Painting to a Schedule

So ironically for a blog that I wanted to start to document my current passion for painting miniatures to a marginally acceptable standard, I will actually start the batting with my other great passion… spreadsheets. Well… I might just sneak a quick first photo in…  

This is an assault squad that will not oh so rarely feature in an actual battle. This is because, prior to the commencement of this blog, I subscribed to the rule of cool. In other words,  load people with weapons so that they at least look capable of going toe to toe with a wraithknight. 

However, for the first time since getting back into the hobby almost 4 years ago, I will be taking the plunge and entering a competitive tournament, specifically the London Grand Tournament, so not exactly starting small, but hey, what with work, home life and an addiction to spending my evenings bent over a small desk in the spare room, there isn’t much time to travel so I am ‘limited’ to whatever is on my doorstep. - enter the LGT. 

The thought of entering into a, by the looks of it pretty damn serious tournament, has made me realise several things about my current hobby set up. 

1. beer and pretzels army lists will not fly at an event where double riptide wing supported by an extra dash of riptides with a smattering of wraithknight is the norm. 
2. the ‘that heavy flamer is actually a grav cannon’ attitude which goes down so well with buddies in a home game (everyone loves a counts as grav cannon) is also out. 
3. Models that have been modelled to look like as much of a badass as possible are not as includable as one would hope. (tactical squad sergeants I’m looking at you)
4. Blood Angels suck. 

So with these realisations made it was time to do what my C.V says I do best and STRATEGISE. 

There are literally 1001 hobby articles out there on list building and this, at least for the moment, is not one of them. Lets cut a long story short and say that I am not completely ignorant of the online chatter in the 40k world and have decided to run a white scars battle company for all the reasons available elsewhere but also because I actually have 64% of the required models. - Such a precise figure I hear the absolutely no one who will read this as it is quite literally my first ever blog/masses cry… well, you remember I mentioned spreadsheets….

I love a pie chart. This was pre a little bit of an Ebay binge, which I’ll cover later, but suffice to say I thought that was actually a pretty positive set up for 16 weeks till tournament weekend. Particularly when I factor in that the 36% includes all the tactical squad sergeants who, as mentioned above, have been visually equipped so that each one is a mini chuck Norris, capable of monstering through entire squads of foes in the true traditions of Wardian fluff. I have deprioritised replacing these and have ‘5 bolter dudes’ as last to do on my still quite terrifyingly long list of things to paint. 

Ah yes things to paint. Here the pie is less favourable… 

But not by much! And to be honest I’m actually really excited to have a set painting deadline to work to, particularly as it now involves a list. I love a list. I have some concerns about the chart above though, most notably that I have counted 1 man and 1 tank as the same percentile. This was a conscious decision, as I actually think I spend about an equivalent amount of time on each. Edge highlighting space marines, which for some bizzare reason I decided to do, takes forever. There are some quick wins below, weapon swaps and the like, so overall I feel relatively positive about the task ahead. With the above limitation in mind, I have split my forecast of painting duties as below, so I can get some idea of the task that faces me.

So lots to paint and lots to acquire. Glorious. It is a default and correct assumption that anything I do not yet have, or have the incorrect weapon for, is also unpainted. I get the whole thing about buying painted, and trust when I’m knee deep in drop pods it is a calling I feel very strongly, but ultimately it is not for me, this is after all a painting blog. 

I shall end therefore with a unit I have just this moment finished adding the final brushstrokes to… appreciate any feedback anyone has.  

Oh yeah, if it’s not clear, my white scars battle company will be a particularly bloody looking one. I.e. they will be red, as the aforementioned blood angels suck. 

Further note to self: improve ability to photograph miniatures.