2015/2016 Mandatory Resolution Post

As always, this is the time of year where we examine (usually for the first or second time since Dec/Jan) what our plans were for the year. I was hoping for a 1/2 decent showing, but it turns out I only hit 1 of 4 targets. The one I managed, the paint log, is very heartening to see, especially considering my productivity fell off a cliff after July due to moving cities and job. Check the bottom for pics. 

The plan for 2015
1/. Play 12 wargames (playing it safe with this one)
FAIL. Most surprising to myself, I only noted 8 games. I swore it was more, but it could be the immense amount of roleplaying games, and pretty solid board game performance.

2/.Focus on partially painted painted items (a bit vague, but I hope it will tend to prevent me from starting new things, when I could be finishing off old)
FAIL. I did manage to fully complete some mini projects, buying and then finishing the whole purchase off (a few Russian Naps sets, the 15mm muslims, vietnam fortifications), but I didn't make much damage in the partial projects. 

3/. Paint log I can present at the end of the year. Create as I go.
SUCCESS. I *did* lose the thread a bit after july, but a blog is a lovely thing and I just sorted through pics and hammered them in. It'd be cooler to have a single pic with everything, but lots of stuff is packed away still. Nice to see the true product of ones year of output. 

4/. Fully paint a project I can host solo.
FAIL. My terrain collection grows, and I can usually set up decent tables. The force and opposing force criteria is awful though. Now that I moved, this objective seems even more important to do.



The plan for 2016

1/. Paint 50 'Bones' figs.  I have Bones 3 coming in at some point, so it makes sense to swim against the tide.

2/. Finish 'trays of shame' of 15mm french napoleonics. These have been sitting too long. It's only about 100-150 figs and they are probably 1/3-1/2 done. Time to put them to bed.

3/. Paint up both sides of a game. The most challenging/ambitious one for me. Likely targets include: skirmish forces (mordheim/frostgrave/ambush alley), Cy6! (flight stands are the problem), Spacehulk, or some 15mm sci fi type thing.

4/. Attend a convention. Now that I've moved out of a town that hosts one, this will be more of a stretch.



Jan 12th. Mordheim ogre

Jan 18th. Necromunda ganger/Digga x2









January 30th Perry Russian Officers

Feb 7 Perry Russian Dragoons and Cuirassier

Feb 11 Vaeloth                                                          Feb 14 - gzg spacemen

Feb 22 - Heavy Gear Stony Heads                           Feb 25 - Lg Earth Elemental

Feb 28 Stone Golem                                                    Mar 2 - Grandmother

Mar 8 - Ghoul Queen                                                                  Mar 17 Muriel, Banabus, Grim, Hajad

May 18th - Oswald


May - Undertaker & golem


June 7 - Novacorp Sgt

6MMRPC: Qualified Failure

Oh dear, where did 10 weeks go? To be honest, packing up your life, and moving to a new home throws a spanner in any ability to paint, let alone to be consistently productive. The change in jobs didn't help much either.

I'm still fairly mired down with household 'hobby' - painting rooms, repairing tools, 'converting' light fixtures, using pink insulation (for it's true purpose for a change), and so forth.  I think I've managed to sit down and paint 3 times in the last 7 weeks I've been moved. The short term doesn't look a whole lot more promising either.







Goals achieved
-In regards to what my 6MMRPC goals were: utter failure -2. My trays of shame lie untouched except for Bones novacorp and my saracens  which were a delightful completion. Alas now that I've moved, my old gaming group is now playing SAGA Crescent and Cross. Cruel irony.

-Inspecting my productivity, I see that I did finish a few projects. Saracens, A battery of Warlord Russian Artillery, All my ainsty 28mm bits, Novacorp bones figs, and the vietnam Fortifications. It'd be a stretch to give the 2 Napoleonic generals a 'project' rating. I'm tantalizingly close to finishing another project in all it's glory, but I'll save that for a big reveal in a few weeks (or months....sigh).

It's a shame the Caffeineforge blog went quiet as well, as that was a big incentive for me to try and keep up with Bones painting. I presume he'll get back on the air eventually, and I'll probably not have finished the last set of figs queued up!

-Weekly postings: 16/26....not half bad. Cough. Almost half bad though.

-Zombtomber: no postings at all. Boo.




Input/Output
Given 2 jokers to start with, and 5 I earned, let's see how in debt I managed to go:

1- King's Minis chaos dwarves. I totally lucked out and managed to get a set before Delaney's life imploded. I seriously wondered if I was going to get them for a while as the shipping date lengthened and her posts got more ominous.

2- Front Rank Russian minis - a whack of lead that is part of the almost completed project. Unfortunately I botched a code in my email, and ended up with some infantry instead of the horse riders I wanted (I got the correct horses though. Doh).

3- TMP Front rank French figs - a clearout with a great price, this sets me up for working on the opfor for my Russians.

4 - TMP Demonworld - again, a great deal cropped up on 15mm fantasy figs. Demonworld have great looking minis, though they are hampered a bit by limited poses in the ranges.

5 - FOW Vietnam - cracked under the tanksgiving sale and bought some more figs. I really (REALLY) need to get a start on some of this stuff

6 - Armourcast Mutant plants & soda can toppers. I think I've been eyeing this stuff for literally 5 or more years. A 20% sale made up my mind

7 - Impulse buy at Heresy minis. A great sale (detecting a theme yet?) had me grab the lovely ghoul family, and some sci fi civvies. Unlike (arguably) the other purchases, this one doesn't really fit into a project. Ooops.

Summary:
Certainly less successful than my first go at the 6MMRPC. When I actually looked at what I had done and bought, I was pleasantly surprised....a lot better than I thought I'd have.

Community wise, it really seemed to quiet and nose dive just before I had to functionally drop out. It'd be interesting to see what others thoughts were. There some noise about starting up again quickly. I think it's some new blood, and some die hards. I'd argue for a couple month break, but it's rather challenging to control these things, frankly.

6MMRPC Week 15: Ainsty Wharves and Jetties....shipping out

The horros of packing up the house and dealing with old employer/new employer HR continues to suck at my time and energy. I haven't gone dark quite yet though. Here is another appropos submission, considering my move will require a ferry ride.

One again we have some more Ainsty resin terrain. All my Ainsty stuff came in two large purchases that occurred in successive Decembers. I remember this because 'it was a gift to me'.....how we trick ourselves. It's great to see the lot finally done up. I still have other Ainsty stuff, but they will be their own projects.

After finishing the browns, I wanted to do more, and add some colour. Scum/Kelp/mold/rot/etc was the obvious choice, but I was quite sure how to swing it. Thankfully I remembered the great work done by Barry at League of Augsberg on his pirate ship (here), who shared his recipe when prompted.

Voila:

Definitely the look I desired.