The New Year: A Time for Resolutions and Whatnot.

For those of you still keeping score at home, I made a list of hobby resolutions last year.

The idea was, by giving myself a something of a hobby to-do list, I'd actually get some hobbying done.

Or, at least, that I'd manage to accomplish more than I'd done the year before when I hadn't made a list.

Unfortunately, that list didn't do much to help me. In fact, that list was pretty much exactly this list. I'm sure that one can use the excuse that life got in the way, as life tends to find ways to do, but nonetheless it left me with quite a pile of stuff to sort, glue and paint and not a single bit of hobbying actually accomplished.

This year, however, I'd like to actually start completing some of the various hobby projects I've got laying around. I've got, literally, a room full of little plastic men (and women, beasts and armament if we want to be entirely inclusive) from various armies that I'd thought were good ideas at some point in time and they deserve to be assembled, converted, painted and see the field of battle.

In fact, I've also got some fields of battle that need to be painted and played on lest they feel neglected and unwanted and unloved, but I digress. 

Therefore, be it resolved that I will complete all of the following armies -- in their entirety -- before I buy anything else.*

1. The Iron Men of the Mechanicum (1000pts.)
   Yes, this army is Iron Man themed. No, I don't care if you don't like me mixing geek genres.
   
   1x Magos Dominus (a 'Tony Stark-flavored' Ferrus Manus conversion)
   6x Thallax
   3x Castellax Battle Automata
   3x Castellax Battle Automata
   
   Additional units I've already purchased which can be used to expand this force: 3x Thallax, 5x Myrmidon Destructors (a unit of converted Iron Hands Gorgon Terminators), 1x Thanatar Siege Automata, and 1x Questoris Knight Magaera.
    
2. The Tau (500pts. / 750pts.)
   I have a paint scheme in mind for this army, but no fluff because, well, I haven't dug that far into their background or whatnot. I've just always thought they looked cool.
   
   1x Cadre Fireblade
   { 6x Fire Warriors}
   3x XV8 Crisis Battlesuits
   3x Stealth Shas'ui Battlesuits
   1x Pirahna
   2x Tetra
   1x XV104 Broadside
   
   Additional units I've already purchased which can be used to expand this force: 1x Pirahna (Forgeworld variant).
    
3. The Night Lords (750pts.)
   This is a Vampire Counts-flavored version of the Night Lords. Think something along the lines of the Night Lords fleeing into the Warp, a chapter settling a dark, sunless planet and thereupon discovering that there are scarier things in the night than they themselves.
   
   Before you protest, in W40K lore, there are such things as Vampires. Imagine what they could do if they managed to infiltrate a (fallen) legion of the Astartes ...
   
   1x Chaos Lord with Jump Pack
   20x Chaos Cultists
   20x Chaos Cultists
   5x Raptors / Warp Talons
   6x Raptors / Warp Talons
   1x Heldrake
   
   Additional units I've already purchased which can be used to expand this force: 1x Knight Titan.
    
4. The Carcharadons Astra (1,500pts.)
   This army is intended to be more fluffy than uber-competitive. That said, I'd still like it to kill things.
   
   1x Tyberos the Red Wake
   5x Assault Terminators
   5x Assault Terminators
   { 5x Assault Terminators }
   { 5x Assault Terminators }
   7x Scout Squad (Snipers)
   5x Scout Squad (in transport with Shotguns)
   5x Scout Squad (in transport with Shotguns)
   
   Additional units I've already purchased which can be used to expand this force: 1x Contemptor Dreadnought, and 1x Leviathan Dreadnought.

Those are my first set of milestones.

Doing the math, there really aren't a large number of models there to paint though, obviously, some a larger significantly larger than others. With any sort of efficiency, I should easily be able to complete this in a matter of months. Not later than the end of April, I'm sure.

To get it to the standard I'd like them to be, however, and taking into account the fact that there will never be the sort of time I imagine there to be to actually complete this list, I'll double that estimate and say that I hope to have this done by the beginning of August.

So, what will I ever do to fill the rest of my year ... ?

Oh, there are things. But, I'll have to write about those more later.


(* - This 'no more buying' ban, obviously, does not include the units or individual bits necessary to complete those armies. As it is, for example, I'm actually about three units short of filling out those lists as they stand so the ban would not apply to those units. And, if inspiration strikes, I may throw the ban out entirely ... )

Slow progress is still progress.

Shortly after my previous post about how much I intended to get done this month, we got some rather exciting family news this month that has side-lined most of my hobby pursuits while I work feverishly to turn our basement (also known locally as 'the dumping grounds for all of the clutter we didn't want to deal with properly') into a more fully livable space.

Best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

However, I am making some slow progress toward my goals. Pictures should be arriving shortly.

On the table this month ...

1) For the Carcharadons Astra: A Contemptor Dreadnought that is, when I'm done, going to be fully poseable. Like an action figure.

2) For the Nyam-Nyam Cannibals: A couple of witch doctor, one male and one female, as inspired by Diablo III.

3) For the Beast Kings of Ind: Some eclectic unit filler to go with a Dragon Warrior.

4) For the Ragewood of Hathelos: I've decided that the Dryads need a few finishing touches on the Dryads (a la "If you're going to San Francisco ...") before I feel like they're really 'done.' And I've found just the thing.

5) And, for the Elves of Tor Elithis: Maybe ninja or four.


I'm excited to clear this so that I can switch back to getting real units done. Like the Bestigors I've got waiting for some love and attention. Let's see how much I get done.

Complete: Hrólfr, Lord of the Howling Wolves of Fenrir.

Obviously, I don't have enough other projects to complete, so ...

Hrólfr is the Chaos Lord that will lead the Howling Wolves of Fenrir, a clan of Chaos warriors whose inspiration is drawn from Norse mythology. And wolves.

(More pictures -- and a lot of exposition -- after the jump ...)

Complete: The Nyam-Nyam Cannibals of the Southlands (The First Ten).

The birth of an(other) army ...

You'll note the gap.

That's because these are the first ten cannibals in what will, eventually, be a horde of fifty. Those two spots represent the place where their leader, the Ghoul King, and their 'witch doctor,' the Necromancer, will stand.

However, because the way these models line up, they need to be rather precisely placed. So, this is where they are.

( More pictures and background on the origin of this army after the jump ... )

(Also, I've cleaned up the photos to eliminate some shadows and keep the colors 'true' to what you see when looking at these in person.)

Wednesday Workbench: Things to Come.

Yes, I know the photo isn't particularly well lit. I'm going to pretend I did it that way on purpose to add an aire of mystery. Just go with it.

Regardless, here's a bit of a preview of a few things to come ...

Works in Progress: Treeman

There's a bit of fatherly pride that goes along with your son wanting to follow in your footsteps and learn a hobby that you're excited about.

This weekend, my eleven-year-old son took the allowance he'd been saving up and some extra money he'd earned mowing lawns and moving bricks down to our friendly, local comic and game shop and purchased his first* big Warhammer model: the new Treeman Ancient kit.

After flipping through the pages of the new White Dwarf, he also decided that he didn't want his Treeman to be just a regular, ordinary Treeman.

So, with a hobby knife, a bit of Zap-a-Gap superglue (I contend, the best superglue available on the market) and a vision of what he wanted, we sat down and spent Sunday afternoon creating this ...

(Photos after the jump.)