Fimir - Vanished into the Mists

Things have been busy lately. I don't mean on the hobby side either. Work has been overwhelming, so I have lifted not a brush to my fimir in the last month, which may explain the lack of any updates to the bog daemons.

I don't know if it's just me, (which it probably is) but when I haven't done anything hobby-related for more than a couple of weeks I start getting very twitchy. The lead pile seems that bit bigger. Added to this my copy of Dreadfleet arrived the other day, so I decided to not even open it until Christmas, as I am desperately trying not to get distracted from the fimir when I do have time to start up again. Now Tamurkhan comes out with it's new and spangly chaos dwarf list. Oh my.

Anyhow, back to the point. Ish. I can see light at the end of the tunnel, so some newly painted examples of fimm-hood should be appearing in a couple of weeks. Or so. The project is still very much alive. If I can resist starting a new Tamurkhan chaos dwarf army, I can resist anything.

Tamurkhan - Out at Last!

Tamurkhan, the throne of chaos is out at last. Priced at a hefty £45 sterling, it's a tad expensive, but a seriously beautiful book, and I suspect one that most warhammer players will find irresistible. Certainly I'll be having one, as it features a new list for my beloved chaos dwarves. You can see it here.

I'm also avidly awaiting the upcoming monstrous arcana book, not least for the reason it has rules for fimir warriors in there.

Vampire Counts Rumours - Vampuary?

So, there have been strong rumours going around the interwebs that the vampire counts are the next army books out for Warhammer. When I first heard this I was pretty sceptical, but since then there have been more persistent rumours surfacing, most notably from the mysterious Harry on Warseer. You can read the thread here.There's another rumour round-up going on at Carpe Noctem here.

I had assumed that the Empire was next out of the traps, and there is still some scepticism about the VC being next up. There are certainly armies that need a more urgent update, wood elves, Bretonnians etc, but the vc DO need a new book for sure. With the boretastic mono build dominating the scene (with the interesting recent black knight bus causing some ripples, thankfully) the army has quickly grown stale in 8th ed. I'm a lifelong die-hard undead player, and even I have grown weary of the vc as they currently stand. Sure, you can make any list you want, but if you want to be commanding anything apart from bone-meal after turn three, you gotta use some variety of 'the list'.

There was some discussion on episode 34 of Garagehammer, with both Dan Heelan and Wayne Kemp making guest appearances. The consensus there towards an imminent vc book was one of cautious scepticism.

However, assuming the vc book IS next, what kind of goodies are we looking at? There have been some more common suggestions.

1. Flesh golems. Not the first time this has come up, and the current rumour is they are unlike any other monstrous infantry in the game. Ooo.

2. New plastic dual kit. Black coach and mysterious new unit. Presumably some other type of carriage/chariot. We already have a corpse cart, so this would need to be pretty different than another dead guy in a cart.

3. New plastic black knights. This is well overdue, so I hope this pans out. There are rumours of a new mounted unit, possibly mounted skeletons.

4. A return to the bloodlines. This would be great, as the current vc book is very Von Carstein orientated. I think this one is more a wishlist than a strong rumour, however.

5. Not new zombies. This hasn't popped up anywhere. Why the hell not? The clown-hand zombies will always have a place in my heart, but it's time for a new kit.

There are no real rule-change rumours as yet, just mild muttering about a major nerf to both vanhels and invocation, as well as a possible adjustment to skeleton warriors. I wont comment as of yet, as these are still low level rumours.

With the recent Terrorgheist, wraith and banshee additions, it seems odd that a new book is so close, but hey, I'll take it. More rumours as the come in, here on the mumblings.

Don't Listen to the Voices - Staying Focused on a Project

Of late I've had very little time for hobby. Work has pretty much sucked up all the time available, and then some. It doesn't help that my office is also my hobby cave, so I occasionally look over my shoulder and sigh forlornly at the batch of unpainted models waiting my attention. Poor little mites. It doesn't help that this is only one of a number of projects I have on the go, even I DID have time for it right now. I'm going to take a breather to write this though, so I feel I've had some hobby input this month.

I have noticed also, as the momentum on my fimir project has been mired down until it is now barely idling, that the voices have started.

Don't pretend you don't hear them too.

The little whispers that make you wonder if you should start that new project, surely you'll be able to fit it in? Just one new model, as a break? That gang/character/vehicle/unit/team won't take long. And look at all that new stuff, looks nice eh? Of course, the occasional rummage through the tower of lead/plastic/resin (you know what I mean there too) reveals a model or two you've really been meaning to paint for years now. It's all very distracting.

Personally I have three warhammer armies on the go, a pile of mighty empires campaign markers to do, some terrain to finish and a blood bowl team to assemble. Years of painting right there. I know this is a common phenomenon, as perfectly illustrated by a post in the excellent Iron Mitten. Check it out here. So, there's a whole plethora of reasons we do this, which is not my focus today. Rather, how does one combat these distracting little whispers? I have managed to dismiss all the notions of parking the fimir to work on other projects (when I have time again) and here's how I'm doing it:


1. Pick a project you're passionate about. The more you love it, the more likely it will get finished.

2. Keep up a decent rate of work. Give yourself short - term goals. "I'll paint ten rank and file this week." Small steps done regularly are better than nothing.

3. Don't take on too much at once. Concentrate on achievable chunks. Don't tackle all fifty goblins at once. Do them in batches of ten, or even five, and intersperse them with more exciting parts of the army.

4. Keep and eye on the reward. Keeping reminding yourself how great it will all look when done. How you will bask in glory and the wonder of your peers.

5.  Use the forums. The internet is FULL is forums running painting threads, army plogs etc. These are mostly full of people who will cheers you on. It also helps when you get pinged for updates. It's harder to give up if you've got folks egging you on. I've made huge use of this, and it's an ENORMOUS encouragement.

For those of you lucky enough to have local clubs or gaming stores, tell people how you're getting on, bring in what you have so far, ask for advice. It's all a big help.

6. Take a break.  

"What, but you said?!"

Forget what I said. That was then. I don't mean dustcover the whole project for weeks, but don't hammer away at it every night either. Take a night off, watch a movie, go for a bracing stroll (or a bracing troll, whatever tickles your fancy), take your partner out for dinner, all that good stuff. Hmm. This sounds a bit patronising. Still! it's no less true for all that. It'll revitalise you when you return to the painting table.

7. Talk to your minis. No, I'm kidding. Or am I? I am. Am I?


Hopefully there will be something here to help keep you from having six half painted armies while waiting for number seven to arrive in the post. Now, where's that fimm I was working on...