With the Painting Log closed out for the first half of 2023, time to take stock on what progress was made in the battle against The Lead Pile. Despite lamenting the lack of painting output for May and June (see lead graphic above), I recall starting the New Year with vigor. The Actual Painting Counts by month show this to, indeed, be the case.
For the first six months of the year, 648 figures crossed from the Unpainted side of the ledger to the Painted side of the ledger. Even considering most of the figures were 15mm and under, exceeding 600 figures painted is a respectable total. Most years, I set an annual target of painting between 900-1,000 figures. Based on the totals through the first six months, I may be ahead of schedule.
Sticking to a view of figure counts with respect to figure size (see Figure 1), 15/18mm dominates painting output with 535 figures painted. Only 9 25/28mm figures crossed the painting desk during the first six months. Surprising.
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| Figure 1 |
What periods or projects saw the attention with my brush?
Figure 2 illustrates exactly where my efforts have focused. Clearly, Seven Years War (and now War of Austrian Succession expansions) cornered most of my attention. In the 15/18mm size, even the Samurai project saw a few additions.
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| Figure 2 |
What do I expect to see crossing my painting desk in the second half of the year? More of the same, really. Lots more work to do on the SYW/WAS projects as I expand to Hanover, Piedmont, and Spain. I continue working my way through a HUGE box of lead I picked up from 19th Century Miniatures' (Old Glory 15s) annual Christmas Sale. Actually, 19th Century Miniatures is offering Christmas in July sale now. I may pick up a few more bags now unless I think The Lead Pile can hold out until December.
Besides the seasonal tendency to see painting productivity drop in late spring/early summer, gaming has been eating away time often spent at the painting desk. Looking back at 2022 total games played, that count came in at 89 games. Through the first six months of 2023, I count 53 games played. If this pace can be maintained, I ought to crash through last year's totals. When I tallied the games played, the total of 53 games was a surprise. Given that some of my routine weekly and bi-weekly gaming commitments have decreased, I still seem to be gaming a lot.
Let's see what the second half of the year holds on both the painting and gaming front.
Great work Jonathan. That figure count is impressive, but the game count is extraordinary! I struggle to get more than 20 games a year in.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark, but my output pales in comparison to yours. The game count is shocking, isn't it?
DeleteI’m retired and only painting 10mm bods, yet all I’ve managed to achieve is circa 250 in the last 5 months. When you consider the fact that you are a prolific blogger and gamer yet at the same time you’re painting all those figures, I clearly need to have a word with myself.
ReplyDeleteYou may have shorter winters than I! 250 figures is a good result too even in 10mm.
DeleteGo easy on yourself...
A superb result that would cheer the average gamer, but especially so when you look at all your other areas of activity.
ReplyDeleteYour ‘games’ played made me check my own list of games played, which today sits at 58. Baked into that pie were 19 games that I did over a short time for the recent Wavre campaign that I ran, though this has since been countered slightly by some demotivation following the said campaign, due the sheer number of hours put into it - too much goodness :-)
Thanks, Norm!
Delete58 games played in the first half of the year is incredible. We are averaging about two games per week. I hosted two long games this week and I am feeling it this weekend.
How long were each of your 19 Wavre games?
The games took few hours each to play, with sometimes two games a day. the associated e-mails, set-up / take down and admin consumed more time than the games. It was certainly the campaigning life! but not sustainable - the batteries do run low.
DeleteAh. So these Wavre games were “turns” in your multiplayer PBEM game.
DeleteEach ‘turn’, whatever contacts were made, would be fought out as individual battles within their localities. So at the end of a turns movement, the French might find themselves fighting for lower Wavre and at Moulin de Bierges, that would require two battles to be fought before the campaign could move on.
DeleteThat's what I figured. Thanks for clarifying.
DeleteA very respectable painting total, especially considering the number of games you hosted. I think I'm just short of 600 so far.
ReplyDeleteNeil, we are both on pace for a good year at the painting desk!
DeleteMaybe I will do a count myself...it would be interesting to see the total....
ReplyDeleteI could easily have surmised the game count would be very high, Jon...and it is! If you maintain a similar schedule till 31 Dec. the annual count will be impressive indeed...106 would beat a lot of bloggers post count, let alone the number of games most of us manage to play!
Yes, make a count! I have been tracking my output since '95. I have amassed a lot of data (and a lot of figures!).
DeleteI really don't foresee playing another 53 games in the back half of the year but one never knows. Never say never!
Fifty-three games is an incredible amount. It is a good thing most are documented so you can revisit them as I find even with a more modest thirty or so a year they soon blur in the memory. Great work on the figure count too.
ReplyDeleteWithout chronicling each game, gsmes do tend to run together and get misplaced and forgotten.
DeleteA very busy wargaming schedule of painting and gaming. It is very unusual to hear about a wargamer having to replenish their lead pile in case it runs out.
ReplyDeleteWhile The Lead Pile is deep, I do run work my way to though subsets of the pile. Maybe chronicling The Lead Pile would provide some entertainment?
DeleteAh. Just one part of the lead pile. For a moment I thought you had cleared the lead pile. An unheard of feat.
DeleteMy Lead Pile is unclearable.
DeleteImpressive tally as is your norm Jon. Chapeau, monsieur!
ReplyDeleteMerci!
DeleteA fine and bountiful output there Jonathan. It defeats me and many others no doubt.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phil. Output did not show much diversity in the first half limiting work to only a few projects.
DeleteThat’s some big numbers for both games and figures, can’t ever see me reaching those.
ReplyDeleteEven if unlikely, never say never. You seem to be gaming quite a lot in retirement.
DeleteImpressive totals. I’d be happy with half that amount for a whole year. You’re an unstoppable hobby machine! 😀
ReplyDelete"Unstoppable" until I stop!
DeleteVery impressive both on the number of figures painted and also the number of games played! This year has been very low on both counts for me, not helped by June being the hottest on record here in the UK. Things beginning to pick up though...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve! Oppressive heat can certainly take the sting out of motivation. Hopefully we see more from your workbench soon.
DeleteImpressive levels of activity! 53 games is good going.
ReplyDeleteMy painting total for the YTD is……..zero. Nil. Nada. Nought. Nolle. 😆
You still have the second half of the year to make amends at the painting desk. Fifty-three games is quite a lot!
DeleteHalf yearly stats ! Impressive productivity as always Jon 👍
ReplyDeleteHalf yearly stats? Why not? It is a good way to assess the current state of the painting desk and set the stage for the back half of the year.
DeleteImpressive output in games played and figures painted, the game numbers are particularly impressive!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
For me, both are BIG numbers!
DeleteYou and Keith shame us all... I will hand in my hobby brushes and consign my unpainted piles to serve as my payment to Hobby-Charybdis for my failures.
ReplyDeleteNo need for comparison, Dai. as Teddy said, "comparison is the thief of joy." Do what fits into your schedule and motivation.
Delete