Saturday, January 9, 2016

Project Plans 2016

Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future - Niels Bohr

Looking back...
Quite a lot of figures crossed the painting desk in 2015.  From 2015 Painting Analysis, 1,145 figures crossed over from The Lead Pile to the Painted Ledger.  The distribution of figure counts even exhibits an improvement in focus over 2014 which surprises me.  Comparing the charts from 2014 to 2015, I managed to reduce the number of distinct periods worked on from 12 to 8.  That shows a bit more focus, yes? 


Revisiting and summarizing my goals for 2015, I laid out the following top project guidelines for tackling The Lead Pile back in January 2015: 
  1. Second Italian War of Independence in 15mm
  2. 1799 Napoleonics in Italy and Switzerland in 18mm
  3. Peninsular War Napoleonics in 28mm
  4. Great Italian Wars in 28mm
  5. Minden SYW Prussians in 1/56 
How did I do with these Top 5 goals for 2015?
  • 15mm 1859 Risorgimento Project - 234 infantry, 36 cavalry, and 3 limber teams made it across the painting desk.  Finally got an earnest start on fielding French.  
  • 18mm 1799 Suvorov in Italy and Switzerland Project - managed only a dozen cavalry during the entire year.  I had such high hopes too.
  • 28mm Napoleonic Peninsular War Project - Great progress on this goal.  159 infantry, 41 cavalry, and two guns and crew were fielded.  I was able to reduce The Lead Pile for this project from two large boxes down to one.
  • 28mm Great Italian Wars Project - limited work on this new project.  Only 16 infantry, 18 cavalry, and one gun with crew passed over the painting desk.
  • 1/56 SYW Minden Prussian Project - I managed to push out one 32 figure battalion of Prussian musketeers.  I made my goal of one battalion, but just.
What unplanned work was completed?  Well, I began a 25mm 19th Century Great Game project on a whim.  That whim resulted in fielding 146 infantry, 20 cavalry, and two guns with crew.  No small feat in itself and a surprising result.  The 28mm WWII project was reignited with our introduction to Chain of Command.  The 28mm Spanish-American War project also saw unplanned additions of 60 foot and two Gatling guns.  Of course, quite a few other figures passed across the painting desk too.  The number of figures painted and painting points exceeded goals.  Surpassing the painting point goal was helped, in part, by concentrating on 25/28mm figures.  On balance, a pretty good year before the mast.

Looking forward...
For 2016, I will shuffle the deck chairs of 2015 around a bit.  With good work on reducing the unpainted 28mm Napoleonics lead during 2015, that project will drop out of the top goals for 2016.  A large box of unpainted Napoleonic lead remains and a few more figures are incoming.  I will try to keep the unpainted lead contained to only one box.

Having been seemingly focused on producing 25/28mm painted figures in 2015, painting focus will shift to the 15/18mm side of the project ledger in 2016.  With that in mind, both the 1799 and 1859 projects should remain high on the objective list.  Keeping with 15/18mm projects, add in work on the SYW and Samurai Battles projects.  With painting determination and buying restraint, much of the unpainted SYW and 17th Century Japanese inventory could be reduced significantly.  I would like to see a few new units added to both the 25/28mm Great Italian Wars and Reconquista projects.  Add to that more work in the 25mm 19th Century Great Game and 28mm Peninsular War projects.  One new project awaits in the wings but 2016 may not quite be the year to begin. 

For gaming, one goal is to host/attend twelve group games in 2016.  I know, not always feasible but I will make the effort.  Focusing on fielding units for the 1799 project should finally allow a first game in 2016.  Getting the 1859 project back onto the gaming table would be welcome too.  More gaming in Impetvs for Great Italian Wars, Reconquista, and Ancients.  For the Great Italian Wars project, commit to adding one pike block plus accompanying supports to the painted ledger.  Field two cavalry stands.  More gaming with Commands & Colors including Samurai Battles.  Having gotten the 15mm Napoleonics and 30mm ECW collections out onto the gaming table in 2015 for the first time in ages, commit to getting another old stalwart, the 10mm ACW collection, into a game.  A number of boardgames lay in wait too.  I would enjoy seeing a few of these out on the table.

Having become inundated with boxes of painted figures and unused collections, thoughts have turned towards culling one or possibly two projects.  These projects are yet to be named but they know who they are.  

Given the thoughts and criteria above, my Top 5 goals for 2016 are,
  1. Reduce The Lead Pile for Second Italian War of Independence project in 15mm
  2. Reduce The Lead Pile for 1799 Napoleonics in Italy and Switzerland project in 18mm
  3. Add to Great Italian Wars project in 28mm
  4. More gaming including first game using the 1799 collection
  5. Reduce The Lead Pile for 18mm SYW and 15mm Samurai Battles projects (100 figures each)
For painting counts, I will set the 2016 target figure count at 1,000 figures.  The 2016 Top 5 Goals are dominated by 15/18mm projects.  Still, expect to see a variety of projects crossing the painting desk including many of the 25/28mm projects.  

As I re-read the above, my 2016 goals still produce a scatter gun approach with a little of everything on the slate.  That should be plenty to keep the painting desk and gaming table busy in 2016.  Sometimes, focus is a hard master.

22 comments:

  1. Quite an ambicious set of goals! :D I try not to think too much about the Lead & Plastic Mountain - or should I say Range... ;) Best of luck, have fun!

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  2. Great results for 2015 and I believe you will also meet your goals of 2016! As to focus I too find that very difficult to master.

    Christopher

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  3. Should be good viewing for us in the galleries!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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    1. I hope I can provide something of interest occasionally.

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  4. Variety is the spice of life. Too much focus and you might lose interest. As always your productivity amazes me, especially with the quality you maintain.

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    1. Thank you, Aaron! Mixing it up does keep me from getting bored with painting the same old figures.

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  5. Seems like a fairly balanced approach that should produce usable forces for several projects. As for the others "These projects are yet to be named but they know who they are." Be afraid; be very afraid!

    Finally - Badeners incoming, ETA Monday 1/11...

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    1. Peter, I look forward to receiving the Badener package from you!

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    2. Post office says it is expected Monday. BTW, I had missed the Niels Bohr quote on first read. Great intellect, great scientist, and of course a Dane. He evidently had quite a sense of humor as well, as is evident from the quote, especially as it comes from an expert in the field of quantum mechanics! Schroedinger's painting plans, anyone? :-)

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    3. Schroedinger's Painting Plans, Peter? Interesting concept. Plans that are both active and inactive?

      Perhaps it is equally likely that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is at work? That is, the more care and time spent planning (and blogging about project planning) the less precisely one can measure (predict) actual production since so much time is consumed in the former! Quantum mechanics; applicable to miniatures' painting? Who knows? More investigation and thought required.

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  6. Excellent results for last year! Good luck for this year!

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  7. Always great to get it put to paper to give some focus. I am currently working on some 15mm Samurai as well. I intend to mirror that goal and your Great Italian Wars goal this year myself.

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    1. Sounds like we are on the same page. Now, we just need to get at the same table.

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  8. Impressive tally for 2015, Jonathan. It's amazing you do equal amounts in both 15mm and 28mm.

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    1. Consistency and discipline; that's how you get these numbers. Always appreciate your encouragement, Dean.

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  9. Sound goals Jon, and one needs diversity to keep the painting inspiration up! Besides, all of your Top 5 project are focussed on periods in history which I also really enjoy. Thus I look forward to a 2016 with many nice blog updates coming from the painting desk in the Palouse. Now... we can't talk about 2016 without talking about cycling too:0) What's your take on the coming Tour. Will the "Lab Rat" defend his maillot jaune, or will the shark strike again from the depths of last year's abysmal performance?

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    1. Soren, painting diversity is the key for me to put up the numbers. While my goal is to make a switch to 15/18mm figure painting, we will see how that plays out. I enjoy painting the 28s, no doubt.

      As for cycling and the Tours, too early to make predictions. I hope to see Gilbert strong in the Spring Classics. For the TdF, don't under-estimate the motivation in Contador in his last year. In Nibali, I have not been a fan. Froome is a beast (is a lab rat a beast?). Maybe this is the year for Quintana to rise to thew top?

      Should be fun to watch and exciting as always.

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  10. Good goals, we thought out. My goal for 2016 is to try to be 1/4 as prolific and organized as you.

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