Weekly Waffle #407 – The Year of the Brush: A 2025 Weekly Waffle Retrospective
10th January 2026
Welcome to 2026 and for this week’s TerminatorTids weekly waffle I am going to start the year off with a wrap up of 2025. It’s been a year of soaring highs, questionable paint choices, and a fair bit of “waffling” about everything from the price of plastic to the best way to paint a bird of prey. If 2024 was about finding the mojo, 2025 was the year I allowed it to trickle out across the pitch, the tabletop, and even the skatepark. Pull up a chair, grab a brew, and let’s dive into the archives.
January: Looking Back to Look Forward
The Weekly Waffle Journey
We kicked off January in typical fashion with Weekly Waffle #361, taking a long, hard look at the “shame pile” of 2024. The New Year’s resolution was simple: focus. I laid out a roadmap that included finishing the Delaque for Necromunda and finally making a dent in my Yu Jing for Infinity. By the end of the month (#364), the Invincible Army started taking shape. There’s something about the clean lines of Yu Jing that makes you want to paint better—or at least spend three hours worrying about the exact shade of orange.
February: The Orange Crush
February was dominated by the Leagues of Votann. I’ve been leaning into the orange scheme for my Space Dwarfs, and while I’m happy with the results, painting that much orange starts to do funny things to your vision. It was a month of batch-painting armour plates and wondering why I decided a high-contrast scheme was a good idea for a “horde” army. We also saw some more Hired Guns for Necromunda sneaking onto the desk—because you can never have too many bounty hunters.
March: Get to the Chopper!
In March, the “left field” approach took over. I took a break from the military precision of Yu Jing to work on some truly bizarre bits of kit. Weekly Waffle #372 saw me channeling my inner action hero with some helicopter-inspired conversions. It’s these “distraction projects” that keep the hobby fresh, even if they do absolutely nothing to help me clear the backlog.
April: Soldiers of the Empire
April brought us back to the human (well, mostly human) element with Weekly Waffle #375 – Soldiers of the Empire. I spent the month looking at the Zhanshi for Yu Jing. These are the backbone of the army, and while they might not be as flashy as the heavy infantry, there’s a quiet dignity in painting the rank and file. I spent a lot of time thinking about how they function on the table—not just as fodder, but as the tactical glue that holds a list together. It’s about discipline, loyalty, and making sure the guy with the HMG doesn’t get shot in the back.
May: The Sweet Spot
May was a month for reflection. In #380, we discussed “The Sweet Spot Between Hobby and Life.” We all know the struggle—jobs, family, and the ever-present washing up. This led into a deep dive into the Skirmish Revolution. Games like Kill Team, Necromunda, and Malifaux have really muscled out the “big” games in my local group. There’s something more personal about naming your models—even if “Knife Boy Dave” always seems to die in the first turn. I also shared my love for Carnevale, a game where the “Rule of Cool” reigns supreme. If you haven’t dragged a beast off a roof into a group of enemies, are you even gaming?
June: Sneak Peaks and Ninja Orks
June felt like the start of the summer proper, even if work was trying its best to ruin the fun. I started a project that would end up taking over my life for the next two months: Ork Ninjas. It started with a “Sneak Peak” (#381) of an Orc Ninja Battle Van driver. Yes, you read that right. Combining Orks with a 90s cartoon aesthetic? It shouldn’t work, but it really, really does.
July: The Full Cowabunga
July was the month of the “manic work schedule,” but I managed to sneak in a holiday with the wife to recharge. When I got back to the desk, it was all about the TMNT Ork Project. We had Weekly Waffle #385 – Last Boy, where I finished the final member of the “green” team. The highlight, however, was #386 – The Full Cowabunga. I finally finished the Ork Battle Van. Painting yellow over green is a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but the airbrush saved my sanity. Seeing the “Turtle Van” in all its ramshackle, Orky glory was easily my hobby highlight of the summer.
August: Flying High (and Falling Hard)
August saw a return to the world of Guild Ball. I dug out my old minis and fell back in love with the Falconers. We looked at Ikaros (#390) and Mataagi (#391). Ikaros is that classic “boy who tried to fly”—a model that looks like a disaster waiting to happen on the pitch. Mataagi, on the other hand, is all about precision. He’s the cold-eyed hunter who makes your opponent regret every move. I also spent some time talking about “Reviving Dead Games.” Just because a company stops supporting a game doesn’t mean it’s dead—the rules are still there, the minis are still beautiful, so why not play?
September: Seeing the Truth
The Guild Ball odyssey continued into September with a focus on Minerva in Weekly Waffle #393. She’s the tactician, the one who sees the game three moves ahead. Painting her was a challenge—I went for the “standard” colors to keep her aligned with the official art, which pushed my blending skills. We also saw some Winged Terror on the pitch (#394), as I started looking at the more “unsettling” mascots of the game.
October: Pulling the Strings
October took a dark turn as I moved from the Falconers to the Morticians. Weekly Waffle #395 was all about Obulus. If ever a model encapsulated “manipulation,” it’s him. He’s the spider at the heart of the web, and half the fun of playing him is watching your opponent groan as you pull their strings. I also spent the month prepping for a shift back to the gridiron, getting the Blood Bowl itch just in time for the colder weather.
November: The Half-Pint Titans
November was the “Month of the Halfling.” We started with Weekly Waffle #399 – Half Pint Titans, focusing on the Catchers. They are the tiny heroes of Blood Bowl—nimble, quick-footed, and frequently flattened. By #400, I had brought the whole team, “The Cucumber Soakers,” together. There’s a certain joy in Halflings; they remind us that Blood Bowl is, at its heart, about chaos and having a laugh. We capped off the month with Whistle Warriors (#401), looking at the most hated people on the pitch: the Referees. Because someone has to take the bribes!
December: Feathered Fear and Casket Time
We finished the year by returning to the Morticians for Guild Ball. December was a month of crows and coffins. In #404, we met Dirge, the feathered herald of doom. He’s not there to score goals; he’s there to haunt the opposition. As we moved toward the holidays, I worked on The Grinning Executioner (#405) and finally Casket (#406). It felt a bit odd painting coffins while everyone else was putting up tinsel, but as I said in the final Waffle of the year, “it’s always Casket time” somewhere.
Final Thoughts on 2025:
It’s been a busy one. We’ve jumped from the high-tech streets of the Human Sphere to the muddy pitches of the Old World, with a brief stop in a New York sewer via an Ork workshop. My painting has definitely improved, mostly because I’ve been forced to tackle colours like orange and yellow that I used to avoid like the plague. Thanks for sticking with me through the rants, the reviews, and the occasional tech-waffle about paint-tracking apps.
But what can you expect from 2026. Well to be perfectly honest it’s going to be more of the same. I don’t have any plans to suddenly start building full armies so it’s going to be single minis and small teams or gangs. But I do want to try out some new things. I have a hankering to delve into squad for Trench Crusade and try to use oils more on the weathering front. I have another team in the works, and by that I mean I have a box of minis, for Blood Bowl. And there are a few other things I already have ideas for.
On the ideas front I’m going to try and do a bit more in the way of sharing ideas I have for minis. I have pages and pages of notes for projects I know I am never going to get round to. So it may be a bit vain to think this but I thought that sharing them may inspire one of you to try something different. After all we all need a little bit of inspiration from time to time.
I am going to get off my arse more this year and get some actual games in. Things just sort of stagnated last year and I didn’t get off my arse to see people and play games. That is going to change this and I’m going to make the effort to get back out there and actually socialise.
Although I do have a lot of non hobby related things planned for this week. It’s going to be another manic year for work, but I’m going to make sure that doesn’t impact the hobby too much. And I also have a trip to tother side of the world planned. Which means there won’t be any updates in March, but I’ll tell you more about that over the next few weeks.
I hope you have enjoyed this recap of the year there is more of this to come over the coming weeks and months. I hope you are raring to go for the new year with your own projects and that the hobby gods are shining on you. Until next week hop you keep safe and I will be back with you all again at the same time next week.
