Year in Review

The year what was.

First things first, I've picked up a couple new followers recently, so howdy to the new folks.  Hope you enjoy the ride.

With the new year on the horizon, and since I see them popping up across the interwebs, I thought I'd take a look at what I've done this year.  Starting with models built would be appropriate, but I'm not entirely sure what was done this year and what was done in years past, so let's just skip ahead to painting.




Blood Angels
10 Assault Marines
5 Sanguinary Guard

Orks
10 choppy Boyz
22 shooty Boyz (with a Big Shoota and a Rokkit Launcha)

Khador
Harkevich
Strakhov
Orsus1 (or prime as you prefer)
Irusk1 (though he already needs repairs ><;)
6 Doom Reavers
Winter Guard Deathstar (all 16 of them)
Manhuntress
Black Ivan
2 wreck markers
Juggernaut
5 Bombardiers

See something notable back there?

Grand total: 83 models.  I thought there would be more, but that's a respectable enough number.  Considering it doesn't count all the in progress stuff (another 10-15 orks, 10 more Blood Angels, War Dog, Destroyer, pSorscha, Widowmakers) it's not so bad at all.  Further considering that all my Khador was painted this year (I inherited a few already painted pieces from EV), and that I didn't start in on them in earnest until July, things look pretty rosy.

From a blogging perspective I managed:
168 posts (not counting this one), up from 88 last year
23 battle reports (including a video report)
Joined 3 blog networks
Revamped the design (now with a banner!)
And a bit of inside baseball, enjoyed a huge jump in blog traffic

As happy as I am with my painting list, the blogging list makes me a bit happier still.  I'm a writer by training and inclination (if not yet by trade, fingers crossed for 2012), so churning out the words is closer to the heart than cranking out the minis.  There's plenty of room for improvement (looking at you proof-reading) but considering that I'm averaging about a post every other day at least I have the an appropriate quantity.  Much as I'd like to be an every day poster, I just don't think it'll happen.  If I could find a way to make a living by blogging then I'd be a couple-times-per-day poster, but alas that particular pipe dream is well beyond reasonable.

In less tangible results, EV and I got in a game per week with great regularity.  I'm sure we missed a week here and there, but for the most part there was a steady diet of gaming.  I made my (Warmahordes) tournament debut and had a great time while also getting a good result.  Having recently found the Warmahordes community hiding (in plain sight) at my FLGS, games-per-week has risen dramatically and will hopefully hit a level that satisfies my Warmahordes hunger while also allowing for more system flexibility with EV, who loves to hop from game to game.

Now that's flexibility.

With that marginal transition in place, what am I looking forward to in 2012?  Foremost is getting a list fully painted.  What list?  That's a good question.  It'll be Khadoran, but beyond that I'm not sure.  I may shoot for the Strakhov list I played at the tournament, if only for nostalgia purposes.  By now some list should have emerged as my go-to, but nothing has floated to the top yet.  I've been having a good time fluttering around the faction and am loathe to settle in to one list for fear of becoming overly reliant on any given unit or piece.  Witness the lack of WGI in my lists of late for evidence.  Given my ultimate druthers a T4 Orsus list would be the winner, but considering I still have to get some Demo Corps and assemble (and magnetize) my omni-jack this is an option that won't be finished in the near future, though a full year should be plenty of time to get it done.  Of course a lot of what will get painted will depend on Paint the Target, which is responsible for better than half of my Khadoran output this year, but there will surely be overlap and getting stuff painted is a good thing regardless of what it is.

Had to get another one in.

Satisfying as it will be to be able to put a fully painted force on the table will be, I did mention flexibility.  As such I'll be looking to things that aren't Khadoran.  Top of the list is Legion, but considering that I have yet to figure out a scheme (though I did prime up a couple of Shredders for test purposes this morning) this project will probably take a bit to get rolling.  I have a good idea of where I want to go with Legion (beasts, beasts, more beasts) and my current plan is to collect towards a handful of lists instead of just collecting an entire faction.  I have similar intentions towards Trollbloods, though they're even further back on the burner with the recent Legion acquisition.  Menoth has gotten the biggest shove back of all, though with a decent reason.  My previous painting plan, meaning that Trollbloods will be my "halo" faction, has shifted to Menoth.  Considering how invested I am in the whole red-cross-on-white-background crusader theme I am, it makes sense to give the Menites the super detailed treatment.  I have some basing ideas for them as well, but don't expect any real progress until after Khador and Legion are done.  My poor, neglected Iron Dwarves are very close to completion, so they're on the list as well.  It would be a nice change of pace to have a fully painted collection of something.  Finally there's the Orks.  With EV's Dark Eldar resurgence the ladz have taken a couple steps up in my sea of consciousness.  Since they're the definition of a horde army, I can use them to scratch the "paint a bunch of stuff quickly" itch that I have while also clearing out a large chunk of the building and painting backlog that I have.  I have enough models on hand, and probably assembled and primed, for at least a 500 point list, probably 750, and perhaps even 1000, though that will likely take some stretching with wargear options.  The Orks are very appealing aesthetically so I'll be glad to get back to them.  There is a pull between wanting to get the done quick and wanting to paint (and model) them well, but I'm sure I can find a happy medium.  I think my painting has taken a couple steps since the last time I put brush to Ork, so I'll be curious to see how the next batch of them paints up.  Perhaps I'll start with a Nob or two to have a finished squad on hand.  Lots of options on hand for the new year.