The moment you realize you might actually suck at this hobby :P

[PiotrW]

Alright, so... it's the beginning of a new year, so I looked at the spreadsheet I use to organize my miniatures (yes, I do need a spreadsheet). And I decided to create a sort of summary for my army assembly progress. Here are the results (minis owned vs minis assembled --> completion percentage) - for all the armies I'm trying to build in AOS, WH40K and Corvus Belli's Infinity:

Age of Sigmar

Stormcast Eternals - 34 of 90 = 38%

Daughters of Khaine - 8 of 89 = 9%

Skaven - 51 of 208 = 25%

Slaves to Darkness - 2 of 73 = 3%

WH40K

Adepta Sororitas - 4 of 40 = 10%

Space Marines - 0 of 46 = 0%

Death Guard - 11 of 36 = 31%

Chaos Space Marines - 6 of 20 = 30%

Infinity

Haqqislam - 40 of 87% = 46%

ALEPH - 15 of 76 = 20%

Nomads - 9 of 99 = 9%

Yu Jing - 5 of 82 = 6%

Combined Army - 0 of 43 = 0%

JSA - 0 of 36 = 0%

These are the effects of a few years' worth of collecting and assembling. All of this translates into 2 somewhat fieldable armies for AOS (SCE and Skaven), 2 fieldable armies for Infinity (Haqqislam and ALEPH) and nothing ready for WH40K yet... And let's not even talk about painting stuff...

Hmmmm. Maybe I'm too slow for this hobby. Agh!

[Bayul]

Are you looking for funny “lol same 🤪“ replies here or do you need to be told that you waste your money by some other adults? Collecting grey plastic and creating depressing lists about it is barely a hobby. Sell most of the listed models and discipline yourself to focus on one army. Batch painting might help: Build all the models in you army, prime all of them at once and apply the first base coat. Set yourself a goal to make this one army at least tabletop ready.

If you don‘t want to read such advice by a grumpy german then:

lol same🤪!

[Aelfric]

So which of those armies are you most passionate about and which comes a close second?  Perhaps if you pick both of those and put the rest to one side (preferrably out of sight), it might help you focus.  If you alternate between the two, that will help avoid either one becoming  stale.  Paint in small batches.  If you are new to painting, work on your 2nd favourite first and don't worry too much about the initial result - GW basic technique is fine and contrasts do make life easier.  I wish I had had that when I started.  

Throw the spreadsheet away.  Reality is ?, so let the hobby help you live in the moment and forget about it for a while.  

[Eldarain]

Some good advice already. 

For me just changing my perspective and realizing I have years of enjoyment waiting for me. I now call it the Pile of Opportunity.

The other thing that really helped was starting a local monthly painting challenge which has really helped make steady progress after years of procrastinating.

We have some forms of it here if you'd like to join in.

https://www.tga.community/forums/topic/26020-tale-of-x-online-gamers/

[LuminethMage]

So my take on this is: 

- Do you enjoy yourself? 

- Do you feel it's worth your money (assuming you can afford doing this in the first place)? 

If both of this is a "yes", then there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. You still have painted quite a lot of models. On the other hand, if you don't like the current situation, then I'd look into the advice of the grumpy german, Aelfric and Eldarain above (joining the tale of x online gamers was really helpful for me too). I guess it'll be difficult to all of sudden finish everything and don't buy anything new anymore, without selling some or likely most of your current models (otherwise you'd probably not have ended up where you are). 

I don't think speed is a problem. Probably buying is ... . Following a recommendation of the "AoSCoach" (forgot his username here), I just started using "pileofpotential" which does the same thing you do with your spreadsheet. I found out that I've painted around 70 models since the Lumineth box dropped last year, and have bought around 60 more. I painted a lot the first few months, now it's done to a more sustainable amount of time I'm spending on it, so I can calculate that it'll take me the better part of this year until I'm finished with everything. It just takes some time to do this. In my situation I find having an overlook of how far I am pretty motivating, because I can work towards a realistic goal (and know I "have" to do a certain amount, because in a few months more of the Lumineth is going to drop). In your situation, I'd personally likely feel pretty hopeless and would try to sell stuff. Looking at that spreadsheet would definitely make me feel bad. It wouldn't feel "right" for me to spend money on things that basically are just stored somewhere without hope of ever getting them done.

On the other hand, there is no law that says you have to build or finish all the models you buy. If you like it, and don't feel you could spend your money "better" things instead, there isn't really a problem. 

But when you have more than half of your armies in the less than 10% range, I'd personally would try to sell some things and focus. Getting-things-done is a really good feeling, and I think I'd feel relieved once some of that stuff is gone. 

[Saxon]

This looks better than my win/loss/draw ratio spreadsheet 😛 

[Ggom]

I don’t think it’s possible to suck at a hobby unless you don’t derive enjoyment from it. Some people do what you do and call it collecting/investing. Years later your unopened boxes might have doubled, tripled, quadrupled in value 😍

Then you can make fun of all the fools who’ve painted their stuff and can’t even sell it for MSRP 😄😄😄

I’m only partly serious. For the above to work you probably need to be really strategic with your purchase choices and go for the rarer stuff that is likely to have nostalgia value. Even then, likely a good chunk of it will miss and end up as junk instead. But that’s part of the enjoyment too right? Like picking stocks

[Kramer]

Play more games....

easiest. And most fun. Solution. 
find a club, find friends, find enemies. Just play more. Because playing is more fun with build models, and even more fun with painted models.

its the best motivator.  

[Honk]

2 hours ago, Kramer said:

its the best motivator

QfT 

„next time I’ll bring my new X/Y/Z and will crush my enemies“

which kinda falls back on other advices above, what do YOU want to do? What army do you like to field? Your list kinda looks like you just bought random stuff and now it sits ...

Everybody has a pile of shame somewhere for some reasons, fe Silvertower minis assembled and primed for 5 years, but I play undead sooo... they’ll have to sit some more years 🥳

take it from a not so grumpy german... relax and have a beverage, then do what you want, it‘s hard earned spare time, the real currency of grown ups 😬 

[PiotrW]

Thanks for the answers... Some comments:

1. I really do need a spreadsheet Otherwise, I'd be completely lost which minis I own.

2. As for selling stuff - I'm doing that gradually... Last October, I really went Marie Kondo on my collection and I definitely found some stuff I decided I didn't actually need. I might do another round soon - for example, I'm still puzzled how the heck did I end up owning nearly 100 Nomads minis for Infinity, even though they are the faction I like the least of all the factions I collected for this game...

3. Speaking of painting - note that I didn't say that the stuff on my "ready" pile is all painted Most of it is unpainted, actually. Painting is a bit of my Achilles heel - I do like it, but I'm sloooooow. That's one of the reasons I'm stuck in regards to some factions: for example, I really want to continue with my Skaven, but they have quite a few models that really demand painting and assembling at the same time. And I already have some painting projects started... so, I dare not touch these models before I'm finished with the previous stuff.

4. Overall, yes, I do have fun   It's just that I'm a bit overwhelmed with how much there is still to do...

[Neverchosen]

14 minutes ago, PiotrW said:

4. Overall, yes, I do have fun   It's just that I'm a bit overwhelmed with how much there is still to do...

This is the most important thing you will slowly find out your pace. Remember it is your hobby and the pressures are internal and they exist for your own enjoyment.

[Bayul]

20 minutes ago, PiotrW said:

for example, I really want to continue with my Skaven, but they have quite a few models that really demand painting and assembling at the same time

Care to explain what you mean by this?

[KoganStyle]

2 hours ago, Bayul said:

Care to explain what you mean by this?

My guess is that he is referring to sub assembly painting. I imagine Vermin lords, Doomwheels and other crazy skaven models are best painted in parts before gluing together. 

I also second pile of potential. It helped me realise that while I'd only painted 24% of my Slaves to Darkness army in terms of points i have actually painted 63% of the models (66 out of 104, damn Marauders almost broke me ) which gives me motivation to continue 

[PiotrW]

2 hours ago, Bayul said:

Care to explain what you mean by this?

14 minutes ago, KoganStyle said:

My guess is that he is referring to sub assembly painting. I imagine Vermin lords, Doomwheels and other crazy skaven models are best painted in parts before gluing together.

Exactly. The Doomwheel instructions booklet actually has a note at one point that says (more or less): "Before proceeding further, best paint the Doomwheel pilot now, because it'll be more difficult with the model fully assembled". It's simply because the pilot would be difficult to reach with a brush after you assemble all that machinery around him. A few of the Skaven models have a similar issue: if you want to paint the crew, you better do it before you glue them onto the model.

It's the same with the DoK Cauldron of Blood: I started working on it a few months ago and I'm still not finished, because I need to paint the main body of the model before I even glue it onto the base. So many hard to reach parts... you need unrestricted access from all sides. Only after I'm done with painting the shrine, I'll be glueing on the crew and the Khaine sculpture. Of course, the crew needs to be painted before putting onto the shrine, too... So, lots of work before the model will be ready. I could rush it, assemble the whole thing as grey plastic and try painting it later, but the results would be much poorer. And, while I'm not a great painter, I'd like at least the bigger models in my armies to look sensible.

It's the same reason I'm also progressing very slowly on my Sororitas Rhino. It's not difficult to assemble by any means, but I had this idea to decorate and paint the insides of this model. I had lots of fun with this, adding icons, candles, a rose from a lover left on a bench... But I need to finish painting all of this before I put this Rhino together. And I'm still not done, so the Rhino is still in pieces... Drat, I'll glue the next one shut and be done with it

[Ganigumo]

My suggestion (and what helped me the most) was to build an army list I was excited for (doesn't need to be "good" I tend to focus lists around models I like regardless of their strength because they're cool/I want to paint them) then I go at it like a checklist. Its about breaking the work down into a manageable size.

[Bayul]

4 hours ago, PiotrW said:

1. I really do need a spreadsheet Otherwise, I'd be completely lost which minis I own.

2. As for selling stuff - I'm doing that gradually...

Okay, so how about you turn your passion for spreadsheets into something useful? Create a spreadsheet for things you are about to sell. Columns could be something like

Faction |  Name of the model | Amount left | Amount sold | Earnings made | Status

For the status I'd suggest an ample system like red = sold yellow = pending green =  sold.

If you need more motivation you could set a date for each warhammer faction to be sold or else... give them away for free. Set the ultimate date to december. After that you could search your area for some young warhammer enthusiasts and give them an unexpected christmas gift. You'll feel great and have more space at home.

If there's Infinity products left take some acetone and dissolve the sprues. It's a great and cheap alternative for liquid green stuff.

[PiotrW]

34 minutes ago, Ganigumo said:

My suggestion (and what helped me the most) was to build an army list I was excited for (doesn't need to be "good" I tend to focus lists around models I like regardless of their strength because they're cool/I want to paint them) then I go at it like a checklist. Its about breaking the work down into a manageable size.

Oh, but I'm excited for all of them!

That's one of the reasons I'm going so slow - my attention shifts from one army to another. The last time I was assembling stuff, I was focusing on my Chaos Space Marines and Sororitas - but recently, I got myself new Stormcast stuff and now I'm tempted to assemble some Dracoths...

I guess I need to work on my self-discipline?

29 minutes ago, Bayul said:

Okay, so how about you turn your passion for spreadsheets into something useful? Create a spreadsheet for things you are about to sell. Columns could be something like

Faction |  Name of the model | Amount left | Amount sold | Earnings made | Status

For the status I'd suggest an ample system like red = sold yellow = pending green =  sold.

If you need more motivation you could set a date for each warhammer faction to be sold or else... give them away for free. Set the ultimate date to december. After that you could search your area for some young warhammer enthusiasts and give them an unexpected christmas gift. You'll feel great and have more space at home.

If there's Infinity products left take some acetone and dissolve the sprues. It's a great and cheap alternative for liquid green stuff.

Why would I dissolve the Infinity stuff? Don't be mean

(not to mention, it won't work. Infinity minis are metal. Highly-detailed metal. Seriously, check them out)

Anyway, I don't think that a spreadsheet for selling would be needed... I just need to make some new photos and started putting ads regularly on my local sales groups. I'm sure somebody will relieve me of the excess stuff eventually.

[Popisdead]

On 1/11/2021 at 5:12 PM, PiotrW said:

Hmmmm. Maybe I'm too slow for this hobby. Agh!

You have 14 armies?!?!  

 

If you play every night you can only play each army twice a month.  

 

 

Consider selling 3/4s of this stuff, focus on one army, or one unit, and you'll find your progress drastically improve.  But I also suspect you don't paint much either?  365 days in a year, if you painted one guy a day you could have most your stuff done.

[PiotrW]

1 hour ago, Popisdead said:

You have 14 armies?!?! 

If you play every night you can only play each army twice a month. 

I know, right?!? 😵 Maybe things got a little out of hand...

1 hour ago, Popisdead said:

Consider selling 3/4s of this stuff, focus on one army, or one unit, and you'll find your progress drastically improve.  But I also suspect you don't paint much either?  365 days in a year, if you painted one guy a day you could have most your stuff done.

Yeah, maybe it's time to channel some Marie Kondo again...

BTW. Painting one guy a day? I *assemble* one guy a day... 😵

[CommissarRotke]

it's interesting reading through this because I have the same problem of being slow (or skipping hobbying in favor of Total War or Vermintide), but I've not had much of a problem buying too much. I have some extras I'd rather not have sitting around, and two Underworlds starters still sitting at a friend's house after trying to coax some buddies into it.

It took me about 2 months to actually crack open Soul Wars properly to build the Stormcast, but when I did I got their whole half done in 2-3 hours. If you can at least focus on finishing one box at a time, should give you some more dents in your pile.

I do want to echo the others' saying you should prioritize what you truly want to paint and play--I love so many models in the AOS range but I know my purchasing needs to be limited to Stormcast (chosen tabletop army) and a few Underworld Warbands I can't take my eyes off of for painting (and possible UW games). Spreading yourself too thin means you'll always have the nagging thought of "I need to do the next one!" and I can't imagine that makes things enjoyable to do.

If for nothing else, selling off what you're not as interested in means more room for new releases. Right now I've got Stormcast to enjoy, and curbing my spending now means if Seraphon get updated models I have room/money for them

[PiotrW]

3 hours ago, CommissarRotke said:

it's interesting reading through this because I have the same problem of being slow (or skipping hobbying in favor of Total War or Vermintide), but I've not had much of a problem buying too much. I have some extras I'd rather not have sitting around, and two Underworlds starters still sitting at a friend's house after trying to coax some buddies into it.

It took me about 2 months to actually crack open Soul Wars properly to build the Stormcast, but when I did I got their whole half done in 2-3 hours. If you can at least focus on finishing one box at a time, should give you some more dents in your pile.

Wait. You built the whole SCE half of Soul Wars in 3 hours? Seriously, how did you do that? It'd take me 3 hours just to cut all the parts from the sprues... Then, another a few hours to wash them. And probably 3 to 6 hours to assemble everything... Not to mention, I'm wary of cutting parts for too many models at the same time, as I'm worried I'll end up mixing them up. Overall, it seems like something that would take me at least a few days, if I pushed myself to really assemble all of these models together.

But yes, I agree that I should try being more focused... Sit down, make some noticeable progress with one project before moving to the next. It's not like I'd need to assemble *all* of my Space Marines to start playing with them - the core of a playable (small) army is under 20 models. So, I could get this done and then add the rest gradually later on...

I'd be hard to fully drop any of the armies I own, though. I really like all of them....

[Ggom]

Plastic doesn’t need to be washed, FYI. There’s no issue with release agents, so you can prime them once you cut them off the sprue.

[Nighthaunt Noob]

1 hour ago, Ggom said:

Plastic doesn’t need to be washed, FYI. There’s no issue with release agents, so you can prime them once you cut them off the sprue.

I swear back in my LotR days GW recommended washing but I agree I've never washed an AOS model.

[Ggom]

Just now, Nighthaunt Noob said:

I swear back in my LotR days GW recommended washing but I agree I've never washed an AOS model.

Resin requires it for sure, otherwise primer won't stick. Plastic is fine without it.

Hell it's the one thing I am always annoyed about in my Heresy hobby 🥲

[Nighthaunt Noob]

9 minutes ago, Ggom said:

Resin requires it for sure, otherwise primer won't stick. Plastic is fine without it.

Hell it's the one thing I am always annoyed about in my Heresy hobby 🥲

There was no resin in the early years of LotR so I don't think that was it, although it is entirely possible I'm just misremembering.