The scale of the problem (2015 edition)

As is tradition, here is a glimpse of what still remains in the lead pile. 2014 saw some major successes with no fewer that 4 projects reaching that elusive completed status.

28mm Scale Projects

Orcs and Goblins
System: KoW
Status: Several hundred figures painted, some more in the lead pile
Comments: No progress during 2014.

Kingdoms of Men/Basileans
System: KoW
Status: 18 knights started, about 100 more models unpainted.
Comments: No progress during 2014.

Dwarfs
System: KoW
Status: 80% unpainted, about 150-200 models in total.
Comments: A handful of models painted during 2014 - still waiting for the big breakthrough.

High Elves
System: KoW
Status: Mostly painted
Comments: No progress during 2014.

Undead
System: KoW
Status: Completed
Comments: Project completed - I painted up the last few units at the beginning of the year - there are a few stragglers but that's about it.

Ogres
System: KoW
Status: New for 2014
Comments: At the beginning of the year I had a few ogres in the unpainted pile from the first Kings of War Kickstarter campaign. I won an army set in October which turned this into a fully fledged army project. Currently about a third of my initial goal are painted but the army might end up growing further.


Blood Angels
System: Warhammer 40K
Status: Mostly finished.
Comments: Over 2500 points + options available for use. Gathering dust.

DreadBall Teams
System: DreadBall
Status: 6 teams painted out of 12
Comments: No painting progress but I picked up a couple more teams.

Dead Zone
System: Dead Zone
Status: 1 faction starter done
Comments: First miniatures painted right at the end of 2014. I need to put some effort in here so I can actually play the game.

SWAT teams and Criminals
System: Officer Down!
Status: Completed.
Comments: This year's big success story - not only have I painted all the miniatures (including the ones I bought to expand the factions) but I now also have an entire city's worth of painted terrain.



Modern Zombies
System: And Stay Down!
Status: Completed (66 miniatures).
Comments: Another success story - started and completed in time for the Halloween special.

RPG miniatures
System: D&D etc
Status: Lots painted - lots still to do.
Comments: I've been chipping away at these over the course of 2014 - the year's additions have been outweighed by the ones I have painted..


10/15mm Scale Projects

Aliens and Marines,
System: Xenomorph
Status: Completed
Comments: Another project completed during 2014.

High Elves, Undead, Dark Elves, Mongols, Later Muslim Indian, Later Achmeneid Persian
Systems: DBA, HOTT etc
Status: No progress during 2014.

Well that was 2014, how was it for you?

And as the new year dawns is it time to show off the last few miniatures painted up during 2014. Firstly some old Marauder Miniatures ogres and some really old Chronicle Miniatures ogres which I recently re-discovered after they were shipped off into storage about 10 years ago. After a quick bath in biostrip I have put fresh paint jobs on old lead.



I'm quite happy with how these turned out.

Next up some more modern Mantic ogres. This leaved me on just under a third of the initial ogre army project completed.



And lastly my Deadzone Plague starter which I painted up in a flash of inspiration. Now I need to do another faction starter so I can get some games in.



So what was 2014's total? With that last batch of miniatures painted up I achieved a grand total of 292 miniature equivalents painted up (ogre sized minis count as 2, smaller miniatures count as less than 1). For me that is a lot of miniatures and I am very happy with it.

So what about purchases? Even with the last minute purchase of a couple more season 3 Dreadball teams I am still in surplus! I'm not exactly sure how much by as I have not opened all the Deadzone packages from the second shipment yet but I'm sure there are fewer than surplus of 111 miniatures I have at the moment which means ...

2014 was a WIN for the wargamer's pledge! (cue fireworks)

As one door closes another opens

Well after basking in the warm afterglow of a completed project it didn't take too long for me to find another windmill to tilt at.

Back in October I went to the Clash of Kings Kings of War tournament having hardly played KoW all year. I didn't expect to do well and was very surprised to come 2nd. As a prize I got a Mantic ogre army set which means I will now be painting up an ogre army for KoW.

I had some ogres from the first Kings of War Kickstarter and I bought a few more models (more warriors, some chariots and some command models) to round out the army and off I set.

After working out a colour scheme I had a complete tidy of my workbench and kept only the paints and paint brushes required for this project. This has speeded things up can cut down the amount of time I usually spend hunting for the right paint and remembering which colours to use.



And here are the first fruits of the project - a units of ogre warriors:-



And a unit of ogre shooters:-



Next up some more warriors and shooters hopefully followed by some more interesting stuff.

Another milestone

And with another flourish of the brush I have completed another four miniatures. Here we have three Britannia Miniatures Somalis and a Russian officer from TAG. The TAG miniature was a freebie when I placed an order with them earlier in the year (they are nice like that). The Somalis date back to the origins of the project in 2004(ish) - I bought them to add some more assault rifles to the criminal gangs but they don't really fit. I'm not sure what I'll do with them but they are painted at least.



These represent a milestone as I have now painted up every last miniature I have purchased for my Officer Down project. That means the project is complete at last ... until I succumb to temptation and buy some more miniatures.

Now to clear a few more things off my work bench and then who knows, Deadzone maybe?

I will survive!

And here are the last of the survivors for "And Stay Down". Well actually some of these will also see use in Officer Down as well. All of these are from Hasslefree, some were recent purchases and others have been awaiting paint for many years.



And another view just because.



It was nice to paint something with a bit more care and attention than the way I did the zombies. A little less haste and a few extra highlights make all the difference.

Next up are the last four miniatures in the queue for Officer Down and then I'm done with the project (until I buy more miniatures for it!).

The end times

That's it - they're done! At last I have finished painting zombies. Here are the last 6 walkers:-



And the 6 crawlers.



And here are all 66 of them in one place for the first time.





And one last shot for luck.



I'm trying to keep up the momentum and have made a start on the remaining Officer Down/And Stay Down miniatures - a mix of survivors, undercover cops etc.

The end is in sight

12 more Zs finished which just leaves 6 walkers and 6 crawlers to complete. The end is nigh!



And whilst I was waiting for some paint to dry I decided to do a couple of colour scheme testers for my Deadzone Plague faction. These were very quick and don't look too bad. I might be able to quickly blast out the rest of the faction at some point.



But I still have more Zs and survivors to finish before then so on with the show.