the Bones material took different paints and effects.)

No pics today

So, I haven't painted at all today - soccer game in the morning, then some errands, then off to lose a game at the FLGS, then a movie in the evening.  I will be posting an updated board tomorrow, and finally, a painted mini.  Yes, it's for an RPG, and I haven't played any RPGS in almost a year, but hey, it's an infinitesimal dent in the overall backlog.

Of course, I am going to be ordering some Malifaux stuff from the FLGS, to take advantage of the June promotion, and I am sure that July and August will be adding some more minis to my collection.  Add in the 10th anniversary Hordes box, 3Haley and the Femme, and I need to step up my painting game, and fast.

No board update this morning

I might take a pic of the board later today, but for various reasons, the board did not change much yesterday.  The bottleneck is kind of obvious - I can assemble and prime minis much faster than I can paint them.  So, while I put together a couple of things yesterday, I tried to spend my hobby time painting.  I'm not even painting minis for a wargame; I've been painting up a couple of Bones minis, even though I haven't played an RPG in years.

No matter.  Painting is painting, more or less, and it's making a dent in the enormous backlog of plastic and lead.  I am using that time to think about what I want to take to GenCon and play, as well as beyond.  Once I decide that, and once I decide on a scheme for the Wrath of Kings minis, then those will start moving from the "To Paint" section into "Painting in Progress" fairly quickly, although they will then hang there. 

Hopefully, tonight or tomorrow, my post will include at least one finished miniature.  I really need to get something done soon, just to help maintain momentum.

Two in a row!

Too soon to call this a habit though.  Maybe if I can be publicly shamed (or at least the threat of it exists), then I will actually continue to advance in my painting.  I have several projects for GenCon that I really need to start on, so some of these new ones are definitely going to stall out for a bit.  Still, a quick look at the board status this morning shows that I definitely got some stuff assembled and primed yesterday.

What's missing is whatever army I take to GenCon.  If I take CoC, they are mostly painted, and I can take a painted Cryx army with only a little work (mainly re-gluing a few models that have come apart), but I am not sure what I want to take at the moment.  I need to decide by the end of the weekend, so I can start getting some games in with them, and so that I can start painting them if they are something else.

The other PG and I are also talking with the store about what we want to see played locally.  WM/H, of course, but we are also wanting to have Firestorm Armada and Planetfall, plus probably Wrath of Kings, Kings of War, and Infinity.  I am also looking at adding some random Mad Max style game (possibly Warlands),  just as an occasional, let's crash some cars, kind of game.

I'm hoping to move at least a couple models into the base and seal category here in a day or so, and I really need to decide at the beginning of the day what I am going to build.  I could probably build (which includes trimming, pinning, etc)  3-5 models per day for the rest of the year, and still not catch up on everything.  But I hope to make a dent this summer, that's for certain.

Well, until my Wrath of Kings KS comes in.  And whatever I buy at GenCon.  And if I decide to paint my SDE and Rivet Wars models. . . .

New year starts whenever, right?

So, summer is here, kids are underfoot, and GenCon is fast approaching.   I'm going to start making an effort to update a lot more often, because that way I can document some progress.  And, to help limit what I am trying to do, and to visualize progress, I took a spare white board, and made a Kanban board.

I have more categories than "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done," however.  But, if I take daily (or near daily photos), then I should be able to actually track progress of some projects across the board, and, more importantly, I can attempt to limit what is actually on my plate at any given time.  If I don't do that, then I can easily wind up with a several dozen different projects at each stage, and that's just too much.  Now, at the moment, there are full KS boxes that are in the "To Build" category, and as I pull a few models out of each per day, they will slowly move into the primed category. 

In the meantime, at the start of the day today, this is what my board looked like:

I should at least be able to add a few more to the "Build in progress" or "to prime" categories today, and some of the ones waiting for priming will be moved onward to "To Paint"

The more, the better.  Later this month, I have some Warmahordes stuff coming, and I have at least one Kickstarter coming before the end of the year.  Plus, I buy stuff at GenCon, and I am still dumping stuff that I don't play for stuff that I hopefully will. I need to start working on this backlog of lead and plastic, before it buries me.

Slacking

Yes, I have been.  I need to write a longer post, but the short version is: have an airbrush, learning how to use it.  Experimenting with rubber molds and resin and mass produced terrain.  Losing some games, but not getting to play.  Trying to purge some of the stuff that I never use, mad at people who don't want to pay more than 30% of the MSRP price for new items on Bartertown, AdeptiCon was fun, looking forward to GenCon.

Now say all of that in one breath.

Choices, choices

I can paint, or I can blog.  For the most part, I have been painting, as has hopefully been evident by my lack of blogging.  I have generally been working on my models for at least 15 or 20 minutes each day, which sadly is not doing much better than treading water.  Especially since Sunday found me as the proud owner of two new TEPs for my Convergence forces, and my Bones II pledge arrived today.

I really, really want to open the Bones II and gaze upon the glory that is a box full of Bonesium.  I have promised myself that, in order to open them, the TEPs have to be done (well, everything but basing).  I'm painting them on the sprues, or at least the first one, which may or may not turn out to be a mistake.  The first is fairly far along, with the base metallics all done, and now I am working on the detail and secondary colors.  I actually hope to have it assembled, or mostly so, by tomorrow night.

I've cut at least a couple armies and games out of my painting queue for AdeptiCon.  I might still manage to paint up a chunk more of my FSA figs, and I will probably take my (small) painted fleet, but I'm not planning on finishing anything else for them.  I might do the same thing with my Relthoza, since the paint scheme for them is ridiculously easy. 

I'm planning on taking more than Convergence to AdeptiCon, but I might not be able to play with much of it, since it won't be finished.  We will see.  I still have a couple of weeks, and much of it is probably closer to being done than I realize.  Everything realistically needs to be painted no later than Sunday, March 15, since that gives me a couple days to finish basing everything and get it all packed.

Not much progress this week

Just a very busy week.  I had hoped to get more done, but twas not to be.  On the other hand, I got both units of plastic drudges together, except for one that was missing a part - not sure if I will greenstuff one, or request a replacement.  It's just part of the loincloth, so that shouldn't be that hard.

I took stuff to the FLGS last night, so I could get something done while my son played in Friday Night Magic.  He lost his games, but had fun, and I got some base colors on a bunch of models.  It was a good use of two hours, and I really need to make bringing the paints a staple of my Friday night kit, instead of just taking a book.

The list of models to finish isn't really shrinking, but more models are assembled, primed, base colors and so.  I'll probably follow my usual progression here - work, and work, and work, and nothing is actually finished.  And then, over the space of a couple days, forty or fifty models move from "still need detail and touch-up work" to "finished and sealed."  I'm a lot more optimistic about two of the factions, though my poor piggies may have to fall by the wayside this year.  (I may take them, especially if there is a strong rumor that the Meat Thresher will be there, but they may not hit the table if it is not there.)

Where does the time go?

Aaargh!  The last week went by far too quickly.  A lot of that time was spent prepping for a Miniature Wargaming Day at the local FLGS (BC Comix in Battle Creek.  Check them out on Facebook.)  We wound up having Warmachine, Hordes, Malifaux, Firestorm Armada, High Command, and Robotech Tactics all being demoed and played.  Since I was the only one with Robotech Tactics minis, I spent the last week assembling them. 

You may have heard that the minis are overly complicated, that the sprues aere messed up and sometimes make no sense, that the instructions aren't the greatest.  Some of this is true, some is exaggeration.  The Regult and the Glaug?  Not a problem.  The Spartan and Phalanx?  Not an issue.  The Veritech?  Frustration multiplied by pain and taken the power of exasperation.  I got almost everything assembled, but it wasn't fun.  Now back to assembling, priming and painting WM/H for AdeptiCon, with some Malifaux and FSA added to the mix.

Progress report

I'm not painting nearly as much as I would like  Part of that is life getting in the way, part of that is because I decided to help out the FLGS.  Today, they are having a 40k tourney.  It's apparently going to be kind of a big deal - they are hoping to have people coming from several hours away (though the foot of snow expected over the course of the day will probably lessen attendance some).  Anyway, the FLGS does not have nearly enough terrain for this.  They have the table space, they have table toppers (to get them to 4' x 6'), but the tables would have been pretty spare.

So, the store reached out to the local gaming club, which, ideally, would have said something like "You betcha!  We're not really using it that day, and we'd love to see lots of 40k games being played in the area, even if they aren't at our preferred store.  What time and format is the tourney, anyway, because we would love to play!"

That didn't happen.

So, I looked at what I had in the basement earlier this week, sent a quick message to the store telling them that I could probably scrounge up some terrain for them to use, and got to work.  This is the result:



(For scale purposes - the green area rug is 5' x 8')

The final tally is more impressive.  I managed another seven or eight linear feet of walls, maybe more.  I had a large box of hills that aren't pictured here.  There are pieces on the right that got cut out of the photo.

Now, I have been painting.  I got a couple of things finished - and I'll post pics in the next day or so.  But, I have also been working toward the next big thing for my FLGS.  They're doing a miniature gaming demo day.  So, we plan on running demos of Warmachine and Hordes, another local is going to run Malifaux demos, and we'll have space set up to demo and play Firestorm Armada, Relic Knights, and Robotech Tactics.  We'll also demo PP games like Zombies Keep Out and High Command.

So I have also been building Robotech figs.  And some Malifaux. And painting FSA stuff, in addition to WM models.  And, this afternoon, while the snow falls, I am going to be spending some quality time in the basement, assembling veritech fighters and battlepods, while watching a bad movie or two, and periodically going out to fight a losing battle against the white stuff falling from the sky.

Not catching up

I'm not managing to catch up all that much.  The models that I was painting a few days ago still aren't done, and I'm not much more along than I had been.  (Okay, a couple things are "done," but they aren't really important at the moment.)  And, I won't be finishing anything for the next day or two either.

See, one of the local FLGS is running a 40k event this weekend.  They don't have a whole lot of terrain.  I mean, they have some, but they are hoping for (and planning on) having something like 10 tables running.  They might have terrain for 3.  They are bringing in terrain from one of the other locations, but they may not have enough.  So, for the next day or two, I am going to be making a lot of terrain.  I'm hoping to even get some of it painted, although that might be a stretch. 

The side effect of this is that (1) some of the terrain can be used for WM/H, so I do benefit some from doing it.  And (2) I've been meaning to build and finish some of this stuff for quite some time, and it's a good incentive to get it done, so that it can eventually get out of the house and sold at a con. 

I am hoping to get at least a few minutes each day painting on my stuff.  And, the good news is that my main army is Convergence, so I can probably do a decent paint job in a quick time, if I really buckle down on it.  That's the plan for next week - and I need to get cracking, because we are planning for a huge demo day at the FLGS next month, so I want to get as much painted and ready (not just for WM, but also FSA, Robotech, Relic Knights, and so on) as possible.

I've been away too long

I missed about a week, since I went to the other side of the country to run a couple of races.  TSA pretty much frowns on taking paint, glue, and x-acto knives on planes, so I did not have the chance to do anything while I was gone.  I'm back, and painting again, although nothing is actually getting finished.

AdeptiCon is closing in, and less than 60 days away.  So, how did I work on my Convergence tonight?  I didn't.  I spent some time working on another unit of Gatormen.  OKay, I did get a Galvinizer mostly assembled, and tomorrow I will get it built, and another one or two besides that.  Friday, I should have a good three hour block of hobby time, although I might put it to use making terrain for the FLGS.  The former directly benefits me, the latter seems more appropriate, since I am trying to push WM/H at the FLGS, and having some non-40k terrain would be a plus.

Saturday, I am running a Steamroller, so it's a big block of hobby time, although probably not much painting, since I need to be ready to put things down and not come back to them within a moment or two.  My Cephalyx has a few boxes that need assembly, and I could always try to assemble some Robotech Tactics as well.

Stalled

Or, "Why Miniature Market is an enabler, and I have a problem."

Okay, so I am now up to 8 models done for the year.  Yay!  Unfortunately, all of them were for Firestorm Armada - 4 frigates and 4 fighter tokens.  Still, it brings me almost to parity for the day count, even as my WM models languish.

They don't languish much, actually.  I have a unit of Gatormen that are almost done with base colors, and I finished up a (belated) exchange model, so I am behind, but no longer shut out, in my WM count for the year.  I hope to have another couple of models done tomorrow or Monday, and then get some more base colors laid down before I have to take a few days off next week.

I don't know that I will be caught up before the end of the month, however.  That's because Miniature Market has been running a sale on Privateer Press products.  A couple of us combined to make one big order, and I now have another unit of Slaver and Drudges on order, plus an EBDT, Horgle, Moorclaw, and three more Galvinizers.  The Trolls will sit for a while, but the others will probably be fast-tracked to assembly and priming, so I can try out a couple Syntherion spam lists, and a fun minions army I want to try, just for grins.

So, how's that resolution going?

It's nine days into January, so surely I have a couple of models painted, even if I am behind, right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

No.  I'm behind.  A combination of working on a pinewood derby car and a couple of snow days put some major crimps in my painting time.  I'm working on things, but nothing much has actually been getting done.  Next weekend is already spent, so to be honest, I am hoping to round out the month with possibly only 10-12 models painted.  Feb can (and will) be a catch-up month, but right now, I am working on more "getting base colors on," rather than "hey, this model only needs some detail work and basing in order to be finished."

As to why I am not painting now - I am waiting for some base coats to dry, so that I can move them off my ready/active queue and clear the space for more models.  Not much I can do to speed that up.

Problems already

I'm looking at what I have, and what I want to use for AdeptiCon, and there is no way I will be able to maintain "play it painted" if I want to start testing lists this weekend.  So, I am modifying it a bit, to the proviso that I have to have at least 50% of any army fully painted (though not based) if I am going to play it at the FLGS, and I will play in no official event without a fully painted army.  So, even when my local SR tourney doesn't require it (and we don't), I won't play with anything other than a fully painted list.  So, I need to get cracking on a second CoC caster, ASAP.

Current model count for 2015 - 0.

Random 2015 challenges

So, in order to convince (read: force) myself to paint more, I am doing some various challenges in 2015.  The first is the annual Tale of WMH challenge - a mere 5 pts per month (or one warcaster/warlock), and that's generally easy enough to do.  I get two GOOPF cards (which I can use if I get nothing painted for the month), and I managed to get most of the way through 2014.  (In 2013, I think I used my cards and got bounced by August or September.)

I hope to do even better, since I am also thinking of attempting the 1 pt/day challenge.  I haven't seen the particulars of this one, but I'm imagining that is something like "Paint an average of 1 points worth of Warmachine/Hordes models per day, for 2015."

To help force those two, I am really going to try and hold myself to the "Play it painted" challenge.  I will allow myself a (short) grace period for two models - the Transfinite Emergence Projector and possibly the Sacral Vault.  I need some practice games with the TEP before AdeptiCon, and there is a good chance that I will either get the Vault at AdeptiCon, or en route to it, so I may not get it painted before playing any Gator games there.

I am also doing the Bartertown painting challenge.  No set goals, but I earn a variable number of points for every model I paint.  In addition to earning points for all the WM models, I want to paint up a lot of my Firestorm Armada, Relic Knights, Malifaux, and so on.  This will help give me incentive.

ETA - I'd really like to average one model (or base) per day, but that might be a goal too far.