Something Other Than Finished Painting

Everything in my bag that isn't painted.  

Still about painting, just not finished minis.  After the informal listing of unpainted minis in my last post I decided to dig out the models and get a look at them as a group.  The results were better than expected and pictured to the left.  It's worth noting that this is only what was in my bag (except the mortar) so it doesn't include what was on the painting table at the time (eEryiss, Beast 09, eButcher) nor does it include the stuff that isn't completely built yet (the other two mechanics, IFP, all the horsemans, Spriggan, Conquest).  Despite those caveats, I'm basically down to three units (Great Bears, Mechanics, Mortar [which still needs the telescope]), three large bases (Drago, Drakhun, Beast 09), two medium bases (dismounted Drakhun, eButch), and two small bases (Yuri, eEryiss).  This is not much to finish and while it's not reasonable to think I can get them all done (and played) before the Journeyman league ends next Sunday (maybe Saturday) it's more reasonable to think that I could get all that painted by the end of the year.



I should probably mention the painting that I've done since last time, which I didn't take pictures of.  I started on the Drakhun and Mechanics without getting too far on them, did a little more on eButcher, and got enough work on Yuri that I should be able to finish him next time without much trouble.  I'm torn between finishing off the Butcher, who is getting along but isn't too close (especially with his base to consider), and plugging away on the Drakhun, a model I've been wanting to paint for quite a while.  Like all cavalry models the Drakhun is proving to be more work than expected, but he's worth extra points for the Journeyman and I have a special desire to paint him up.  I'm hoping I can finish the Mechanics as collateral painting damage as they won't need many colors and are sculpted enough that I can let washes do most of the heavy lifting.

The future?

I have a bad feeling I've written this more than a few times now, but here it goes again anyway.  I'm creeping up on a weird situation where the majority of my armymans are painted.  I'm already over half finished with Legion and Khador, probably significantly past half if I took the time to figure it out.  The vast majority of my Axis army is painted in case Dust picks back up eventually.  The various Grimdark Angels aren't close to finished but I'm fairly sure I can field an entirely red (or black/gold when appropriate) Blood Angels army and I just absorbed EV's Deathwing, so a small push will allow me to field a fully painted (except maybe a Land Raider or two) version of the Deathwing list I've been enjoying recently.  (The full plan for this army is still forming, but as it stands EV's DW will be stand-ins until I get my own DW assembled/magnetized/painted, at which point I'm thinking they'll become Blood Angels or some other chapter.)  What I'm getting at is there could be an opening for a largish army project in the nearish future.  It would be prudent to put that time to use on something that I field often that isn't painted (like some Angels or pushing through a Warmahordes faction), but I'm considering something entirely different: Empire.  I got one of the big box Empire armies quite a while ago and started working on a Middenheim army, but at some point I lost steam.  Unfortunately the army spent a long time sitting on top of the box and formed up in regiments and has picked up quite a bit of "battle damage" over the years, mostly in the form of broken halberds.  EV was talking about the WFB tournament at the Nova Open recently which got me to thinking about Fantasy again.  The system is starting to become my Moby Dick, with the exception that it has yet to take my leg, and I want to make it clear (especially to EV) that I'm not carving this in stone and it's very possible that I'll get diverted into Menoth or Trollbloods or some other something, but the wheels are turning.  I already have an army, in sheer numbers that may or may not be optimal or fieldable, and my recent success with cranking models out quickly (not to mention having another 5+ years of painting under my belt since the initial foray) means that the big blocks of infantry aren't quite as intimidating as they used to be.  This isn't the first time I've thought my way down this particular path, and there may have been an edition change since then (or one on the horizon), but perhaps this time the idea will stick.