Hobby Season 2015/16 in Review

 Hi folks,

This year I am celebrating my 20th year of tabletop wargaming. What started with a few cardboard cut-outs  and styrofoam cups back in highschool, has become much more than a hobby for me. In particular, I have greatly appreciated the opportunities for artistic expression and fun with friends it has provided. This year has been a very busy year, with many projects gracing my painting table. Many of them have been gifts for friends, as I wanted to dedicate some time to giving back to the people who have been so generous to me over the years (...and I'm not done yet). Let's take a stroll down memory lane, revisiting the projects that I managed to tick off the list, as well as those that snuck up on me, unexpected-like.


1) Quoth the raven "Eversor"

This model was a gift from Sgt Waz that I painted for Halloween. The main inspiration for it was a poem published in a White Dwarf back when I was a kid.

2) Dreadtober

Next up I painted some Dark Angels Dreadnoughts to form a complete unit of three. Each has its own story, extending right back to the earliest days of my 40K collection :o)

3) Salamanders Chaplain

I painted this guy for Sgt Waz, because he is always painting stuff for me! We had discussed the idea of me painting a Salamander for a while and this guy turned out quite nicely, even if I did cheat by painting him mostly black...

4) Japanese Garden Themed Terrain

I knocked this piece together for Wade, to add to his Ronin collection. It took me two attempts to get this piece finished, but I gained a lot of experience in water effects (especially what not to do). I just realised that Wade is the only person I don't refer to by a cypher on my blog! From now on, he will be referred to as The Trooper. Up the Irons!

5) Biovores

In the spirit of Hobby Bingo, I speed painted these guys just for giggles.

6) Van Diemen's World Devils

I converted and coupled a few of these ANZAC themed figures for The Trooper. They'll feature in next year's list as well, in some form or another.

7) Dawn of War Thermoplasma Generator

It was around this time that I completed my Thermoplasma Generator project for Dave Weston's AdSense competition. I was lucky enough to win the comp, scoring an Imperial Knight Warden in the process! You'll definitely be seeing that painted during the next year.

8) Ravenwing Progress

I made some nice progress on my Ravenwing Squadron during the year, but fell short of completing them due to illness. I was on some medication that made my hands shake for a couple of months and I didn't want to risk botching the hard-lines. These guys will be on the list next year.

9) Hive Fleet Numereji

The rest of the year belonged to my Nids. With a simple paint scheme that didn't require too much brush control, it was simple for me to finish projects, shaking hands or not!

10) Where are the Iron Snakes?

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Iron Snakes were conspicuously missing from my efforts this year, as much as it pained me. I needed a bit of a break after last year and ran out of time in the end. Next year: the year of the Snake.

A huge, heartfelt, thanks goes out to the online 40K painting and gaming community, especially the other 40K addicts who take part in Dave Weston's To-Do list shenanigans. It is always a happy sight for me to see the regular faces pop up in my comments and Google+ feed; love you folks.

See you across the table,

M4cr0