A loss of momentum

It's hard to believe, but it's been over a week since I last updated the blog. It's funny how just having a few things going on in the real world can interfere with your irregular commitments. March has been a busy month, with every weekend packed with events and my job going through a transitional period. It's left me tired, and even when I have had the time to write something up here, it was hard to summon the motivation.

Part of my problem is the fact that I resolved to basically make March a month of relaxation in terms of painting. I pushed a bit too hard in January and February, and it left me a bit burnt out. I might have been able to force myself to continue at a similar pace, but it was going to be a really hard slog, and there was no guarantee that my motivation would return. I figured the best thing to do was ease up and hope it rejuvenated me a bit. It has also given me the chance to play a bit more of Skyrim (no, I have not finished the main storyline yet), which I pointedly ignored in favour of pressing on with my painting. Being disciplined is well and good (and slightly novel for me), but I think there are limits - especially when it's a hobby you're talking about.

Despite easing off, I have not stopped painting entirely. If nothing else, having a weekly painting night with friends ensures that I get at least a few hours a week set aside specifically for my models. If I only ever paint then my progress is slow, but it's still better than nothing. I have recently finished 11 more Handgunners for my Empire. I only had 10 done, which is slightly silly in an army that's now reached about 7,000 points. 11 is a bizarre number to add, but it happened to be how many I had undercoated and based. Rather than make the task harder by rounding the number out, I took the easy path and just painted the 11.

11 painted Handgunners go onto the "done" pile

For all that I prefer the style of these older Handgunners to the new ones, the single-pose models from the 6th edition starter box are uninspiring to paint. The sculpts feel lazy, and there are places where details merge together, making painting them quite difficult. These guys will hardly be the centrepiece models in my army, but it's still annoying when even trying to paint them simply becomes harder because the quality is just not there in the model.

Anyway, they're done now, and so I have a slightly more respectable number of painted Handgunners. My Crossbowmen recently scored an upgrade to 18, so I am heading in the right direction in terms of missile troops, but there is still a way to go before my painted army feels balanced. I will probably paint a command group for these guys, given a unit of 20+ always looks better with a flag. But I am not rushing to do it - I am not yet ready to try to pressure myself on the painting front. Soon I will need to tackle something larger again, but for now my odds and ends will do just fine.

21 painted Handgunners - currently my full tally