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I'm sure you're all familiar with this problem: you've got three armies you need to finish, a hundred miniatures waiting to be painted, five boxes you haven't even opened yet, let alone built what's inside them*; and yet you'd really like to buy that new shiny kit for that new project you'd like to start....

*numbers may vary according to your tendency to impulse-buying

So my main question is: how do you guys 'plan' your projects? I've seen people here on Dakka who somehow manage to pump out entire armies worth of models in less than two weeks, while I'm struggling to get even a single one of my three armies built and painted over the course of YEARS. I simply have no idea how I can get my current projects finished without going insane in the process (having to choose between painting the Green tide and an eclectic Chaos warband doesn't help with that either), and I don't want to start buying things for new projects yet as I'm afraid I'll never get around to them.

Any advice for this distraught Dakkanaught?

Stop buying, focus on one army, get painting.

....

... badly

Well, I look at something and I like it.... And then I build it. And then I see something else pretty and I like that and I build it. And then I have this great idea and start that. And whilst I am doing that I think up this offshoot of one of the other ideas and start on that. And then I remember that other thing I am yet to finish and do a bit on that.

And than I look at my work space and see the scattered projects all around it and I weep. I tell myself off and make myself work on one and only one at a time until that is finished and then I can finish the next one.
And than I decide, whilst that wash is drying, just to do a sneaky bit on the next one.
And the next one.
And then I remember that other project I never finished.
And then I see something I like and decide to build it....

This is probably one of the major reasons I like small scale games.

I don't,

party due to a bad case of shiney syndrome,

partly due to an inability to 'just bash stuff out to tabletop level', I always do the best I can when painting, although the results and time taken will vary depending on how enthusiastic I am about the minis involved

I'm more likely to carry on with something if I build it, undercoat it and put some base paint on,

but it's no guarantee (and part finished figures look so depressing they can put you off doing anything)

and wanting to game helps too

but again having to have it all done can kill your enthusiasm for the game itself, and playing with part completed stuff may mean you never bother finishing them

Overall I'd say ask yourself 'is this fun' if it is carry on, if it isn't stop and do something else. If you can afford to pick up stuff you'll never get round to go for it as long as it makes you happy

(lets face it if gamers only bought what they needed so many companies would be out of business)

Very little planning. Generally I wait for inspiration to strike and then I get as much done as possible before it wanes. However, a few things I deliberately do to force myself to get things done.

1- Commit to bringing a given project or piece of terrain to a certain club game night. works even better if it is key to the scenario or to bringing me up to the necessary number of points. If you've got 1600 points painted, scheduling a 2000 point game for the first Monday of next month with your buddy might get you motivated.

2- Commit to doing a convention game. I've gotten massive amounts of sci-fi terrain and sci-fi units done by running a yearly 28mm scale mech combat game at local cons. When the game description reads "This year we weill be adding _____" you darn well better have that ready to play!

3- Drop the whole project on the kitchen table. There's only so long my wife will let that stuff be out so the pressure is on to get it done fast.

Really though there's no full-on cure. I've got Squat and Void Junker armies that have been slowly added to for 6 years. They'll get done someday, but it might take another 10 years.

Lastly, I have noticed that having about 5 on going projects is not totally a bad thing as when I get the urge to hobby I can almost always channel my energies into one of those avenues.

I have two bookshelves devoted to my projects. LOL! It looks all neat and organized but it really isn't.

I have the shelves broken up into the following:

Cleaning: This shelf I put resin or other miniatures that I want to soak in soap/water then cleaned with a toothbrush.
Assembly: This shelf has miniatures that are already cleaned and/or needs to be assembled.
Primer: This is where I put all assembled models that are prepped to be primed.
Painting: I have two shelves for painting. Usually base colors, washs and then cleanup and final.
Queue: Everything else is the queue.

If it doesn't fit in the queue, it goes into a storage box on a shelf. If I want to take something out the box, it needs to have space on one of the shelves. If I want to move something to primer shelf, then there needs to be room on it.

That lets me break out my time allotment based on what I have time to do. If I have a couple spare hours to spare, I can throw some models in a clean bath, while assembling some, do a quick primer. If I only have 30 minutes, I can do some layers on a few other models or get some models primed. I usually know how much time I have available and what can be done in those time periods. That means I don't have to go "what should I do, look for something and by the time everything is out not have any time left". If I get tired of doing a certain model or series, I put them back in the queue or finish them and so forth.

Erm, planning?
I tend to impulse buy faster than I can assemble, let alone paint.

I've always got several projects running at any given time.
I have found though that by swapping projects about I very rarely lose interest in them, which helps.

While it takes me ages to finish a project, I have several going at once, so they all get finished at some point.




Main issues however are impulse purchases.
If you can prevent that then your golden.
But it's far easier said than done.

This is what I try to do, though it doesn't always work out (I used to bad about buying and skipping right to #4)

1) Proxy unit in at least 3 mock battles to see if it is something that you'll really use (tweaking load-out as needed)
2) Save up for purchase
3) Clear one previous unit from paint queue before purchasing
4) Prime & bluetac models; play a game and see if that's the configuration you want, tweak as needed
5) Paint to tabletop quality and play a few games
6) Touch-up and finalize paint job

Have started to plan a bit more, it helps to have something playable in a game, I've found when starting a game pick two factions the one you really want and one with a lower model count you find ok, paint this second lot first so you can start playing then enjoy doing the first ones.

Also have a few alternatives to break up the assembly and painting.

What really helps is to have a realistic view of how long stuff will take, I started a 28mm Napoleonic force, well actually two, without really understanding just how long those uniforms take. Hence they are now a slow burn project.

I have more Germans for Flames of War than I know what to do with, all painted though, through impulse buying so its a right old mix. my newer Soviet force is a lot more structured, with stuff bought because its needed and a deadline by when it needs to be done in place. Built a US beach landing force for a D-Day event last year, the models bought are strictly for that force and while there are other US models about for later in the war the focus was on one theme.


The way I paint doesn't work with the approach of "base colours so usable then details later" but if you have an army that can be done that way thats got to help.

I tried the "no buying till everything else is done" method, I lack the will power to do it.

For 40k I have a Tyrannic force, that grew enough to actually use it then went off the boil, because I hardly play the game, they are lovely models but I only have limited time and due to poor planning these critters are far down the list (poor ickle bugs).

Have found though planning stuff out in quiet moments at work, thinking what I want models for, how they will be used, what I will name them etc, really helps with motivation and results in buying stuff you actually need or will actually use.

Keep a few ranges, a few systems and ideas going at the same time. Switch between them as the muse strikes and don't stray. It's a hobby, not work!

When I plan a project I make sure I have enough money in my bank account before I buy something.

When I don't plan I just buy it without checking,

Just kidding, I never plan a project.

Completely buckshot and spontaneous. I still have minis for at least four armies for 40k that have needed to be finished for years (sometimes as far back as 4th edition) and now I am starting Kings of War in 15mm scale. I have yet to paint minis I bought at the 2014 GenCon (and the 2015 one, too).

I have serious gamer ADD, as well as being pretty much the only miniature wargamer I know, so the need to paint two armied just to get a game in can easily see me getting interested in something else before I finish with the current project(s).

I used to be far, far more prolific. But now, especially after having a child, it's hard to just bang stuff out in a timely manner, so it starts getting to feel like a chore.

Anarchy. Chaos. No discernible pattern of any kind. I model and paint by unit, but there's no rhyme or reason to which units I'll work on, and no guarantee I will finish one before beginning another.

If I have a tournament requiring painted armies coming up, I will buckle down and paint the whole list, but that's about the only time I get any kind of drive to paint.

I paint what the monthly challenges tell me to paint

My mantra has been "I am adult and make my own money so I buy what I want".

...I've made some poor life decisions.

Yeah, I generally have a dozen different projects on the go at once... and there are several bits and bobs in the 'in progress' box that have been there for more than a decade now... but I'll totally finish them off any time now...

I don't plan full armies in general. I buy a force that looks cool then add until playable but it winds up randomly in "The Que" depending on my enthusiasm for them after assembly and how tired of older projects I am. As for what I paint I have a Weekly or monthly goal of what I want or need to finish first and a handful of one offs for when I get ahead or am waiting on the current goal. Currently I have 6 active projects and God only knows how many backloged.

I jump about from one project to another, one system to another. One day I'll fancy buidling models, cleaning them, basing them etc. Another day it'll be fine detail work, another airbrushing.
As far as planning gets it usually comes down to what game is coming up and then I'll focus on that army or system.
As a result I have enough potential projects to last a life time (at my pace anyway) and if I never bought another model I still wouldn't get them all finished.
But I wouldn't do it any other way


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And I'll always keep buying more

"Plan? There ain't no plan!"

Today, I cleaned my minis off my table as I have decided to focus on my terrain. No minis until my Zone mortalus board is done. I am choosing to pick one project at a time as I am tired of looking at my backlog.

I really want the shipping containers that GW is coming out with, and I have the means, but I have finally drawn the line. I will reward myself when my terrain, Sigismund, and my Rogue Trader RPG minis are done

What planning?

There's always a plan for me: paint (usually up to 10 miniatures at a time) -> rest from painting, assemble something - > paint something again.

Looks like I'm the oddball - everything I do is planned well in advance.

I choose an army based upon the painting skills I want to practice over the next few years. I look at guys like Winterdyne, GMM Studios, and many of the artists on CMoN and think "someday." Given that someday will never arrive without lots if practice, patience, and cussing, creating an army is great excuse to do all three. I then buy everything up front and complete all the prep work for every model short of priming. The army is then painted in batches, with each batch taking 2-4 months to complete on average, sometimes longer. My current army was started in the fall of 2012 and will be complete in a month or so. I did, however, take a break for a year to complete all the prep work on my next army.

The result is my backlog is fairly minimal and consists mainly of models for games that I experimented with and dropped early on (Dystopian Wars & 40k). There is, however, a Kampfgruppe Peiper starter box for FoW that will definitely see table time in the far-distant future. I just don't think I'm skilled enough yet to give it the paint job it deserves. Hopefully Battlefront is still in business when it's finally done...

For breaks or diversions, I generally step away from wargaming completely for a bit which prevents the onset of burnout or gamer ADD. Once the current project is finished, I think I'll build a proper gaming table as playing on paper terrain is getting to be boring and a little woodworking is always fun. There's also some talk of using that project as an excuse to teach a series of airbrushing courses at my FLGS so I'll also get to write training documentation and maybe put together a few PowerPoint presentations, which will also be fun.

The bottom line is that there's no rush for any of it. Painting minis is what I do instead of watching TV or playing video games and what matters is growing as a mini artist. So if the end result of a few years of time that would otherwise be taken up doing couch potato stuff are some new skills and a fully-painted 5,000+ point army, that's cool.

Everything I own except my DZC + Table is painted. The last project I worked on was around 1.5 years to paint up a 300 point Cryx army to a solid level. I still have 50 more points to go


Most of my projects are planned over a few months to spread out the spending. I have a word document with ideas/link to deals and estimated costs. $1000 for a project sounds like a lot - but not over 8-9 months.

DZC Project - Started October 2015
1. UCM Starter, Rulebook
2. Resin Building test $100
3. Lamps/Cars/Fences/Bits from china greenmax? $30
4. Paint test scheme for UCM
5. Paint test scheme for Scourge
6. Order casting supplies $50
8. Order DZC Starter Kit + Ferrum $110
9. Order HWG Buildings $400
10. Build the starter armies
11. Convert Scourge Units, Flight Bases
12. Locate food filler/talus/play sand/rocksalt $20
13. Get card/texture train cardstock for tiles
14. Base flight stands and test base - convert eagle from condor w/MWmr
15. Order extra HWG tiles
16. Finish building all 13 Structures
17. Buy fresh razor blade FC $10 (low on blades/hurts hand)
18. Purchase foamcore - I'll be out after #13
19. Cut out HWG Roads from Map + Doodads - lay out ideas
20. Order Woodland Scenics, paste, WE, texture, tools $30
21. Create Blast Markers, Barricades, and Doodads
22. Build Overpass FC?
23. Scourge + UCM order $200
24. Light grey and a medium brown spray paint $20
25. Black wash dirt - use SW 6x bottles I have leftover
26. Prime Buildings + Terrain
27. Paint Terrain
28. Woodland Scenics Flock $20-30
29. Flock Terrain, then seal and finish
30. Playtest scourge - do I need to warstore anything else?
31. Painting of Scourge + UCM
32. Create or build 3 more structures adding a 2x4 tile to extend the table to 6x4
33. Major Scourge + UCM units $200

I'm on step 16 now

Resin Structure (#16)s:

1. Hammer Medical: Research Facility 10/11-10/13
2. Aber Habview: Residential Mix Hab 1/14-1/18
3. Corinthian One: Skyscraper/Office 2/8-2/10
4. Market East: Residential Hab 2/13-2/14
5. Hab C Major: Slum Hab 2/13-2/14
6. Sobelo Cybernetics: Sci Labs 2/16
7. Zentar Financial – Office Damaged 3/4-3/7
8. Temple Academic Center - SMALL STRUCTURE/AT – 2/28-3/2
9. City 17 – Large Slum Hab – 4/2-4/4
10. Dominion Bank – Office Damaged – 5/22
11. North Co – Electrical Plant – Added On 3/13 + 5/23
12. The Macharian – Research Skyscraper – 5/24-5/28
13. Market West: Residential Hab Damaged – June
14. 4x Ruins (1 Completed) - June

Ideas

• 4 Destroyed Building Templates
• Barricades of cars, pipes, and destroyed vehicles, street lamps
• Streets = Primed light grey
• Dirt = Primed Dark Brown
• Flock = Mixed Greens, some yellow
• Parking lot terrain piece (size of a building template)
• Highway Signs (Note card with straw glued pipe) cardstock
• Overpass (two destroyed edges and a rubble tile of a fallen overpass) foamcore build (below pictures)
• 6x8" overgrown park w/ Statue, benches, and basketball court with lamps
• Overgrown bushes/shrubbery + Woodland scenics trees??
• HWG paper mat will have the roads cut out. I will use this as the road outlines???
• Have "Islands" of flat untouched placement areas for structures – not individual squares
• Have a location/area for the TAC near the edge + near the middle
• Diagonal road build to maximize firing lanes from player deployment



Just keep bullet points of everything you do and have a living google doc/word doc of what you're working on and when you should complete it

For armies:

1. Assemble whole army.
2. Spray the lot.
3. Paint the lot.

The only thing that gets done before that are colour scheme test models and army list building.

I hate painting. It's my least favorite aspect of the miniature hobby. So with the huge backlog of unpainted metal and plastic I have laying around, I've stolen the idea from the GW Getting Started boxes- paint up 1 "large" miniature, 3 "medium" miniatures, and 10 "small" miniatures in a lot all together.

So far it's kept me interested.

Less planning, less thinking, more doing...

^^ that's when I'm actually making stuff. Otherwise, it's this slow slog of overthinking and rethinking stuff.

My planning generally starts with... "Ooooo that's purty..."

Focus on one army at a time.

Get unit, paint unit. Go to next unit when you can afford to do so. Do not play with unit until it is painted.

This is how all my forces have been done, from 1987 until now. The game didn't matter. Costs were the biggest drawback (being in a low paying job) that slowed it down and reduced "impulse buys" to pretty much zero.

Now that I CAN do the impulse purchase thing, I still don't. Doesn't mean I don't get the odd shiny just because, but it's not something that drives me.