Coffee Talk – April

You’re Not Doing it Wrong if No One Knows What You’re Doing.

It’s that time again were we (I) sit around, sip our favorite beverages, and talk about hobby nonsense like planning future goals. Ya’know, those things we talk about, write down, tell other people about and then never do? Yeah, those.

Previously I had a plan, as you may recall it was “a fool’s plan” and as it turns out I am that fool. So little progress was made on my actual planned goals this month it’s fairly amusing, that’s not to say I didn’t get a lot done. In fact it’s quite the opposite.

I’m always talking about my quota, those 10 models I want to paint every moth and in April I shattered that with a whopping 33 models! 33! Thirty-three! Triginta tres! Trinta e três! One could say I’m fairly thrilled about that, proud even. It may not seem like much to many but to me it’s everything. Woo.

That being said, I’m still the fool. Not a single Crimson Fist was assembled in April. Nor did I manage to paint the other 6 models I had on my list at the start of the month but I did replace them with 27 other models, namely 20 stormvermin, 3 Stargrave primitives, and 5 Stargave ruffians. I imagine, or at least tell myself, this is a common occurrence for most hobbyists, to be derailed. Best-laid plans and all that, or simply a right at Albuquerque.

To spite the stars failing to align over my plans in April I’m still making plans for May, which consists of late spring cleaning. Since the start of the pandemic I haven’t been keeping my hobby corner(s) as organized as I normally would or have since no one is coming to the house but it’s time to fix that. Not that I plan on letting anyone come over but it’s gotten to the point that it’s getting difficult to easily find what I’m looking for and that wont do.

The bonus to spring cleaning is it will give me chance to clean out an excessive amount of board games I haven’t played in ages since even before the pandemic. I’m sitting on complete, unpunched copies of games that I’ve had for years and it’s just time for them to go, I’m looking at you Super Dungeon Explore. Some of them are even worth a tidy sum in their unpunched condition like Warhammer 40,000: Forbidden Stars, which I’ve had since it’s release, or Shadows of Brimstone. I even have 3 copies of Prodos’ AVP: The Hunt Begins with all the Kickstarter Resin models and extras, it’s kinda nuts. And I haven’t even gotten to the piles of minis in the Attic of Wonder. This has become a problem and it’s time I do something about it before I’m trapped under a pile of plastic and found dead 3 weeks later with my face eaten off by my dog.

I will be posting a list of the games and minis I’m parting ways with, I’m more inclined to strike a bargain with a fellow gamer so these things go to a home that will use them than I am anything else. I’ve never minded loosing a little money for the sake of others having fun with my space fillers.

One game I did pull out of the pile was Modiphius’ Siege of the Citadel, a remake of a classic from the golden era of campaign board games. I backed this on Kickstarter an eon ago and the experience left such a bad taste in my mouth I didn’t really want to engage the game but that’s not really fair and they did finally deliver. Now I’ve been sitting on it for over a year and it’s time to play it and maybe, just maybe, paint it. I’ll have more on this later as the nostalgia sickness kicks in.

Of course the catch here is that it’s 122 minis for the whole thing, 45 for the core game, but yeah, 122 over all. That’s a mighty steep task to take on all things being considered. Between cleaning, priming, and painting, at my current pace that’d take the rest of the year to do and probably then some depending on the level I plan to paint them to. Obviously the chaff can be painted to a good tabletop but there’s still a lot of heroes and character monsters that would need that extra attention. At this point it’s little more than a thought exercise, playing through it is the goal and one day I hope to have a complete copy of the original as well. Luckily, they’re fairly cheap all things being considered and I can only assume it’s because time has forgotten this game.

I have such a soft spot for these campaign board games from the 80s and 90s. Most of my friends never encountered them and look at them like I’ve conjured some arcane item from the warp of chaos itself, they’re like legends, boxed sasquatch. For me they’re just a guaranteed good time largely hinged on nostalgia and luckily that can be contagious.

Okay, back to April real quick before we’re off to May again. Here’s the obligatory gallery of what was accomplish in the realm of painting. Best month so far blah blah blah….

Jamm EE Dodg’re, Bounty Hunter
Fantasy Flight Games, Star Wars: Imperial Assault(?)

Ruffians
North Star Military Figures Frostgrave Gnolls & Wargames Atlantic Death Fields Weapon Upgrade Sprue

Stormvermin

Primitives
Privateer Press, Hordes Gatorman Posse

Tukk McClure, member of Saurus Terror Squad.
Reaper Miniatures

Rand McNally, Pathfinder and camp counselor at De Wanna Wanga Summer Camp.
Reaper Miniatures

Porigota
Wrath of Kings, CMON

Warbot
Games Workshop Space Marine Dreadnaught

Alright, May. Stargrave continues because it does. I still need to come up with 3 proxies for the bestiary and have 7 on hand that need painting (which is actually 17 models but 7 by name). I didn’t realize I was so close to having this whole thing done and though I don’t expect to pick up those 3 proxies in May I’m hoping to get most of what I have painted.

Assuming that I get what I have sitting around done that’s gotten the hamster running about what to do next. There’s LotR: Journeys in Middle-earth, Ranger of Shadowdeep, terrain, or a wealth of other nonsense. There are just so many options, so maybe help me out here?