The Unpainted Model Count

The hobby of wargaming fits into many categories, and I would certainly say that it falls under the collecting side of hobbies. At the top of the collecting list is, of course, the desire to collect full armies of painted minis. I wish I could say I collect an army, paint it in its entirety and only then move on to the next project, but as anyone who has looked at this blog will know, that would be a lie! I am no more immune to the "ooohhh, shiny'" syndrome than anyone else, I also have unrealised projects in my head and my wargaming associates are always finding new things to tempt me. As a result, I have far too many projects on the go.

The huge project list creates other problems. Even at my most productive I can paint only slowly, far slower than I can buy minis. A while ago I decided I needed a method to help control my spending, and reduce the unpainted models I had lying around. I considered many methods. I dismissed selling stuff, as I have found that with a few years, at most, of selling something I wish I hadn't and have to start again. I also considered a spending ban, but I have insufficient will power for that to work. I also dismissed a simple count of painted models as too simplistic. 

In the end, I decided to set a "zero point," for myself. So, about three years ago I decided that was my set point, or zero. Of course, I had hundreds of unpainted models at this stage, it wasn't about having zero outstanding models and going from there.

So with a zero point set I had to work out how to score my models as they were painted. I at first tried a separate points score for different scales or sizes, but dismissed it as too complicated. I went for simplicity. One model equaled one, regardless of size. So now, when a model is painted and based, I deduct one, and when I buy p, am given, or just acquire a model, I add one. This applies equally whether it's a 6mm infantry man or a massive super heavy tank. It sounds daft, as each takes a different time, but because I flip around it works. I also find that even though painting say, 30 epic imperial guard (-30 points under my system) sounds quick, when you buy that scale you invariably buy a larger number so it all balances out.

So far, I haven't got much below zero, and have gone up to +100 before. However, it's a handy way of telling if my unpainted pile is growing or shrinking. So next time you check into my blog, have a look at the score in the little widget to the right, if it starts with a minus, good for me, if it starts with a plus, I've been spending!

As a last off, I apologise for my lack of posts with models lately. My son is about to arrive in the world but once he does and I get some semblance of a routine set up, I have plenty to show off.