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The Blood Elf Journey Continues…

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I can’t possibly describe everything that has gone on since my last update, so I won’t bother! I will say that the wedding went well for the most part and while there were a few issues here and there, they were minor compared to how difficult planning it was. I think we were lucky to get the wedding done when we did because Chicago reinstated the mask mandate indoors just days later. Having everyone in masks would have made for a much different experience I would have to say! Thank you all again for the well wishes as well. It really is appreciated and I feel fortunate to have so many great people following my website.

But enough about that, let’s talk hobby stuff. I’ve made quite a bit of progress on the Blood Elf project since I last showed it off. The Elk is 98% done except for the head which I still can’t add on and paint. It shouldn’t be too much longer now. I also varnished the elk so that the paint is quite a bit less shiny now and should photograph even nicer.

But wait, there’s more! I started working on the rider and finished his leg. I really like how this little piece came together. What I don’t like is how fragile the scabbard is. Look at that tiny piece keeping it attached to the leg. I’m really concerned that I will break it off during the gluing phase but I have to make some more progress before I can think about doing that.

And I’ve also got a sneak peek at what I’m working on now. Hopefully that wets your appetite a bit further! And yes, that is a cork wine bottle cap I’m using. It turns out they are pretty handy for when you’re painting in sub-assemblies!

I’ve got a ways to go still on this project but its exciting to get each part done because you can start to imagine what this will look like when it is finished.

As I teased in my last update, I have been doing some thinking about my hobbies and it is time to make some changes. Right now, I’m leaning towards no longer collecting cards and getting rid of a good chunk of my collection. I think this partially inspired by my move. When I packed up all of my belongings, I felt like I have too many things and in too many different hobbies. I have some action figures still from when I collected those, I have a small Roman coin collection, I have a sizeable card collection, and a fairly large movie and video game collection too. My frustration is that many of these things I collect sit around much more than they are used and appreciated. I only have so much time in a day and a fair bit of that is spent playing video games (or occasionally watching TV or a movie) and painting. So I think I’ll simplify my collections and life a bit. It is going to take a lot of work and a long period of time but I plan on selling off things I’ve collected that I know I don’t have time for. I don’t think it will impact my hobbying much and I think it will feel good to trim down my collection and focus on what I enjoy most.

In addition, I am adding a “hobby” to fill the void of giving up card collecting. While I’ve played some board games in the past, I think I’m going to add that to my wargaming hobby. I enjoy board gaming and there seem to be so many more solo games than there used to be. There are also games being made for things I like and would enjoy “collecting”. At the same time, I’ve never had an issue getting rid of a board game once I feel like I won’t play it anymore so I’m hoping it will be a better thing to collect. For example, when I collect cards, action figures, or coins, I buy them and keep them. I might show them off and I look at them from time-to-time. With video games and board games, you play them. If you love them, you can keep them. If not, you get rid of them. I think that is a more practical thing to collect. And because I rarely do things in half-measures, I went ahead and got a new board game…

This board game was actually suggested by my secret and long-lost brother in Australia, Azazel. He runs a great website called Azazel’s Bit Box that is well worth a visit. He wisely recommended that I get this game a while back and I didn’t think much of it. Well, now look what I did! I was able to get the Kickstarter version on eBay basically brand new for a fair price. The box is huge and heavy! It is the biggest board game I’ve ever owned by far. I bought it because I love Hellboy. I used to have a complete run of Hellboy and BPRD comics a while back so it is certainly something that I enjoy. I’ve also been curious about the Warhammer Quest games and this game was designed by the same person as the early entries in that series so it has a good pedigree. Finally, it looks like this game has the option to create your own scenarios or at least have an “arcade mode” with random enemies and maps which should mean huge amounts of replayability which is something I look for in board games.

This game comes with a TON of minis and there’s even more in the expansions so it is going to keep me busy for a long time. I’m a little reluctant to add 100+ minis to my backlog but its too late now! I suspect that my Pulp Alley project is not going to get off the ground anytime soon but I hope to come back around to it eventually. I will also have to be careful not to take on too many mini-based board games in the future as I have a lot of display projects lined up as it is. I’m going to give Hellboy a quick playthrough in the near future before painting anything just to make sure I like it and then we’ll go from there!

36 thoughts on “The Blood Elf Journey Continues…”

  4. Good to hear the wedding didn’t have too many problems and they were minor, and that it managed to go ahead, before the restrictions came back in.
    Great progress on the Elk and rider, can see what you mean about that scabbard, hopefully when it gets stuck on, it will be less likely to get knocked off.
    Clearing some of your old hobbies makes sense, and focusing on other of your hobbies, plus selling off some of your old stuff, will put extra money in your pocket.
    A lot of boardgames now seem an extension of wargaming, and can see the logics of the move into this, and what a one to start with, do like Hellboy, and would have loved to get the game, but need to limit myself to the projects I have.

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    1. Cheers, Dave! I agree that once that leg and scabbard are glued on, they should be fine but until then, it will be a little dicey! I think dungeon crawler board games are really closely aligned with wargaming as well. The rules tend to be a little simpler in board games but that’s okay as I sometimes have trouble remembering all the rules for some wargames as it is. Hellboy has a A LOT of minis so we’ll see if I end up regretting this purchase or not! 🙂

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  5. The Elk continues to look superb but that scabbard does look fragile. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this as always. A wise move to trim down your hobbies I think but if I can offer some advice, don’t be in a hurry to get rid of some bits. I went down that route only to change my mind later and wish I ditched something different! That said I don’t think I gave it enough thought in the first place!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words on the Elk! I think there is a lot of wisdom in what you’re saying. I have to sell off stuff bit by bit so its going to take months (or maybe even years) if I truly want to get rid of all of it. I’m hoping by taking it slow, it will help me judge what I’m ready to get rid of and what I should keep. We’ll see how it all shakes out and thanks for sharing your advice and perspective as always!

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  7. I would have broken off that scabbard just painting it! When finished that figure needs to be displayed but well back from the edge.
    Your journey into boardgames involves miniatures and comics – who would have guessed 😂
    Good idea on playing the game before deciding to paint the miniatures, are the figures soft plastic or better?
    As always, have fun!

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    1. I nearly did clipping it off the sprue. I really wish GW didn’t make pieces like this to be honest. Most people are going to break it accidentally or at least that is what I think.

      Who would have thought?! I just really wanted to step outside my comfort level 😉

      The minis are hard plastic and they look like they have pretty decent detail. Much better than the board game minis I’ve dealt with in the past. Once I get this elf done, I’m sure I’ll give one a whirl just to see how it goes.

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    1. I actually hadn’t thought of that, mate but you’re right that it might be as good of a time to “cash in” as I will find. I look forward to painting something besides this elf though I imagine it will be a couple more weeks (if not a month) yet before that happens.

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      1. Think of it like the housing bubbles and market crashes of the past.

        I just finished some pieces I can finally put on the table, which took me much longer than expected and as happy as I am with them I am still very glad they are finished so I can move on to something else… I will not spoil the surprise, so keep an eye out for my next blog post.

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      2. There was a great card market crash in the 90’s because of overproduction so I know exactly what you mean.

        I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve been up to! I have a feeling it will be something really good!

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  10. Wow, your work on that mini continues to amaze me. I can’t wait to see the finished version but I’m also really enjoying these little snippet updates.

    I hope you enjoy board-games; I find that they’re often surprisingly different in feel from wargames. We’re currently working through the second box of Pandemic Legacy and loving it.

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    1. Thank you and I’m glad that seeing the slow progress isn’t too boring! Sometimes I wish I could get things done quicker but that’s the way it goes with display painting.

      I’ve heard great things about Pandemic and Pandemic Legacy. I tend to like board games that have miniatures and similarities to wargaming but I also like that board games tend to be easier to learn to play and require less hobby time as well.

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  11. Wow, GW’s flimsy attachments hitting new heights with that scabbard – I think I’d have broken it just by looking at it (and I’d definitely have broken it either whilst clipping it off the sprue or scraping off the mould lines etc). Anyway, as ever the elf is looking splendid, certainly high quality enough to be entered in something like Golden Daemon I reckon.

    As for the board games, I’m looking forward to seeing what you do there. Just had a quick look at the Hellboy models and they do look good (never read the comics but I enjoyed the first couple of films). I’ve found that although only a tiny minority of my friends are interested in wargaming almost everyone I know enjoys board games so if your circle of friends is similar you won’t have a shortage of people to play against.

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  12. Elk – Gorgeous, need I say more!
    That scabbard is sooooo delicate, rather you than me.
    Thinning down your hobbies – best of luck with that one, I’ve tried and failed on numerous occasions, lol!
    Hellboy – I’ve come close to buying this myself, so I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
    Great post as always, looking forward to more of the Elk 😁

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    1. Thanks, mate! That scabbard will be challenging for sure but I’ll do what I can with it. Isn’t that the truth on hobbies? Even when I say I’m going to scale back, I’m not sure I completely do, I just try to convince myself that I am haha. I will certainly report back on Hellboy. I might even write up a review of it at some point!

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      1. Lol… I move things around, put them where they can’t be seen – out of sight, out of mind – that way it looks like I’ve accomplished something when in reality all I’ve done is spend time looking at the things I like and hiding them from the wife! 😉

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  13. That rider is looking bloody sweet! And good catch on getting the Kickstarter version of Hellboy. I recently picked up a missing expansion that they must have released in between KS campaigns, as it appear that I didn’t have it at all. Not that I’m in any danger of playing the actual game anytime soon, of course…
    And yes, I worked backwards from the most recent posts to the ones following the progress of the rider, then “jumped” back here, so I can read and view the next few final WIP posts in order.
    Of course, it’s after 2am here now, so I won’t be getting much further tonight…

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    1. It was kind of you to stop by late night and please don’t feel like you have to catch up on all of my old posts. I probably don’t even remember what I was talking about in some of these without going back and re-reading them 🙂 I’m the same with Hellboy and even though I’m painting it up as I get the desire, I feel like there is a long way to go to get it in a playable state. Splitting my time between several different projects isn’t going to help me overcome that much either but such is life! 🙂

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      1. As long as it keeps you interested and motivated to paint is the main thing. Also, being able to play games is with painted models is also pretty sweet, but don’t discount the extra motivation that playing with some painted and some unpainted gives you.
        Seriously, try it with any game and see! Play, like, once a week and you’ll see how much extra motivation you get to finish more stuff before the next game, and it also builds on a very similar satisfaction that you get by slowly seeing the painted stuff grow on the shelf to see the same happening on your table week to week….

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      2. It has been a while but I have used that strategy before. I can’t remember why I did it with Mansions of Madness and you’re right, the unpainted pieces are so irritating that you really want to get everything painted 🙂 I’m more interested in getting Fallout played than Hellboy at the moment so that is a big reason why it has been on the backburner for me. I’ll get more done on Hellboy soon enough though hopefully. If nothing else, I figure you’ll be curious to see what I think of it since you’re as invested in it financially as I am!

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