Weekly Waffle #361 – Retrospective
4th January 2025
For this week’s Weekly Waffle I’m starting by having a bit of a look back on last year. Then I’ll lay out what I have planned for the rest of the year.
I’m going to start by summing up last year as a hobby success. Now I will clarify that a little bit by saying that I’m not defining that success on quantity or quality. But rather on consistency. I managed to bring you a newly painted mini for every update. That doesn’t quite mean every week because I had a few trips where I deliberately didn’t do a post on the weekend. But the weeks I did do updates, which to be fair was most of them I managed to bring something new. And I think I can put that down to the fact that I’ve only painted things I like. I’ve not had to slog away to get an army painted to a deadline. I’ve just plodded away on projects I like. That has kept the mojo high which in turn has kept me painting.
January can really be summed up as an Ork month with a couple of Puppets War vehicles and a Pain Boy. The vehicles were a challenge but a lot of fun and have given me a bit of an addiction for anything Puppets War.
February and March were a bit of a mish mash of projects. Mainly I was just painting whatever caught my eye out of pile of grey plastic. Although there was one major exception. The Forge World Adeptus Custodian Tribune, which I had been afraid to paint for nearly two years. I just knew I didn’t have the skill to paint it to the standard I wanted to. But I also knew if I didn’t push myself I would never get better as a painter. So I took the plunge and committed to having him painted before I went back to Adepticon. And I managed it. I can’t say I was happy with the finished mini but it was a release that freed me up for the rest of the year.
February also saw me miss a post. This was planned because I was indulging in one of my other passions which is Rugby. We went to Rome for a long weekend to watch England play Italy which was a fantastic experience. The weather, especially for February, was fantastic. Couple that with getting to see some of major landmarks and an England win made for an unforgettable weekend. And made Rome a place I really wanted to come back to.
March continued in much then same vain but it also a return trip to Adepticon. It’s something I do enjoy although this time I did less classes and spent more time just enjoying the con. There is so much there that it really is a great experience. If you haven’t been to a major event like this I would certainly recommend it. I think next year is the last time Adepticon will be hosted at Schaumburg before it moves to Milwaukee. We have been going every two years but I won’t be able to go in 2026 due to other commitments. So will have to see what the future holds as to whether or not I ever make it to Milwaukee.
Although I have to say have only just discovered Pequads, arguably the best deep dish pizza in Chicago moving venue will be a bittersweet experience. It’s because it’s become too big for the current venue so I fully understand the reasons. I’ll just miss the opportunity to try the best pizza, ever, again.
April with all of the Adepticon mojo flowing was back to Orks, which has been a major part of this year’s painting. A quick mix of Puppets War and Artel saw my collection slowly growing. By now I had firmly fixed on the style I like the most for my Orks and this is something that would continue for the rest of the year.
May and June saw me switching things up a bit and moving over to painting Ncromunda. A custom Water Guild build which I really like. I have also painted up quite a few mercenaries so that they can be used my any of my existing gangs.
July to August was back to Orks and the pile of 3D printed shame I have from Puppets War. The quality of the prints and sheer style they have with everything they make just makes them a no brainer for any Ork fan.
September saw the small matter of my wedding and honeymoon to Rome. Nothing to do with the hobby but a momentous event in my personal life. It was a very small and intimate service on the coast near to where we both live. We then had a few fantastic days exploring the joy that is the eternal city. Lots of walking, eating and drinking. All in all an absolutely amazing experience.
October and November saw me continuing to work my way through my Puppets War box of Ork bits. I think this is something sort of magic box because its contents keep growing with all of the fantastic miniatures Puppets War are producing.
I would probably have carried on with the orks for the rest of the year but in December I switched up again. A couple of the lads had ordered the new Infinity box set to go along with the new rules. I’ve always liked the minis and if a few people were going to be giving the game a go I decided I was in. So picked up some minis to test out a colour scheme. And that is how I rounded out the year.
That sums up last year but what cay expect this year. The simple answer is much the same. I’m working on the principle of if it isn’t broken don’t change it. So the plan is to just keep plodding away and I will see how things go. I do know that I’m going to be spending a lot more time in the office and travelling this year which may have an impact on my hobby time. But I don’t want to use it as an excuse for not bringing you content each week.
I may not be able to bring a finished mini each week so there may be some weeks where you just get some work in progress pictures. The other thing that I may try is having two or three different projects running in parallel. So that if I loose mojo for one style I have something to switch to straight away to keep things moving. It’s something Al does and might be worth a try.
But that’s it for This week’s slightly unusual weekly waffle. Things should be back to normal next week with some more infinity on the way. Until then I hope you all have a happy and productive week whatever you have planned.
