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.