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This year was certainly an interesting one. I didn't paint as much this year owing to quite a myriad of excuses. These ranged from actually playing games, writing battle reports, multiple colds/flu, and of course a couple of breaks from the painting desk. It was far from a bad year however. I tried a lot of new things ranging from painting large figures to simple greenstuff sculpting. I even managed to finally cross off a few projects that had been languishing on my to do list for far too long. Feeling as I've already written too much lets get down to the actual models. First up was my Scatter/Big Terrain Project which I actually finished. This gave me a larger assortment to use in games but my collection is still pretty lackluster. Even more humorous was the fact that as I finished this project I realized I could start another one with everything new that had come in. I also finished a spaceship project using toys from the dollar store. When Ubisoft's Starlink game didn't exactly take off these ended up flooding Dollar Stores, so for eleven bucks I amassed a nice little fleet. Though I had meant to paint more of my wife's army all I managed this year was seven copters. I also completed a starting crew for Stargrave plus a medic. Though I never got around to actually playing yet. Five years in I finally got around to working through Reaper's Learn to Paint set on layering. As a bonus I also worked through their step by step instructions for Krampus. Using greenstuff and a stolen hat I finally managed to create a "Macho Man" Randy Savage Commissar to go with my Hulk Hogan Commissar I had built so long ago. My Ghost Archipelago project also saw a lot of progress this year and is actually nearing completion. My first two Warhammer Imperium figures were also finished recently and may end up being my last two figures of the year. Unfortunately I couldn't fit everything into one group shot but I think this showcases it all pretty well. Now on to the final numbers for the year. Final Numbers: 81-Pieces of Terrain (of various sizes) 106-Figures/Vehicles 1-Christmas Ornament TOTAL: 188 Certainly down from last year's total of 248 but I also didn't have a nearly 100 figure batch project either. That being said numbers are not the end all be all for me but I do like to keep track for motivational purposes. It also helps me gauge just how much I've improved in terms of speed and confidence. If I keep choosing projects I'm genuinely interested in I can really see myself completing over three hundred next year. Which is a good thing because the backlog is really starting to get out of hand. *Note though some models may not in fact be the actual models from this year I did my best. It's hard to pull the exact model when dealing with so many, especially if they all look the same.

With the year nearly over I guess its time to post my usual yearly review. What a year it was too, the addition of an actual project list combined with the ongoing yearly total seemed to have made all the difference in my output. Rather than write about it I figure it's more fun to just post some pictures instead. So without further ado let's take a look at what I did this year. My 40K Guard army got quite the influx of reinforcements in the way of Tau defectors, Regimental Advisors, thirty conscripts, a new commander, and even a scratch built Sentinel. This year also finished out one of my longest running projects in my first "box of shame". Looking at this I'm certain I grabbed at least one wrong figure for this shot. I also managed to paint quite a zombie horde for a 40K Killteam scenario I designed for Halloween. Unfortunately the scenario wasn't run but there's always next year. Plus between painting and designing the scenario I think I got more than my money's worth of enjoyment out of a twelve dollar bag of zombies. That project also gave me an excuse to finally paint some more skeletons too. Not to be forgotten I also made a squad of PDF for my Guard army though somehow they weren't photographed with the rest. Now it comes down to my final project, my attempt to paint an entire WAAGH! for my wife in just a year. Sadly I was not successful in this attempt but as almost half the year was spent avoiding the project I only have myself to blame. In the end I did manage quite a bit however with some boys, a Boss Nob, four bikers including a Boss Nob, a group of boys disguised as a tank, some Big Shootas, and two sets of Gretchin. What year end review would be complete without a group shot? Though I didn't post pictures honorable mentions are deserved for my mother's replacement chess piece that I cloned and painted, my college friend's wedding present, and this year's Christmas ornament I built and painted with my daughter. Final Numbers: 9-Tau Defectors 1-Guard Sergeant 2-Astropaths 2-Master of Ordinance 2-Officer of the Fleet 30-Conscripts 1-Guard Commander 1-Scratch Built Sentinel 4-Fantasy D&D Figures 96-Zombies 1-Chesspiece 1-Wedding Present 8-Skeletons 10-PDF Guardsmen 56-Orks 23-Gretchin 1-Chirstmas Ornament TOTAL:248 Not a bad year overall and I'm certainly pleased with everything I did. Though there is always room for improvement I believe this was my best year so far. I've still got a lot to learn but with each year I can see improvement. *Note though some models may not in fact be the actual models from this year I did my best. It's hard to pull the exact model when dealing with so many, especially if they all look the same. *Also that painting log I started for this year was immeasurably helpful in creating this year end review. Rather than digging through old threads to figure out exactly what I painted and the final numbers all I had to do was consult the log. This cut the time to create the review in half as all I really had to do was take pictures and actually type it up. Going forward I will certainly be maintaining a log from now on.

The year is winding down and it looks like I wont get any painting time till after the new year. So it makes now the perfect time to take a step back and review this year's progress. I managed to make quite a bit of terrain this year. I couldn't sell a single piece at the craft fair it was made for but it certainly did its job of drawing people in for a closer look. My local shops however will soon be getting an infusion of bunkers and scatter terrain; so it worked out. Then of course there are the pieces I couldn't part with like these three. They will be staying and now that we have a house I actually have room for a little bit of terrain. I also managed to build and find some new scatter pieces. It was also a great year for vehicles as I finished all my Guard vehicles and even made a few. The Guard also had an influx of characters, psykers, and special weapons too. I also created my first joke squad, the "Fabulous" squad. These are great for playing against people with no sense of humor. Not as many mooks were finished though. I'm honestly surprised the number isn't higher. My wife's orks recieved some reinforcements too. I even came really close to clearing out my box of shame, just a few more to go. We'll just have to ignore the large plastic tote of figures under the desk from the last Bones kickstarter. Though it's not about output I did take the time to run the numbers. TERRAIN-51 16 big pieces 35 scatter pieces FIGURES-163 92 Guardsmen 26 Orks 45 Random figures VEHICLES-10 10 Guardsmen vehicles So there's certainly been an increase from last year's 75 and the first year's 13. Its a lot more than that though, one of the real joys of this hobby is the tangible results. Not only did I get to relax and de-stress by painting I can actually point to a small mountain of plastic and say, "I did that". Just like last year there has also been an increase in quality and confidence. I don't see myself winning any awards and I still have a ton to learn but I've definitely improved. Now all I need to do is start trying to create "clean" looking models instead of constantly using a black wash as the finishing step. *Note though some of the models may not if fact be the actual models from this year I did my best. Its hard to pull the exact model when they all look the same. *I've also made a note to keep a log this year instead of combing through posts trying to figure out everything I painted.