Greetings all,

Well, I am not going into 2024 with an empty pile of shame this year. This is a new thing for me.

However, I think my 2024 projects are manageable. I have a 6mm Hittite army that is about 20 bases large to complete and a box of Heroquest to paint up.



and



So, how about you? Do you have a large pile of shame you are working on?

Last year proved an odd one and I've had to pull back on game variety and focus a bit more on community building around core games. With that in mind, I currently have 5 big projects on my backlog with a few smaller ones on the side:

Judgement

2 Models

These guys are almost done. They're releasing new stuff and I'll want some of it, but this one is pretty complete and hardly worthy of being called shame at this point.

Marvel Crisis Protocol

13 Models

I have the new core set to paint and X-Men in March, but at the moment my big plan is to make some more terrain. I picked up the Sanctum on Black Friday and have an idea I'm very excited to try.

Shatterpoint

0 Models

Vader, Luke and Ewoks are all coming up so that zero won't stay round for long. This I'd also like to make some varied tables, but I'm finding design a little challenging since the game only really works with a lot of elevation changes.

Warmachine

32 Models

Ten figures here are Legacy army stuff I picked up before they were discontinued. Beyond that the new Khador models have been super fun, and I've just got all the infantry that are terrible in game and hard to get excited about. Maybe the January errata will change things.

Infinity

21 Models

Picked up the Bakkunin stuff last year and just haven't had time to get to it. Hard to get in games at the moment and I've got a very full collection of Nomads already, so its pretty low on my list.

Warhammer 40K

Going to split this in two. Not a huge 40k guy, but I like having an army on hand to make friends. When things go bad, there's always 40k to fall back on and at the moment its probably the most consistently played game in town, so I really need to beef up my options.

Deathwatch

17 models

Tenth removing chapter requirements officially and generally rewarding more varied, less spam armies has me excited to build up a robust roster and play far more than I have in the past. At the moment I'm trying to fill out my collection and have a couple of things that I see myself using regularly. Probably more to come.

Orks

22 Models

Probably my big dumb decision last year that ensured the pile would not be conqured. I've had an itch to own Orks for years and a deal came along that was just a little too good to pass up. I've painted nearly all of a 2000 point list and just mostly have vehicles to go. Sadly I suspect the January errata will ruin my plans, but its got enough variety that I should be able to build off of whatever survives.

I will paint more models in 2024 than I did in 2023.
So at least 14....

But seriously, this should not be hard to beat once I start as I'm set to begin painting:

*Solar Auxillia infantry + tanks for Legion Imperialis
Status:
•all base coated
•Tanks - 8/12 finished
•Infantry - 0/36
•Ogyns - 0/8
•Sentinels - 0/8
•Aircraft - 0/11
•Knights & Titans - 0


*a French army for Warlords Epic Waterloo
Status:
•all base coated.

So, lots of tiny infantry in my immediate future.

Oh, where to begin on my rather mountainous pile of shame. I guess I'll go by game system:

WARHAMMER 40,000:
Dark Angels: Plenty of stuff that needs paint. I don't have exact numbers, but it includes the Space Marines half of Leviathan as well as some vehicles and other Terminators, and I'll be adding the upcoming Deathwing Assault box once it drops. I also have some Outriders and ATVs to paint for my Ravenwing.
Adepta Sororitas: Still a few random Battle Sisters and a couple of characters that need some paint, plus I need to properly finish a couple of Rhinos, some Paragons, and Morvenn Vahl, as well as some Mortifiers.
Astra Militarum: Nothing at all is painted currently. I've got plenty of Wargames Atlantic Les Grognards infantry, many of which haven't even been assembled, as well as some 3D printed stuff and a few vehicles (a couple of Russes, a Manticore, and a Valkyrie), only some of which are even assembled. This army is currently very low priority and probably won't get touched this year unless something odd happens.
Adeptus Custodes: A bunch of models currently await assembly and nothing at all is painted. Might happen this year, then again it might not. Maybe if the upcoming codex is really strong it'll get bumped up the queue.
Imperial Knights: Right now, everything that is assembled is painted, but I do still own one more Questoris Knight on sprues. Not sure how badly I need to build and paint that. I might get more Armigers and/or a Dominus, and maybe even a Cerastus of some kind depending on how I feel.
Leagues of Votann: I've only painted 5 Hearthkyn Warriors, and have a few more that I started, as well as some Pioneers that I started. Nothing else is painted, and I've got about 1200 points currently. We'll see if I get around to them this year.
Tyranids: I've got enough for a full army, albeit not a competitive one, and most of it is primed ready for paint. I've got the Leviathan half and a bunch more including some 3D printed bugs, and I plan to print a few more possibly.

WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR:
Stormcast Eternals: I've got about 4k points of these golden bois that need some painting love. I might end up getting more before the end of the year, too, depending on how I feel about whatever's in the edition starter (rumors say 4th edition is dropping this year).
Orruk Warclans: I recently picked up 2k points of Kruleboyz (including last year's Christmas box and a Dominion half), so that's a fair number of models including some big ones that will need some paint.

MIDDLE-EARTH STRATEGY BATTLE GAME:
The Fellowship: I've got a couple of metal sculpts each of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, plus a mounted Legolas. I do already have the Mines of Moria Fellowship models painted (albeit poorly, I did them like 15 years ago), so these are a low priority.
Thorin's Company: I've got them assembled but unpainted. Low priority.
Lothlorien: Lots of infantry and a few cavalry. I need to grab Orophin and Rumil, and possibly some Guard of the Galadhrim Court, but otherwise I already have a pretty complete collection. I just need to get them painted!
Minas Tirith: I've got a fair amount of infantry and some cav, plus several characters that all need paint.
Rohan: 18 Riders and 36 infantry, plus a bunch of characters, and I plan to 3D print some Royal Guard. None of it is painted at the moment.
The Dead of Dunharrow: I've got my infantry painted, but I need to paint up the King and his banner guys. I also need to pick up some Riders of the Dead and paint them as well.
Khazad-dum: I've got plenty of stuff that needs paint, and I need more stuff to make a viable army. Not sure it'll happen super soon.
Mordor: Nothing painted, and I've got a fairly big amount of stuff, and if I pick up the Osgiliath box I'll have a total of 60 Morannon Orcs and 3 Mordor Trolls! I need to finish my flying Witch-King at the very least, he's been in partially-painted hell for too long.
Moria: Funnily enough I've gotten a lot painted a long time ago, but I don't actually have much of a legal army, and I need to paint up some Cave Trolls. I'll need to get some characters if I want to actually run this army.
Easterlings: I've got 13 guys that have been partially painted for like 2 years now and I just haven't been able to motivate myself to finish them. I've also got a lot more stuff that is primed and needs to be painted, including some expensive Forge World units. I might pick up the Dragon Emperor sometime this year if I can spare the cash.
Variags of Khand: I've got a few models, and I want to grab a box of the Khandish Horsemen and maybe another Chariot or two. I'll paint what I've got first before I go get more. Not sure it'll happen this year either.
Dark Denizens of Mirkwood: All I have is various spiders, including the Queen and some Wargames Atlantic ones that I need to put together. Low priority for paint at the moment.

KILL TEAM:
Ork Kommandos: The whole team is partially painted, will probably be finished early this year.
Arbites Exaction Squad: I've got a team assembled, but nothing is even primed, let alone painted yet.

NECROMUNDA:
House Orlock: I've got probably a total of about 30 models, including 20 regular gangers, 8 models from the Arms Master and Wreckers set, and a couple of the Outrider quadbikes. None of it is painted, and a lot of it is unassembled.

KINGS OF WAR:
Ogres: I've got a Warlord, 9 Warriors, 3 Boomers, 3 Hunters, and 6 Shooters that all need paint. With local interest in KoW virtually nonexistent these might get put in storage instead of painted.
Empire of Dust: Lots of skelly bois, plus some Rev Cavalry and 3 Chariots. Like the Ogres these might not get much love for a bit.

INFINITY:
Yu Jing: I've got a total of 10 guys/girls, and none of them have been painted.
Haqqislam: Same as Yu Jing.
Other: A few random Mercs, none painted yet.

BOX GAMES:
Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Nothing painted yet, might happen this year, might not.
Aliens: Another Glorious Day In The Corps: I started working on the heroes from the core game, but they need to be finished. I've got plenty more from the game yet to work on.
Guildball: I've got 5 teams in total, and none of them have any paint on them. Not sure I'll get to them considering Guildball is a dead game at this point.
Rail Raiders Infinite: Haven't touched it, only bought the game on a lark, and because I thought it might be a fun diversion to paint chibi miniatures.
Primal: The Awakening: The kickstarter should finally get delivered this spring (only 2 years later than originally advertised), so it'll be something else to work on.

Good sweet Lord, that's a lot of stuff that needs paint! Obviously I won't get to all of it this year. In fact, I could go without buying anything for five years and probably not get all of this stuff done. Truly a mountain of stuff, and I keep adding yet more projects! I'm not a hoarder, honest! I just get new shiny syndrome a bit more than is healthy.

Things I'd like to tackle in 2024.

Mantic plague zombies: Got a bunch for generic modern day/scifi horde, painted some but at least 20 are still waiting. Slapchop fodder.

Btech: During 2023 I cleared a bunch of mechs for my OpFor in the House colors, but my main faction mechs have many unfinished mechs, though everything is at least base coated.

Imperium: Bought some bits, and bobs from the Japanese release, clearing them would be incredible.

Anything other than the above will be a nice bonus. Especially my unpainted Knight Dominus.

M.

 Easy E wrote:
Greetings all,

Well, I am not going into 2024 with an empty pile of shame this year. This is a new thing for me.

However, I think my 2024 projects are manageable. I have a 6mm Hittite army that is about 20 bases large to complete and a box of Heroquest to paint up.

Spoiler:

and

So, how about you? Do you have a large pile of shame you are working on?

Hey, could you put your pics in a spoiler tag?
Or at least the Heroquest one?
As is they're making your post & replies almost impossible to read on my phone.

Things I owned Jan 1, 2024 that are unpainted

Not a thing. Hooray!

Things I have bought in 2024 that are unpainted

3 stands Sacred Band

6 stands Magmaforged

3 Incarnate Sentinals
6 Brute Drones
12 stands Force Grown Drones
3 stands Marksmen Clones
3 stands Vangard Clones
3 stands Vanguard Infiltrator Clones
3 stands Onslaught Drones
2 Abominations

Things I owned Jan 1, 2024 that are now painted

2 Hold Reigh
Tempered Steelshaper
Ardent Kerewah
Tempered Sorcerer
One Herald of Magma that is serving as a proxy for any of the three magic wielders above
6 stands Hold Warriors
6 stands Hold Ballistae
9 stands Hold Thanes
6 stands Fire Forged
9 stands Initiates
6 stands Dragon Slayers
6 stands of Wardens
3 stands Flame Berserkers
6 Inferno Automata
6 Steelforged
Hellfire Drake
Ironclad Drake

One Chaos Knight

Tyranid Prime
Neuro Tyrant
Screamer Killer
3 Leapers
5 Barbgaunts
2 Ripper swarms
Psychophage
10 Neurogaunts
20 Termagaunts

Things I bought in 2024 that are now painted

One Ipparchos
Promethean Oracle
9 Companion Cavalry
2 stands of Thorakites
4 stand of Agema
6 Chariots
9 stands Clockwork Hoplites
3 stands Sacred Band
Talos

Stoneforged

Lineage Highborn
2 High Clone Executors
Biomancer
Pheromancer
Memetic Assassin
6 Avatara
6 Centaur Avatara
6 Incarnate Sentinals
3 stands of Bound Clones
3 stands Vanguard Clones
3 stands Force grown Drones
6 stands of Stryx
3 stands Marksmen Clones
3 stands Desolation Drones
Seigebreaker Behemoth

Things removed from the pile for ... other reasons
Arcane Retinue
Tactical Retinue

Spoilered.

 Easy E wrote:
Spoilered.

That's much better, thank you.

Aim - Paint more than I buy

Borrowing the template from The Newman, though tweaking one category a little...

Note - I'm just going to be tracking GW things here.

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, WIP*

* - WIP is defined as at least undercoated, not just built. If I tried to include the unpainted stuff, the year would be over before the survey was done...
Note - this may expand as I find other WIP things I'd forgotten about, and as/when I start on things from the Pile that previously hadn't been undercoated.
Use of violet indicates they were also on the start-of-2023 list

Things I bought in 2024:
Q1
- 5 Fenrisian Wolves
- 3 bases of Nurglings
- Space Marine Captain with Jump Pack

Q2
- Solar Auxilia Command Tank
- Feculant Gnarlmaw
- 1 Deathwing Knight (Miniature of the Month)
- Talons of the Emperor Combat Patrol (10 Sisters of Silence, 5 Custodes, 3 Custodes Jetbikes)
- Grombrindal
- Void Shield Generator
- 3 Necron Tomb Blades
- Generatorum Hub
- 3 Plasma Generatorium

Q3
- Knight Cerastus Acheron
- Knight Cerastus Castigator
- Celestian Sacresant Aveline
- Dwarf Thane, Battle Standard, and Lord
- 3 Von Ryan's Leapers (Combat Patrol Magazine)
- 2 Chaos Spawn
- Chaos Lord with Additional Hand Weapon
- Kruleboy (Miniature of the Month)
- 5 Infernus Marines (Combat Patrol Magazine)
- Blades of Khaine (10 Striking Scorpions, 2 little statues)

Q4
- Tzarketh, Bane of Law
- 5 Barbgaunts (Combat Patrol)
- Space Marine 2: Recruit Edition (Titus, 10 Termagants, Ripper Base)
- Operation: Hivestorm Terrain (TBC)
- 5 metal 2nd edition Howling Banshees, inc. Exarch

Italics means I've ordered them, but they've not gotten to me yet...

Things I purchased in 2024, now WIP (at least undercoated)
- 5 Infernus Marines (WIP, based)

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, now completed:
- 5 Necron Warriors with Gauss Flayers
- 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms
- 5 Flesh Hounds
- Karanak, Hound of Vengeance
- 2 Thermic Plasma Regulators
- 10 Sickly Pallor of Decay Plaguebearers
- Khorne Bloodmaster
- Haemotrope Reactor

Things I bought (or acquired) in 2024, now completed:
- 3 Nurgling bases
- 3 Necron Tomb Blades with Twin Gauss Blasters
- 5 Fenrisian Wolves
- MotM Kruleboy with Spear

Net change to the Pile of Shame/Potential
90 bought, 2 acquired for free, 40 painted, so a net of +50(+52)

I’m not gonna list my pile of shame. Because even I do not know how deep it runs.

However, in the past three days I’ve done something Hobby, and now have 80 fully painted Legion Imperialis Tactical Legionnaires. Which is more than I painted in the entirety of last year.

362 days to go, and I’m expecting that this time next year I’ll have extensive and fully painted armies across multiple systems.

My Pile of Shame (or pile of opportunity) now creates its own gravity field, but I will continue to make a dent in its monolithic vastness.

Plan is to improve on my 2023 total (105 28mm minis), which will put me way ahead of any purchases I make, so a net reduction in the Pile.

Of course, I will be in the UK mid-year, and I can hear the siren song of Element Games…

 Gordy2000 wrote:
My Pile of Shame (or pile of opportunity) now creates its own gravity field, but I will continue to make a dent in its monolithic vastness.

Plan is to improve on my 2023 total (105 28mm minis), which will put me way ahead of any purchases I make, so a net reduction in the Pile.

Of course, I will be in the UK mid-year, and I can hear the siren song of Element Games…

If you want to get technical about it even a single miniature generates it's own gravity well.

I finished off my Egyptian army at the tail end of 2023. That was my big lift for 2024.



You can read about the final units and finished army on my blog if you are interested.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/01/on-painting-desk-battle-of-kadesh-so-it.html

More importantly I also sorted the Hittites into their units, sorted them into bags for painting, and got started on some of the core of the army. Undercoated and applying base coats.

1/9/24: minor progress!
All of my Legion Imperiales Solar Auxilia are assembled & base coated. Technically the 1st paint I've laid down in 2024.

1/10/24: actual progress & proof that I do paint.
2 of 4 LI Leman Russ.
Certainly not Golden Demon lv & additional detailing to be added later, but ready for battle.
#3 is WiP. All 4 will be finished this evening.

And so it begins: three stands of Hold Warriors got finished this morning. Unusually slow for me, but I was sick as a dog last week and I didn't touch a brush for like four days.

Everything wot I’ve done a paint this year, so far.

14 straight days of “something hobby”

And three Inferno Automata.

And that's me completed. 100% painted for all my projects.

1479 models painted and in my display cases.



Now, I did dig out 3 old models from the 'box of shame' which are being stripped so technically, at some point I intend to do something with them!

Oh..
What's left to finish:
x2 Pallas
x1 Calladius
Valdor
x1 Venatari Custodian

What I would like to build and paint:
x1 Calladius
x30 Custodian Guard
x2 Armigers
x1 Vanilla Questoris
x1 Warhound

What's built and needs painting:
x1 Cerastus Acheron
If I manage to squeeze everything in this year, I will be one very happy person.

My first painting for 2024 was a quick Kill Team. The Hand of the Archon is now painted up and ready to hit the table. I all ready had a Craftworld, Harlequin, and corsair team so it seemed appropriate to get the Dark Eldar team. It looks like I am the "space elves" guy at the True Crit Gaming Guild.



I used Armypainter Speedpaints and got the whole Kill Team painted in about a weekend. If you are interested you can see the full process on my blog here:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/01/on-painting-desk-hand-of-archon-kill.html

Oh, don't get me started on my Pile of Doom. Actually, get me started on it. Well, you know what I mean.

I've got a ton of boxed games to paint: Arena: the Contest/Tanares Adventures, Borderlands: Mister Torgue's Arena of Badassery, HeroQuest, Masters of the Universe: Clash for Eternia, the Gambler's Chest, and I even still have most of The Others and Mythic Battles: Pantheon waiting for paint. Cyberpunk 2077 and Mythic Battles: Ragnarok are on the way.

Dungeons and Lasers terrain, Archon Studios dragons, Ravaged Star, Reaper Bones Kickstarters, resin casts from Heresy Lab, Artel W, and Punga Miniatures. (Aside: other manufacturers should adopt the casting process that Artel and Punga use because they made the nicest resin I've ever received)

THOUSANDS of STLs waiting for me to fire up the 3D printer and bring to life.

It's so much. I really want to get into 30k. And I could easily drop $500+ on that.

I went into 2024 with this:
Things I owned January 1st, 2024, unpainted:
3 Sentinels
A box of Archon Studios Terrain
1 Sydonian Dragoon
3 Serberys Sulphurhounds
FW Gorgon heavy Transport
FW Skytalon
FW Malcador Infernus
5 Special/Heavy weapon operators from Anvil Industries
2 Characters from Anvil Industries

Finished the Sulphurhounds and I'm currently on the Rampart Terrain box (which is more fun to paint than I would have thought).

But a lot of new models are calling to me... damn it. Guess some new buys will come this year, but I promised myself to bring the pile down significantly this year, maybe even finish with a clean slate.

Ended up taking a little painting break, then took on some large terrain instead of digging into models. Back and finished up that MCP backlog. Working on Judgement, then I have a 40k pile to hack at.

I finished off some terrain pieces I had sitting around and I painted 2 bases of Hittite 6mm infantry.

Only 6 bases left to finish off the Hittite army.

My pile of shame got much larger due to the Old World. I picked up the Bret Box and some of the made to order items from the past weekend. Should be fun over the next month or so getting them painted up!

Otherwise, I've got a ton of HH stuff to paint as well 30 mk3 marines, land raider, Spartan, a Deredeo, 4 contemptors, 10 Tartarus terminators, a rhino, and a scorpius. Some will be painted as Dark Angels, the rest will be painted up either Space Wolves, Night Lords, or something else. I'm leaning towards Night Lords because they appear to have an interesting scheme.

I finished off another Kill Team in a 5- day painting challenge. A nice palette cleanser from the 6mm Hittites.



You can read about the full 5-day challenge and see the process on the Blood and Spectacles blog if that is your thing:https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/02/5-day-challenge-epilogue.html

That makes two Kill Teams for the year, when I intended on only painting 1. However, I still have 1 new one on route. I am all ready "Off Goal" as they say. Oh well.

Well, after being on vacation for ten straight days and delaying finishing a unit for several more because I wanted to use it and the basing glue wouldn't have dried in time I've finally finished something. Got a unit of Fire Forged done today.

And all my horses.

Finished my last 6 bases of Hittite chariots in 6mm.

Hittite army is done. Pictures coming eventually.

Some new Judgement stuff and some tanks to play some Ironstorm are now off the pile!

Really like that librarian-looking guy in the first picture, LunarSol - nice work.

 Dysartes wrote:
Really like that librarian-looking guy in the first picture, LunarSol - nice work.

Thanks! He's Viktor the halfling warlock from Judgement by Creature Caster and his summoned pals!

Three stands of Initiates and a Hold Reigh.

I'm only painting what I'll play!

As in, I'm playing solo Gloomhaven: Crimson Scales, and then STOP playing when I "need" a miniature for a proxy. Pretty obviously, this works better with solo than a regular gaming session.

Most of the pics are in the Reaper thread, but here's some recent pics from the CS miniatures and the Wildspire Miniatures "Monster Set" proxy. The CS miniatures are available as free .stl's with the also free PnP on the CS website. The Wildspire Miniatures are pre-assembled soft plastic, available on Amazon.

Crimson Scales. Free PnP expansion. Requires Gloomhaven . : https://www.thecrimsonscales.com/
Wildspire Miniatures: https://www.amazon.com/stores/WildspireMiniatures/page/B343BFEF-3714-440E-9750-50FC66D51848

18 days, 120 Infantry painted.

Now got the first three Contemptors in the spray booth, ready for tomorrow.

Nice progress!

The core set for Primal: The Awakening arrived today; the expansions, addons, and stretch goal stuff will be coming in a separate shipment. The models look fairly daunting but probably won't be terribly difficult to paint. After many months, indeed a couple of years, of delays it's nice to finally have it in hand so I can get to work on it.

Not feeling like I'm managing the pile well at the moment. Almost caught up on the Deathwatch... but I could really use some scouts and there's a TON of Shatterpoint this week all getting in the way of dealing with the backlog that didn't get resolved last year. :(

120 infantrymen in 18 days. Ye gods.

Just finished a regiment of Dweghom Dragon Slayers and a Tempered Steelshaper.

I was excited to finished 10 infantry in 5 days!

Working from home, single, no pets and off the sauce in solidarity with a friend’s diet has given me a lot of time on my hands!

A regiment of Hold Balistae, a Tempered Sorcerer, and an Ardent Kerawegh. And a few things removed due to rules changes.

A Hellbringer Drake. That is all.

Finished a squad of Vet Guard.

Finished up my DW updates! Then ordered some Scouts and a Land Raider >.<



Also working through the new wave of RotJ releases:

Nice Star Wars stuff. I would never be able to mimic the real look like that.

Steelforged. Not sure what I'll work on next.

 Easy E wrote:
Nice Star Wars stuff. I would never be able to mimic the real look like that.

Thanks! It's a fair amount of contrast but I try to fix everything up with reference photos from the costume department

Three stands of Wardens. Getting pretty close to the half-way mark on the Dweg, one more regiment to 50%

A regiment of Hold Thanes. It'd be nice if Dakka didn't require a separate hosting service for pics.

I finished my Octarius Boxed Set.

Finally finished a large stack of terrain I had laying around for years. Feels good:

And Flame Berserkers.

Finished up the last of my Deathwatch until I see what 10th brings.

An Ironclad Drake today.

And the City States are finished again.

Q1 recap? Honestly, not too bad. OK, I'm at +1 instead of even (or even -1 or better) in terms of net buys vs. completed figures, but then I've also moved house, which has taken most of February and a good chunk of March out of commission.

I'll probably be dipping a little further into the red next weekend, due to local store's birthday, but I'm also hoping that I can now start to get more stuff painted - especially if I can get to the crate with my terrain in it.

I should probably try to get some of the WIP things I brought into 2024 completed, especially as I think some of them entered 2023 like that, too - maybe I should go back and mark those up...

Finished a Chaos Guard Kill Team.

Caught back up on my MCP backlog. Taking a bit of a break but also plugging at my Orks for a couple weeks before another wave of Shatterpoint hits.

About to start clearing the last of the ancient Eldar kits I keep inheriting from my friends. Surely at some point they'll just stop giving me metal models so old I can injure people with them right?

Another two out the door so I can get that Gloomhaven: Crimson Scales campaign going.
The creator of the CS game, Addax Games, will have a KS in May for their GH-alike game, ROVE.

Artificier character class, with his construct proxy companion, Rusty.
Proxy by Wildspire Miniatures, available retail on Amazon, from the "Spellblades and Enchanted Objects" set.

WS: https://www.amazon.com/stores/WildspireMiniatures/page/B343BFEF-3714-440E-9750-50FC66D51848
Addax: https://addaxgames.com/
More pics: https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/103935-wildspire-miniatures-gloomhaven-crimson-scales-thread/

Hold Ballistae.

I made a vow to finish my Pile of Shame by the end of the year, and until then, I'm not buying any more new minis. I haven't been very productive, in all honesty. But I'm slowly getting through it.

i mostly do terrain now, my recent edition was for infinity/star wars legion hover trucks-one green one grey-



Next up i need to finish off my guard army once i get around to painting up these 3rd party chimeras-

I started painting up on my Heroquest boxed set.

Finished a piece of Necromunda terrain...replacing the cardboard with plastic card and sprucing up the terrain. So one done.








Cheers,

CB

Got motivated to work through some of my big pile of middlehammer empire minis. Currently rescuing some ebay 5th edition state troopers. Old on the left, saved on the right

Still plugging away at those Dweg, got some more Initiates done.

i am finally getting off my backside to finish my imperial guard for our 5th ed games. i just have to finish off these lovely chimeras, 2 down 1 to go.

Despite surfing Etsy quite a bit, I've managed to keep from buying more minis. But I've been slack as hell in painting old ones. I did begin working on a Mantic Terrain Crate Military Compound kit, but I don't include terrain in my Pile of Shame, so. Meh.

Here it is all done-2k worth of 5th ed guard. with some 3rd party chimeras (just finished) from the makers cult and a vulture gunship from 2nd dynasty. i got lazy with my infantry, just using the pre-painted UNA AT-43 minis to represent my guardsman and ogryn.

More just keeping up with new releases than clearing the backlog, but shrinking the pile regardless:

MCP



Shatterpoint



Orks

Who is that Kingpin with a Fez? I am a casual comics guy, but that guy stumps me.


Good work all.

I have been slowly working on my Heroquest core set.

That's the Shadow King. Kind of obscure X-Men villain that's some kind of demon that attacks psychics in the astral plane. He was actually the villain of that New Mutants movie that no one saw.

His actual biggest pop culture impact was ripping the mind out of Captain Britain's sister and putting it in the body of an asian assassin to create the version of Psylocke that most people know.

I've been working on my Terrain Crate Mantic Landing Zone and, before that, the Military Compound (which I don't count as being in a pile of shame for some reason), But I'm tired of it, so I'm back on some minis, again. I wanted to complete the landing zone for the next miniature gaming club session with the kids, but realised I couldn't get it ready in time, so meh.

So…found my alternative turrets and weapons for my Legions Imperialis last night. So that’s today’s task sorted. Sicaran, Predator and Kratos options coming right up.

I posted some details about finishing up my Octarius Kill Team boxed set on my blog.



You can read the blog itself and see more photos on my blog if you are interested:

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/05/on-painting-desk-kill-team-octarius.html

So four Swooping Hawks are finished.


Cheers,

CB

Not really shame, but stopped this stuff from ever going to the pile:



This is the Way!

Wardens down. At this poiny I only have two Dweg units left to paint, but City State Chariots are on the horizion.

It's going to be a busy year for new Conquest releases for me actually, Dweg and City States are both slated to get the remainder of their unreleased units by November, but maybe I'll be able to sneak that last 40k Chaos Knight into the paint queue.

My pile of shame is diminishing faster than it grows. For like, the first time in my life.

This is everything I’ve painted this year, with more to come.

finished three Sentinels and a Malcador Infernus and feeling good about it

but also bought another three old Sentinel kits of Ebay and think about getting some GW stuff before the price hike which is.... kind of not helping with the pile of shame...

Nice job MDG!

I finished my Heroquest Core Set.

Cheers dude

Expect me to pinch your paint scheme when it comes time for me to paint my Hero Quest stuff.

Which might make a nice break from So Much Black in the coming couple of months.

Though of course, I’ll need a storage case for the models, as the plastic trays are a bit too grippy for painted models.

Speaking of Piles of Shame I began painting a mini that's been a part of it for ages. She's just been sitting around primed and gathering dust but no longer! She can stand around being base painted and somewhat layered up now! Nah, I fully intend in finishing her soon. I bought her down in Wellington years ago now as she was the closest I could find at my local Friendly Local Hobby Store to one of the main characters of my novel series The Angaran Chronicles, the Hunter: Jelcine as there's a quite alarming lack of female characters in a long dress, sun hat and carrying a huge double headed axe (I made her eventually on Hero Forge) Also, Jelcine isn't an elf either. This chick is a Reaper druid, I think, but I decided to just make up her colour scheme as I went along and try out colours I don't normally use and practise some painting techniques.

So, without further meandering here she is so far! I'm quite happy with her, for now, anyway.

Daaang that's a lot of tiny Marines.

Finished the end of my Dweghom today. If chariots don't get released on time I might actually have to paint some GW stuff.

Just getting back to painting my pile of shame so I am borrowing this format to keep me honest in 2024:

Things I owned Jan 1, 2024 that are unpainted
Space Wolves/Primaris:
Primaris Captain
Primaris Lieutenant
Primaris Chaplain
Judicar
3 Bladeguard Veterans
Bladeguard Ancient
3 Eradicators
10 Assault Intercessors
3 Outriders

Orks:
Warbiker Mob (3 models – unbuilt)
Deff Dread
3 Deffkoptas

Tyranids:
Tyranid Prime
Psychophage
2 Ripper swarms
5 Barbgaunts
20 Termagants
3 Leapers


Things I bought in 2024 that are unpainted

Orks Battleforce (23 models)
Orks Start Collecting Box (2016 Version, 19 models)
White Dwarf 500 Mini

Things I owned Jan 1, 2024 that are now painted



Things I bought in 2024 that are now painted

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Cheers dude

Though of course, I’ll need a storage case for the models, as the plastic trays are a bit too grippy for painted models.

Since I expect them to take a lot of handling, I also gave them a healthy thickness of protective coating.

Treading water on MCP though enough to get some Orks off the backlog:

Finished my last Chaos Knight and a NeuroTyrant.

I got all the new bitz I've been adding to my ages old Deathguard base coated tonight.

And made a bit more progress on a D&D mini.
Everytime the game is cancelled I paint a bit more on him.

Painted up the new Ork combat patrol, plus some extra Beast Bosses

finished my skytalon and am now on to a Gorgon as last part of last years Christmas present


But I ordered some GW stuff before it got more expensive so overall the pile stays the same...

Great looking camo pattern there!

Finished making and painting a converted Farseer.




Cheers,

CB

Added Companion Cavalry to The Pile and then promptly removed them again.

And also knocked out a Screamer Killer in a couple of sittings.

Playing around with positioning for my Underhive settlement. Intent in for this to be the main market area of a defined and growing settlement.

Nothing glued down just yet, and I’ve another full Gang Stronghold to add in.

Finished two more old metal Harlequins.





Cheers,

CB

Got to work on Against the Ogres box for HQ.

Cue Rocky Music, I’m squaring off against a veritable mountain of backlogged terrain.

Test pieces successful, so pretty much ready for en masse quick and dirty paintjobs.

Two of six chariots purchased and painted. Three purchased a bit later. One ordered and not yet received, donno how to categorize that one. Para Bellum kind of dropped the ball on the initial run of those things, it's the first time I've seen them miscalculate like that.

Old metal Harlequin Warlocks.





Cheers,

CB

To Paint List Complete – Base Coat Completed - Primed - Un-assembled – Still in Blister/Box/Closet/Under the Bed

Eldar – 3 remaining
Eldar Farseer Conversion - 1
Swooping Hawks - 4
Harlequins - 4
Harlequins - 2
Eldar Howling Banshee Exarch - 1

Necromunda - 40K Terrain - 10 remaing
Imperial storage crates - 3
Necromunda Towers - 2
Nexromunda Towers - 2
Nexromunda Towers - 3

Painted in 2024
11 models and figures

The long painting war continues...

CB

The goal of painting 15+ models has been achieved!
●the 8 Imperialis tanks I listed long ago
●a 1/2ling mini for D&D
●2 Grick (worm like monsters for D&D)
●6 Plague Marines

So 17 minis right there.

Plus a whole slew of tiny, non-tank, stuff for Imperialis (I need to do an exact count)

All my CS Chariots

 Dysartes wrote:
Aim - Paint more than I buy

Borrowing the template from The Newman, though tweaking one category a little...

Spoiler:

Note - I'm just going to be tracking GW things here.

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, WIP*
- Thunderer Siege Tank (WIP)
- 5 Flesh Hounds - Completed in 2024
- Karanak, The Hound of Vengeance- Completed in 2024
- Convergence of Dominion (WIP)
- 2 small ruins from 40k Command Edition (undercoated)
- Firstborn Dark Angels Master (WIP, based)
- Lord Felthius (undercoated or WIP, based)
- Vostroyan Officer (WIP, based)
- Commissar (WIP, based)
- Chaplain with Jump Pack (WIP, based)
- Firstborn Mentor Legion Captain (WIP, based)
- Mentor Legion Primaris Lt. (WIP, Based)
- Bladeguard Lieutenant (WIP, based)
- 5 Assault Intercessors (WIP, based)
- Cadian Command Squad (4 models, WIP, based)
- 2 Thermic Plasma Regulators - Completed in 2024
- 1 Haemotrope Reactor (WIP)
- 10 Plaguebearers (undercoated)
* - WIP is defined as at least undercoated, not just built. If I tried to include the unpainted stuff, the year would be over before the survey was done...
Note - this may expand as I find other WIP things I'd forgotten about, and as/when I start on things from the Pile that previously hadn't been undercoated.
Use of violet indicates they were also on the start-of-2023 list

Things I bought in 2024:
Q1
- 5 Fenrisian Wolves
- 3 bases of Nurglings
- Space Marine Captain with Jump Pack

Q2
- Solar Auxilia Command Tank
- Feculant Gnarlmaw
- 1 Deathwing Knight (Miniature of the Month)
- Talons of the Emperor Combat Patrol (10 Sisters of Silence, 5 Custodes, 3 Custodes Jetbikes)
- Grombrindal
- Void Shield Generator
- 3 Necron Tomb Blades
- Generatorum Hub
- 3 Plasma Generatorium

Q3


Q4


Italics means I've ordered them, but they've not gotten to me yet...

Things I purchased in 2024, now WIP (at least undercoated)
- Nothing at present

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, now completed:
- 5 Necron Warriors with Gauss Flayers
- 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms
- 5 Flesh Hounds
- Karanak, Hound of Vengeance
- 2 Thermic Plasma Regulators

Things I bought in 2024, now completed:
- 3 Nurgling bases

Net change to the Pile of Shame/Potential
38 bought, 1 acquired for free, 19 painted, so a net of +19(+20)

Start of Q3 update - well, I've slipped further behind, going from +1 at the start of Q2 to +19 now, almost entirely due to picking up the old Custodes Combat Patrol ready for a project in 2025. I do have the next four things I want to work on planned out in my bead and ready to work on, and if I complete them all, that shaves 17 off that deficit already.

May need to do some more building soon, though, to set up what ever comes after those four.

Got some nids done between Para Bellum releases.

My pile of shame is going the wrong direction, as I've picked up a Tomb Kings army for The Old World. Of course, to make room (and money) for all that I did sell two of my 40k armies (Sisters and Custodes). So overall maybe the pile stayed about the same, as I hadn't painted my Custodes at all and I still had some unpainted Sisters.

The Pile of Shame is dead!

Good work!

Mine grew as I picked up my next two projects. Some ancient chariots for my Persian force and an Anglo-Saxon army.

My own recently shrank by 6 Death Guard & 1 Black Dragon!
And then I picked up Skaventide, a 2k pt Custode army (used partially painted/base coated), some more LI Leman Russ, & a couple of Knights.....

The Newman wrote:
The Pile of Shame is dead!

Wow-e-wow, great job!

Finished two old metal Exarchs.



Cheers,

CB

I began and almost finished painting a Space Marine (firstborn) champion I kit bashed (kit bashed meaning my cousin gave me a helmetless head from the Ravenwing biker kit and I glued it on) a couple of years ago. He's going to be the Chapter Master of my homebrew chapter The Shades of Persecution. I'm very happy with how he's turning out, so far. He's another mini that epitomises my Pile of Shame in my eyes.

 Adrassil wrote:

The Newman wrote:
The Pile of Shame is dead!

Wow-e-wow, great job!

Thank you, thank you, hold your applause.

It's only a matter of time before I pick something else up, but at least for the moment I'm constrained by Para-Bellum's release schedule and frankly not having a use for any more regiments at the moment.

The Newman wrote:

 Adrassil wrote:

The Newman wrote:
The Pile of Shame is dead!

Wow-e-wow, great job!

Thank you, thank you, hold your applause.

It's only a matter of time before I pick something else up, but at least for the moment I'm constrained by Para-Bellum's release schedule and frankly not having a use for any more regiments at the moment.

Even so, it's quite an achievement. I'm pretty sure most of us in this thread haven't managed that feat, yet. I haven't, that's for sure.

Uhh, I've been slowly working through my pile of shame and as I was painting, I decided if I order new minis I'm going to finish painting that number or even more. I ordered some Gaunt's Ghosts proxies from Victoria Minis, 24 total to be exact, so I'm aiming to try get at least 24 minis from my pile of shame done before they arrive. So far, I'm pretty close with 23 minis finished so far. I don't think I came up with this idea, might've subconsciously got it from one of the many, many YouTube videos I've seen over the years.

Finished off the ranged Orcs and Gobbos in the Against the Ogres HQ set. Only the Ogres themselves left from the box.

However, I have received my next two projects, so they are ready to go when this box gets done. An Anglo-Saxon army and some Persian Chariots for various games.

Finished building the last of my chaos renegades and heretics, so that's one project box cleared out, which is awesome! Of course, now I have to prime and paint them, which in this current unstable atmosphere weather will be tricky. Hope to get that done by tomorrow and then actually get some paint on them by Tuesday!

Going by my new uhh economic model of the hobby I am officially in the black by at least two minis. I would like to have more finished by now, but needed a bit of a break from mini painting.

I am at about 175+ models/bases painted this year. Mostly 6mm and 28mm.

However, I have a new Anglo-Saxon force of about 60 to paint, and some Persian Chariots still to do this year.

Okay, since this is about the mid-way point of the year, I decided to put up a more formalized blog post about what I have accomplished so far.....

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/08/random-2024-mid-point-not-to-be.html

I am sure many of us do the same, so share and share-a-like I say.

I bought and painted some more Agema this week. I'd declare the Pile of Shame dead again, but I don't think it counts as having one if I'm painting new purchases faster than I'm making those new purchases.

Got caught up on my Infinity this week and made a dent in my Khador backlog. Kind of offset by picking up some Flash Gitz and staring into the horror that is trying to figure out how to salvage my Deathwatch, but at the moment focusing on things that are a bit more stable is keeping me sane.

Finished my HQ Against the Ogre Hordes box.

Onto those Persian Chariots!

I fully painted a random dwarf the other day.
And in July I got a full 6 figure Deathguard team finished for Kill Team!
Oh, and I contracted out the painting duties on 4 Armiger Knights to one of the kids at the shop.

This minor progress on the pile is completely erased by the SkavenTide box under the desk + the dozen or so random minis I brought back from GenCon.

Got some models done for my Kruleboyz, so that's a (admittedly small) dent in the pile of shame.

Finished my first regiment of Spire, because apparently two Conquest armies isn't enough.

I am now up to having painted 8! models this year.

#8 is the Dark Angels Capt that was MTO/Last Chance last year(? Think it was last year)
He's been sitting assembled on my desk for quite some time.
The other night? The stars aligned in his favor....
1st DA I've painted in over 20 years.

The first model is the hardest.

Finished three stands of Vanguard Clones this morning.

The Newman wrote:
The first model is the hardest.

If that's directed to me, then I disagree.
When I paint, 1 model, 2 models, dozens of models, it's all the same. When the motivation to paint occurs I simply paint until the motivation fades.
As for my newest DA Capt? He's the 1st in 20+ years simply because all my other DAs were finished looong ago. I had no reason to paint up another DA before getting this model.

I was a super reluctant painter until this year. Now, I’ve painted all my Legions Imperialis Dark Angels, and am just the 8th Contemptor and Legion Praevian Consul away from having all my Age of Darkness Dark Angels painted.

This has been achieved by “something every day”. Could just be assembling a model or two, doing an undercoat, right up to when I went mental and did 60 MkVI Marines in a day.

Barring a period of grief, I have kept to that, and it’s seen me paint an ungodly amount of plastic.

What really helped was buying a pair of display cabinets. Not only does it look nice and keep the dust off, but as a Sad Old Git, I’m now my own source of White Dwarf Reader’s Armies. I look over what I’ve done, and I feel inspired to do more.

It also helped generate motivation as I ploughed through the grey. I could see each shelf become ever more complete, and the cabinet look ever better.

I’ve still stuff to do, specifically 40K Nids and Eldar, and my HeroQuest stuff. But I am confident I’ll get it all done in the coming months.

Got Incarnate Sentinals done a couple of days ago.

Plan, such as it is, is to not buy more stuff that isn't already on order until I'm down to the last couple of unpainted units again.

This isn't really a pile of shame thing, but just about finished redoing my Intercessors. I had 13 standard and 10 assault. Got some jump packs and made 4 assault, 8 jump assaults, and 8 standard with 3 Sgts I can swap around the equipment on depending on which units I want to actually field.

Another 8 orcs for HQ. Working on Kellar's Keep.

Tonight I nearly quadrupled my fully painted minis count for the year.
All small, easy, things for a coming D&D campaign. Not the most detailed mines out there, & not any award winning effort, but fully painted.
6 Korreds
2 shadows
2 crocodiles
8 giant frogs
2 Boggles
& 2 sprites/pixies (it would've been 3 - but I found the pot I wanted for the 3rds base color had turned to stone. :()

Bringing the years total to: 30 figures

I finished every last one of my Legions Imperalis Tsons Bases! 13 total little bases finished (now to finish the Auxilia)

While I won't finish the infantry by my hobby progress goal of Monday, I'll certainly be able to finish them by the end of October and clear out a whole project box.

I didn’t keep very good track of what I painted this year, and most of what I painted is stuff I either bought this year or very late last year, so I didn’t make nearly as much progress on my backlog as I had hoped given how much I painted, but here’s my best guess.

Backlog minis painted:


Models added to the Backlog


Overall I feel like I'm ahead for the year, especially some of the stuff, such as much of the thousand sons, was acutally bought in december, but I counted it as bought and painted this year. I moved from Georgia to Ohio in early 2023, so in many ways that's my real break point. That one is tougher, becaue I have a lot more big ticket items in last years Pile of shame:


Currently on my paint table I have some sisters vehicles and a dreadknight, followed by some old Arcoflaggalents and 20 Novitatis. After that, it's guard time and, and I'll be making progress on last years backlog, hoping to hit the new guard releases in the black since our move.

Still trying to balance 40k and scale modelling, current project are:

40k
Chaos Daemons: Got a large number of various lesser daemons to finish, mainly Daemonettes and Bloodletters. Picked up 6x Fiends for £30 the other day, was too good to say no to so they've taken up more room on my bench. Also added a rather striking effect to my GUO


Got a winged KoS and Belakor to finish off then that's it for the Daemons for a while I think.

World Eaters Bought the Combat Patrol a while back while drunk and still unsure of what road to take with these guys; do I go full World Eater, or CSM with a couple squads of Berzerkers thrown in? As of now I have 20x Berzerkers and Kharn lying unpainted in a box.

Scale Models

Handley-Page Halifax: Took ages to find the decent kit of this as it's been long-OOP but working through that, then I'll have all 3 of the RAF's heavy bombers on display.

KV5: Proposed Soviet tank with a 105mm cannon, just the weathering to do although I impressed myself with how the figure came out:


BAC Eagle: Probably the hardest I've ever had to look for aftermarket parts. The Eagle is a "what-if" version of the TSR2 which never made it past the prototype stage. To make the Eagle I had to source Blue Water nukes, decals and a 1000l belly tank, all of which were limited-runs for a limited model that went OOP 20 years ago. Luckily the guy who casted the original tanks got in touch and made one just for me, and the overwhelming generosity of the community means I have all I need to get going.

F4 Phantom: It's a Tamiya kit, so you know it's going to be absolutely top-notch quality. There's just so much to go into it I don't have the gall to take the plunge at the moment.

Finished a Lineage Highborn and 6 Avatara, picked up a lot from a FB trade group that was too good to pass up.

Finished Kellar's Keep, which takes me over 100+ models just for Heroquest.

Yet to start my HeroQuest stuff. I need to get that on the slate, yes sir I do.

I have a creeping pile of stuff I'll feel better once its painted, but also Space Marine 2 and Zelda to play....

Finished three more pipe piles.

Short Necromunda platform.

And another.


Cheers,

CB

Fun! Love the Necro stuff. Also, MDG I look forward to see what you do with HQ!

That said, I took a look and found out that I have painted about 250 models so far this year. Over 100+ for just Heroquest. I also painted about 66 Kill Team models, 26 bases of 6mm (mostly Historical), 25 other Historical miniatures, and a few assorted odds-and-ends as well.

 Dysartes wrote:
Aim - Paint more than I buy

Spoiler:

Borrowing the template from The Newman, though tweaking one category a little...

Note - I'm just going to be tracking GW things here.

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, WIP*
- 5 Flesh Hounds - Completed in 2024
- Karanak, The Hound of Vengeance - Completed in 2024
- 2 Thermic Plasma Regulators - Completed in 2024
- 10 Plaguebearers - Completed in 2024
- 2 small ruins from 40k Command Edition (undercoated)
- Thunderer Siege Tank (WIP)
- Convergence of Dominion (WIP)
- Firstborn Dark Angels Master (WIP, based)
- Lord Felthius (undercoated or WIP, based)
- Vostroyan Officer (WIP, based)
- Commissar (WIP, based)
- Chaplain with Jump Pack (WIP, based)
- Firstborn Mentor Legion Captain (WIP, based)
- Mentor Legion Primaris Lt. (WIP, Based)
- Bladeguard Lieutenant (WIP, based)
- 5 Assault Intercessors (WIP, based)
- Cadian Command Squad (4 models, WIP, based)
- 1 Haemotrope Reactor (WIP)
- Khorne Bloodmaster (WIP, based)
* - WIP is defined as at least undercoated, not just built. If I tried to include the unpainted stuff, the year would be over before the survey was done...
Note - this may expand as I find other WIP things I'd forgotten about, and as/when I start on things from the Pile that previously hadn't been undercoated.
Use of violet indicates they were also on the start-of-2023 list

Things I bought in 2024:
Q1
- 5 Fenrisian Wolves
- 3 bases of Nurglings
- Space Marine Captain with Jump Pack

Q2
- Solar Auxilia Command Tank
- Feculant Gnarlmaw
- 1 Deathwing Knight (Miniature of the Month)
- Talons of the Emperor Combat Patrol (10 Sisters of Silence, 5 Custodes, 3 Custodes Jetbikes)
- Grombrindal
- Void Shield Generator
- 3 Necron Tomb Blades
- Generatorum Hub
- 3 Plasma Generatorium

Q3
- Knight Cerastus Acheron
- Knight Cerastus Castigator
- Celestian Sacresant Aveline
- Dwarf Thane, Battle Standard, and Lord
- 3 Von Ryan's Leapers (Combat Patrol Magazine)
- 2 Chaos Spawn
- Chaos Lord with Additional Hand Weapon
- Kruleboy (Miniature of the Month)
- 5 Infernus Marines (Combat Patrol Magazine)
- Blades of Khaine (10 Striking Scorpions, 2 little statues)

Q4


Italics means I've ordered them, but they've not gotten to me yet...

Things I purchased in 2024, now WIP (at least undercoated)
- 5 Infernus Marines (WIP, based)

Things I owned January 1st, 2024, now completed:
- 5 Necron Warriors with Gauss Flayers
- 3 Canoptek Scarab Swarms
- 5 Flesh Hounds
- Karanak, Hound of Vengeance
- 2 Thermic Plasma Regulators
- 10 Sickly Pallor of Decay Plaguebearers

Things I bought in 2024, now completed:
- 3 Nurgling bases
- 3 Necron Tomb Blades with Twin Gauss Blasters

Net change to the Pile of Shame/Potential
67 bought, 2 acquired for free, 32 painted, so a net of +35(+37)

Time for the end of Q3 review - had been staying roughly on par with the end of Q2, but then Combat Patrol magazine, a couple of Made to Orders and the Kill Team price increases reared their heads, so there's been a flurry of additions over the last few weeks. Equally, roughly half of that net unpainted is from the previous Custodes Combat Patrol box I picked up ahead of starting that project in 2025. I may treat my net figure as amber if I end the year at plus-less-than-eighteen, but still only count it as green if I make it to below net zero.

I've got six models actively on the go for painting at present (Bloodmaster, 5 Infernus Marines) that with a bit of luck should be finished in the next week or so, then I need to figure out a couple of 10 model units to make a dent in that net total. I'd like to finish off at least one more of the WIPs that were on the list in 2023 this year, but we'll see how that goes.

Legion Imperialis alone has ensured that my pile will never decrease.
For every couple of models (of anything) I do get painted? I seem to add another box or two of 8 tiny tanks....
And when they stop pumping out LI Solar? Then I'll turn my attention to doing a SM force. And while I'm doing that then the Mechanicam ought to be fully developed....

Very nearly back to having no assembled Heresy models awaiting the brush.

Also thinking of a Pile of Shame painting challenge thread - How Many Points Can Dakka Paint In A Weekend.

But here’s this weekend’s progress.

Finished the first block of Force Grown Drones.

A classic piece from the Outlanders set...with all the cardboard replaced by plastic card painted and details added. I added an extra level to make this one even taller and the elevator a little more useful.





The long painting and converting war continues...

CB

Love that Necro terrain!

Adding some more backlog minis painted:
A dreadknight
Immolator, OOP exorcist, and two SOB Rhinos
20 Novitiates
6 Arcoflaggelants

Backlog minis painted:


Models added to the Backlog this year




Added to Backlog in 2023

Finished my first block of Stryx,and a High Clone Executor.

This in no way phased the pile.

That isane !

Finished Return of the Witchlord for HQ.

I cracked open my Anglo-saxon army and started assembling the first few units. I doubt I will get them done by End-of-the-Year.

The assembly is slowing me down. The single pose plastic models from HeroQuest have spoiled me!

This.

And I’d have the smaller buildings to the same state, but I’ve run out of Zandri Dust.

A Seigebreaker Behemoth and a High Clone Executor.

The end of my City States and Dweghom are supposed to arrive this week, so that'll set me back several days while I get things assembled and base coated, but that should be the end of the new stuff until next spring.

And FedEx is still giving my LGS the finger.

Finished up a set of Clockwork Hoplites.

And a second set of Clockwork Hoplites. At this rate I'll get to make the "and CS is finished again" wisecrack before I get the remainder of that order.

Got a lot of painting done, maintained discipline pretty well until I saw some used orks on my local dischord...

Adding some more backlog minis painted:
3 Field Ordnance Batteries
3 Armored Sentinels
1 Ursala Creed Proxy
1 converted OOP creed
5 Praetorian command
1 Mortar Team, 6 oop mortar guns only
6 Munitorum Armored Containers

Painted minis from 2023
25 Tempestus Scions
3 Bullgryn
1 Taurox Prime

Minis bought and painted:
Tempestus Aquilons
Hivestorm Terrain

Added to Backlog:
Vespid Kill Team
2 Battlewagons, 2 Trukks, Squigboss

Backlog minis painted this year:


Models added to the Backlog this year


Bought and Painted this year



Added to Backlog in 2023

Finished some Marksmen clones.

Finished several things. Six Centaur Avatara, some Sacred Band and Clockwork Hoplites. I've actually lost track a little bit because I keep expecting some things to show up at my LGS and those things keep failing to arrive.

Finished a Reaper Nativity scene.

Started on Victrix Anglo-Saxons for Fury of the Northman.

I've now added 1 Squig riding grot (I think he's from a Warcry/Underworlds team), 1 D&D Cleric, & 1 Wizkids D&D character sized Minotaur to my painted minis tally.

Three stands Desolation Drones and three stands of Stryx.

I've removed the "Things I Know I Will Buy" section of my first post, if something I had on order hasn't shown up already I'm not going to have it this year.

There's still a chance of knocking one more thing out before the end of the year since I have a few monsters in the pile and they're fairly quick, but I'm also probably looking at adding one more regiment since I still have a holiday party to get through and I didn't ask for anything else.

I'm pretty pleased with my progress for the year even so, I cleared out everything I started the year with and I ended the year with quite a bit less than I started with on The Pile.

 CragHack wrote:
Oh..
What's left to finish:
x2 Pallas - Nope
x1 Calladius - Nope
Valdor - Painted
x1 Venatari Custodian - Painted

What I would like to build and paint:
x1 Calladius - nope
x30 Custodian Guard - built like 10.
x2 Armigers - nope
x1 Vanilla Questoris - haven't even bought it
x1 Warhound - Legs are on jb weld right now.

What's built and needs painting:
x1 Cerastus Acheron - lol, nope
If I manage to squeeze everything in this year, I will be one very happy person.

What I did though, is that I got sidetracked and painted a 6x4 worth of Necromunda Ash Wastes table

Been scrolling through my google photos and I'm at over 220 models painted this year, probably a record in quantity and variety.

Amongst them

Turnip28 stuff


Man o War


Dystopian Wars


Space Battleship Yamato


Kings of War


Horus Heresy


Dracula's America


Random stuff


Needless to say, I bought way more than I painted.

Yeah my pile of shame swelled a lot, with very little actually making it all the way across the bench.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Yeah my pile of shame swelled a lot, with very little actually making it all the way across the bench.

Same here but that is because I spent more time gutting a house and refinishing it. So now that it's done, I have move in.

For the holidays, I got me a bunch of Heresy Marines and am working on a test model for the Emperor's Children.

boyd wrote:

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Yeah my pile of shame swelled a lot, with very little actually making it all the way across the bench.

Same here but that is because I spent more time gutting a house and refinishing it. ...

"That still only counts for one!"

Seriously though, that's a lot of work. Congrats.

Finished up a Stoneforged this morning, see ya'll in 2025.

Some really fun stuff in there Lord Blackfang! Love the Space Battleship Yamato and Dystopian Wars stuff.

However, that first Turnip28 thing will haunt me!

I ended the year at 265 models painted, with over 100+ coming from Heroquest boxes. The rest were some Kill Teams, a 6mm Hittite army, and some Ancients.



You can see the details on my End-of-Year blog post here:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2024/12/random-drop-curtain-on-2024.html

 Easy E wrote:
I ended the year at 265 models painted, with over 100+ coming from Heroquest boxes.l

Very nicely done, dude! Congrats. I promised I would do my Pile of Shame by the end of this year but failed miserably, lol. Oh well, always next year. Keep up the good work!

I guess it's time for the final accounting. I hope to get a group picture of everything today or tomorrow when I'm off work.  I finally broke my discipline and not only bought more minis, but bought the dumbest possible sort of minis: a big box of first born stuff. I'm still stripping and rebuilding stuff, so nothing has seen paint. The good news is that I have a fun little project cooking up for all the loose firstborn dudes for the winter.

I was able to get a few more backlog minis painted:
2 rogal Dorns
3 Taurox
10 Kasrkin
3 FW Vindicator turrets, one FW exterminator turret, one metal demolisher turret

20 Infernus Marines
5 Sternguard
7 Stands Conquest Mercenary Crossbowmen


there were a few Minis I bought and painted this year:
Tempestus Aquilons
Hivestorm Terrain
Vespid Kill Team


Added to Backlog:
Lord Solar
Scout Sentinel
2 Land Raiders
5 Rhinos Mk2, 1 Rhino MK1
3 Dreadnoughts (plastic), one metal
2 Landspeeders
6 bikers
12 Terminators (mixed plastic and metal)
~40 Firstborn power armored models



Backlog minis painted this year:


Models added to the Backlog this year


Bought and Painted this year



Added to Backlog in 2023


It looks like I painted 373 backlog models this year, bought and painted 238 more, and added 107 models to the backlog. So a pretty good net reduction. I was able to paint all complete units for multiple armies: votann, 1k Sons, Disciples of Tzeentch, Tau, Grey Knights, and Sisters. My Guard are whittled down to a few units, but I'm also adding oil washes and weather to my currently painted stuff, so that project will never end...

Nice work! That is a lot of painting!

 Easy E wrote:
Nice work! That is a lot of painting!

thanks! I was able to pull everything (well, nearly everything) out, and got some pics:

Okay, how the hell does anyone find time to paint over 500(!?) models in a single year? Are you just independently wealthy and so don't have to work, freeing up plenty of time for painting? I'm not sure I could bang that many out even if I didn't need to work.

It is cool to see it all laid out like that. My hat is off to you for getting all that done.

Finished the following this year.

Legions Imperalis (Prospero Defense Force Completed!)
2 Warhound Titans (Just missing the one Reaver under construction)
1 Cohort (61 bases) Space Marines Thousand Sons including 2 Sicarans and 4 Predators
4 Cohorts Auxilia (58 bases) including 4 Leman Russes and 2 Malcadors

3 Random Medieval Peasants and 1 Knight

Blood Pact Army (Complete)

6 Person Command Squad w/ two different standard bearers
3 additional Blood Pact Squad members
Blood Pact Tank Commander
Two Ordinance Artillery Pieces

Iyanden Characters
Two new Warlocks
One Farseer
One Autarch

So many tiny minis!

Terrain
3 Commissions (Large sets)
Medieval Town & Keep

Goals for 2025

Build and finish...

LI Reaver Titan (January, this is for you!)

Warhammer the Old World Bretonnian Army

Starter Box Contents
Lord on Pegasus
3 Pegasus Knights
12 Knights
24 Peasant Bowmen
36 Men at Arms

Additional Army Components
Bretonnian Lord on Foot (The Old New Unreleased Mini)
Trebuchet (3D printed)
16 Foot Knights
2 Damsels (One on foot, on riding)
1 Army Standard Bearer (on horse)
6 Mounted Yeomen Conversions (may need to rebase them)
20 Braganza's Besiegers (Crossbowmen, can use in an Exile Army or if they ever bring back Dogs of War)

Terrain
To Build & Paint
Trebuchet Wall Piece/Tower
Garrison / Barracks Wall Piece
Fortified Manor

To Paint
Warhammer Keep (4 Walls, 4 Towers)

Might as well do a year end report on this one based on my initial 2024 post.

Judgement

2024: 2 Models
2025: 0 Models

Cleared up the backlog on this and painted everything new I bought.

Marvel Crisis Protocol

2024: 13 Models
2025: 0 Models

Finished painting the second core set I got at the end of 2024. Picked up some X-Men, Sinister Six and others and painted them all right away. Painted some terrain but have a bit more to do.

Shatterpoint

2024: 0 Models
2025: 0 Models

Picked up quite a bit for this, but managed to keep it all painted.

Warmachine

2024: 32 Models
2025: 45 Models >.<

Had a slight surge in interest right before the SFG buyout where I picked up stuff and lost interest in painting it. Trying to resolve that now, but its definitely the worst of my current piles.

Infinity

2024: 21 Models
2025: 0 Models

Buckled down and painted Bakkunin. N5 has a renewed interest in it and I probably need to pick up some of the stuff I've missed from the end of N4, but at the moment, all is clear.

Warhammer 40K

Deathwatch

2024: 17 models
2025: 0 models

Actually picked up a good chunk of new stuff here.... and then the faction went away. I have started adding Black Templar and Ultramarine characters with silver arms to my collection... just in time for the revamp to actually be good. Picked up a good chunk of new stuff that I've kept painted as well as cleared the backlog. Amazing what actually playing the game will do.

Orks

2024: 22 Models
2025: 12 Models

I've bought and painted a LOT of Orks including Beast Snaggas and Flash Gitz and a bunch of other things. Luckily more or less stayed on top of the green tide and took care of some stuff from last year too. Most of what I have left is Squighogs I got for free in the Combat Patrols.

Overall:

2024: 107 Models
2025: 57 Models

Cut the pile nearly in half! No major new purchases ahead, so I'm hoping to knock it further down and finish up some terrain.