Hi Folks,

 

After a summer break (I would say “well deserved”, yet due to the consecutive heatwaves and wildfires, I would not pretend I’ve capitalized any rest on these 2 weeks off duty…), it is time to resume my hobby part.

I am currently at 5 models for completing my CtA 2026 pledge. And as I still have a few armored containers, a tectonic fragdrill and 2 Armigers knights in the waiting line, I may eventually fill another pledge right after that.

 

Yet my backlog has decreased drastically.

 

I still have these 30 or so GSC neophytes waiting to be kit bashed into guards men, but I should first make decision about tooling them as proxy Cadians or DKoK; each way has its pros and cons and design impact (especially on the kit bash options for special weapons. And I must give a second (or third or fourth) though to the fate of the command squads I kitbashed 2 or 3 years ago and that are now unaligned with the datasheets in vigor.  Design thinking takes time and I doubt I will be able to move forward on this topic: I may take a decision, but I will probably not make any progress in coming into force before Sept/Oct the earliest. Unless I need to pass on my nerves on something.

 

Still unchanged since pic taken in 2024

 

For my “Not-GSC”, I have painted almost everything except 10 spore mines. I may eventually be linked to the former kitbash as these proxy guards men might leap from one list to another. Or even be played as Neophytes if I reserve some bodies to have the options made available (icon, special weapons and some mining tools). It is therfore another parameter to be reexamined into decision making process.

And while I am talking about these lads, I am seriously thinking about sourcing the Malestrain resin characters, which will push me into the (4) arms of the Cults. And a special character being a contamined Adeptus Mechanicus Mago leading some guards/neophytes kit bashed with bitz from Skitarii is a great theme.

 

Do I rock or not?

 

What else do I have in the waiting lines? The ever waiting ooP Epic SM and Squats. I had a fever peak this year and I painted more in one quarter than in 20 years. But I still have difficulties mobilizing myself on the topic. Yet, I miss some entries for my Bunker Bingo card and it some of these tiny models might fill the “Lord of War” entry with a squat Leviathan.

 

2 of these + a Leviathan

 

And that’s all I have left.

 

Beyond that my bitz box is till full of stuff and 2 chassis for custom SM vehicles can be done as well as a lot of debris and other dumps; plus the power gen I have pledged for 12MoH, model I think I can build from scratch, it is just I still do not know how atm.

 

I am in a way reaching a breakeven point; a moment in my 40k hobby ife where I have no project left or almost and when any further activities in the space opera side of the hobby will require either resuming gaming or reinvesting.

The former is only a matter of (enough) free time available, on 4 hours long schedules; ouch.

The latter is a matter of convincing my wife I have enough room left for more miniatures; double ouch.

 

Should it be possible my priorities could be (not in preferential order but in rationalized order):

 

-          5^th wave of investment for Aeldarii: getting some Corsairs, finalizing a small stand alone Harlequin force on the core I have, and may be strengthening of my Aspect warriors. Advantage is that this is rather easy to manage and is almost invisible as it is an increase of size of an existing army

-          Crossing fingers for the next Drukharii codex and using it as a base to develop a little bit more my already decent force (and become a real stand alone force). Same pros than the previous entry. Reavers or Hellions would be fun. Corsair and Harlies overlap too.

-          More AdMechies: adding some robots or proxies for flyers bases on Vulturax model. But it will bring me on the edge of getting a blob army which is the exact feature I do not want to reproduce after collecting 18k pts of first born SM. I am afraid I would become too exposed to the risks of being disclassed in case of range disruption. But the Vulturax and the Castellax are so cool looking...

-          More knights: but they are very visible and very complicated to store. Not to say that each model start costing too much if you think in €/”hours spent hobbying it”. Indeed, painting a knight is a very fast paced task - In 1 or 2 weeks it can be done, while I can amange more than 1 to 2 month works by buying footslogger models for the same amount of bucks. My purpose is also to stay busy. 

-          And no way I start a new army, unless a small party for Necromunda or some kill teams make a breakthrough; if I source Malestrain characters, I could get it, couldn’t I?

 

Last option is picking up models just on purpose of painting them, without any other purpose; Some HH models I really nice but should I step into this trend of getting display only miniatures? Last time I did it I have ended looking for adding extras in order to make proxy Imperial Agents units… If I source a Thanatar, I will end up building a 30k Mechanicus force, for sure. Or refurbishing my first born SM into a HH force, which I have partially started in the past; but it was for HH 1st Ed, so some things have changed since… And I should dive into new rulesets again, and ruleset cost too much for what they are worth. I have turned into a miniature men guy more than into a gamer.

 

In terms of planning it means that I am going to dillute at max the work load of 40k within my bigger than big ToW load. With a limited amount of work remaining to be done, I will focus on clossing my AdMech vows and secenery, for CtA26 and 12 MoH. August/Sept is the window.

Every thing else will be used to fill the gap within my Fantasy work. It means that I will probably focus as a diletante on Proxies for my AM and then on ooP Epic. But that focus will be extended on purpose up to XMas or more so that I may eventually insert some spot stuff based on newly bought models. But the era of big multi year projects looks like is over now. Age of maturity? Whatever it may be, the Malestrain path looks like a very plausible one now that I rethink about all I wrote above...

 

Say "Hello"?

 

 

Unless I explore new aspects of the Hobby: Adeptus Mechanicus video game is on sales on Nintendo Switch - the spot price offer is about 90% discount until August 18th. It is a good opportunity for less than 5 bucks... 

 

That all folks. For the moment.