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ok, so every time i get a theme for an army in my head i start to gather models, get them ready and start to make a list but not to shortly thereafter i start thinking how cool a different army that i dont have would be. my current army goes on the shelf and the cycle of getting nothing at all done starts all over again.

do any of you find yourself doing this and if so how do you stop doing it?

over the years i must have had every army out there at least 2 or 3 times by now.

I'm constantly bombarded by ideas for different armies. I want to do Iyanden Eldar, then Iron Hands Space Marines, then Space Wolves, or Necrons... The key is just not to buy anything. I know I want to get my CSM, Traitor Guard and Daemons together so I can have an Apoc Army. I also know my interest in the other armies will pass, if only for a while. I learned my lesson from my Orks: I had a whole bunch of ideas I wanted to do with them, but I lost interest in them. I do work on them when the mood strikes me, but honestly I still don't know what I want to do with them.

Go and play Dawn of War, or write up an army list, but don't go buy the models.

I keep wanting to collect Eldar again, but then I remember the Fire Prism kit's weight issues, and my absolute loathing of flyer base stands.

I agree with DarkHound really, if you buy the models you'll get sucked in and will feel somewhat obligated to continue the army. Just try to focus on what you have otherwise nothing will get painted.

Trust me, I have 5k points of CSM, and 1k got painted before I lost interest and went with Blood Angels. Now I have a massive CSM army I never use, never want to paint taking up space in my room. Don't do it

Here's what you do.

Write two lists and get two units, one for each list. Only work on one unit at a time.

If you get bored working on that one unit, switch to the other one. If that gets boring, switch back.

At the end of 1-2 years you should have two armies and you should be ready for the next two.

I saw few of these on the shelf tonight



THEY'LL MAKE GREAT VULTURE PROXIES! I said.

Barely made my will save before buying 3 of them.

I'm chronic with this. I'm not meant to be painting anything other than my tyranids. Except I started painting a cheesed up nurgle force. Now I'm fething painting LotR elves. This cycle has been going on for nigh on ten years now.

Self Control.

Let me elaborate, every month I get an itch to start a new army. I do all the research, look at army lists, etc. Then I ignore it.

I was thinking of really digging into WFB Warriors of Chaos, but then I remembered I had about 1500 points of unbuilt Iron Warriors sitting around in bags and boxes. Only this month have I been able to motivate myself into finishing my first squad and rhino for them. I figure once they're half way done I can think more about WFB.

A cursory glance at my signature will show what kind of crap I've been amassing. This isn't counting the Dark Angels and Ultramarines armies I painted when I was younger that I still have lying around at home.

All in all I'm not as bad as most though. I haven't had too many ideas that never really got off the ground, and with the exception of my Iron Warriors; I was pretty good about building them gradually. Some ideas I never really took off on:

- Squat army, made using WFB Dwarves and Scout Marine parts. Would be a counts-as Marines army, using Scouts for Squats, Thunderfire cannons for Thudd guns, Scout Bikers as Squat Bikers, drop pods for termites, Sternguard for Hearthguard in exo-armor, and a counts-as Pedro leading the force

- Catachan army, but one of my regular opponents had one, so I mostly ditched it.

- Mixed regiment guard army, using Catachans, Cadians, Necromunda plastics (I have these!) and Squats made from Dwarves and Cadians

- Blood Angels army made from 2nd ed models, but I already have a Crimson Fists army made this way

- Skaven and Orcs and Goblins for Fantasy, but I really didn't want to paint another horde army

I'm good I promise!

I have taken the 40k version of riddlin, space.

A several years ago I picked up a huge amount of 40K stuff for cheap when a gamer in our group just disappeared. So I had a necron army, ig army, tau army and an sm army of my own. My wife had a SoB army and we both had WFB armies. As time progressed I just bought more and more till I had no more room to fit any more in my house with a 22500 point ork army sucking up five shelves alone. It was time to dump stuff since I hated most of the armies I had collected.

I think I was more OCD than ADD. To recap, in 4 years I have had a total of 8 40K armies at 2500 points at least and 2 WFB armies of 2500 points each. I believe that I have had at one time over $5000 USD in minitures in my house not including FW.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
This does not include other game systems such as BFG, FOW, and Warmachine.

Nobody sympathises on this issue more than I do. Have just moved house and decided to pack the contents of the warhammer cupboard whilst the wife was out so she wouldn't see the true extent of the madness.

I'm finding the painting and modelling blogs an inspiration. Try starting one of those, you might find it an incentive to stick with a project.

lets see...

2kish in tau (crisis suits unbuilt... unpainted)

around 2k in nids (Built and PAINTED)

a good 1500 in SOB, but can be pushed up to 1850 easy (built, still need to do some green stuff conversions on most all of them)

50 or so guardsmen for the sisters to kick around (Built and PAINTED!!!)

an unbuilt SW battleforce, another 15 blood claws, and 15 gray hunters, along with several HQ's, 4 rhinos, and 3 dreads (the non battle force box is built, but unpainted)

just traded for 40-50 ork boys and other goodies... add that to the 14 boyz, warboss, and old metal nobs i had (mostly unbuilt)

1k in decent eldar, more if i field all that i can (built, unpainted)

and combining what i have, with what i am most likely getting for the B-Day. over 2k in nurgle CSM.... Forge Wrold death guard CSM (havent gotten it yet... so unbuilt and unpainted)

just traded for a second squad of 1k sons, added to the 1k sons dread im gonna convert up, as well as the winged prince (built on corked bases, unpainted)

........... now for WFB

just shy of 1250 in tomb kings (got it in a tread... is a fixer upper)

skull pass + the old starter set of orcs (some paint)

............ then there is war machine

got a few fome trays of menoth... nut sure what it totals up to with the new rules. (a full unit of temple flameguard is painted, everything else no)

then 2 trays of khador (built, unpainted)

................ and we cant forget flames of war

prolly around 3-4k in germans (mostly built, unpainted)

and a battery of 105's short of 1500 for americans (the GI's are painted)

then i have something like 15 ittilian tanks (built, unpainted)



O and a small lot of uncharted seas iron dwarves (fully painted)

then red blok and UNA for AT-43 (NOT gonna do repaint)




but im good for it.... i sware ill get it all painted some tim... lets go ride bikes!

my problem is i enjoy building the army... but no so much with the painting. though once i descovered the dipping method, ive gotten a bit painted up.

basicaly, EVERYTHING on that list will eventualy be dipped or quick shaded


:EDIT: o... a human (painted), Chaos (unpainted), and wood elf (unpainted, but will be soon) Blood Bowl teams.

All players will be designing armies in their heads - it's a good mental exercise.

The trick is discipline. Right now I've got a complete IG army sitting on the shelf on sprues and it won't be touched till the orks are finished (30 boyz, 1 trukk, 1 'wagon to paint).

I for one have this extremely bad. The problem is my craze over an army normally stops 1/3 into the way of building the whole thing .

ATM I am just theory crafting a ton of lists, and until I figure out the perfect one for me, I'm not buying anything. It's seemed to work alright so far but for someone who plays a lot of games a week (I just don't have the time ATM) this might not work.

The trick is, be one of those dooches that just uses primered armies if you are a player... It doesnt really matter if they are painted or not, GW just created a culture where it matters so that they put pressure on people to buy their citadel stuff... I personally am only impressed when I see an army painted well lol, and would rather see a nice uniform basecoat than minis looking like they were painted with painball shots.

On the other side, with all the time you save not trying to scramble to paint your army and get through all that, you will be playing games with them pretty quickly. AND- most importantly, be able to pick and choose those sculpts you really love to actually paint for paintings sake, no deadline or pressure other than doing a good job...

Thats my take ayhoo -

I have owned most every army lol sept eldar. Most never made it very far bout half were through trading armies. I have gotten quite good at painting through it all and I think my next project I will finish lol I promice. I am almost done with my current one 2 Assasin and 3 LRs and I'm fething done son.

I agree with darkhound but I recently made the mistake of reading the entire imperial guard series in one go while I'm supposed to be making an ork force. bye bye willpower hello traitor-ish guard.

I have found that Army Builder helps me. I can toy around with ideas on the computer and save them in a folder I named "don't buy this" so that I have a reminder every time I get tempted not to buy it. Its silly but hey, works for me. :3

MajorTom11 wrote:The trick is, be one of those dooches that just uses primered armies if you are a player... It doesnt really matter if they are painted or not, GW just created a culture where it matters so that they put pressure on people to buy their citadel stuff... I personally am only impressed when I see an army painted well lol, and would rather see a nice uniform basecoat than minis looking like they were painted with painball shots.

On the other side, with all the time you save not trying to scramble to paint your army and get through all that, you will be playing games with them pretty quickly. AND- most importantly, be able to pick and choose those sculpts you really love to actually paint for paintings sake, no deadline or pressure other than doing a good job...

Thats my take ayhoo -

I wouldn't call someone a "dooche" just because their army was primed. At least a painted army means they put some effort into it, rather than just spray painting their collection of toys. I'd take badly painted over unpainted any day of the week.

No, no. We're not doing this in this thread.

I should also probably mention that I don't have any sort of cash flow, so that helps keep me from buying things. Maybe getting poor is the real answer?

Gahhhh, this happens to me all the time!!!! Everytime I read something cool, or see a new awsome model I want to start an army off them... I usually just stick with self control and hold back... like I really wanted to start beastmen (new book/models odviously), I really wanted to start my orks again (new kans/dreds), I really wanted to start an empire army (sigmar books), I really wanted to start a night goblin army (I got pwnt by fanatics but it was hilarious), I really wanted to start an sm army (soul drinkers books)... but alas I always managed to just stick with my WoC cause... well Im not quite sure... Im just able to control the temptations... at least until I have 10,000 points of chaos >: D

Right now I am just building up my DA aarmy and am starting building a Dwarfs army. I am also wanting to start Necrons, but I've decided I'm buying nothing else until I get an Apoc (prob 4000 at least) point DA and a good sized (2500) of Dwarfs.

Mostly lack of funds and time keeps me grounded in regards to what armies I want to start. I have a good core of Orks now, and anything I add to it is just for fun/flavour/round out my more competitive lists, while I have Space Wolves (an elite army compared to a horde one) for when I get bored of my Orks and wanna try some PA. Also, whenever something new comes out, I also get the "Oooh, shiny" attittude, but then I tell myself to wait 3-6 months before buying it. If I still really want it then, then it means I really like it, and not just cause it's new and shiny.

usernamesareannoying wrote:ok, so every time i get a theme for an army in my head i start to gather models, get them ready and start to make a list but not to shortly thereafter i start thinking how cool a different army that i dont have would be. my current army goes on the shelf and the cycle of getting nothing at all done starts all over again.

do any of you find yourself doing this and if so how do you stop doing it?

over the years i must have had every army out there at least 2 or 3 times by now.

It's called reality.

You stick with an army you really want and pluck those particular hairs of wanting to get a bunch of needless distraction armies. If you divert your efforts, you only get diverted results, then you get to sit around with a bunch of unwanted minis asking yourself "WTF did I do that for?"

Seriously, when you start getting your own coin, seeing it go to the dogs and then get another chance, you rarely throw it away a second time. Especailly when you realze that minis will be on the discount bin in a matter of months.

I would love to have 6000 points of every 40k and WFB army, but I don't have room in my house.

I think part of what helps me with the is I really get into the fluff and storyline of my Armies. My Iron Hands successor chapter has a pretty sweet battle history thanks to my friend with his orks. All of the games we have played haven't just been random skirmishes but part of a campaign that's had a pretty awesome story arc. So to me, at least, my characters all have personalities and some great feats and hideous failures that make me somewhat attached to them.

Brother SRM wrote:

MajorTom11 wrote:The trick is, be one of those dooches that just uses primered armies if you are a player... It doesnt really matter if they are painted or not, GW just created a culture where it matters so that they put pressure on people to buy their citadel stuff... I personally am only impressed when I see an army painted well lol, and would rather see a nice uniform basecoat than minis looking like they were painted with painball shots.

On the other side, with all the time you save not trying to scramble to paint your army and get through all that, you will be playing games with them pretty quickly. AND- most importantly, be able to pick and choose those sculpts you really love to actually paint for paintings sake, no deadline or pressure other than doing a good job...

Thats my take ayhoo -

I wouldn't call someone a "dooche" just because their army was primed. At least a painted army means they put some effort into it, rather than just spray painting their collection of toys. I'd take badly painted over unpainted any day of the week.

lol was just being sarcastic about the 'dooche' comment, I just swear like a sailor in real life that's all. I don't play 40k or anything else tabletop really I'm into the hobby side.

That being said, I think it's a bit of a waste when people barf paint onto their minis, which frankly looked better just primered (imo obvs) because the feel obligated to or pressured into it. (it also sucks when they showed you the vomit colored 28mm alien and genuinely think you will be impressed, but I digress). Your comment about just a collection of toys is telling, that badly painting them somehow elevates them from being toys... Guess what, they are just badly painted toys now... I dunno, what does the presentation of your army have anything to do with being good at the game, the rules, the strategy etc?

As a bit of an outsider to the actual games themselves besides reading and being entertained by books and battle reports, I find it a bit strange when people treat GW's unofficial social rules as gospel, blindly following the self serving (and corporately effective) culture they have purposefully set up around their games. Insert burning bush type voice here - all models MUST be painted (with our products and paints preferably) if you are really a gamer... all models must be wysiwyg no matter what, because god forbid you don't buy our new slightly tweaked version of the unit which made you change all the hand weapons. Whats that you say? Your spinegaunts models will represent stranglewebs this game? GET'IM! etc etc etc.

Truth be told is that 40k could easily be played with just the rules, the codexs, some buttons and a cleanex box or two at the end of the day. Is it cooler when armies are painted well, thorough, fluffy and showcased on a beautiful table? Absolutely. In fact, that's my favorite part! For me, it's an awesome feeling to finish a ridiculous amount of work on a bunch of tiny little toys and be impressed with what i've accomplished, even if no one else I know would be. That's what I get out of it. Details, new techniques, concentration, one upping my last project. Some people just don't have it in them to get to that point though, so pressuring them into not playing because they arent painted or letting them but giving them s*** for it is pretty crap for them I would think... After all, just like I like the hobby end of things but don't play, maybe they just want to play and don't/can't paint?

Just to be clear, it's really not a big deal, and frankly if I spent all that time getting my army to a great looking point, and a kid plunked down buttons and an optimus prime counts as warhound I probably would have a few choice words for him. However, just in response to the OP's topic, it seems he is suffering because he is primarily interested in playing, but can't get through the artisitc aspects fast enough to do so, and instead of keeping at it, he trades the whole lot away, not really having been able to enjoy them. Therefore, the above view seems to apply to him, bugger painting whole armies, focus on some favorite individual models, and for the rest, build them right, don't use buttons, and play the game as much as you can!

Hope that makes the point clearer SRM, and again, apologize if the dooche comment wasn't clear in its humorous intent.

One condition I don't have.

Two of my armies I've had since 1987. Marines (basic, no frills SM) and Eldar.
The other two I've had since 3rd ed (DH) and a starter of guard that I'm finally getting through to doing up.

None of the other armies appeal to me. I've never liked orks and the spiky boys just never screamed 'cool' to me.
Tyranids don't do it for me, nor do the S&M elves. Makes it easier to resist them when you don't want them anyway.

The one thing I did that really helped me get moving on my Sisters years ago was forming up squads and re-packing them by squad (either in trays or in boxes).

It was a lot easier to focus when I had a single squad to work on than when I had forty pounds of unpainted metal staring at me. I got the characters, several troop squads, and a couple specialists done before my overall 40k malaise set in.

I've done the same for other games, too.

I suffer from an extreme case of 40K ADD. Consider the following:

All the armies I have and their status.

Orks ~4000 pts - unpainted
Tyranids ~4000 pts - unpainted
Black Templars ~ 3500 pts - painted (the only army I have that could be considered finished)
Blood Angels ~4000 pts mostly painted
Space Wolves ~4000 pts nearly finished
Death Guard ~4000 pts nearly finished
World Eaters ~3500 pts unpainted
Necrons ~3000 pts unpainted
Tau ~1500 pts half finished
Eldar ~4000 pts just started

I really, really wish I would finish stuff before starting! Half my problem is that I don't particularly enjoy, nor have the time for, painting so it kind of falls by the wayside.

usernamesareannoying wrote:ok, so every time i get a theme for an army in my head i start to gather models, get them ready and start to make a list but not to shortly thereafter i start thinking how cool a different army that i dont have would be. my current army goes on the shelf and the cycle of getting nothing at all done starts all over again.

do any of you find yourself doing this and if so how do you stop doing it?

over the years i must have had every army out there at least 2 or 3 times by now.

Well you have already made it further then me. I have a few ideas that never make it past being ideas before I get sidetracked by other ideas.