It's Been Kind of Quiet Around Here...

I haven't been painting a lot of miniatures so far this year... 

Partly this is because I've been a bit busy, having returned to school... 

But also earlier this month I injured my shoulder and neck and that's made it pretty painful to sit and paint or assemble miniatures... 

This is really kind of bumming me out as I was REALLY hoping to be playing Warhammer Quest: Darkwater in February, but I still have so many miniatures to paint still!!  

On the plus side... 

(this meme was probably funnier when a friend posted it on their discord just a week into the year!) 

It's a bit more of an actual brag that I made it through January without buying any miniatures! 

Especially considering Dragon's Den Games had three copies of Fury of the Deep and one copy of Warcry Heart of Ghur on their discount shelf at 40% off! The contents of Fury of the Deep I think I calculated to be around $500CAD now... and 40% off the original retail price put it at around $120...? At one point I would not have thought twice about buying that... do I NEED a force of Idoneth Deepkin or Fyreslayers?! Fuck no! But they would be FUN to have a paint up! 

Realistically, I haven't painted more than a unit or two... or maybe a Unit and a character...? from the last three of those old battle boxes I've picked up...

(no... that's not true, I DID paint ALL of the Nighthaunt half of Arena of Shades! That's kind of how I ended up with a Nighthaunt Spearhead Army - after I bought a few more units...) 

I DID pick up the new Nurgle Battletome... but that's about it... 

NONE of the new Nurgle units or the new Nurgle Spearhead army, though! I'll probably pick up that new spearhead - just to get the units it contains (SO MANY NURGLINGS!!) for considerably less than the regular retail price of the individual units! 

(The above image is ©2026 Games Workshop and used here entirely without their permission for the purpose of review)

But only AFTER I have ALL the other Maggotkin of Nurgle stuff I already have done (including the Warhammer Quest Darkwater stuff!)... 

(which is four Pusgoyle Blightlords, five of the older Putrid Blightkings, a Harbinger of Decay, ten Rotmire Creed, a Sloppily Bilepiper, and the Feculent Gnarlmaw... and from Warhammer Quest: Darkwater; a pair of Cankerborn, eight Pestigors, fourteen Poxwretches, and maybe all the Sylvaneth stuff I have... If I add in the Sylvaneth, I have fifteen Spite-Revenants, two Treelords, and Drycha Hamadreth to finish up - though the latter is nearly done!) 

I was pretty excited about the Tzeentch stuff presented at the New Years Preview. There wasn't much in terms of new miniatures - just faction terrain and a mortal infantry hero... 

(The above image is ©2026 Games Workshop and used here entirely without their permission for the purpose of review)

The new faction terrain looks really interesting. 

What also caught my eye was the Battleforce Box being released along with the new Battletome and the new Spearhead - all look fun. There is nothing new in either of those boxes. Just a lot of older miniatures all at deeply discounted prices! 

(The above image is ©2026 Games Workshop and used here entirely without their permission for the purpose of review)

The Battleforce: Warpflame Cavalcade contains a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch, three Screamers of Tzeentch, three flamers of Tzeentch, an Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch, a Herald of Tzeentch on Burning Chariot, and ten each of Pink, Blue and Brimstone Horrors! A great big PILE of Daemons! 

(The above image is ©2026 Games Workshop and used here entirely without their permission for the purpose of review)

The Tzaangor Warflock Spearhead is all Tzaangors - a Tzaangor Shaman leading three Tzaangor Enlightened, Three Tzaangor Skyfires, and 10 Tzaangor. 

(The above image is ©2026 Games Workshop and used here entirely without their permission for the purpose of review)

So I'll probably pick up the Battleforce box and Battletome when they're released (as the Battleforce Box  will only be available for a limited time) and then I'll pick up the terrain and the Tzaangor Warflock Spearhead when I finish the daemons in the Battleforce box (and... maybe the Tzeentch Spearhead I already HAVE?!) 

Because, apparently, I need ANOTHER chaos army... 

Hopefully none of it is released until later in March... 

Maybe this will be the YEAR OF CHAOS!! 

Holiday Hobby Plans

I had a lot of stuff in mind that I've been wanting to work on - and had it in my head I might try to complete by the end of the year... and then I realized the end of the year was less than two weeks away! I tried to write down all those things in one place and then from that make a short list of the things I'd really like to get painted by the end of the year... and... the list ended up being NOT-SO-SHORT!! Even the shorter version of the short list seemed a little unrealistic to complete in the next ELEVEN DAYS!? 

This is looking more like what I might get done in the first quarter of next year?! 

This first batch is what I really, REALLY hope I CAN still knock out over the next week and a half - Their all Warhammer Quest: Darkwater miniatures which I'd like to run a game of just before new year... Also... a Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch... for... REASONS!?

1x Edmark Valoran

1x Bren Tylis

1x Inara Sion

1x Drolf Ironhead 

1x Shaman Foulhoof

6x Mire Kelpies

8x Pestigors

14x Pox-Wretches

2x treasure tokens

2x living rot tokens

I don't even have the Pestigors, Pox-Wretches, or Shaman Foulhoof assembled yet!?

Then there is the rest of the Darkwater stuff... which I'll probably finish up in the new year... 

1x Kelthannor 

1x Drasher Vorn

1xJacobus Vyne

1x Wisper

1x Gelgus Pust

1x Belga the Cystwitch

1x Mulgoth the Cleaver

2x Cankerborn

3x Blight Templars

The rest of the Sylvaneth stuff I have to finish up - for Amanda to expand her force as we play Path to Glory! Drycha Hamadreth is SO CLOSE to being done... I might get her done this year... the rest will have to wait for January... 

1x Drycha Hamadreth

1x Spirit of Durthu 


1x Treelord Ancient

15x Spite-Revenants (or Tree-Revenants)

The rest of the Nurgle stuff I have to finish up (that isn't in the Warhammer Quest: Darkwater set) - for ME to expand MY force as we play Path to Glory! All of it probably going to have to wait until the new year... 

1x Harbinger of Decay


4x Pusgoyle Blightlords


5x Putrid Blightkings


10x Rotmire Creed

1x Feculent Gnarlmaw

This is the rest of the Nighthaunts I have to finish up - the Dreadscythe Harridans I don't even HAVE yet, but I was told they're on their way and should have been her this week, but were likely delayed by the blizzard. The Dreadscythe Harridans are the last thing I need to finish up the Nighthaunt Spearhead army, and that would be another spearhead army DONE... so, if I pick those up in the next week, they may jump to the head of the Queue - just because it would be nice to finish ONE MORE Spearhead army... the other ten models are the only other Nighthaunts I have left to paint then that collection is DONE... well... Until I decide I need a few more to make it an even 2000 points... that's all a next year problem though.. 

10x Dreadscythe Harridans

1x Scriptor Mortis

5x Craventhrone Guard

4x Myrmourn Banshees

I got it in my head I need to finish up enough Tzeentch stuff to field a 1000 point force... Then I'd have forces for ALL the main Chaos factions... (also... useful for Soulbound adventures I have!) Finishing THIS lot would also finish up another Spearhead army... Next year I guess... 

3x Flamers of Tzeentch

1x Magister on Disc of Tzeentch 

10x Tzaangors

10x Kairic Acolytes

A few Soulblight Gravelords needed to finish up yet ANOTHER Spearhead army... There are a few more Soulblights to do... but these are kind of the priority (because Spearhead, and because it would give me a solid core of stuff to build up a Path to Glory army around!) 

3x Vargheists

5x Blood Knights

Seriously, how did I think I had time to get all these things done...!? (and I'm sure there are other random things floating around the workbench) 

Realistically, if I were to get that first batch of Warhammer QuestL Darkwater stuff done, I'd be pretty happy... I think I have to accept that I'm just NOT going to be "in the black" for this year... maybe next year... 

How many do you think I'll actually get done!? 

Is there anything you NEED (or WANT!) to finish before the end of the year?

(let me know in the comments!)  

Mostly Sylvaneth... but a little bit of Nurgle...

 It's been a minute since I did any sort of hobby update... 

There was some disruption with the bee Room-Swaperoo, but I've slowly been sorting out the new workspace and trying to get some work done. 

In the meantime.. I bought some more stuff...

Sylvaneth Endless Spells... picked up after my game on Monday at the Dragon's Den.

I have been assembling and painting said spells along with the Goassamid Archers and Feculent Gnarlmaw and GREAT UNCLEAN ONE that are STILL on the workbench. 

The Great Unclean One is SOOOOOO close to being finished... I just need to finish up details on the cloth covering it's bottom and then a pile of little Nurglings that will be added to the base. I wasn't initially going to do so many of those... but then realized one of it's attacks is "Swarm of Nurglings" and I thought it would be silly to make such an attack if there weren't any Nurglings at all on the base!?

Ideally, I'd like to get at least ONE of the Sylvaneth Endless Spells and the Gossamid Archers done by the weekend in case I can convince Amanda to play Age of Sigmar. Ideally I'd like to get the Feculent Gnarlmaw done as well.. but as I'll be on the attack in our campaign, I might not get to really use it...

Age of Sigmar - Blades of Khorne - Faction Update

The Blades of Khorne aren't really a priority RIGHT NOW... because I have enough for a Spearhead Army and I have nearly enough for a 1000 point game and I have plenty for any sort of encounter in Soulbound... But I'm doing this to capture where I am at with these at the beginning of 2025. I'm doing these second because they're EASY - most of the stuff is in one place and all of it is assembled!

Painted

These are all the [faction] I have done. 

Heroes

• Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne (1) 150
• Karanak (1) 110
• Slaughterpriest (1) 160
• Slaughterpriest (1) 160

Units 

• Blood Warriors (10) 210
• Bloodreavers (10) 100
• Mighty Skullcrushers (3) 220
• Bloodletters (10) 200
• Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Flesh Hounds (5) 110

Legends

• Garrek’s Reavers (5)  70
• Magore’s Fiends (4) 120

could currently be fielded as:

Slaughterpriest General's Regiment

• Hero - Slaughterpriest (1) 160
• Unit - Blood Warriors (10) 210
• Unit - Bloodreavers (10) 100
• Unit - Mighty Skullcrushers (3) 220

Bloodmaster's Regiment

• Hero - Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne (1) 150
• Unit - Bloodletters (10) 200

Karanak's Regiment

• Hero - Karanak (1) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110

Second Slaughterpriest's Regiment

• Hero -  Slaughterpriest (1) 160
• Unit - Garrek’s Reavers (5)  70
• Unit - Magore’s Fiends (4) 120

Total: 1830 points

Honestly, at this point, do I even NEED to paint any of the other stuff...? 

Still to DO!

This is all the [faction] I still have to do

Heroes

• Mighty Lord of Khorne (1) 130
• Bloodstoker (1) 100
• Bloodstoker (1) 100
• Bloodsecrator (1) 130 
• Bloodsecrator (1) 130 

Units

• Khorgorath (1) 130 
• Blood Warriors (10) 210
• Bloodreavers (10) 100
• Bloodreavers (10) 100
• Bloodreavers (10) 100
• Skullreapers (5) 220
• Bloodcrushers (3) 180 

Legends

• Gorechosen of Dromm (3) 190

When it's ALL DONE

All the stuff together. 

When I'm done I should be able to field...

Mighty Lord of Khorne General's Regiment

• Hero - Mighty Lord of Khorne (1) 130
• Bloodbound Warmonger - Bloodsecrator (1) 130 
• Unit - Skullreapers (5) 220
• Unit - Khorgorath (1) 130 
• Unit - Mighty Skullcrushers (3) 220

First Slaughterpriest 's Regiment

• Hero - Slaughterpriest (1) 160
• Unit - Blood Warriors (10) 210
• Unit - Bloodreavers (20) 200
• Unit - Gorechosen of Dromm (3) 190

Bloodmaster's Regiment

• Hero - Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne (1) 150
• Unit - Bloodletters (10) 200
• Unit - Bloodcrushers (3) 180 

Karanak's Regiment

• Hero - Karanak (1) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110
• Unit - Flesh Hounds (5) 110

Second Slaughterpriest's Regiment

• Hero -  Slaughterpriest (1) 160
• Unit - Blood Warriors (10) 210
• Unit - Bloodreavers (20) 200
• Unit - Magore’s Fiends (4) 120

Total: 3250 points

WAAAAY more than I need... and this doesn't even include EVERYTHING there's a surplus Bloodsecrator and two Bloodstoker's that I just can't even use... I suppose if I wanted to go ALL BLOODBOUND and ditch the two Daemon Regiments, I could use two of them to field regiments... but who would they LEAD?! I guess I could think out some of the other regiments and field all the Blood Reavers as units of 10... 

Anyway... this is where things are at. I'd like to finish up the Khorgorath - because it is so CLOSE to being finished. Same with the Bloodcrushers. At SOME point I'd like to finish up the Mighty Lord of Khorne and a Bloodsecrator - because they're both cool models... and then at some later point finish up all of the Blood Warriors and then the Bloodreavers. 

I think the previous owner must have fielded all the units of Bloodbound (Blood Warriors and Bloodreavers) as there is only one Blood Warrior Standard Bearer and two Bloodreaver Standard Bearers. I'm not sure there's any benefit to fielding larger units... I guess if you wanted to field fewer Regiments...? Which may be reason enough...? 

Stuff to GET!?

Not really anything... 

I guess there is the Judgements of Khorne and the Skull Alter - not units.. the Skull Alter is faction terrain - an alter that a Slaughterpriest can climb up on and it boosts his prayer rolls... The Judgements of Khorne are basically Endless Spells for the army that hates magic! 

Maybe IF I got all this stuff painted, AND I was playing with them regularly enough to warrant buying anything new, I'd get MOAR DAEMONS!!! So I could potentially have complete separate forces of Bloodbound and Daemons! Maybe a Bloodthirster to lead them...? But that's not a this year thing... that's a maybe-at-some-point-in-future-years thing!

Age of Sigmar - Nighthaunt - Faction Update

So THIS is what I was planning to do with the faction updates. Pick a faction (Nighthaunt) and take stock of what I have and what I still need to do as of the beginning of January 2025... 

These are kind of the first priority... mainly because this is the force that needs the Least stuff finished! 

Painted

These are all the Nighthaunt I have done. 

Heroes

• Spirit Torment (1) 130
• Cairn Wraith (1) 130

Units

• Chainghasts (2) 100
• Bladegheist Revenants (10) 180 
• Chainrasps (10) 100
• Myrmourn Banshees (4) 120
• Glaivewraith Stalkers (4)  80

Legends

• Thorns of the Briar Queen (7) 140

A LOT of the force is Warhammer Underworlds Warbands and ten chainrasps are for the game Crypt Hunters!?

Currently, however, this COULD be fielded as...

Spirit Torment General's Regiment 

• Hero - Spirit Torment (1) 130
• Unit - Chainghasts (2) 100
• Unit - Bladegheist Revenants (10) 180 
• Unit - Chainrasps (10) 100
• Unit - Glaivewraith Stalkers (4)  80

Cairn Wraith's Regiment 

• Hero - Cairn Wraith (1) 130
• Unit - Myrmourn Banshees (4) 120
• Unit - Thorns of the Briar Queen (7) 140

Total: 980 points 

Just enough for a starting Path to Glory Army! 

There are some spare Chainrasps floating around in the back of the picture.. they're from a spare set of the Thorns of the Briar Queen I happen to have... not enough to field a unit of them, but could be fun to add to an encounter in a role-playing game - or use in some other skimish game! 

STILL TO DO!

This is all the stuff I still have to do

• Scriptor Mortis (1) 120
• Craventhrone Guard (5) 100
• Myrmourn Banshees (4) 120
• The Headsmen’s Curse (4)  150

And that's why I want to do these... because there are 14 miniatures to finish. I could knock them off in a week or two and be DONE! 

When it's ALL DONE 

When I'm done I should be able to field... 

Scriptor Mortis General's Regiment 

• Hero - Scriptor Mortis (1) 120
• Unit - Craventhrone Guard (5) 100
• Unit - Bladegheist Revenants (10) 180 
• Unit - The Headsmen’s Curse (4)  150

Spirit Torment's Regiment

• Hero - Spirit Torment (1) 130
• Unit - Chainghasts (2) 100
• Unit - Chainrasps (10) 100
• Unit - Glaivewraith Stalkers (4)  80

Cairn Wraith's Regiment 

• Hero - Cairn Wraith (1) 130
• Unit - Myrmourn Banshees (4) 120
• Unit - Myrmourn Banshees (4) 120
• Unit - Thorns of the Briar Queen (7) 140

Total: 1470 points 

The Chainrasps are technically part of another game - Crypt Hunters and are stored in the game box, not with the rest of the Nighthaunts... 

Will these be done in the next week or two...? Probably not... I do have things I need to have painted for my role-playing game on Tuesday, so anything I need for that kind of takes precedence! (But maybe the FOLLOWING week!) 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday - 27 March 2024

Last Work-in-Progress Wednesday for March 2024... and the last one for 2024-Q1! 

No new miniatures purchased in the last week - because I failed to realize that GW now does two week Pre-Orders!? 

In the past week, I managed to finish off Skabbik's Plaguepack and the Neurogaunt (Free Miniature of the Month for March 2024) - so keeping up with the plan of painting ONE Warhammer Underworlds warband each week! This brings my total painted 28mm miniatures so far this year to 38 (versus 43 purchased). Regardless of how much I paint in the next week, I will not be in the black at the end of the Quarter as this weekend I'll be picking up THIRTY MORE 28mm miniatures (Zondara's Gravebreakers and the Rivals of the Mirrored City), which will push my purchased total up to 73!

Having finished up Skabbik's that polished off most of the warbands I was REALLY EXCITED about getting done... So now I'm not sure what to do... Part of me would like to finish up at least ONE more warband before the new stuff arrives on the weekend, but I'm not sure which one...

Here's what's on the workbench at the moment:

Sons of Velmorn seem the most likely to be finished next... just have to do cloaks and tunics and shield and belts and I think they're done... and that's not a lot of their surface area... 

While I was working on Skabbik's Plaguepack, I did do a little bit on Skittershank's Clawpack... might be nice to push through and finish THESE up before there are MORE Skaven on the workbench!?

I... it... it seemed like a good idea at the time

Trust me, I have a plan... it's going to be BRILLIANT... or suck... it's a fine line! 

My stand-in Chaos Gargant... did the easy bits, stuck on making decisions about clothes elements.... 

I've done little work on Thundrik's Profiteers (and the two other Kharadron Overlord heroes from Warhammer Quest that have joined this group)... I REALLY WANT to get them done... but just keep getting hung up on where to start and what metal colours to use!? 

Usually in this situation, I default to HOW ARE THEY PAINTED ON THE GW WEBSITE... 

Anothe warbands that feels SO CLOSE to being done, I should just finish it up and get it OFF the workbench... and yet it lingers for another week... 

Gnarlspirit Pack. Not sure if I've done any work on these...? 

And there are SO MANY OTHERS that are still just there... on the workbemch... because I fear if I put them back in storage they'll be forgotten forever and I HAVE PLANS for all of them: The Squigherd, Crimson Court, Myari's Purifiers, Hexbane's Hunters, Gorechosen of Drom, Garrek's Reavers, assorted Warhammer Quest heroes and villains, and so much more... 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday - 14 February 2024

Last week... I kind of did a thing... 

I sort of went ahead and bought myself a bit of an early birthday present... 

I had told myself that I wouldn't buy any miniatures unless I'd already painted more than I'm going to buy... so this kind of puts me in the red... (kind of... I mean, I DID finish those Basilisks! But when we're counting 28mm foot as a category of their own... I'm a bit behind on that) 

They're for a specific thing in a few weeks - my birthday weekend I'm running two games of the Soulbound RPG (one in person and one online) and I wanted some squigs to use as opponents for the heroes (Along with the Grinkrak's Looncourt!) So... these WILL be painted, pronto (like, by next week, for sure...) 

They are assembled and primed already! (but now currently wainting, patiently, until I am absoloutely finished ALL the stuff I need for this weekend's tournament! 

Things I still need to finish for that

Scout Sentinel

I also have some "Missile counters" - to mark which vehicles still have Hunter Killer Missiles... Which I forgot to take pictures of... They'll be done soon and I'll include them in a post - perhaps with the Scout Sentinel

Other Things still on the bench...

There is a bit of a void left with all the Basilisks and Manticores moved off... 

Ephilim's Pandemonium is still on the top of my list of things to finish after the Scout Sentinel... 

Blackpowders Buccaneers is SO CLOSE... SOOOOO CLOSE to being finished... I really need to just finish them up... but I'm just not feeling it... 

Pair of Warhammer Quest heroes that are likewise SO CLOSE to being finished... that I might use in Soulbound... but man... just don't care... but too close to remove from the table... (Maybe I should check what the players want to play... if any are interested in a Warpriest of Fyreslayer... that might motivate me to finish them up!) 

Myari's Purifiers made their way back onto the workbench this week (because AELVES! Amanda decided she needed NOW AELF OPTIONS for Warhammer Underworlds... that didn't involve buying a whole new warband - like Gryselle's Arenai)

Not one, but TWO, Idoneth Deepkin warbands. After Nic showed up with Cyreni's Razors on Sunday, Amanda decided she needed to try THOSE... when I mentioned I had ANOTHER Deepkin warband, she suggested I should paint both... and Myari's... 

Domitan's Stormcoven... another one I'm not SUPER excited about... but they're close to being done... so they'll probably stay until they are... 

The Vampires are still here from the PREVIOUS week when Orion laid some smack down with The Crimson Court and Amanda decided she needed THOSE... They may go back into hibernations soon as Amanda seems to have forgotten about them for the moment... As long as I finish up 

Heroes and villains of Ulfenkarn: The Cursed City... They might go back into storage too... 

As the dust settles after the mad panic of getting the Tallarn done, I really think I need to spend an evening and do some painting triage an seriously consider what I realistically actually work on and which can just be organized back into "ON DECK" boxes... 

On Sunday, Orion had mentioned that the Warhammer Store had gotten SIX copies of Skabbik's Plaguepack in and still had lots of the free Miniature of the Month... so I vowed to get out there today... 

As it turned out, I had to get Keiran to an appointment in the afternoon, so I made a MAD DASH to hit Dragon's Den when they opened at 10:30 and then hauled ass out to the Warhammer store to get there just after they opened... and then get home a little afternoon so I could catch the bus with them around 1pm! 

My haul from the two stores: Card Sleeves from Dragon's Den... Skabbik's and the free mini (in the red box) and Astra Militarum Data Cards (which I figured would be easier than trying to scribble out all the stats myself for this weekend...) 

Ummm... it... it was a St. Valentine's Day present to myself...?

This puts me a little more in the red (for St. Valentine's Day!) with the painted versus purchased... but I feel like these are extenuating circumstances and I'm unlikely to buy any more minis until Zondara’s Gravebreakers come out... maybe in March or April... or the next two-team core box in April or May...? 

And I'm back painting minis! So hopefully I'll be back in the black by the end of the week and chipping away at the lead/plastic mountain! 

Quick Painting Update - Sci-Fi

 Yeah, I am totally NOT keeping up with the planned rate of production that would get me to the point where I will have painted more than I've painted this year... It COULD happen... but I'm not worrying about it too much. 

I'll have some better pics of most of these up tomorrow in a post explaining what they're for. The short version is; I read the rules for Five Parsecs From Home and got excited about trying a campaign and these are a few minis I knocked out to fill out my crew!

On the left of the picture is an OLD Rogue Trader era Space Ork from Citadel Miniatures, the rest are old I-Kore Void miniatures. The one on the right is not actually part of the crew... He WAS going to be, but then I decided it would be better to arm the enforcer with the Hunting Rifle, so I painted the other (both were MOSTLY painted... I just finished up a few colours and re-based them).

More on the Campaign tomorrow and I'll probably post a game report of the first action later in the week! 

Game Plan 2023 - Q4

How is this year almost over!? 

I didn't have much of a PLAN for Q3 to look back at... with summer and renovations raging ahead, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be doing all that much hobby stuff... and I didn't... Here's what I did get up to over the last three months... 

Q3 - GAMES

In Q3 I played... 

• Wingspan x3
• 1754: Conquest – The French and Indian War x1
• Azul x1
• Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game x1
• Carcassonne x1
• Charioteer x1
• Compounded x1
• Cyclades x1
• Splendor x1
• Terraforming Mars x1
• Wingspan: Oceania Expansion x1

Yeah... 13 games... wow... 

For the year, so far, I've played... 

• One-hour Wargames x20
• Codenames x11
• Wingspan x8
• Wingspan Asia x7
• Splendor x6
• Clank! In! Space!: A Deck-Building Adventure x4
• Agricola x3
• Century: Golem Edition x3
• Azul x2
• Codenames: Pictures x2
• Terraforming Mars x2
• Tinderblox x2
• 1754: Conquest – The French and Indian War x1
• Beyond the Sun x1
• Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game x1
• Boss Monster 2: The Next Level x1
• Carcassonne x1
• Castles of Mad King Ludwig x1
• Charioteer x1
• Compounded x1
• Cryptid x1
• Cyclades x1
• Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game x1
• Imhotep x1
• Kingdom Builder x1
• Lords of Waterdeep x1
• Shakespeare x1
• Terraforming Mars: Prelude x1
• Tyrants of the Underdark x1
• Vinci x1
• Xenos Rampant x1

87 for the year, so far... not terrible... 

Q3 - Miniatures

I painted a total of eight 28mm miniatures this quarter, and purchased 26 more...

Aye-yi-yi... 

Q3 - Painted

• 3x Ninja All-Stars
• 2x Rat Ogors
• 2x Chibi Dwarves
• 1x Yagyu Jubei

Q3 total: 7

Q3 Acquisitions

• 6x Cyberpunk RED - Generation Red
• 3x Kromlech Space Dwarf Snipers
• 1x Darksword Miniatures Turtle Warrior
• 2x Ninja All-Stars
• 14x Clan Tanchyo (Ninja All-Stars) 

Q3 Acuisitions Total: 26

Q4 - THE PLAN

The renovations are... well... the end is... in sight, I guess... Drywalling was happening this past week. By the end of next week, painting could be happening... then the suspended ceilings...? Then some flooring...? (though some of the flooring will be waiting on cabinets to arrive...) Cabinets... finish plumbing... and then moving everything around and finding places for everything... Honestly, I'm not sure ALL of that will be done until the end of the year - when we might have time to devote to sorting and moving and such. 

If the renovation weren't enough... Amanda has just gone completely overboard with commitments this fall... I mean, as if the renovation weren't enough on top of a fairly demanding fulltime job... she's also committed to teaching EIGHT weekly yoga classes - each class being an hour long (PLUS the time to PREPARE each class...). AND she's spent the last month preparing and practicing a piece for the Saskatoon International Burlesque Festival - which was just this past weekend... AND plans to choreograph a completely NEW piece to preform at the Rosebud's Burlesque Club's Peek-a-Boo Halloween show at the end of THIS month... Does that all sound InSaNe?! But wait, there's MORE.... in addition to all this, she's also doing an online yoga teacher training thing that is every other weekend (two hours on Friday evening and then about seven or eight hours on the Saturday and again on the Sunday... AND there's homework and practice sessions she has to do BETWEEN those weekend instruction session!?).

Keiran isn't much better. They're back to doing three dance classes each week at a studio they danced at in the past and is ramping up for the school fall musical - which they will preform in December and Keiran will be VERY involved in... in addition to acting and singing and dancing, they are also doing a lot of the technical back stage - sets, props, and costumes (last year they sewed MOST of the costumes themselves!?). In addition to, y'know, SCHOOL....

That being said... I am SOMEWHAT hopeful that the hobby slump might... well... might not be OVER... but... I have some hope that a bit more hobby stuff will happen in the final quarter of the year... and at least by the Holidaze we might be getting back to playing games on the semi-regular... 

WHAT, exactly, will I (we?) be doing..? I couldn't say, exactly... If I had to guess... 

Q4 - GAMES

Looking at what i've gotten up to this year, so far (above), I'm obviously NOT completing any sort of 10x10 challenges this year... ah, well... 

Probably best to not even consider a Quarterly 5x5... 

Roleplaying

My online gaming pals did make Blade Runner characters a few weeks ago, and we're planning to play next weekend. I hope I can keep that game going for a bit - even if it's only every few weeks or so - at least to play through the adventure in the starter kit. After that..? maybe we'll continue with another adventure... or maybe we'll have a go at the new version of Twilight: 2000 or back to Wrath and Glory...?

I'd also like to run some in-person games... but that will depend on when the Game Room is available. Which will probably not be before November... maybe not even before December, or the Holidaze... In person I'd be keen to run the same things - Blade Runner, Twilight: 2000, and Wrath & Glory

I do still hope Finnegan will find some time at some point to run that My Little Pony Role-playing game for us... 

Board Games

Again, this will probably depend on when the Game Room is operational again... I'm hoping it will all be good by the holidaze and we can get some last minute gaming in before the end of the year!!!

Miniature Gaming!? 

Again... the Game Room....

I'd be keen to run some sort of skirmish games... maybe a short campaign... or maybe just try out the solo version of Stargrave (or Five Parsecs from Home)?!

Some of my miniature hobby time might be planning bigger things for the new year - like another online campaign or an in-person weekend campaign of some sort...? 

Q4 - Miniature Painting

With the end of the basement renovations and the Big Shuffle.. I should once again have a proper painting station and hobby space, to really get going on painting again. That might be in the new year. I'd like to keep plugging away at these Ninja All-Stars... and maybe a few Sci-fi things for Kill Team or Stargrave or Five Parsecs from Home- or any minis or vehicles or terrain I might use in any of the Role-playing games I might end up running. 

And the rats... I am still thinking I might run the Undercargard Challenge sometime next year... 

Though I kind of slacked off this past week... I'd still like to try and paint MORE than I've purchased this year - at least for miniatures (there is no way I'm going to get all the terrain that came with all the Kill Team boxes done... maybe that will be a project for NEXT YEAR!?) I have three months - about thirteen weeks 91 days. I've purchased 132 x 28mm miniatures and I've painted 62. I need to paint 70 more to "break even" - that's about three miniatures every four days... Nearly one a day... If I DID one a day, on average, I'd be totally in the black!? Maybe that's what I need to shoot for...? 

I just need to paint a miniature a day... and NOT BUY ANY MORE... 

Of course, now that I've typed that, GW will probably release an Emperor's Children Codex with a new Noise Marines box.... and, dammit, they'll probably simultaneously release a new Kill Team box that's, like, Noize Marines versus Goff Rockers - a 40K battle of the bands... and... it would just be so ridiculous that I just couldn't NOT buy THAT!?!? fuckers... Or a brand new version of Battlefleet Gothic!? 

State of Miniature Painting

The second order from Meeplemart arrived yesterday with  The Crows boardgames, Litanies of the Lost for Wrath and Glory and... 

These two miniatures for Ninja All-Stars that I happen to see they still had... (just... don't ask...) 

Updating my Painted vs. Purchased page (and the list took on the left (if your looking at this on a home computer and not a phone...), I noticed that broughts my total of 29mm Miniatures Acquired for 2023 to 118... 

So far, I have only painted 53...

then I started comparing and that sent me down a whole rabbithole of crunching numbers and thinking about things... 

If I paint four more I'll match last year's total... but will still have acquired 61 more miniatures than I've painted. So I got thinking about how I could, at the very least, paint MORE than I've acquired. I need to paint 65 just to break even. There are 109 days left in the year. If I painted ONE MINIATURE PER DAY that would be 162, which would be brilliant - well over what I've acquired and on my way to brining down the mountain of shame (though, it's not really much of a mountain, they're actually all very neatly organized in drawers in the game room...). 

Is it realistic to think I could paint a miniature per day...? Maybe... Maybe not... If I did one every other day for the rest of the year that would only be 54 and bring my total to 107, just shy of what I need... so I need to paint a little more than one every other day.  

Looking back at the last decade and a half (since I started tracking painted vs. purchased) there are only four years I was "in the black" (having painted MORE than I purchased). 

In the previous 15 years I have acquired 13222 28mm miniatures (an average of 881/year),  but only painted 9643 (an average of 642/year)...

To get caught up, I need to spend the next 15 years painting 239 MORE miniatures than I acquire... 

Can I DO that...? 

Will I even LIVE that long?!

I don't know... 

Maybe lets start with just painting more miniature than I acquire from here on out! So that means painting a little more than one miniature every other day for the rest of the year. 

What miniatures am I going to paint? NO IDEA!?  

The ones most likely to be finished next are these three:

Three Ninja All-Stars miniatures from the game Keiran got a few years back. I don't know WHAT got me thinking I should paint these up...?! 

I think I'd been looking around on Meeplemart to see if they had anything else I could add to the second order, as it is unlikely that I'll be ordering anything else any time soon... and i THINK I went looking at Soda Pop miniatures to see if they had any heroes for Super Dungeon Explore and they didn't but they had the two Ninja All Stars miniatures above and I remembered that Keiran had that game, but we'd never played it and I must have got it in my head that I should order these two miniatures and paint them and I could paint up a couple of teams of the ones that Keiran had and maybe that might motivate them to play the game....? Maybe...?

Anyway, the Samurai Sentry is pretty much done and the two Shinobi just need a few finishing touches and that will be THREE that I've done...? 

What will be next...? Who knows... could be the two new Ninja All-Star minis... Could be more from the box set (to finish a team... or finish the sentries...?) Or SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!? 

If I were in a place that I could actually make a PLAN and STICK TO IT(!?) - I'd probably count out a few Kill Teams (Ninja All-Star teams?) and clear everything off the painting tables and just work on those until they are done... but that doesn't seem to work at all anymore.. so... we'll just have to see...

Horror, Harlequins, and a Vivandière - a Painting Update

  I have been painting... a little bit... 

The first two items are things I actually painted a couple months ago, but just didn't get around to posting. I was waiting for... something else...? to get finished to post along with them, but that just insn't happeneing and i want them off the workbench. 

Now that I look at them, they probably need some grass tufts to truly be finished... But that isn't done at the painting table, and I just want to get these OFF the painting table... 

Vivandière from Matchlock Miniatures

Horror from Reaper Miniatures. 

All the Harlequins and other Eldar on the workbench. I've got most of the first new troupe of Harlequins done and the other two that I have are well on the way (and the final troupe should be arriving soon!)

These three are pretty much done. 

These three... just about there... just needing a detail or highlight or two...

Ugh... Why did I think harlequins would be a good idea!? 

Warhammer Underworlds: Morgok's Krushas

And MORE Stormcast Eternals - no, wait, these ones are different. They're BIGGER than the freaking Stormcast Eternals! Last weekend I was in my FLGS hoping the Wrumspat warbad I'd asked them to get in had arrived... and left with Morgok's Krusha's instead... because... REASONS!?

Morgok Krusha's is a mob of Ironjawz Brutes that were released as part of the Beastgrave expansions - the "3rd Season" of Warhammer Underworlds. Brutes are REALLY BIG Orruks - kind of like bosses in 40K, I think. They're on freaking 40mm bases!? I'm curious to see how they play in Warhammer Underworlds - starting with only three, I'll have more activations than miniatures to START! Need to find lots of push and bonus attack cards. There are a few in their deck but I feel like a few more might be handy. 

They seem like a murderiferous aggressive warband - but actually have a few Objective Cards that score for holding objectives?! I guess every warband it going to have a mix. Not sure if I should can those and go for more that give bonuses for killifying things... or go for the HOLD STUFF. I think that might be hard - it would require splitting them up, the most I could ever hold is three, and they are SLOW - so it would be challenging to get to Objective Markers deep in enemy territory...?

Morgok's Krushas

Morgok

'Ard-Skull

Thugg 

I probably should have done a comparison picture, so you can see how absurdly HUGE these are.... ah well, you'll see soon enough when I (and they) face Amanda (and Morgwaeth's Blade-Coven) this weekend 

I was thinking of repainting a few of my older GW Warhammer Fantasy Battle Orcs to join these guys and make a Warcry warband... but all the current Orruks seem to fall into two groups; Ironjawz (which these are) and Savage Orruks. Ironjawz all seem to be hulking brutes in plate armour - with NO MISSILE WEAPONS!? The Savage Orruks are lightly armoured, if at all, and carry weapons made of stone!? The old Orcs I have lighter armour - but metal, like chainmail hauberks - and crossbows and stuff!? Maybe I'll just have to use the ones I have as a warband of their own and use the Savage Orruk stats. And just pick up one or two more Ironjawz to join these guys to make a Warcry warband.