This should be a quick post, as I want to get to bed at a reasonable hour for once. I've been trying to get through the first eleven Easterlings, and as you can see in the photo they still need plenty of work. Eleven is a rather odd number of figures to be painting. That's how many figures I had the metallic basecoat on before I got burned out and had to stop. Once I finish with these I've got another nine all assembled and primed, as well as a box of 48 (plus six horses) still on the sprues. I don't have my rulebook in front of me, but that should be a fair number of points. I really want to get a bunch of the new Harad models but gathering a force of them is going to be a bit pricey, especially if I want to have a Mumak (giant elephant-looking creature) in the army. Most of the tax return is going to bills, but we've reserved a bit back for each of us to buy some hobby stuff. I may have to get some more Lord of the Rings stuff, as that seems to be the game system I'm motivated to paint for lately.

I have run into an interesting dilemma regarding my paintbrush. I bought a bunch of paintbrushes from Fernando Enterprises, but I've only used one of them for the last 16-18 months. It's probably about six months past being useful, but I can't bring myself to abandon it. I'm comfortable with it. Unfortunately I've been noticing that it doesn't really come to a point very well anymore and I can't paint detail with it like I used to, so now I have to start using a new brush. I'm kind of attached to the old one, though. With that being said, I highly recommend buying brushes from Fernando. They're very high quality, comparable to brushes that sell in art stores locally for $10 or more. Most of the brushes from Fernando come in at under $2.00, including shipping.

I had my first Fantasy Baseball draft of the season this weekend. Once again I was "randomly" selected to pick at the turn (the last pick of the first round, then you turn and have the first pick of the second round) which often leads to difficulty in getting good quality players, as runs on the various positions can start and end in between your picks. Still, I did a lot of research and was able to put together a pretty good team that I feel has a chance to win the league. I'm worried about Stolen Bases and Saves, but the rest of the categories are in good shape.

I got my copy of Battlegames #4 in the mail a couple of days ago. It didn't hold my interest as much as issues 2 and 3, but that's just because many of the artcles don't deal with historical periods that I enjoy. I see on their website that issue #11 is due to come out soon, with a special offer inside for those who subscribe for 12 issues. I may have to look into that, as it sounds like a pretty good offer (and there are rumors of a free gift for those who take advantage of the subscription offer).

My wife finished her pirate quilt. She has some complaints about how the edges turned out, but I think it's pretty neat. Here's a look at part of it.

I think that's about it for me tonight.