Another full army shot

It's become a habit for me to take a photo every 6 months or so of my Empire army, to show how it has progressed. It's been about 6 months since the last shot, so I figured it was time once more, as the new year approaches.

Unfortunately the photo is not exactly a work of art. I was about to pack up the army into cases so that I could move it in preparation for the Hel Fenn game, and was a bit pressed for time. I still hope to get better at shots like this, but I really need to give myself more time if I want things to turn out properly. The green in the corners is me blotting out all the junk I had sitting in the background...

My Empire army, which is getting pretty big by now.

The photo above is rather limited in size. You can view the bigger version in Picasa here.

If I put the whole army into Army Builder now, it comes out to a bit over 11,000 points. Ironically it is held back by the Hero and Special sections - I have a lot of points available in those areas. Clearly I need to focus on things like Greatswords, Flagellants and Reiksguard, and a better array of characters (in particular Captains on foot, I think).

With Hel Fenn about to happen, I'm really starting to feel like we're getting close to being ready for the ultimate goal of the Battle at the Gates of Kislev. This seems strange, as it had started to feel like an unreasonably ambitious goal - so far from happening that it might never get there at all. It also raises an unexpected issue for me. When I do finally draw a line in the sand and make the game happen, will it finally mean the end of painting this Empire army? If I can put out an army representing the biggest battle ever to occur in the Old World, what is then the point in continuing to paint models for that army? Especially when I have half a dozen more waiting in the wings, that could really use the attention. I may actually have accumulated more unpainted Empire models than will ever see the end of my paintbrush. Anyway, that's a question for later.

The army above is currently sitting in cases at the venue for the Hel Fenn game, which happens in only 2 days. The countdown continues...