About a year and a half ago, I returned to the miniature painting and war gaming hobby. Well, miniature painting anyway. I’ve only managed to play a single, small, game of Necromunda in that time. And frankly, I haven’t painted that much either. I did manage to add a number of boxes to my already existent collection from the late-90s and mid-2000s. Like many of us, I suspect, it is easier to buy the models and imagine spending time to build and paint and play than it is to actually do sit down and do it. I’d like to change that.

The History

I walked into a Games Workshop retail store in the late ’90s and had my pre-teen mind blown. The armies set up on tables – fully painted and ready fight to the death – immediately captured my imagination. I asked my parents for something (anything!) from the store, but they were discouraged by the salesperson. These games were too complicated, too complex, for a 10-11 year old to grasp. Whether convinced by the (very bad at their job) sales clerk, or the prices, we didn’t get anything. But I was enthralled. When my family went on summer vacation, I picked up the 4th Edition Warhammer Armies: Skaven book and devoured it on the drive. Over the next few years I convinced multiple friends to get involved in the hobby, but we shifted mostly into the 40,000 universe. I obtained a used 40k 3rd Edition starter set from a family friend and used it to start building up a small collection of space marines.

Friends played Necrons, ‘Nids, Tau, Dark Eldar and Orks – many of which ended up in my garage years ago.

There is probably another box or two of minis from the early 2000’s hidden at my parents house or in storage somewhere. I know for sure that there are a couple of crisis battlesuits, a pair of space marine speeders, and an old metal Talos that still need to be located. I’m going to have to make an effort to find them.

I also have a small collection of Warhammer Fantasy minis from the same period. Skaven always had a special place in my heart, and the one friend that I convinced to play WFB with me chose Lizardmen. This Skaven collection also contains half of the Island of Blood box set, from the last time I had convinced myself I was returning to the hobby. I don’t think even one of them got primed… The Lizardmen, all monopose, haven’t see much paint themselves.

The Return

When I made the decision to get back into the hobby in 2021, I was shocked by the leap in quality. Many of the new factions and updated sculpts are gorgeous. But where should I start? Years of changes were overwhelming: Primaris marines? Flamers no longer use a template? What about guess range weapons? Gone, you say? Even the faction names are different now. Well that’s OK, I’ll just check out the fantasy range…discontinued?!

At this point, I should have just picked something out of the hoard and started painting. But why do that when I can just buy stuff instead!? Honestly, it never even crossed my mind. Instead, I spent weeks browsing the new product lines and ultimately decided on Necromunda, for the following reasons:

• The minis are rad as hell
• The terrain brings the world to life
• A skirmish game means a smaller investment (ahahahAHAHAHA)
• The minis are rad as hell

Painting has always been the main goal in my return to the hobby. I would love to get some games in and learn the other systems, but most of my involvement will always be using the hobby as a creative and meditative outlet. Small gangs with distinct flavors and aesthetics are perfect for this – if I get bored of one I can move to another gang without needing to amass 2,000 points in the event that I do get to play. With that in mind, I rescued a gently used, but completely unassembled lot on eBay and started building some Delaque.

These were so much smaller and more fiddly than I remember the minis being. The 2nd and 3rd edition space marines from my youth seemed much simpler. They probably were; sculpting has come a long way. I put both of the Hive war gangs together at the same time and didn’t care for the Delaque very much. However, by the time I finished painting them I had really come around. I think these are my favorite of the two so far. It’s amazing how a little bit of color changes your feelings about a mini.

Next, I worked on the second Hive War gang – Escher. These felt like a much more difficult painting experience. There are so many different details, cloth and leather. Plus, the iconic Escher bright and colorful hair really stretched my paint collection thin.

It took my nearly a year and a half to get these 20 minis finished (along with some partially completed terrain). In that time, I’ve purchased a few additional boxes. At this rate, the hoard has only grown. I need a plan.

The Battles to Come

Now, at the beginning of 2023, the hoard is out of control. I can no longer sit idly by and collect without actually putting in the hobby time. I would like to see all of these old minis cleaned up, rebuilt and painted. However, I won’t be foregoing new purchases in the future. Necromunda is still my motivating muse and there’s a fire for some middlehammer and Mordheim. In particular, there’s an imminent range refresh coming for the Cities of Sigmar that will probably result in some boxes being added to the hoard.

So, can the hoard be defeated? I don’t know, but I have to try. In order to keep myself accountable, I’ll be setting quarterly goals and weekly targets. The method for keeping myself on track and reviewing my progress has been shamelessly stolen from Mick over at hammerthebacklog.com. Please go follow his progress – it’s been incredibly motivating for me personally and might be for you as well.

For the first quarter of 2023, I’ve selected two boxes out of the hoard:

• Luther Pattern Excavation Automata “Ambots”
• Van Saar Gang

Since each quarter is 13 weeks long, and these boxes contain 12 total minis, this will give me just a little over 1 week per mini. For many people this might not seem like a lot, but the 20 minis that I’ve finished since getting back into the hobby took me an average of 4 weeks per mini! 1 per month is just not going to do it. There’s no way to put even a small dent in the hoard at that rate. Originally, I was planning to include some of the floor tiles and walls pictured above in this quarter as well. I’m fairly certain that this would just set me up for failure. Setting realistic goals is key! I don’t want to end up discouraged by failing to meet the very first goal. If I end up with extra time at the end of the quarter I can readjust expectations and goals for quarter 2.

On the weekly level, I’m going to be tracking the number of hours spent on hobby activities. I’ve estimated that about 10 hours per week will give me enough time to build, paint and complete these boxes over the course of 13 weeks. This also represents a pretty big step up in the amount of time I typically dedicate to hobby projects each week.

Alright! Well, that’s the plan. Hopefully, having this blog to update will help me stay motivated and making progress. There’s only one way to find out now.

It is time. Grab your brush, stand firm, and deny the hoard.