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Post by tofukyo on Feb 23, 2023 18:45:40 GMT
This is more geared towards modelling and painting but wanted discuss generally as I feel utterly swamped and want to express my feelings in some way.
I’m sitting on just under 10k points of Bretonnians. 9,367 not including unit upgrades, banners musicians champs etc just raw models. I’ve started restoration but most of it still needs stripping. But my god do I feel so overwhelmed and in two minds to keep it all or just set out a decent list and stick with that cast off the rest.
I love my Brets models and lore both 5th and 6th Ed Just can’t decide how or where to start many times I’ve laid it out looked at everything then tidied back into boxes.
How do you keep yourself up for the challenge? Break it down into smaller armies and focus on a 1000pts at a time? a unit then a hero choice as a reward?
I understand ultimately it’s down to me and my choices but would like to hear other people trials and tribulations or secrets for success either way.
For the lady!
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Post by thegoat on Feb 23, 2023 18:51:37 GMT
a unit then a hero choice as a reward? I try to stick with a unit until it is complete. I'll paint the ranks in batches. Five or six models is a good batch size for me. I'll sprinkle in a hero or warmachine to break up the monotony.
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Post by Darnok on Feb 23, 2023 19:23:39 GMT
I have tried something new for 2023 with Ogres, and so far it is working out pretty well.
I set myself weekly goals, and small ones. So for Ogres this has meant one finished Ogre on foot per week - not a lot, but not nothing either. The idea is to have something to work towards to at any time, but not anything huge or overwhelming. And even if one weeks goal should not be met: there is always a next week. That way possible frustration is low, with regular results in quite short intervals. Slow progress - but progress.
For Bretonnians, this could be translated into "one knight a week", and you could sprinkle some foot dudes in to taste.
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Post by sonofkurnos on Feb 23, 2023 19:31:40 GMT
I absolutely feel you man, I get overwhelmed with hobby relatively easily and have gone as far as to sell stuff on a frustrated whim many times.
Have you tried putting it all away, apart from a list you want to paint towards.
Then once you've worked through that, bring out a model or unit here and there to add in?
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Post by thegoat on Feb 23, 2023 19:54:03 GMT
I set myself weekly goals, and small ones. So for Ogres this has meant one finished Ogre on foot per week - not a lot, but not nothing either.
Don't underestimate slow and steady progress. One ogre a week is pretty easily achievable. Yet if you stick with it for a year, you will have fifty-two new ogres. Quite an impressive force.
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Post by imrillion on Feb 23, 2023 20:46:35 GMT
Bro it’s times like this u don’t need motivation, u need DISCIPLINE! Srsly. A force like that is my area of expertise. My goal is 15k of every army and I’m damn close.
I paint for a minimum of one hour each day, rain hail or shine. I also go to the gym 2 hrs a day, rain hail or shine. I edit a podcast, 1 hr a day, rain hail or shine. This leaves me still with 20 hrs for sleeping, kids, missus, work all that other non hobby based crap that gets in the way.
There are plenty of days I don’t feel like doing anything, loads of days I just cbf but by forcing myself to follow through, I get shit done.
I can highly recommend it. Because on other days I’ll find myself enjoying it and painting for 6+ hrs!
Have a crack brother, just be disciplined, not motivated and u will achieve a lot!
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Post by chronicallychaotic66 on Feb 23, 2023 21:24:32 GMT
There is a lot to be said for trying to paint every day, little and often. See IamJack’s threads.
I would pick out a starter army of say 1000pts and work toward that. Ideally parallel a mate doing the same locally who you can have a game with when you hit the target or failing that with someone on here. There must be units you are itching to paint, start with those.
(Personally I love painting core infantry so don’t need to reward myself with special stuff, ymmv)
Once you’ve got an army in being, what works for me is an iterative process. My large armies have largely come from trying one or two new units every time I attend an event - campaign, tournament whatever.
The upcoming event provides the motivation and the deadline discipline to get things done. Sometimes it’s the gaming need driving the painting choice (my army would be more effective with a second unit of x). Sometimes the painting/collecting itch drives the event choice (I can justify taking that cool looking but usually subpar unit y because this event’s comp makes it more useful, I’ll go to this event and paint unit y).
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Post by sedge on Feb 23, 2023 22:13:27 GMT
Joining this forum made a massive difference for my painting output. The monthly threads let you set goals, and get feedback and praise for achieving them. The annual goals are useful for the bigger picture thing (getting an army complete, painting whatever number of models a year) but the monthly ones keep you disciplined.
I'm not someone who can paint every day, but much of my time at weekends is spent painting (I have a tolerant wife). But whatever suits your life, find a routine of regular painting, even if it's just every Tuesday evening or something.
Having an army PLOG also helps, as you can look back on it and see how much progress you've made. I have far more models than I could ever display, so most sit hidden away in boxes. Having the army PLOGs lets me enjoy looking at pictures of the models I've put the effort into painting.
You also need to stop looking at how many models you have left to paint. I've probably got significantly over a thousand models left to do, and at the rate I paint vs. buy, it's a decade or more before I'm caught up (if ever). That doesn't matter. Look at the progress you make instead of the mountain ahead.
As for how/what to paint - I prefer to paint a full unit at a time, but it is a slog when that's 20+ models. It's also good to reward yourself with "fun" models (characters, monsters) alongside the more tedious rank and file. I quite like painting a character alongside their associated unit (e.g. currently Araloth alongside a unit of Eternal Guard). It's relatively efficient but also gives you a break from the routine to paint something more interesting.
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Post by Grimfang Gogulk on Feb 23, 2023 23:51:24 GMT
Sounds like a lot.. I would probably pick out 2-25k and have that as a basis. That is still abunch of models but it is also a nice sized army. get that painted and play, then start adding. And yes, one unit at a time and then characters or other thiings in between is my preferred way to do it as well.
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Post by tileag on Feb 24, 2023 0:55:42 GMT
So I've had this problem before and continue to feel overwhelmed at points. I broke one spell with my Bretonnian army I painted. I recommend starting with a unit of 10 archers, just paint them up, if your not happy with the archers.....well they are just bowmen and can either be repainted, stripped or left back on the fields of Bretonnia and not the battlefield. 10 models....you can do it! From there everything else may fall into place
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Post by Darnok on Feb 24, 2023 3:46:14 GMT
I set myself weekly goals, and small ones. So for Ogres this has meant one finished Ogre on foot per week - not a lot, but not nothing either.
Don't underestimate slow and steady progress. One ogre a week is pretty easily achievable. Yet if you stick with it for a year, you will have fifty-two new ogres. Quite an impressive force.
Yeah, that was the idea to begin with!
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Post by thorpyuk on Feb 24, 2023 10:37:27 GMT
Yep, as others have said, slow and steady. Put everything away except around 10 figures so you're not staring at everything you have to do.. I keep them on a shelf. Then decide how regularly you can paint. I'd recommend at least once per week, but if you can manage twice or more, great. You'll be amazed how quickly you get stuff done. I'm probably only averaging around 3 models per week, but over 18 months that's over 200 models! I'm also painting both Dwarfs & Empire, and when i get bored with one i switch to the other
Just find something that works for you
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Post by vulcan on Feb 24, 2023 14:39:43 GMT
When I did my Skaven, it was small batches of five infantry or one monster at a time. Don't have so much out on the table at once that you get overwhelmed. The rest, still packed away, do not exist until it's their turn. I've got nearly 7,000 points now, and that's a LOT of rats!
The recent spate of 'speedpaints' might be a lifesaver as well, speeding things up so it doesn't drag on indefinitely.
And if you're just not feeling it, don't feel too bad about it. This is a hobby; it's supposed to be at least marginally fun. When it starts becoming a chore it's time to take a break and do something else for a bit.
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Post by gangland on Feb 24, 2023 15:26:15 GMT
I'd like to echo what imrillion said, discipline is key to success. Doing things when you don't want to is how shit gets done! That being said there is nothing wrong with "gaming" the system so you get more enjoyment out of it.
What I have found that works for me is ladder campaigns that scale up. take the core 6 scenarios, arrange them so they tell a bit f a story for 3 games, and scale up by 250/500/1000 points depending on how long your periods between games are and what works for you personally. My friend and I got to 3k pretty quickly doing this. You can even get cheeky and house rule your games so that each army automatically has Hatred(unpainted). I can be a bit of a competitive person so getting my army up to snuff for each game was like a competition and I almost every time made my quota, life stuff happens. Even in the realm of 40k I would play small games, everything at least 3 colors and based, and build up my points limit slowly.
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Post by Luigino on Feb 24, 2023 15:58:58 GMT
Like other have said, discipline and being constant is indeed the key.
It also helps consuming things that will stoke your interest.
Podcasts, videos, articles, blogs, forums. They're all things that really make me want to paint. Just make sure you're not doing that instead of painting. My jam is actually battle reports. I always end up wanting to paint miniatures so that I can then field a n army to outclass the one portrayed.
But what really boosted my production and motivation was coming up with something that made the hobby truly mine. I have lore, background, names for units and characters. this way I'm not just painting anonymous dwarf quarrelers number 78, I'm actually finishing up on "Il grugno" a unit of skilled crossbow armed dwarfs tasked with defending the southern entrance of the Tilean hold of Karak-Mingol.
There's also things you can do while actually painting to psychologically trick you into painting more and feel less overwhelmed. For instance, don't have ALL your unpainted models in front of you as this will absolutely destroy any feeling of progress. Or (and this is a really good one) don't play with unpainted models, this way you're forced to actually paint something if you want to use it. do Batch painting of 5,7,10 models that are going to be painted the same; trim away all needless junk that GW miniatures often have. All my dwarfs have had the medals and lockets removed from their weapons (BAM, 3-5 minutes shaven of each miniature, multiply it by dozens of them and you're saving literal hours); put your painted miniatures on display somewhere you can see them: nothing pushes the desire to progress more than seeing your army actually progress.
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