Decisions, decisions...

So, where am I at, hobbywise?

Before my vacation, I was cheerfully focused on my Orks. During my vacation I had fun painting a character for the Iron Kingdoms RPG. A nice little palate-cleanser before returning to work on my Orks, right?  .... Wrong.
I've been back for over a week now, and my interests are so over the place, I'm getting nothing done...
The fire to work on my Orks has died down to embers. I'm looking at my stash of IKRPG-suitable figures, because I had so much fun on the one, I'd like to do more of them. And because they share a setting, I've been looking at my Khador stuff as well.
I got Space Marine last week on a Steam Sale (I've been eyeing that game since it was released but it was never for sale at a price I found acceptable. Until now.) My son saw a bit of me playing it, and thought it was very cool. But he can't play the game yet. So I am contemplating if I can throw together a tabletop skirmish game of Space Marine with him before the end of his summer holidays (So, effectively, sometime the coming week.)
Which means I'm looking at my notes for a IHMN/ItEN mash-up again. And, because of the game's graphics and character design, I've done some more on my True-scale Space Marine test model. Which is part of my Inq28/=I=Munda project. But for the marine, I need parts from my box of marines for my 40K/Space Hulk Howling Griffons. So those have been dragged out as well.
And to top it off, next weekend I've committed to a game of 40K. For which I need several miniatures I pulled apart for refurbishing before my vacation. So I really should be finishing those. Oh, and read the latest edition of the rules, as it will be my first game of 40K in over 4 years...
Aaargh!

The sane, sensible thing to do, would be to ignore the distractions and knuckle down on those refurbishment mini's and start reading the rules.
But with all the ideas and various enthusiasms floating through my brain, I can't find the focus.
Such a fun, relaxing pastime, this hobby of ours... ;-P

See you soon, hopefully with some progress to report.

This is my boomstick!

You all were expecting Ash, weren't you?

Well, these guys take the expression "boomstick" a little more literally:

Yesterday I finished my first batch of Iron Fang Pikemen, but I din't have the right light to photograph them anymore. They were a bit of hard work to get painted, I had to go back and fix a white haze that turned up on the red. No idea where it came from, I think the weather somehow affected the way the paint dried (My painting room has become a bit chilly this winter, so I paint in the living room, but I store my painting gear, including half-painted mini's in the painting room...)
Plus, they are basically 3 colours, red, brown and metal. It took some perseverance to keep going at such large and repetitive expanses of similar shapes and colours.
But I made it through. Now to gather the courage to start on the next batch of six, including the unit leader, bannerman and officer. I'm not sure if I'll keep them as one painting batch, or split them up in 3 grunts and 3 "specials". Right now I'm leaning towards painting them as a group of six; it means I only have one more batch of pikemen to get through, I can hopefully maintain some painting interest by alternating grunts and specials in the assembly line, and I reduce the risk of getting stuck with a painted unit that has unpainted officers....

Oh, here is the rear of this batch:

 Hardcore nutters in heavy plate, wielding bombs on long sticks, what's not to like about them?

Oh, to maintain sanity, and enthousiasm as the painting of the pikemen ground on, I also sidestepped into these guys:

The first part of Sir Yet Nameless his retinue. These are his archers. Sire Nameless and his retinue-to-be are part of my larger Warhammer Quest/Chanson de Geste/Dungeoneering/Fantasy Skirmish project.
At this point the wash on their cowls was drying, livery, leathers, faces, bows and grey metals are done. I still need to paint their hose, arrows and fletching, and copper/brassware bits and paint the bases before they are finished.
The two metal ones (sword raised and the guy with the horn) are lovely sculpts by the Perries, from GW's old (and by me, much missed) Bretonnian range. Accounting for their age, and single piece nature, even the three plastic ones aren't all that bad.

I find batch-painting the less enjoyable aspect of painting for wargaming. To keep myself enthousiastic about painting,  with every batch finished, I  "reward" myself with getting to paint a single individual miniature. Recharge the batteries, as it were.
So, once the archers are finished, I'll have two batches achieved, which means....TWO individual figures to paint!
Not sure yet, what those will be, but I'm already eyeing a few of my primed figures. Good chance they'll be figures that can be used for the Iron Kingdoms RPG, or maybe a Warmachine solo as these have all passed my converting and prep bench lately... Then again, I may just rip something out of a blister at the last moment.
Gotta keep things interesting...

Winter is coming...

Yeah, I know, tacky, overused title, but the alternative was  "Guards, guards!" .

You see, I've (finally) finished my basic unit of Winterguard:

(The photo isn't the greatest, crappy light today....)

I actually started on this unit several years(!) ago, back in the days of Mk1, it has lingered in the to-do pile far longer than it deserved.
I've still got my Rocketeers and UA in blister, they're the next batch of Winter Guard. Not next up on the painting table though. I have other units already based and ready for primer. Which those are? You'll see eventually, I haven't yet decided where to start myself...
Plus I've promised myself a solo or other single model as a reward for finishing a unit. (I find painting units a bit of a chore. A relaxing chore mind you, but still lower on the fun-o-meter than spending some time with a single figure. Apparently I'm no good with repetitive work.)

So, what else have I been up lately, now that Zomtober has passed?
I've played the Halloween zombie game I had planned. A little less turnout that I had hoped for, but we still had fun.  No AAR, as we all forgot to take regular pictures... Like some sort of Morbid Martha Steward I baked cookies... Zombie finger shortbread to be precise, which got a laugh from folk and were nommed with some enthusiasm. :-)
As far as the Great Garage Purge goes; I worked up the nerve to sort out and re-organise my collection of stuff (raw materials and models) for the Space Hulk 3D/Howling Griffons/Genestealer Cult conjoined-hybrid project. That stuff is now properly organised, neatly tucked away and I have a clearer view of what I already own. Hopefully that should lower the hurdle for actually starting on that again. The former sprawl of disorganised crap was rather, erm, dissuasive to actually, well, even going near it...
Which means that the garage is nearly done, just some minor stuff still to sort and then the final organising and stowing of stuff.

I've played a game of  Warmachine Mk2, a nice little introductory 15 point affair with a good mate of mine. I got solidly trounced (He's got at least double my years of wargaming under his belt and a keen mind for nasty tricks...), but it was a blast!
Hence my renewed painting of Warmachine stuff.

See you next time!