Review of a painting year 2016

The year of 2016 is coming to an end and I can look back on what I have managed to paint. I am a ‘sad’ gamer who logs all the items painted, generally in chronological order, so here is my 2016 list:

Number	Scale	Period	Manufacturer	Notes:
6	28mm	Fantasy Mtd Sergeants	FireForge
20	28mm	Fantasy Goblins	Mantic
100	various	Battlelore figures
9	15mm	Modern AK47 Africa	Peter Pig	2nd hand from Ian
268	10mm	French FPW figures	Pendraken
256	10mm	Prussian FPW figures	Pendraken
270	10mm	1859/66 Austrians	Pendraken
9	28mm	Various Napoleonic	Victorix	Conversions
1	28mm	Steampunk		Salute 2016 figure
2	28mm	SciFi figures	Maelstrom’s Edge	Free from Salute 2016
7	28mm	Portuguese Cacadores	Warlord Games
5	28mm	Wild West buildings	4Ground
30	28mm	AWI/FIW figures	Warlord Games
12	28mm	GIW mtd skirmishers	Perry
17	28mm	ECW figures	Warlord Games
3	20mm	WW2 Pacific AFVs	Airfix
3	1/144th	WW2 aircraft	Revell/Zedva
1	20mm	WW2 Soviet BA-64	SHQ

 

The start of the year was clearly focussed on building up my Kings of War fantasy figures, and like all my previous dips into this genre, my interest was only transient. The figures have largely lain in their boxes once finished. The late winter period is frequently characterised by a lack of focus, the lead mountain is greatly reduced, and I tend to paint odds and ends; hence the painting of my Battlelore plastics. I don’t play Battlelore often but always thought the figures would look better if painted – they do! Of course, this has not resulted in more games of Battlelore, but if I do decide to play, then my set up will look the business!

Following the Salute show in April I was inspired by the Bloody Big Battles rules to re-invest in 10mm 19^th century European armies. I really like the contrast in the nationalities; the blue French, the blue/black Prussians and the white Austrians. After a few games I have come to realise that I still need more figures/stands, so this will form a secondary project for 2017.

Next my interest was sparked by the release of the excellent Sharp Practice 2 rules, and I painted additional 28mm figures for my Napoleonic and AWI/FIW forces. Small scale skirmish style games have dominated the year; my ECW forces were expanded due to trials using the Donnybrook rules, and the Wild West DMH rules encouraged me to buy a significant number of the superb 4Ground buildings. I enjoy putting these kits together, and I now possess a decent town!

The final project of 2016 was (is) a revival of WW2 gaming using Bolt Action 2 rules. I am currently working on my matched USMC and Japanese forces, so expect to see batches of such figures during the next few months.

So, that was 2016. Not a bad year with the brush, maybe a bit unfocussed, but fairly productive.