The MiniWax polyurethane satin can yawns wide, inviting. From it waft fumes that promise a change. Each one in turn is pulled up, attached to the mechano-harness, baptized. They emerge different, the fluid streaming down their faces a torrent of tears. One-hundred seven of them disappear into the hungry silver mouth, one-hundred seven emerge. They long for battle. No shake of transport shall dislodge them. No errant hand will shatter their limbs. They are...finished.
There was a feeling of piquant sadness as I looked at the assembled hordes. The waft of varnish fumes was harsh in my nostrils. They gibbered. More than a year. Each one must represent an hour of hobbying, from their exquisite kitbashes to their custom bases. Nearly an hour and a half a week went into them over the last eighteen months. That's a lot of time to spend with anything. There was no way that they could be good enough to justify that. They just don't look good enough. There's no going back. Finished.
I bought my daemons just after the new codex dropped. They've been in progress since then, like every army. Every army is a progress, tactically, technically - we hope that it's forward. Codex creep ensures that we will update our collections. We'll add units as old ones fall out of favor. We'll buy units that used to be bad because the FAQ says so. Or because they look great. I'd consigned myself to this aspect of the eternal within Eternal War. So it's strange to say that my infantry are done.
"Dipping" your minis is either painting on or submerging them with a sealant. This process adds durability. It pools in the low points and adds extra shadows. I used clear, but you can also use a light colored stain instead of a final wash. It ensures that the paint will never chip. It also makes them done. Every forgotten crevasse. Every un-dotted eyeball. They will never be touched up. They're heavier now.
So the troops for Codex: Daemons are finished. I never need to make troops again. A whole FOC slot wiped from the hobby slate. I've never been *done* before in this hobby. It is always in progress. Every battle is a minor skirmish in the greater tri-city area. I might end up needing two, or three, or X more of any unit I've made. But troops? Troops are done.
How do we finish anything in the 41st millennium? Sadly, it's when commanders retire. Their armies go off to a stranger, to engage far-off threats, to wage wars that will trickle back as legend at best. Their armies are done because they're abandoned. Their battles are done because they've lost the will to fight. So let's not be done.
Let's not finish anything. Let's keep the army evolving. Let's keep inviting new people in. Let's jeer the ones who leave until they return. Let's spend a bill on some plastic we can't afford. Let's say my troops aren't done because I might always need more. Let's say I don't want to be done, I don't want any of you to be done. I want it to grind on.
100+ hours? My troops look better than my Skyrim save, moldering away on a cold hard drive. They look better than two weeks of overtime. They are of comparable beauty to my total Soul Caliber playtime. And more immediately useful.
I'm bringing the Adlance tomorrow.
3x Knight Errant
4x Tzerald, ML3
17x Pink Horrors
17x Pink Horrors
Aegis Defence Line
I'm going to start with a third of my troops, my DONE troops, and they're going to summon all their friends. All their DONE friends. So now I need two more Imperial Knights. Damnit!