More Miniature Musings

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about my recent struggles with my miniatures hobby, and how it was causing me as much stress as enjoyment. I determined that my main problem was that I had far too many unpainted miniatures, so I resolved to get rid of most of them. Well, I did, and I can honestly say, I’ve felt much better about my hobby since.

That said, I have continued to investigate the question, wondering if there are ways I can increase my enjoyment even more. For the last few years, I have found myself slightly envious of those miniature gamers who are able to focus on one period/setting/model range. Because of their greater focus, these gamers are able to assemble very impressive collections where every piece fits into the whole. They can also take their collections into much greater depth. If only I wasn’t such a ‘miniatures butterfly’ flitting from period to period...

Then it occurred to me, maybe the reason I can’t stick to one period is because I’ve never actually tried.  I’ve been perfectly willing to paint giant robots one day and Napoleonic soldiers the next. Would I be happier if I just picked one period and stuck with it, even if it proved to be an occasional test of willpower?

Well, I’ve decided to give it a try. After a lot of thinking, I have decided, at least for the next few months, I’m going to paint and collect nothing but The Lord of the Rings figures. (I’ll explain why I settled on this period in a future post). I want to see if this focus actually brings more enjoyment to my hobby. I have a suspicion that the underlying problem of having too many unpainted miniatures, was that they were distracting me from the miniatures I really did want to paint.

Also, I have reason to believe that over the coming year, I will probably have less time to paint miniatures than ever before, and I think focus could be key in my continued enjoyment.

I’ll keep you updated.