Well, 2018 was quite the year. As far as painting productivity goes, it was the best year I’ve ever had. As far as wargaming goes, it was decidedly mediocre – I think I managed to wargame about three times. Personally, the year was a fucking dumpster fire, starting with the immediate aftermath of my mum’s passing a week before Christmas, larger than usual work stresses, a knee injury that’s still an ongoing issue that affects my mobility (can’t run, can’t walk long distances without paying for it later) and workcover/admin issues taking six months to get me some treatment, and them my father having a stroke a few days after the anniversary of my mother’s passing. If you’re wondering how I paint so many models, I’m sure that keeping my mind occupied at every waking moment has a lot to do with it. – Stay Busy, Don’t Think.

I’m not going to dwell on all of that a whole lot more right now, though I’ll come back to the knee in a later post because it becomes relevant again. Probably in January’s round-up, since this thing is already excessively long!

Part I: 2018 all laid out together.

Somehow it looks a lot less than I’d imagined that 581 models would look. That scatter terrain – boxes and barrels and hedges take up a goodly chunk of that number, though – and the boxes all mesh together pretty tightly.

Part II: 12 Months – Condensed.

I am now going to run through my monthly round ups, because I think it’ll be nice – for me if no-one else – to see them all collected in one place. It’s my blog, I can be self-indulgent if I want to.

So not a bad outcome in the end. Sure, there’s a lot of scatter terrain in there, and no end of Neglected models that were already at some point in the paint process, but I’m pretty happy with it all. Now let’s see how it all stacks up compared to my stated goals for 2018 from last January:

Part III: 2018’s Goals – Successes or Failures?

(it’s a mix, because of course it bloody is!)

1. Paint and finish some 2+1 marine forces/bump up existing small groups to this as a minimum.

By this I mean small forces of Space Marines – 2 units of infantry, plus a leader and something cool, like a dreadnought, tank, flyer, etc. This at least makes them playable or easily allied to other armies. Right now, forces which I’ve shown that still need to be bumped up to this level are Black Templars, Celestial Lions, Fallen Angels and Deathwatch, though I have another one on the go right now, and plans (oh dear, the plans) for several more. I’d also count finishing my 2006 Ork force in there.

Well, this didn’t really happen. None of my many marine forces got turned into playable-sized forces, though a couple took some steps towards it. I did manage to complete the 2006 Ork force, though – so that’s a solid positive.

2. Reinforce the existing 40k armies.

Specifically, both Minotaurs and Iron Warriors need some proper reinforcements. Even more specifically, there are two vehicles for the IW that have been staring at me for years, as well as another squad that I prepared the figures for and another hero model. Then there’s that mass of Tactical Marines for the Dark Angels I’m working on.

Towards the end of the year I got a little more done for the Minotaurs and Iron Warriors, but overall, not nearly as much as I’d hoped for either. I didn’t touch that huge mass of Dark Angels in the end.

3. Sort out the stuff that’s painted but needs reorganisation to be playable in 8th edition. I’m very much thinking of my Imperial Guard here.

*cough* moving right along…

4. Finish more of the stuff I started but never finished.

I must say, I did pretty good here. I completed a lot of individual models and units that were started a long time ago and had sitting around. Unfortunately, I reckon if I did nothing but paint Neglected models, I could probably do nothing else for all of 2019. So I’ll do as many as I can once again, but it’ll probably take me a couple more years to get through them all. I can only imagine how it’d feel to have little to no half-painted models sitting around in containers and shelves!

5. Complete all of my metal Dwarf Slayer models.

Did I paint any Slayers in 2018? It seems not, with the closest thing being Queen Helga (also the only dwarf I painted in 2018!) – so total failsauce!

6. Complete all of my metal Viking models.

I finished a few more metal Vikings, but not all of them by a long shot.

7. Get a Nurgle Daemon army up and running.

You know, I think I managed to do this one. I’ve been a bit slack for half of the year though, so I should get back to this one sooner rather than later. I also need to take a couple of “army” shots really badly.

8. Get a Grey Knights army up and running.

*cough*cough*cough*

9. Get a second Chaos Legion force up and running. Death Guard? Thousand Sons? Black Legion/Sons of Horus? Word Bearers? So many choices, so little time to paint!

erm…

10. Skirmish forces & small miniature boardgame models updated/ready to play. Necromunda, Shadespire, Blood Bowl, Gorechosen, SAGA (aside from Vikings)

Oh. I said *aside* from Vikings… No Necro or Blood Bowl or Shadespire teams/gangs/warbands completed, but I did get a fair few Shadows of Brimstone and Imperial Assault models done, though!

11. Two small opposed forces for Bolt Action.

We’re talking in the 2+1 kind of size here, but we’re getting to a lot of figures I’d like to paint at this point.

Yeah, no. I painted some tiny tanks, though!

12. Then there are unfinished terrain pieces, projects like the Graveyard and the Mighty Fortress, and scatter scenery, and…

Well, I did at least do pretty okay here in 2018…

Part IV: Looking Forward – 2019’s Goals.

Given that mix of success and failure, I should make some new goals for this coming year – let’s recycle the last set, but with some modifications. I’ll sprinkle photos from my 2018 collection in here to help you avoid falling asleep!

1. Paint and finish some 2+1 marine forces/bump up existing small groups to this as a minimum. By this I mean small forces of Space Marines – 2 units of infantry, plus a leader and something cool, like a dreadnought, tank, flyer, etc. 

I’d still like to do this. The most realistic contenders are much the same – Black Templars, Celestial Lions, Fallen Angels, Deathwatch – plus Flesh Tearers. It’s also very doable to at least get a couple done – if I’m able to focus on them.

2. Reinforce the existing 40k armies. Specifically: Minotaurs, Iron Warriors, Dark Angels, Nurgle Daemons and Orks.

Also very doable. I have a Squad of Minotaurs who I might manage to get done for next month’s Neglected theme. After that it gets a bit harder, as I’ll need to assemble any further Iron Warriors (even though I have the parts ready) – because I’m probably going to have a stronger focus on neglected models across the year over new assemblies. I’ve got a few more metal Daemons to finish before I allow myself onto the plastic (not counting the metal Nurglings), and I’ve got both plastic and old-school Rogue Trader Orks on the painting table.

3. Sort out the stuff that’s painted but needs reorganisation to be playable in 8th edition. I’m very much thinking of my Imperial Guard here.

Doable, but it needs 2 things: Time to do it and an impetus. Unless I get playing with some regularity, I’m probably not going to get around to doing this because my spare time is more limited than ever now.

4. Finish more of the stuff I started but never finished. 

That’s Neglected Models. It’ll be a running theme throughout 2019. Not an exclusive one, but I’ll do my best to keep it consistent and get as many of them done as I comfortably can.

5. Complete all of my metal Dwarf Slayer models. There’s a few that got started but have now been sitting on the desk for over a year.

There’s not all that many of them overall, but with each essentially being a character in terms of how I paint them (tattoos and such). Like most of this list, they’re doable, but there’s only so much time I’ll get to paint and finish models.

6. Complete all of my metal Viking models.

Exactly what I wrote about the Slayers applies again here, but with shield designs instead of tattoos. Hopefully I can keep plugging away at both.

7. Skirmish forces & small miniature boardgame models updated/ready to play. Necromunda, Shadespire, Blood Bowl, Gorechosen, SAGA, Kill-Team, Gaslands, TANKS!/What a Tanker!

I’ll also roll Kill-Teams, Gaslands, TANKS! and What a Tanker! into this category this year – so the “Second Chaos Legion” goal as well as the “Start Grey Knights” can fit in here. I’ll continue to sprinkle in boardgame models like Imperial Assault and Shadow of Brimstone. I’ve also been mulling over trying to do a Shadespire/Nightvault warband each month, but that might be too much, start-to-finish with also trying to hit monthly painting challenges and an overall monthly target….

8. Two small opposed forces for Bolt Action. We’re talking in the 2+1 kind of size here, but we’re getting to a lot of figures I’d like to paint at this point.

Probably unlikely to happen, but it would be nice to finish a few tanks for both Allies and Axis forces. Then in 2020 I can try to paint a couple of platoons of infantry!

9. Then there are unfinished terrain pieces, projects like the Graveyard and the Mighty Fortress, and scatter scenery, and…

Hopefully going to get onto one of those Fortresses this coming week. I plan to keep hammering away at large terrain over February as well, and then probably mostly scatter and smaller pieces until next summer. Wish me luck!

I know that these “New Year” posts traditionally get written and posted in the opening days of January, but I’m a rebel. A maverick who plays by his own rules! That, or it just took me ages to get around to laying all of the figures out on the table, and then time to write this text up. Eh!