Reflections on a Hobby

A pretty bad week hobby wise. As part of my one figure a week challenge I elected to paint up my converted Khador Spriggan. The week started strong with the NMM (non metallic metals) finished and weathered by Wednesday last week. Unfortunately, the figure succumbed to the most terrible fate of being knocked off the shelf. In the ensuing panic I struggled to look for a replacement figure to paint this week. A number of options ran through my head including Lady Aiyana and Holt, but on the end I decided to work on Yuri the Axe.

The picture above shows the progress up until the end of Saturday evening and is actually a lot closer to completion today, with only the axe and base to be finished (end of Monday is the projected finish). As a knock on effect of the painting mishap, I did not complete a Khador Tactica article as intended. To make amends, this coming week will see two Tactica articles.Having a deadline is a very motivating factor, and I have begun to appreciate the number of painted figures on the table as opposed to unpainted, but not at the compromise of my personal level of painting. This is a issue that has been discussed recently on the Privateer Press forums, debating the subject of 'painted vs unpainted forces' and has caused me to reflect on what it is that first attracted me to the Warmachine brand.

So although I am running late with my 'one a week' painting scheduled, I feel that I have learnt a valuable lesson. I am in this hobby not as a gamer but a painter, the fact I enjoy the game is a by product of my original interest. For me it is the rich story and atmosphere that the brand brings and because of this, I owe it too myself to make sure I bring figures painted to the best of my ability to the table. In conclusion I would rather bring a scattering of well painted figures for my fellow gamers to look at, then a collection of average figures I did not put 100% into. This is nothing more than a preference and is not intended as a criticism of people's painting ethics, just sometimes it is good to sit back and remember what it is that inspired you in the first place :)

Thanks for reading,
DiStudios
The 14th Legion