Painting during 2025 - Going for the 500?

What a painting year!

This year has seen me painting couple of whole new armies: Brotherhood without Banners and House Greyjoy for ASOIAF, as well as many historical miniatures for Napoleonic, WW2 and Age of Chivalry, for example. As I'm writing this I have finished 404 new miniatures and finished 44 miniatures I have started painting earlier (before 2025). As I have quite few more started miniatures, I was thinking to reach 500, but as we decided to go for a last minute holiday for the rest of the year, it's not likely to happen. Oh well, more miniatures to complete 2026.

First half of 2025 on the painting desk - Updated 12.5.

Miscellaneous stuff painted 

Finishing the Brotherhood without Banners for Song

Lady Stoneheart

Beric Dondarrion, the Lightning Lord

Thoros

Hobby year 2024 in retrospect and plans for 2025

 Another very active hobby year gone by

Song (ASOIAF) continues to dominate "what I play", even if it dropped by some 20 games palyes compared to 2023, it's still almost double compared to ALL OTHER games played.

So the balance of different games leveled just a bit in the total of 179 games played. That's more then 3 games a week - an active hobby year indeed.

My regular favourites remained on the top, besides Song: Saga activity is rising with some new players at the club, same goes for Bolt Action where we saw the launch of the new edition. Mythic Battles was played quite a bit as Ragnarok activated me and couple of other players too. First ever Star Wars Legion tournament was ran at the club too. I participated in two ADLG campaigns with my Persians so that kept this game on the agenda, even if I'm not the biggest fan of these detail and quite complex rules, it's the system that is active at the club, so that's what I gotta play as I want to field my 15mm Persians.

ASOIAF: Custom Tactics Boards

 Tactic's Board as a Diorama

In Song we mainly use 2D terrain (check my 3D terrain here) so to fill the "visuality gap" of the game, I've modelled several "Diorama Tactics Board". Latest one is based on 3D printed Dragonstone board used as the base. Read on to learn how these were made! 

Hobby Year 2023 in retrospect and plans for 2024

 

Singing the Song of Ice and Fire

Pretty nuts... So I thought, that last year's (2022) 150 game sessions and 79 of the Song was a lot, but 2023 must be a record breaking year: I played 194 times and 134 out of those were Song!

Read on to learn about my hobby year higlights!

Armies on Parade: House Baratheon - WIP - updated 9th of Sep 2023

Ours is the Fury!

When I got the opportunity to buy a large collection of Baratheons from a friend, I just couldn't resist it! Baratheons really don't play into my usual play style (strike fast, strike hard), but I really like many of the miniatures like Stag Knights and Rose Knights. So why the heck not!

Alester Florent, Stannis, Davos Seaworth & Master Warden

ASOIAF: House Martell on parade UPDATED 17.7.2023

 Unbowed, unbent, unbroken

Decicated Water Gardens themed Tactics Board for Martells

See how I made it here 

Hobby year 2022 in retrospect and plans for 2023

 

Another Hobby Year Gone By

And it was a busy one with 150 games played! All of them phusical games!

Read further to read all about it!

Second half of 2022 on my painting desk & high lights WIP

 House Martell, Ancients & WW2 fighter planes 

dominate the desk

First half of 2022 on my painting desk

 Tradition continues

It is my continuous struggle to finish the minis / units I start painting. I always paint for the next game I'll play and that leads to a situation, that I have several started and almost finished units in my painting queue. Playing a lot of campaigns is a good remedy for this, they bring continuity to my painting, during the campaign I will manage to finish (at least most of them) those units I've started to paint for the campaign. We have played campaigns for Song of Ice and Fire (no big surprise there), Saga (Limes)  and Infamy Infamy! So my armies for Picts (Saga) and Early Imperial Rome (Infamy infamy!) have been on the table, as have many units for different Song of Ice and Fire factions (that continues to be my absolute number one game)

My current status 213 painted minis for this year ( and probably an equal amount of started but not finished ones). I'm happy, that I've had the stamina to finish minis started last year or earlier too!

Read on and enjoy the eye candy. Comments and feedback are welcome!

Hobby year 2021 in retrospect and plans for 2022

A good wargaming year

Looking back at 2021... we learned to cope with Covid-19 and with 2 vaccinations at least my hobby life was pretty normal, excluding large tournaments. Read on to learn about my wargaming and it's high lights.

Armies on Parade: House Baratheon - WIP - updated 16th of June 2022

Ours is the Fury!

When I got the opportunity to buy a large collection of Baratheons from a friend, I just couldn't resist it! Baratheons really don't play into my usual play style (strike fast, strike hard), but I really like many of the miniatures like Stag Knights and Rose Knights. So why the heck not!

Alester Florent, Stannis, Davos Seaworth & Master Warden

Warfare 2021

After a couple years break, I was fortunate to be able to travel to a Wargames Show again - just before the Omicron variant of Covid messed things up again! So we dared beyond the borders of EU, all the way to the misty and far far away Island of Britain! Warfare was now arranged in a new location, I guess to make it safer. My experience from 2017 was very good, so I was really looking forward to this!

2nd half of 2021 on my painting desk - Updated 5th of Jan 2022

 Lots of ASOIAF and a mix of other stuff...

COUNTDOWN TOWARDS THE END OF 2021

Here's a summary of minis I've painted since my review of H1 and a focus on ASOIAF painting.

As it stands on Christmas Eve:

I've been very lazy or simply not focused on finishing stuff, that I've started earlier than 2021, 

only six more after H1. 

Then again, 259 minis painted and finished from scratch during H2 

and this number will increase significantly still before years end as I have many a minis

I've started but not yet finished, including a whole Baratheon for ASOIAF!

So follow this blog post to find out how far I get!

First half of 2021 on my painting desk

So much more started

As first half of the year is soon done it's time to share miniatures I've painted so far.

Besides these minis presented here, there's a separate blogpost for all my ASOIAF new paint jobs.  

My current standing is still below 200 finished miniatures, but so many more have already been started...

Painting ASOIAF - first half of 2021

 

Starks & Targaryens in focus

This spring I played in a "Tully faction" in our map based campaign  and hence my painting focus was in adding attachments and some troops to my existing Stark army. Later my Targaryens got their long waited reinforcements and they immediately went to the top of my painting backlog

900 followers on Instagram...

 ...can't all be wrong!

So I guess my content there is interesting. I post pictures of all the miniatures paint (and finish, ok some WIP too) and short stories of games I've played. The odd historical site or some hobby event also finds it's way to my IG. Do follow!

As you can see, latest posts include content for Anno Domini 1666, Marvel Crisis Protocol, Song of Ice and Fire Sharp Practice (Napoleonics) and Bolt Action!

 

Hobby Year 2020 in retrospect and prospects for 2021

 A weird year

I guess we all know, why 2020 was so different, so I'll focus on this blogpost in analysing how it impacted my hobby life...

Final rush to finish the painting year 2020 - Updated 7th of Jan 2021.

So many started miniatures... 

FINAL SCORE is 581+107=688

As my (not so good?) habit is, I quite often quickly paint up miniatures to be "battle field ready", but not quite finished. Then, as the end of the year approaches, I focus on finishing as many as I can. I never manage to finish all, that I've started, hence my painting tracking on this blog separates miniatures finished (started before this year) and miniatures painted from scratch.

Examples of my final rushes in recent years:

• 2019
• 2018

I always post my latest paintings in Instagram - my username is "wanhaherrat" (old sire T) - follow me there for latest updates! This blogpost contains first a summary of miniatures finished since summer and then I'll update more pictures, as I finish them before end of the year. First half of the year on my painting desk is reviewed here.

As I'm publishing this blogpost on 19th of December my count is:

• 19th of December: 468 painted from scratch and 83 finished 
• 26th of December 491 painted from scratch and 83 finished  (+23)
• 29th of December 515 painted from scratch and 83 finished  (+24)
• 1st of January 581 painted from scratch and 107 finished  (+90)
• 7th of Jan Update: more pictures and YouTube video spins added
• 8th of Jan Update: more pictures and YouTube video spins added

ASOIAF: 3D Terrain

Making the Battlefield more visual

Objectives (Mantic)