Friday, August 12, 2022

100/100 GOOOOAAALLL!

But first; a one act play:

Begin Scene: 
Kids are asleep, wife is in bed playing on her phone, probably looking at Etsy.
Enter Stewart (me), the hero of the story.
Me: "guess what I just finished doing?"
Wife: "You filled out those forms so our daughter can go to school next week?"
Me. "nope"
Wife: "you fixed the broken toilet in the downstairs bathroom?"
Me: "nut-uh."
Wife: "You fixed the lock on the garage side door so someone can't sneak in and murder us in our sleep?"
Me: "You watch too many murder shows.  No! WAY more important than any of that.. I just finished 100. 
Dark ages.
Miniatures."

(brief pause)

Wife: "Get in this bed RIGHT NOW."
Me: "Oh yeah! Whose your big daddy miniature wargaming painter.."
Wife: "Whoa,- that was weird.  Never mind, you can get out now and go fill out those forms like I asked you to."

End Scene


100 / 100


To recap: back in January I set a goal for myself to paint 100 dark ages miniatures (Vikings and Saxons) and to paint only dark ages miniatures until 100 were done.  Mainly to get out of a hobby funk and to make my dark ages mass battle games juuussstt a little more mass.  I thought it'd be a fun experiment to see how long it would take. 
8 months is the answer; because today is the day.  There was no real deadline for the project other than I didn't want it to take all year because for me, that would of been depressing.  I was shooting for late September / early Oct at the latest.  So I'm ahead of schedule.  I am a rock star.  But a the kind of rock star that comes out early and not the kind that is over an hour late to the stage in order to make an entrance.  Don't they know that people had to hire babysitters???!!


It's feels nice to complete a goal you set for yourself.  I feel that after 40 there are so few life goals left to accomplish because everything has been done...
Get married? Check
Know the joy of having children: Check, check, check, check
Know the heartache of having children: check
Start a career: check
Get really good at said career: check
Plateau in said career and get really bored and now just do it for the money: check.
Buy a house: check.
Engage in a never ending battle of breaking and fixing the house: Check

And so on.  Basically my life goals these days are 'don't die' and 'don't go broke' and 'try to have some fun before you die and go broke.' 

Where was I?.....Oh yeah miniatures.  100 of them.  Now I know that 100 is a pretty amazing number to have done... whaddya mean other people do it all the time?  
Actually I am well aware that for some folks 100 is not a big deal and they paint that many miniatures or more a month easy-peasy.  And I know that others would be hard pressed to paint 100 miniatures a year.   And I know others that have foolishly painted 6mm troops or smaller and I don't even know how many of those would even count as 1 miniature or how one sees them in the first place....
The one thing that they all have in common is that they all paint better than I do. 


Whether 100 is a lot or a little doesn't matter.  It was a goal and I did it and it feels good to achieve something. 




Last of the 100.




The final 12 heroes of the hour.
2 more Berserkers
8 Generic skirmishers with spears and no shield
1 Saxon cross bearer
1 female civilian.



Now for The traditional closer ups to see the amazingly average painting...


I'm not not sure I needed more Berserkers, but these miniatures tickled me
because they are both mostly naked and wearing animal skins.
Like in some HeMan and the Masters of the Universe cosplay.



Skirmisher gonna skirmish
(Shake it off)






I'm gonna call this the 'Super-Duper Christ Cross Banner Bearer.'
It will provide bonuses to Christian units.



And 1 female civilian who looks rather annoyed.
"Shouldn't you be doing chores instead of painting miniatures?"





FAILURE and Excitement



The miniatures of the '100 effort' (as I'm going to call it from now on) consisted of:
20 Saxon Ceorls (on two big battle bases / movement trays)
20 Saxon Thegns (on two big battle bases / movement trays)
Saxon Leader base (w/ 3 miniatures)
20 Viking Bondi (on two big battle bases / movement trays)
20 Viking Hird (on two big battle bases / movement trays)
Viking leader base (w/ 3 miniatures) (see the pattern there)
4 Viking Berserkers
8 Generic skirmishers (they have no loyalty)
1 Saxon Super Duper Christ Cross bearer
1 generic peasant.

Now the naturally epic thing to do would be to show some pic of all 100, and this where I do the epic fail.  I didn't really keep track of where I put the newly painted miniatures inside the storage tubs; just kinda placed them in there higgledy piggledy.    And since they all look basically the same and I can't remember which is which; 'that skunk has sprayed the stink' as they say.
Lots of people say that; it's another way of saying that ship has sailed or the opportunity has passed.  Well people say that over where I live.  Ok, it's only me that says that.  But it will catch on.


And I figure if a a pic of  100 miniatures was gonna be fun, then showing off the WHOLE collection of Saxons and Vikings would be WAY more exciting.  Maybe even 5 times more exciting.

Plus now would be a good time to take an inventory of what I have; Being a visual person it helps to see it all laid out. I set up a table in the living room while the wife watched TV.  It was a show about murder.


All the Vikings and Saxons


All the Vikings and Saxons at an Artistic slant angle.






A quick Tally reveals that there are just over 500 miniatures on the table.
So it was 5 times more exciting.  I'm a blogging genius.


The 100 effort basically added 8 trays (4 Viking and 4 Saxon), 2 leaders, and some various bits to the collection; moving it from 'small mass battle' to 'medium sized mass battle.'  Could probably keep 4 players interested.  




A Date to the Dance



These miniatures will have their official debut on  Veteran's Day Weekend here in the United States which is November 11th.  When there will be not one, not three, but two local conventions.  These being Vet Con and Conquest Sac.





(couldn't find a banner for Vet con, but here is a Linkidy-link)

Feel free to hop on an airplane and come down here just for the privilege of gaming with me. 


Actually these local conventions tend to be small to medium sized affairs, and these will be the FIRST I attend post COVID.  I want to see local conventions succeed so that they stick around so I'm volunteering to host several games.  Usually at conventions I am known as the ACW guy due to my long standing love affair with the ACW (I love you ACW, yes I do, whose the prettiest war?  you are!) and putting on games of Regimental Fire and Fury; which everyone loves and I am greatly respected for (if I do say so myself).  BUT I didn't spend 8 months painting dark ages miniatures for nothing!  So Mass battle Dark Ages games it will be.

The plan is to attend one convention Thursday and Friday and the other Saturday and Sunday netting me a 4 day weekend of gaming and no children.  The no children part is key.



Endings are Beginnings 



Of new endings.  Now that 100 effort has ended and I am allowed to paint other stuff.. I'll have a look see at what is lying around here.  But first I gotta clean up my hobby desk...

Such a Disaster after 8 months of painting nonstop
except for those times when I actually stopped.



and second I'll end this post.  

Thanks for Reading.
Double Thanks for writing a comment.
Till next time.  

64 comments:

  1. Fantastic display and congratulations on accomplishing your goal. I underestimated you! What is the next painting goal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jonathan. I don’t think you underestimated but I over performed bc it was being tracked all of a sudden. 😀
      Not sure what goal to pursue next. I must admit that setting a goal really helped in keeping focus. 😀

      Delete
  2. Congratulations on reaching 100! Impressive when all laid out.....
    Reading your life goals they are much the same as mine, with the addition of make it through to retirement!
    What is it with wives watching murder shows? Mine does the same.....
    Neil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Neil. Lol to the life goals of the middle aged. The armies a nice sight but still not quite as impressive as I’d like them to be. Not yet. 😀

      I don’t know the attraction to murder. I assure you I am not a murderer. 😀

      Delete
    2. As long as your wife is not taking notes I think you are safe. :)

      Delete
    3. “That guy was just trying to get caught. I’d never make that mistake..”.

      Delete
    4. Geez. My wife was telling me about all the mistakes killers usually make, like she was taking notes. I probably need to leave one of them messages that gets sent if I don't periodically check in....

      Delete
  3. Good on ya! That's a more than respectable figure count in my book (and the fall & early winter "painting season" is still ahead). Love the look of the dark age armies arrayed. Sounds like a worthy aim to take them on the road for 2 consecutive cons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ed. Hopefully before the actual conventions I can set up some games to shake the dust off my mass battle rule sets. 😀

      Delete
  4. So much to comment about on this post. I should congratulate you for the whole 100 thing but I wont because everyone else will and you might end up getting a bit above yourself, lol. For brevity’s sake I’ll just say - I’ve seen those Klingon ships on that messy desk of yours. Do them next! Don’t make me take hostages!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, paint the STNG stuff next! Operate on a Last in first out basis, just like unions.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Broom. Lol. No worries there as I am already known as the ego that walks. 😀

      Well spotted there. I thought the black primed ships would of been cloaked…
      But yes there will be ST in the near future.

      Delete
    3. Oops soz! Any views on rules you might use?

      Delete
    4. Starmada Unity is my current go to. Then Full Thrust.

      Delete
  5. Congratulations on completing the challenge - looking forward to see the next one. It’s is interesting to note that your current view of life goals matches mine…although the first 40 years (or rather 39 years and 363 days) I wandered though life aimlessly from one whim to the next until I got married, got a house, a career and goals. That is a grand parade!…and was I thinking “wow that is a tidy hobby desk!”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mark. I think most of us over 40 are likely in the same (sinking) boat.
      If you think my ruin of a hobby desk is tidy then I’d love to see yours. Mine is starting to drive me to distraction. 😀

      Delete
    2. I was thinking everyone elses painting desk disaster looks better than mine. Maybe it's like making a sandwhich.....it's always tastier made by someone else.

      Delete
  6. Well done dude - mission accomplished! Your armies really look the works now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a very impressive collection when all laid out like that Stew, and given they are all single figures in Big Battle Bases, all ready for skirmish or small scale actions, it's a larger number than I had anticipated. I don't even dare mention figure painting etc to my wife - who also watches a multitude of real life murder crime shows, mainly American and British but with the occasional guest appearance by a more glamorous country. I just motioned Neil and Jons comments above...and she said I did not need to worry until she buys some pigs....! 😁 As for life goals, I am a bit like Mark, and I have achieved less than you...."get really good at said career " has so far eluded me, mainly because none of my careers has ever really been more than a means to an end ie money! And now I am onto the goal of " stick it out in reasonable health for the next five or six years so I can retire and have a few years doing stuff I actually want to do before I pop my clogs", which is a bit depressing if you over think it, so let's not! One hundred figures...yay, well done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kieth. It is kinda depressing to get older isn’t it. Work has always been a means to an end for me as well; though I have gotten pretty good at my job I do wish I’d picked something that made more money; since that is the point. Lately I keep being moved around in my job bc I am good like the damn fire brigade.
      And I won’t worry about being murdered until the kids are grown and she mentions raising the life insurance. 😀

      Delete
  8. Congratulations on reaching 100 figures! That shot of both armies laid out is amazing, and inspirational.

    The real question though, is did your wife start watching the murder show after you started putting out the 500 figures? That is when I would worry...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks David. I’ve been married over 10 years and she’s been watching murder shows all that time so I think I am safe. For now…maybe after the kids are grown. 😀

      Delete
    2. Ten years? Revenge is best served cold…

      Delete
    3. Lol. I’m sure she’s just biding her time to allay suspicion.

      Delete
  9. This is a very impressive milestone and congrats on seeing it through! The minis turned out nicely and using them in a game is a great way to celebrate as well :) Its cool seeing all of those minis laid out on the table. I had dreams of that sort of thing in Warhammer Fantasy as a teenager and while I was a poor and faster painter compared to now, I got nowhere close to it compared to what you have achieved :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeff. But don’t be fooled; it’s taken years and years and years to amass that many figures. 😀

      Delete
  10. Well done with reaching your 100 goal. The army parade looks most impressive with all the figures on the tabletop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Peter. It is a fun sight. Though in my minds eye it was more impressive than in real life. 😀

      Delete
  11. Congrats on reaching your milestone. Those figures look great and remind me that I do have a box of 1/72 'Germanic Warriors' in my ever expanding queue. I had a good laugh at your post. It's nice to see someone on the other side of the world with a remarkably similar life. I've just turned 50, so the notion of 'Don't die' is kind of blending with the idea of 'Make sure you die well..'..pay off house, set up missus and kids, don't leave a psychological & physical mess for people to deal with. Morbid I know, but it seems after 50 all bets are off..anything can happen. Anyway, the good thing about taking stock at 50 - cuz you know I never thought I'd get there with all the carry on - is that I feel I've got nothing to prove to anyone, anymore. I'm going to enjoy the simple pleasures of life...having a few relaxing hobbies, spending time with family & friends, having fun with a good game every now & again, and not taking myself too seriously. All the best, I'd love to read your session reports on those convention games as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dash. I’m in my mid 40s so not too far behind you. I should of added a bit about not scaring the children and making them better people than I am.
      Time will tell. I like to think my parents are proud of me (both gone now).

      Anyways; the conventions are a few months off but I’m sure I’ll do a report of them. Gotta blog about something after all. Lol. 😀

      Delete
  12. Excellent finish to your project Stewart, and great achievement. as desks go I've seen messier, so shouldn't take too long to get it cleared. Hope the cons go well, and must be nice to have them to look forward to after Covid.
    Funnily enough my wife also watches lots of murder programs, but then she is studying to be a forensic psychologist, so don't have too much to worry about ! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dave. Yes I am excited to finally return to the convention circuit after these years.
      Good luck to your wife. I happen to be a psychologist so I know the pains she’ll go through. 😀

      Delete
  13. Another very amusing post Stew - 5 stars! Great to see your follower count is up and the comments section very active.

    Well done on meeting your goal! And excellent painting and bases by my standards. (admittedly fairly low)

    And I am sure that female figure is grumpy because "Someone didn't fix the side gate and 50 Vikings got in and killed everyone in their sleep!" :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ben. Yes I am pleased that my whining has increased the attention I get. I’ll try not to make a habit of it. 😀😀
      I didn’t think about Vikings but yeah, they’re just the sort to come smashing in here. I was just worried about zombies. Which we know are stupid.

      Delete
    2. I always rail against my wife about 'ninja zombies' when she forgets to lock the door. Perhaps zombie vikings are the real concern....

      Delete
  14. That’s an impressive display (the figures, not the desk). Must have spent an awful lot of Danegeld….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeffers. The desk is a different sort of impressive. 😀

      Delete
  15. Congratulations Stew. Always great to notch up a century in anything mate, unless you’re leaving in the UK at the moment and that 100 just do happens to be the thermometer. The figures look fantastic and with your heavy workload and lack of home support in the effort to be a professional wargamer ( well that’s my issue but I need company) you’ve done remarkably well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Carlo. Though I can’t say that I don’t get home support; my wife doesn’t mind if I vanish some nights to paint and more importantly watches the children while I play games so I would say she’s very supportive…
      Unless it’s a plan to murder me later by lulling me into a false sense of contentment…😀

      Delete
  16. Lovely stuff Stew and a great effort. I think life goals do seem amazingly similar to people of our age group. I am looking forward to retirement, but need to squirrel away a bit more before I do that. Thankfully I have an understanding wife who is supportive of my hobby, although she does often say things like "surely you don't think you can spend your whole retirement painting toy soldiers" to which I always reply "of course not" while thinking "yes, quite happily". I'm now off to investigate why your blog feed is not refreshing on my list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lawrence. Norm has a post on his blog on how to fix this issue. http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2022/07/fixing-followers-on-blogger.html

      Delete
    2. Thanks Lawrence. Yeah, as I said somewhere above; we’re all in the same (sinking) ship. My retirement is probably still around 2 decades away but I’ve had the same thought that I’m gonna do miniature wargames like other men do golf. 😀
      Hope you figure out the blog roll thing. Bens link should help.

      Delete
    3. Lawrence, my wife said exactly the same when I retired. My thoughts were exactly as yours! Are we brothers?

      Delete
  17. Firstly Stew congrats on the 100 and secondly on the excellent looking armies. Army parades are a great boost to see progress and just feel the warm glow of success. Worryingly since my recent purchases I have realised I have 13o dark age infantry to paint 😢

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt. Everyone loves a parade.
      130 miniatures would probably take me all year. 😀

      Delete
  18. you brought the 100 in well within time - glad you put all the forces out, they look splendid.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congrats on the 100 figures, here's to the next 100!
    Better get those forms filled in first though, just incase?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ray. Rest assured I did fill out the insurance / medical forms. 😀
      There are 4 months left in year so maybe I can manage some more figures but probably not 100…

      Delete
  20. The mass deployment looks very sharp on the table! Definitely a number worthy of a convention game. I'm lucky to have one small side of a force completed, let alone enough to host anything...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dave. I’ve been doing dark ages miniatures for years and years. It’s a slow process. 😀

      Delete
  21. Well done on reaching your century target on the painting front. Both armies look superb arrayed for battle. Who needs flank attacks and all that fancy nonsense when a good old charge at the shield wall will do;)?

    Once again I chuckled at your general post ramblings and the whole life goals thing did make me laugh, given that I have/am living it as I type!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve. I’m glad you enjoyed my lame attempts at humor. I usually try to add a little extra flavor in my posts so that people might actually read the text. 😀

      Delete
  22. Love the big group shot, always cool to see everything laid out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dino. Even the dead love a parade. 😀

      Delete
  23. Well done, I did say you should get them finished by the summer so you're spot on, unfortunately you did remind me that I didn't fix the downstairs toilet before my wife's clients arrived this morning! I've never really done life goals so I don't think I'll start now, luckily I like my job and seem to keep getting work and still get time to paint figures although my wife does occasionally threaten to destroy/ take a hammer to all my "little men" every now and then!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Iain. Goals are for suckers anyway. And it was your support that has sustained me in this effort to get done before winter is here. Just barely made it. 😀

      Delete
  24. You have excelled yourself. That was a really, bloody funny, entertaining and well written post. Thanks! Well above average peanut butter and ... what is it... made famous by Elvis in big sandwiches with bacon? Yeah, jelly.
    Achieving a target ahead of a self-appointed deadline? You are a miniature-painting legend! And don't be so self-effacing; the figures look great.
    I look forward to reading about your planning for the conventions. Also seeing what's up next to be painted. Some American Civil War figs, perhaps?!
    Regards, James
    p.s. Are *all* wives obsessed with watching TV shows about murder? "How can you watch all that stuff about war?" she says. "That's history and edumacation. You watch horrible stuff about people being killed by psychopaths in awful ways!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks James. Glad you enjoyed the post a lot. ‘Legend’ is a strong word but I’ll take it. 😀
      I have some pop psychology theories about why wives like murder tv. Another time.
      My 18mm ACW collection is already quite big so doubt I’ll need to paint any of that pile. 😀

      Delete
  25. 100 already! Bloody well done mate. Surely the Skalds will sing of your glories! (Well, once you grow that manly beard and start going around barechested like a true Norse warrior.)

    O and Cort is obsessed with true crime crap too. Shows, podcasts, news on the tv.... I'd fear for my health and safety if it weren't for the fact that all she'd inherit from my untimely demise is debt. LOL

    ReplyDelete