Just a warning; this post went on for a long long time and it has no pictures to look at. I think I've talked about most of this stuff before at some point, so I won't blame you for not reading to the end.

I haven't had much time for hobbies this week, but I've been taking five or ten minutes a day to assemble a figure here and there. I've added a rank of Halberdiers to the Greatswords and Mortar that make up my Empire force. Working on them a little bit every day has kept me excited about the project and by association all the other projects I have in my mind. I really want to start painting these guys. School is out soon, but my wife is looking for some part-time work to help us reach some goals and I want to spend more time with my kid before I go overseas later this year, so I'm not sure how much my hobby time will increase. I think my stress level will definitely go down a bit, though. I'd really like to have 1000-1500 points of Empire painted befor I leave, though. It would be nice to "complete" a project or two this summer. I think it would be feasible to finish a few hundred points more of Space Marines and the Empire army by then if I do a little every day with a few all-weekend benders thrown in for good measure.

I did a little mental audit of my various projects in one of my classes the other day. I was a little surprised to see that when I write it all down I've got enough figures to build at least a decent starter army for almost every project on the table. Some projects fall a little short, specifically historical projects and Lord of the Rings armies, but for almost everything else I've got enough stock on hand to build some good-sized forces. I think that in the consumer mindset I am always looking at the next shiny thing instead of thinking about all the neat stuff I have on my shelves at home. There are things that I would like to add to each project, but in most cases there is nothing so pressing or essential that that army couldn't be built, played, and enjoyed without it.

Exceptions would include some infantry formations for the Warhammer Fantasy Dogs of War collection I'm building. I've about got Special and Rare choices filled out, but I am lacking a bit in Core formations like Leopold's Leopard Company, the Alcatani Fellowship, and Ricco's Republican Guard. I'd also really like to find a set of the Giants of Albion with Hengus the Druid, but they only show up very rarely on eBay and fetch a pretty penny when they do.

I'd like to add some of the Forge World Elysian Drop Troops stuff to my Guard army, but I think I'll be able to shoehorn it all in at some point in the future anyway. I've got some jump packs, helmets, and a Drop Sentinel already so I can represent a small drop force on the tabletop as it is, but I'd like to add some more sentinels and maybe a couple of their buggies too.

I read in the comments on this post at the John's Toy Soldiers blog that Wargames Factory is working on some Heavy Weapons figures to go with their Sci-Fi Troopers in Greatcoats sprues. That would make them a little more appealing, as hopefully the Heavy Weapons will fit in as substitutes for the Games Workshop Guard army list. I'd been trying to decide how I would convert the basic three poses on the current sprue to fit in as Heavy Weapon teams, but they may be making things easy on me. I will probably wait to see how the line shakes out before I sink money into it.

And the latest White Dwarf has got me itching to play large battles with Games Workshop's War of the Ring figures. I've got bits and pieces of several different factions, but not really enough of anything to play a large game with the mass formations that would give it such great visual appeal. I do have enough Goblins painted to play a Mines of Moria scenario, though, if I could just get my Fellowship and Cave Troll painted. I'd really like to have some big formations of Orcs and Easterlings and Knights of Dol Amroth. I wouldn't even mind having a small formation of Hobbit Archers. I hope that GW continues the pattern of putting figures out in plastic, especially some of the infantry troops that are prohibitively expensive in plastic. I've noticed that many of the armies in White Dwarf that are actually owned by staff instead of being Studio armies are devoid of large numbers of those pricey metal formations. I guess even the staffers can't stomach those prices.

On the historical side of things, I need some Germans to oppose my Flames of War Americans, but first I need to choose a unit or campaign to build around. And I've got enough Vikings for a small game of something-or-other, but no one to really oppose them. I may hold out for Wargames Factory's upcoming Saxon line.

All of that is in the future, though. Right now I am pretty excitied about my Empire army, adding a few Space Marines to my painted pile, and maybe putting together a few Imperial Guardsmen or my Elysian Drop Sentinel.