Monday, February 14, 2011

Hobby Ennui: First Painting of 2011

The title of this post kind of caught me by surprise, as I was sure that I had painted something before this. But no- looking back through my posts so far this year I haven't had a chance to paint anything beyond putting a primer coat on a tank or two.



I can blame it on being busy at work and on some family crises that have sprung up, but I think the real source of my hobby ennui is just that I'm not excited to be painting Guard anymore. I've been playing only this army for the past almost two years and it's starting to get a bit stale. I had hoped that my Ogre Kingdoms army would have changed that attitude but finding a Fantasy game in Madison is proving much more difficult than I had first expected.

So now when I am trying to paint and model all of the remaining choices for my Adepticon list I find that I just don't have the drive. I still like the Guard, but I want to be done building them and I want the option of playing something else. Something like Deathwing, Dark Eldar or Tyranids...

But I have priorities, and getting my army tournament ready is the top one right now. After I finish basing and squad marking the gentlemen above I will have a Chimera and my mystery 300 pts of Heavy Support to complete before Adepticon. Hopefully that won't be too much of a problem.

What kind of ways have you all found to combat hobby ennui?

4 comments:

John Gaszak said...

Have you checked out www.wwhfb.com for Madison WFB players?

Max said...

I actually hadn't... will do!

WineShark said...

My method to "beat the grind" of painting my guard has several layers:
- I keep a completed model or unit of models on a shelf above my workspace. It motivates me to want to get my other models to that level
- I provide a painting break with different/special models. Custom kit-bashes for special characters, or less common models like Commissars or advisors or somesuch.
- I take building breaks, where I work on vehicles, other models, etc. This gets my mind off painting.
- I work in discreet groups - a squad, weapon team, or other unified group. This helps me "see the end of the road" better.
- I make sure to play with those completed models. Seeing them on the table with other painted armies is a reward of its own.

I've totaled over 160 figure models in my guard army, and I'm grinding away at increasing the proportion of completed ones of those. Hope your cross to bear goes well too!

Max said...

@ WineShark: The "take a break" method might work for me. I just need to figure out how to use my spray gun and some Dystopian Wars ships might get some color on them. Though the Hydra and Psyker projects have definitely lit a fire under me as well.

Thanks for the advice!