Tag: challenge

  • The NO Warhammer challenge recap for 2024

    The NO Warhammer challenge recap for 2024

    Last year I set a challenge for myself to not buy any Warhammer miniatures. It was my personal Warhammer challenge for 2024. It’s now the end of the year and I decided to review the past 12 months. I wanted to see how the challenge helped me against my pile of miniatures.

    Overall, the NO Warhammer challenge didn’t go badly. The whole idea of the challenge is to divide your miniatures collection into discrete sets determined by specific criteria, i.e. all the miniatures for one faction. You cannot buy any miniatures that meet those criteria. First, you must paint all your existing collection of that set.

    This worked pretty well for me because it allowed me to buy some bits without going crazy. It also forced me to finish what I had before buying new stuff. Sometimes it just prevented me from buying anything altogether. So let’s see what happened in 2024.

    Gitz Gitz Gitz

    I planned to focus on a primary set this year. My goal was to finish my Gloomspite Gitz for Age of Sigmar. This project involved finishing an impressive army. It’s an army which counts over 50 models and a massive piece of terrain. And that’s just the 2000 points I had in mind – there is more that’s still grey! Given my painting speed I’m super pleased to finally have an army fully painted. This is, hands down, the biggest achievement of my hobby life because :

    • I never ever had an army in the first place
    • Never ever had a fully painted one at that.

    Now, the viability of the army it’s a whole different kettle of fish. I took so long to paint that the 4th edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar came out. This rendered the squigs completely useless.

    Moonstone

    The Moonstone boxsets for the Mushrooms and Mayhem and Ribald

    Moonstone was another game which was its own set. If you haven’t already, please check out the game as it’s incredibly fun! I painted some characters of the Goblins (obviously) faction. They are super fun. I didn’t manage to completely finish the collection before buying some more. Due to time commitments and a game that was scheduled, I had to buy a couple more minis for it. However, the last miniature before the purchase was about 70% complete so I’ll give myself a pass.

    Warhammer Underworlds

    The Brethren of the Bolt sprue that comes with the Warhammer Underworlds Wintermaw boxset

    At the beginning of the year I set myself to paint my Wurmspat Nurgle Underworlds warband. Suffice to say that I haven’t got around to it. Game Workshop released so many Underworlds boxes that I pretty much checked out and lost interest. Until the new edition was announced.

    I really like the Brethren of the Bolt warband. However, I knew I couldn’t buy it. Not all my Underworlds stuff was painted. And so I came up with a grand plan: sell what I have, then get what I want.

    And so I managed to stay within the boundaries of my Warhammer challenge. My set was complete so I was allowed to buy new stuff!

    Some Sylvaneth

    The Arch Revenant box for the Sylvaneth army in Warhammer Age of Sigmar

    I went to my first ever Warhammer tournament at Warhammer World this year. I had a blast. It was an incredible experiece (thanks Tim for inviting me!).

    I played against Jimbo’s amazing Sylvaneth army. For those who do not know, Jimbo is one of Age of Sigmar’s designers. His army was gloriously painted. This, combined with the hype of being at the event, made me buy some Sylvaneth to take home. I purchased one Arch Revenant to try some paint schemes.

    Concluding the NO Warhammer challenge

    In the end I didn’t quite stuck to the rules. I broke the challenge with both Moonstone and Age of Sigmar. Thankfully I didn’t break it by much, and that was the whole point of the challenge.

    I’m looking forward to repeating it for 2025. Keep an eye out for the next post, where I’ll formalize the rules so that you can take part yourself!

  • The NO Warhammer Year Challenge

    The NO Warhammer Year Challenge

    Hello friends, and welcome to another article where I challenge myself (and you the readers!) to not buy any Warhammer for the whole of 2024. Smash the NO warhammer year challenge and you’ll be titled master of your own destiny.

    You’ll receive a cookie as a reward.

    Why no warhammer for a year?

    In my previous article I mentioned how I want to tackle my backlog, and well. My backlog is big enough – I could buy no miniatures for years and still have some grey plastic lying around my home. I feel this is a state that many hobbyists in the Warhammer sphere share. I know that some of you out there love your pile of unfinished plastic, and that’s fine. If you like it that way, more power to you.

    Personally, having lots of unpainted Warhammer minis stresses me out. At the same time I like buying new models as much as the next guy, so you can see how these two aspects can create tension in my life.

    This said, I think that my Warhammer collection is big enough (and old enough), that if I were to pick a box at random from it, it would feel like it’s new and I’d get the same buzz of buying from a shop.

    Basically, I may be able to recreate that shop experience in my own home, meaning I won’t need to go out of my way to spend my money on yet more models.

    A mindful approach

    Secondly, I want to be more mindful and more intentional with my wargaming hobby in 2024, especially when it comes to Warhammer. I love Game Workshop products, and I’ll never stop following and being excited about the next new releases. And yet, I don’t like the aggressive release schedule that Warhammer has at the moment.

    A new set of pre-orders every week is just too much for me. I feel that this is at the detriment of the hobby and takes away from the enjoyment of it. As an example, just in the last couple months we’ve had the christmas boxes, Legion Imperialis and now Warhammer: The Old World just went to pre-order!

    How does the NO Warhammer Year Challenge work?

    Here are the rules:

    • Cannot buy anything for a faction or game system if you already own miniatures for it.
    • You can only buy more miniatures from the same faction or game system if you have no unpainted models left in that faction/system.
    • You cannot start any new factions or game systems.

    I think this set of rules is tight enough but also loose enough to not feel like a burden to me in the next 12 months.

    How would it work in practice?

    As an example, the new system won’t allow me to buy any more Gloomspite Gitz until all that I own is painted. At the same time I cannot start a new army, so it’ll force me to stick with the green skins!

    On the other hand, since I’ve painted all of my Lord of the Rings miniatures, I am allowed to get something new for it.

    Another example is that I won’t be able to buy more Star Wars Shutterpoint until my collection is painted, and I won’t be able to buy into a new game system like Kings of War.

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    The plan

    Of course my big item is to carry on with the Gloomspite Gitz, and sprinkle in there a few smaller collections. These are:

    • My Moonstone warband – 4 models
    • 2 Shatterpoint squads – 8 models
    • Blood Bowl Skaven team + Rat Ogre + mutated skaven – 16 models
    • Wurmspat Underworlds warband – 3 models

    Finishing one of these 4 collections would allow me to buy something new for it. For instance a new Underworlds warband (best model GW products btw), or a cheeky Blood Bowl team.

    Some of my Gloomspite Gitz collection, send help.

    Conclusions – NO Warhammer year Challenge

    There you have it, this is my personal NO Warhammer Year Challenge.

    I’m doing this because I want to reduce my growing backlog of unpainted minis and be more mindful in my hobby and spending. This way I’ll live a more intentional hobby life and have completed collections at the same time.

    What do you think of this Challenge? Will you be trying the same? Or maybe you are just happy as it is? Let me know in the comments!

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