Sunday, January 1, 2012

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Hobby

Happy New Year!

The past 365 days were a pretty crazy ride, and I'm sure the approaching 366 will be the same.  As is often the case, I'd like to look back at what I've done in that time, and what I hope to accomplish in the upcoming year.

Hobbywise, it was a far less prolific year than the previous one.  I racked up 54 painting points, most of which were two point Terminators.  Some of that was related to how slowly I paint, but I think most of it was life getting in the way.  With a little more focus, I expect that number to improve.

I made progress on three distinct projects this year.  Unsurprisingly, they're the exact three I identified at the start of the year, the Blood Wing, the Widowmakers, and terrain.

Soon, they'll be tough to fit
I have two vehicles left to complete the initial Blood Wing list that I built.  I've had a lot of fun playing it, but I'm a little sad that I haven't finished it yet.  I do really love the parts that are done.  They look great in the display case and they really pop on the table.  It matches the vision I had the first time I looked at the Space Hulk board game.

Going forward, I have some ambitions and some decisions to make.  The one thing that I am dead set on is improving the bases that my guys occupy.  Currently they're standing on metallic circles and that really detracts from the armies appearance, let alone the concept of an army advancing into the depths of a space hulk.  I don't think I'm going to bother with resin bases.  I'll just stick with some upgrade kits and bits.  

What do you mean, 3+ save?
On the other end of the spectrum, with all the time and money in the world, I'd build a space hulk for them to take over.  Obviously not a whole one, but I'd like some rooms and halls and things like that so I can build a modular 6'x4' board.  I've seen a few of them out there and I think it'd be a lot of fun.

Somewhere in between lies what will actually happen.  I need to decide what, if anything, I'd add to the army.  At a baseline level, I want to add some simple things, like one more unit of terminators for weapons variety, a pair of Dreadnoughts made from a mix of the Furioso and Basic kits, and a standard pattern Land Raider. I've also talked about the possibility of a departure from Terminators in the form of some mobile elements.  I'd love to paint Lemartes and some Death Company.  They look fantastic and would expand my selection of bits to add to other things.  I'd play them as Skyclaws and a Wolf Priest.  I had planned on using Varghulfs as Thunderwolves, so I'm thrilled that the plastic Vargheist kits are coming out.  I might even go for some third party models to use as Caestus Assault Rams.  All this would enable me to play a multitude of lists at 2000 points.  But of course, that is the future, and we will see.

Already overflowing
Moving on to the square-base side, I started the year wanting to play something different from High Elves.  My Widowmakers Chaos Warrior army was, honestly, the path of least resistance.  It was already playable.  It was already painted.  I could've just stayed pat, but a local tourney gave me the impetus to step up my game. I bulked out my units, added a Daemon Prince, a fluffy Sorcerer, a Warshrine, and some Monstrous Infantry that I can use as anything.  On top of that I've re-based the whole army and it looks great if I do say so myself.

Between the improvements and how much I've enjoyed playing them in 8th edition, I've actually already made a commitment to expanding the force.  I have a few more basic, old school warriors to do touch ups on and base to bulk out the second unit to 24 models.  I plan on repainting five Knights so I can field a block of ten if I so choose.  I also acquired a box of 11 Khorngors that I plan on turning into Marauders with Wulfrik.  Finally, I have 3 Chaos Lords on the block.  One is mounted on a Dragon, another is on a Manticore, and the last is the one I will probably use the most, on foot.  While that's not a lot of models, it's a heck of a lot of points.

Thank you, Ard Boyz Prelims
As for things I'd like to add, it kinda swings the opposite way.  In a game of big blocks, I'm missing a big block.  My Warriors are fantastically killy, but taking each one off the board hurts.  Plonking down a block of forty or fifty Marauders would really make me smile.  Beyond that, if I get an opportunity, I'll add a Warpwolf Stalker to use as Throgg, convert a Lelith Hesperax to use as Valkia, and try to figure out how to shoehorn a second sorcerer into my fluff.

Almost there
For my terrain, I've found myself in a very interesting position.  After spending the year building up my terrain collection, I now live in an area where the stores provide it.  So unless I'm playing games at my house (which is unlikely unless my wife's attitude towards such changes), it will spend the next two years or so gathering dust.

I'm also a little disappointed.  I think the concept I used for my forest was a good one, but I used magnets that were just a little bit too small in the bases, and probably too many of them too.  I succeeded in making a forest that blocked line of sight, but all the trees needed to be placed just so to fit.  I may end up just putting them on 25mm and calling it a day.

Beyond that, I have a Fortress of Redemption that I've magnetized so it can be used as one big piece or two separate ones.  It needs a fair bit of paint, but hopefully it will be less intimidating when my new compressor arrives.  After that comes some hills and I should be good.

That's a lot of hobby expectations for someone who didn't finish a lot this past year, plus I have a ton of other projects that I'd love to embark on and a bunch of other random models that need paint.  I have about a thousand points of Air Assault Orks in process, a Word Bearers army to update, and a concept for theming my High Elf army.  It's way too much to paint in a year but we'll see what I can accomplish.

Hobby Goals for the New Year
-100 Painting Points.  I need to learn how to paint armies faster.  Some of that is not being such a perfectionist and some of that is learning more focus.
-Learn to use my airbrush.  The Fortress and a bunch of Marines are calling its name.
-Get the painting queue to zero.  There will always be things to paint, but I can be patient in buying new models, especially right now.
-Become comfortable with what all the standard painting terms are and how to do them.  All of my painting is done through experimentation, and I'd like to know, "This is this technique and here's how you achieve it."

2011 Final Hobby Stats:
Painting Points: 54
Models Built:  18

Tomorrow: Gaming Goals

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