Hobby Goals 2020

12 Jan 2020

In 2019 I hobbied more than I ever had before. In 2020 I want to keep up the pace, so I can:

Clear the Backlog

Ever since getting into the hobby I’ve fallen into the trap every hobbyist seems to fall into: I acquire more stuff than I am able to paint in the immediate term. I like to think that I’ve been better at avoiding the worst of it than some others, as most of the stuff I’ve added to the pile has been given to me for free (or very cheaply), like when Nat’s parents foisted all of her and her brother’s old minis on me.

Note: I don’t think this is a bad situation to be in. If I’m ever stumped for what to paint next, chances are I can find something in my collection that will scratch the right itch. It’s really nice to have a large pool of possible ‘next projects’, even if it does feel rather overwhelming! And there’s nothing wrong with getting stuff you want; there are absolutely worse consumerist vices than miniatures!

I want to finish the year as close as possible to the ideal state where the next thing I buy will be the next thing I paint and nothing is hanging over me.

Avoid Adding to the Backlog

I’ll never accomplish the above if I keep acquiring more stuff to paint. I’m generally quite good at turning my nose up at the latest expensive battle box Games Workshop are putting out. It’s the too-good-to-refuse offers from friends that catch me out. For example: Almost immediately after announcing I was in “acquisition lockdown” and wouldn’t be getting any more minis until I’d painted what I had, I went to a meetup where one of my friends said he was trying to get rid of the Gloomspite Gitz he thought he was never going to get around to. A horde of goblins. More Spider Riders. 2 Arachnarok Spiders. All looking sad in his never-to-be-finished pile. All for £30. I was slain.

But I have a promise I make to every single one of the previously-unloved little soldiers I took into my possession that day: You will be painted. You will get the care and attention you deserve.

So apart from Warhammer Underworlds warbands I will try very hard not to acquire any more stuff this year.

Have a Good-looking Gaming Table

Mostly for playing Age of Sigmar on, although there’s plenty other games that I’d like to be able to play at home on a big beautiful battlefield.

I’m halfway there already. I have some boards I can put over our dining table to make it 4’ by 6’. A 6’ by 4’ gaming mat from Gamemat.eu is coming my way in the post. I have a fair amount of painted terrain:

The ruins from the Warcry starter box.
The graveyard terrain from the Corpsewrack Mausoleum set.
MDF (wooden) buildings from TTCombat like these ruined sci-fi-gothic structures, this watchtower, plus some other bits and pieces that might be from other manufacturers. I spent some time over the holiday making these look much nicer.

It’s quite a good collection, but what I want to add to this is some grassy hills, trees, little wooded copses, that sort of thing. So at some point I’ll be trying to craft some of that stuff myself. Just like with mini painting, there’s never been an easier time to learn how to build your own terrain, thanks to all the fantastic video tutorials produced by the likes of Terrain Tutor, Luke and Sorastro.

Play More

Of course, there’s no reason to do all this painting and terrain-building if the end result is never gonna be used. So this year I want to play even more Warcry, Age of Sigmar, Underworlds, Frostgrave, etc. I just really like it, you know?

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

I keep track of all my hobby projects on Trello. It’s a complete mess, but it keeps it all out of my head and I can use the Trello Plus plugin to track how much time I spend on projects, which is important for estimating how much I can get done.

Off the top of my head, the main things to get done in order to clear the bulk of my backlog are:

Finish all my Stormcast Eternals. Once I’m done with Soul Wars I have some Liberators to build. Some bits and bobs I got for free from an acquaintance who was having a clearout. Some of that might need stripping. Ew.
Gloomspite Gitz. This is the big one, I think. I need to figure out how to paint nearly a hundred Stabbas and Shootas quickly. A terrifying thought. But I did it before with a smaller number back in February, and I came out of that twilight feeling like a hobby god, so it’ll be worth it. My goblins shall block out the sun.
Paint the Dwarf half of the old Battle for Skull Pass boxset. I’m not really sure what I’ll do with these minis, though. Only a few of them have a home in Age of Sigmar anymore. Perhaps they could be the beginning of a Kings of War army or a Oathmark force? (In which case, should I base them on squares?)
Kings of War Vanguard. The Basilean and Northern Alliance boxes. These were very annoying to assemble. Hopefully they will be easier to paint.

Everything else is kinda small bits-and-pieces. Underworlds warbands. North Star minis for Frostgrave. Old Middle-Earth things. Old Warhammer stuff.

I’ll be recording my progress on here if time will allow it. I hope you’ll wish me luck, and I wish you all the best for your own hobby journey this year. Godspeed!