Matt's Mini-Model Machinations

 What is Warhammer? Hello, Everyone!     It occurred to me this week that while my blog has mostly been about the models side of wargaming, I have never quite explained the premise of the particular wargame that I play. The vast majority of people reading this blog have never heard of Warhammer before, or have very little idea what the game is actually about. While the phrase "what is Warhammer" could make up a 3 hour conversation (believe me, I've tried,) I endeavor to explain it succinctly within the confines of a few paragraphs at most.          It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries, the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the golden throne of Earth.  He is the carrion lord of the vast Imperium of Man, whom thousands are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die. Even in his deathless state, he continues his eternal vigilance over his realm. Mighty Battlefleets cross the stars in his name, their way lit...

 The Grey Horde Hello, Everyone!     Last week, I let everyone take a look at my pile of shame. Those boxes were quite daunting to look at, but I do not feel they accurately convey the emotion of "hobby shame" to those who are uninitiated with Wargaming. This week, perhaps, I will be able to more accurately convey that message. Behold: my entire collection of assembled miniatures.     The grey horde of plastic you see here is my complete collection. Every single model I have ever purchased and built, or perhaps even used on the tabletop. You might have possibly noticed that the vast majority of them are a shade of dark grey. All those grey Minis are the ones I promised myself to paint this year. You can see how that's going for me.     The small group of black and white on the right was a side project I began early this year, a brand new army for myself. This was added on top of my already bloated workload. I should not be trusted with decision-making ...

 The Pile of Shame Hello, Everyone!     Last week, I considered whether or not to actually show off my ever-growing pile of models I have yet to assemble/paint. In the Warhammer (and usually in most wargaming circles,) this is affectionately referred too as the "Pile of Shame." Mine is nowhere near the horror story that some famous examples include, but its growing to be quite sizeable. Behold; I have also subdivided the models into separate categories. Here are the models actually related to my current army. Here are the models I bought to for an army I am planning to complete next And finally, the models I bought without any plan to actually expand them into an army Now I hope you all can see why I needed something to keep me accountable for actually assembling my models. I actually did the math here, and (including discounts I got from my game store,) the grand total of models here is around $800 dollars worth of miniatures.  On that very sobering note, see you al...

 Weak Wills and Wild Skills Hello, Everyone!     Over the weekend, the 2024 Adepticon Convention took place in Chicago. Adepticon is a Wargaming Convention that has been running since 2003. Warhammer has strong presence at the convention, and reveals new models every year at their showcase booth. While I wasnt able to attend this year, I did pay particular attention to the painting competition. In addition, I may have been a little down about missing the convention, and decided that retail therapy would be the way to fix my mood.       The "Golden Demon" competition is always a highlight for me, as someone who lacks the skills and patience to paint at such a high level. I'll include a link to the competition winners below, and I HIGHLY recommend you scroll through the submissions, even if you aren't particularly interested in Wargaming. The art pieces created for the competition are incredible. While I am certainly no great painter myself, I would like...

White Panels and Black Coats Hello, Everyone!      Over spring break, I managed to get a few more models completed. In my eagerness to finish more models, I seemed to have forgotten to post an update about it. That's my story, I'm sticking too it, and you can't prove it was otherwise.  That said, I did have a few model highlights I wanted to talk about. Starting off, I finished painting the largest model I have ever painted, the Sentinel Walker.      I am fairly happy with how the model turned out. Painting such a large and complex model was definitely a new experience, and I made a few mistakes along the way. Correcting mistakes on these models can be a quite the undertaking, especially when one of the primary colors you are using is White. Fixing dark colored strokes on is an exhausting process, and using Black next to white panels will not be a repeat performance.      Speaking of Black paint, another interesting model from Spring Bre...

 Models by the Number Hello, Everyone!      This update will be a little short, as unfortunately most of my current work is simply batch painting my models and maintaining consistency. I am still very pleased with how the color scheme continues to turn out. Below is one of my favorite examples so far.      With Spring Break coming up, I have big plans for getting models finished. I plan to spend a significant amount of time of my break getting models done, including this Sentinel Walker. This will be one of the largest models I have ever painted, and I'm very excited to see it completed      Unfortunately that's all I have for now, but by next week I think I'll have something more substantial to show off. Tune in next week to see if I haven't had a mental break painting these models.