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So as someone who is very easily tempted by other armies/games I'm wondering what tricks/methods/tips/disasters you've got that you've used to try and remain true and complete larger projects without letting smaller newer stuff distract you.

I try not to choose large projects to begin with.

For example, I never choose a project that has more than 75 models. That is about what I can paint in a year.

I only have 2 projects ongoing at a time, and I bounce between the two over the course of the year.

I do not buy anything else until 1 or the 2 projects is done.

Yeah, that's pretty much the way of it. Don't bite off more than you can paint in a reasonable amount of time.

Which is simple, and yet not necessarily easy, if you catch my drift.

 Easy E wrote:
I try not to choose large projects to begin with.

For example, I never choose a project that has more than 75 models. That is about what I can paint in a year.

I only have 2 projects ongoing at a time, and I bounce between the two over the course of the year.

I do not buy anything else until 1 or the 2 projects is done.

Yup that's what I do too.

Nearly always stick clear of mass battle stuff now as well, as that's basically my hobby time for a year already dictated. Even boardgames can kill in this regard, especially if you have something that's 50+ miniatures.

Try and sell stuff that's sat in boxes as well as otherwise I get overwhelmed thinking about which one to try and have a go at!

Limited budget of both time and money. We all have shiny model syndrome. We see something cool and new, and is sparks a fire. We want it, we want to build and army around it, and blaze a path of victory across the stars!

But let's be honest. Do we have the cash to put all that together? For some, this is the limiting factor. Only so much cash to spread around, and you know there are going to be things for your main line projects you are going to want to spend it on. There are also ongoing costs. You start a new army/game, are you willing to keep up to date when new rules drop for it? Add things to keep it up to date? Some projects are not just a one-and-done but are ongoing commitments.

Time is the other major concern. Am I going to buy this just to add to the pile of shame? What’s my yearly rate of painting, what’s already on my plate, how does the backstock look? It might be other projects are winding down, or you end up with more time in your life. But most of the time, we only have some much of this precious resource to spread around.

Listen to the cold logical side of your brain. It loves nothing more than giving the whimsical, emotional, impulsive side a swift kick in the metaphorical jimmies.

Of course, sometimes it’s nice to start something fun and fresh you’ve dreamed about. I used a small windfall of money and the time saved working from home (and contrast paints) to start a Tyranid army. Always wanted one, and they are almost to the point where they can terrorize the tabletop looking for snacks and hugs.

Limited time and money.

When a new thing comes along the most effective thing that I found is asking myself when I am going to use this? What am I not going to use in order make time for this?
What does this mean for getting my other armies on the table? What does this mean for that other game I have fond memories of and was hoping to get back into?
Will I ever play D&D again if I get this?

The new Kings of War Armada is a good example. It look fun! They have a dwarf fleet to go with my dwarf army!
When a I going to play it though? I barely have time for my main game (happens to be Kings of War). I do happen to be at a busy time of my life, but I already have things in line for when I have more hobby time.

I don't. I let the smaller stuff distract me, and enjoy the variety.

Winter is coming. It will all get painted. Eventually....

Willpower and self restraint.

If I see a new shiny, I impose a couple of days/weeks of waiting time before buying. The minis will always be there a few weeks down the road so it doesn't matter if I get them tomorrow or in 30 days.

After the initial urge for instant gratification, the "need" to buy dies off quickly once you think about it in depth (do I really need it? how long will it take until I actually paint it knowing my current pile of minis? can I finish this other project before starting an new one? etc...).
Its not restricted to the new shiny stuff, but also further expanding an ongoing project that uses old models that you might already have or not, for example.

The more you do it, the easier it gets with time. You end up quite insensible to hype trains and marketing. Applies to other areas besides minis.

I just let what happens happen. Because it's so cold here in the winter my general rule is: assemble and convert late Fall to early Spring. Paint in the summer. However if I see something totally awesome, or I get the itch to do a cool conversion, or something falls into my lap, I make exceptions.

When I was younger I was terrible, I had a ton of armies from WHFB and 40k. (High Elves, Skaven, Lizardmen, Chaos, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Tyranids). Most of them were barely at 1k points but I was weak. Only the Elves, Skaven, Imperial Guard and Eldar were larger armies. And all of them are gone now except my high elves.

Now though as I've kind of got back into the hobby after a long hiatus, I've got no money and no time. And even when I do have time I'm too tired to actually do anything. So that's kind of stopped me.

For me, it’s financial budget. I’ve spent a LOT more on minis in the last two years than I have in probably 10 years prior.

My kids are older, less money on baby stuff, less money on daycare, but I’ve also been selling and trading old hobby stuff to fund new projects. I sold off my Magic collection, which has funded a near complete set of Godtear models (some second hand), a Tau army (2nd hand), and will fund most of a Nostalgic Chaos army I’m currently purchasing (2nd hand).

I paint in feverish clusters, where I’ll paint a lot for a couple weeks... then however much time (a month? A year? More?) and then I’ll paint again. In general, if I’m excited about a project, like in the early stages, I’ll crank minis out fast. And as my enthusiasm wanes, I have learned not to force it. Let the batteries recharge, have a game or two to get excited about the models again and then go back to them.

I’m very excited about my Tau, and I *should* have 2000 points painted up by the end of October, if I don’t push myself to “finish on time”. If I do that, it will be spring before they’re ready.

Discipline.

 Vulcan wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much the way of it. Don't bite off more than you can paint in a reasonable amount of time.

Which is simple, and yet not necessarily easy, if you catch my drift.

I agree, which is a side benefit of enjoying skirmish games.

I enjoy the smaller scale which affords a more intimate look at each model on the table for practical gameplay as well as visual appeal.

This is just one more of many benefits that games such as Warcry grants. I can even afford to play numerous warbands and still stay on target.

Did i get bored of modelling these Untamed Beasts warband? Ill just paint these 6 dwarf minis that comprise the entire Blitz Bowl team. Even if you have an ADHD-like attention span, you'll still be able to be productive.

 Easy E wrote:
I try not to choose large projects to begin with.

For example, I never choose a project that has more than 75 models. That is about what I can paint in a year.

I do the opposite, I only start a new project if it means getting a complete army, like 2500+ points at least. This way I can kitbash stuff (which IMHO is one of the most important things to consider), immediately play at standard formats and have options to change lists.

Anything less I don't even consider, unless it's a second hand lot with a huge discount, and I can be ok with what I have without buying a single model for a decade otherwise.

In fact since mid-2000s I only bought miniature lots 4-5 times in total. My last purchase was 3 years ago, at the very beginning of 8th edition. I don't plan to buy anything in the future unless I finally decide to buy those 18-20 sororitas kits I want.

 Hellfury wrote:

 Vulcan wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much the way of it. Don't bite off more than you can paint in a reasonable amount of time.

Which is simple, and yet not necessarily easy, if you catch my drift.

I agree, which is a side benefit of enjoying skirmish games.

I enjoy the smaller scale which affords a more intimate look at each model on the table for practical gameplay as well as visual appeal.

This is just one more of many benefits that games such as Warcry grants. I can even afford to play numerous warbands and still stay on target.

Did i get bored of modelling these Untamed Beasts warband? Ill just paint these 6 dwarf minis that comprise the entire Blitz Bowl team. Even if you have an ADHD-like attention span, you'll still be able to be productive.

This Is what I have been doing as well, not only because I generally prefer the playstyle of skirmish games, but that way I don't really get bored of painting something.

I currently play Warcry, Blitz Bowl, and Relicblade. Between the three of them and the size of the corresponding warbands/teams (10ish for Warcry, 6ish for Blitz Bowl and 3-7 for Relicblade) I generally always have something I want to paint that I can actually accomplish in a reasonable amount of time (being a slow painter and all).

 Overread wrote:
So as someone who is very easily tempted by other armies/games I'm wondering what tricks/methods/tips/disasters you've got that you've used to try and remain true and complete larger projects without letting smaller newer stuff distract you.

Just have all the armies. Hard to get sidetracked and start a new one if you already have them all.

Wait... I don't have Sisters... oh no!

I get terrain instead. You can never have enough terrain.

Well, to start with, my hobby is miniature war-gaming. This is not limited to the GW sphere.
So it's really easy to "stay loyal" to my hobby.

Next up is the $$$. I treat my hobby as I do any other known expense & assign it x amount/month each Jan. Utilities, insurance, fuel, etc etc etc, "hobby"....
As long as I don't exceed that per month it's all good. This year with no Cons there's a surplus in the hobby act. It'll roll over into next year.

Budgeting time: I generally spend a few hours in the evening Monday/Tuesday/Wed building & painting stuff.
Right now I'm playing alot of AoS, some 40k, & a bit of Gaslands.
*Monday evening is AoS - right now I'm working on Daughters of Khaine (building, small project) & the new Lumenith (building, large project).
*Tuesday evening is 40k. I'm working on GSC (building, large project).
*Wed? I've been customizing some Hotwheel cars for Gaslands (re-build/mod/paint - small project). Once done I'll be working on some Flames of War (paint, medium project), Bolt Action (build, small project), & assorted terrain for numerous games (???). And every now & then, now that all the tiny ships are painted!, I'll do the thread rigging on Black Seas ships (large, ongoing project, very tedious. I'm only good for 1 or 2 ships at a time).
*I don't often get any sort of major progress made on anything Thur - Sun. Maybe a bit of assembly here or there.

 Overread wrote:
So as someone who is very easily tempted by other armies/games I'm wondering what tricks/methods/tips/disasters you've got that you've used to try and remain true and complete larger projects without letting smaller newer stuff distract you.

Meh. Resistance is futile. Just enjoy yourself.

If you do find you need to finish a project for whatever reason, assess if you can truly get behind it and knuckle down. I don't know about trying to trick yourself into working on something you may not actually feel like. In my experience nothing motivates as much as need. So if you need to do it, you can either do it or learn to do it. It's quite simple, really. Luckily for me that doesn't happen very often and I can just enjoy working on models I feel like working on at any given time.

Loyalty is its own reward.

loyalty is overrated. Buy what you like, enjoy it.

Taking pictures, WIP and finishing products. If you’re adding to an existing army, photos of the army will give you inspiration. Putting yourself in the mood to finish the project, comfortable chair, music/YouTube, full night of sleep. People who tries to rush paint a full army in a week or days are joking themselves, not to mention the finishing product is gak.

My rule is I can't buy more for factions I haven't painted for yet.

I've since learned to paint very fast.

I play one faction for every game system I'm interested. Sometimes I pick up a second if I really like the game, but not until there's a lull in my paint queue.

Honestly, I don't even worry about it. Sure, I've got a bunch of projects that haven't been finished, and several WIP things. But, my "hobby" is, like other posters have said, miniature wargaming, so as long as I am doing some painting/modeling/gaming at some point, I'm "loyal" to it.

They say the best way to ruin something you enjoy as a hobby is to turn it into your job. I think the idea of "I must finish X before I can do anything else" gets dangerously close to that, at least for me, so forcing that on yourself if you don't really want it is just putting a block into your enjoyment of your hobby.

 Valander wrote:
Honestly, I don't even worry about it. Sure, I've got a bunch of projects that haven't been finished, and several WIP things. But, my "hobby" is, like other posters have said, miniature wargaming, so as long as I am doing some painting/modeling/gaming at some point, I'm "loyal" to it.

They say the best way to ruin something you enjoy as a hobby is to turn it into your job. I think the idea of "I must finish X before I can do anything else" gets dangerously close to that, at least for me, so forcing that on yourself if you don't really want it is just putting a block into your enjoyment of your hobby.

This is a good point. I think the thing people are looking for more than rules is ways to manage expectations and develop self control. For example, I started a few years back aggressively working down my backlog and at one point I had rules like that, but they got a little restrictive. These days I'm still working the pile down, but I keep a better eye on things to ensure they're not piling up. As a rule currently, I try to delay buying something unless I'm willing to make it my next project. That just keeps me from buying things I plan to get to "someday".

My problem is that there's different levels of enjoyment in completing a larger product and starting a new one. It's very easy to get that "cheap thrill" of a new army. New codex, new lore, new models, new ideas etc...


The greater challenge for me is trying to put aside that "cheap/easy" enjoyment and get some longer term rewards/joy from a larger completed project.


I also find that if I start too many projects and don't "finish" others then I can end up sapping my own enthusiasm (which can harm enjoyment). It's like loading your plate too full of food and then never getting to appreciate the different foods and knowing that you'll never get to taste some because you'll be too full to make it through everything.

 Overread wrote:
My problem is that there's different levels of enjoyment in completing a larger product and starting a new one. It's very easy to get that "cheap thrill" of a new army. New codex, new lore, new models, new ideas etc...

I've gotten better at ordering the small sundae instead of the gallon of ice cream. Rather than go for all the toys when I want a new army, I get just enough to play a list and then go back for more if I really enjoy it.

For a while I had to much completionist collections and I'd get overwhelmed trying to paint it all. I broke out of this by taking the army I wanted to play, painting just that up, and then treating everything else as an expansion to that compete core. That's let me get through some big projects I was rather stuck on, and helped me identify things that I just needed to get rid of.

I don't choose big projects to begin with.

I choose to play games with smaller model counts, and get the models I like to suit. That said, I get the models I like regardless of game or whether or not they are playing pieces. I'm in the hobby for the PHYSICAL model building aspect (as in assembly and painting, not the "army building").