October-December 2025 Quarterly Round-Up

Well, it’s the end of January 2026, so I guess I may as well post the finale for 2025’s painting.

Basically, as often happens towards the end of the year – a combination of work ramping up, a bit of burnout, a bunch of “life happens” and an extended video game event being more appealing and less effort than hobbytime combine to drastically reduce what I get done in the final months of the year. Usually with a paint resurgence of sorts once work breaks up for Christmas and we get that recovery time.

So what did I get done? Seven Tiny Teal Tanks, Six Large Tiny Tanks, Fifteen bits of scatter terrain/barricades and Forty mixed Zombies. 68 various bits and pieces over three months. Not my best run, but it’s ok.

I was at 396 models at the end of September, so the extra 68 models from October-December gives me a 2026 total of 464 models.

Not too shabby. Not my best but not my worst, either. Also not anything near the number of models I’ve purchased and/or printed in the last year. That’s something to work on a bit more in 2026. I’m not going to lay out specific hobby goals for this year of 2026. They’d just be the same as the ones I’ve kept rolling over. Finish units, try to finish armies, finish complete boardgames worth of models, work on this and that sets of models, try to play more games. You know the drill from your own hobby experience.

December of Zombies (Redux): Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombie Mix

Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombies

Zombie Mix?

Sounds almost cute, doesn’t it? Like something you’d find in someone’s cassette mixtape collection, or in more modern terms – their Spotify playlist. Or go down to the milk bar (corner shop, dairy, bodega) and get some mixed lollies (sweets/candy). “I’ll have the zombie mix, please!”

Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombies

This particular Zombie mix started a few days before Christmas, right after breaking up for work at the end of the year. I didn’t particularly want to be painting zombies, but Marouda and I do want to get back to playing Zombicide, and we’re up to Rue Morgue and so need Skinner Zombies in order to play. We could of course play with unpainted pieces, or proxy in Berserkers or Toxic Zombies in their place (excepting the crawlers) but I figure if we’re going to play that campaign, and I’m going to (eventually) paint these fuckers, then it makes sense to play the game with the proper painted figures. Even if it means a bit of a delay.

Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombies
Despite wanting to work on other models, I started on six. And I got them (mostly) done in 2 days. Encouraged, I started on another 10. And got those done in 2 days. And then another 10. The next ones took me almost a week. My enthusiasm was sapped. As I got the first ones in this next batch done, I added in another four. This was to turn the first six into ten. Meaning I’d have a total of thirty zombies painted. Thirty Days of December – Thirty Days of Zombies. While I was still working on the final, added-to batch of zombies, I spent some time doing a bit of blog catch-up from the past few months I’ve been away for. I saw that Dave Stone was starting the Paint What You Got Challenge again (thanks Anne!) and that it started officially on 26th December.
Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombies
As it happened, I’d been stockpiling all of these zombies until I had them all “done” for the final, finishing touches – the blood spatter. After that, they’re properly completed. So when I finished the final batch of painting and then got them all together on the night of the 27th/early am 28th and spattered them with blood, they were then ALMOST complete. On the night of the 28th, I went in with the brush to add the final bloody touches where needed (around bones, open wounds, etc) meaning these models were actually finished in time to count towards Dave Stone’s latest Challenge: Paint What You Got (originally started by Ann, many years ago!) – and I didn’t even plan it that way!
Zombicide Rue Morgue Skinner Zombies
Now the exceptionally observant amongst you might have noticed something wrong with my Thirty Days of Zombies horde here. Something I didn’t notice until taking the photos. That’s right. There are actually Forty Zombies here. As some point in the process, I must have painted an extra 10 and then gotten my numbers mixed-up while pushing my numbers.
Now I somehow need to get that table cleared so I can photograph the December Round-Up and start posting up my January models!