Clearing the decks

Well not much painting today, other than finishing the last infantry stand for the Brits and another 2 M3 Half tracks.

Instead, I concentrated on getting a pile of figures which I had finished painting around Xmas/ New Year but I had never finished basing and those readers of this blog will know how I feel about basing. But, I thought I would get them done and out of the way so, 10 Dwarf Beserkers, 3 Dwarf Warriors, 2 Dwarf Lords, 8 Dwarf Miners, 3 Dwarf Artillery crew, a Chaos Blood Bowl Warrior and a Brit Napoleonic Rifleman were completed during the course of the evening.

I guess the picture shows part of the problem that I no doubt share with many, many wargamers - Fantasy Dwarfs, Brit WW2, Brit Napoleonic, Bloodbowl- figures from 4 different games and scales, all projects ongoing at the one time. And like many other wargamers I fall into the trap of starting 1 project and not finishing it because I got distracted by some other new shiny project.

The guys at Kirriemuir Wargames club are trying to discipline themselves into completing 2 projects before they start a new one. An admirable ambition but the problem is what projects do I want to finish first?

Of the projects listed above, I do at least have enough painted figures to play with the Dwarves and Bloodbowl, so I guess they should be of least priority. The WW2 Brits are the newest figures I have acquired and were purchased with a view to be able to play Blitzkrieg Commander with the boys without having to borrow their figures so I will keep plugging away at those and give it the highest priority. Now that all of the infantry stands are complete, I will start on the support weapons and vehicles in order to complete the mech infantry battalion first on the basis that if I need any armour in the short term I can always borrow Gordon's Shermans from his American army.

The Brit Napoleonics is the project I would like to get finished the quickest but it is also the one I am least enthusiastic about (if that makes sense). I love the period and the history and acquired the new improved General De Brigade rules from Santa (I also have Black Powder rules as well) and have played several games over the years at the club, but never with my own figures.

I have 2 infantry battalions completed and have enough figures to complete another 2 or 3 battalions and Santa brought me an artillery battery and a regiment of Heavy Cavalry so that I could, in theory, field a small force. But though I really like the Victrix models, some of them are a real pain to put together - the firing pose in particular is very frustrating to get to sit properly, and Napoleonic Uniforms, as those of you who have painted such figures will know, are not the quickest things to paint.

And as for the other uncompleted projects lurking in my cupboards - well probably best if I don't think about those otherwise I will definitely never get anything done - well maybe except one. I want to properly base my 6mm sci fi models with a view to playing Future War Commander (yes I know that they don't need to be based but I have decided from an aesthetic point of view that they would look better as well as minimise any wear on the paintwork if the models were handled by the base rather than by the model itself)  - more basing though :-(

So, I think the order of the day will be -

WW2 Brits
Chaos Bloodbowl team
Base the sci fi for FWC
Brit Napoleonics

I think for my own sanity, it is better to have a few models on the go of something else, otherwise I would go stir crazy painting nothing but the same models and troop types, which is why I think it makes sense to keep working away on the Bloodbowl team while painting the WW2 stuff. Having said that, I still have an unfinished Dwarf Artillery crew sitting on my painting table...........