Expenses:
The idea is to gradually survey the other locations and sort and total the troops by era and army as I expand (and hopefully, contract) the Census.
January 2016
PDF Copy of FLoB (25% off) $10.50
BTD order (Egyptians, Assyrians). 107.18
February 2016
Old Glory Order (Austrian Line, Jagers, Ancient Command) 136.20
Portal purchases (tufts x 4, Wargames Illustrated x 1) 34.51
Rawkins E-books on Baden and Warsaw $12
March 2016
1st Corps - Hussite (Kingmaker) Infantry and some Numidian Light cavalry $145.61
1st Quarter Totals: $446
Painting:
January 2015
4 Blue Moon Wagons (100 pts)
Touch up and basing on 6 old Limber teams. (N/A)
Egyptians (Essex) 27 (135 pts)
February 2016
BTD Egyptians 20 (100 pts)
Hussite Characters 6 (30 pts)
Murawski Baden Infantry 36 (180 pts)
March 2016
(20 Murawski Uhlans, WIP, nearly but not quite complete) (N/A)
1st Quarter Totals: 545 painting points
The Great Lead Pile Census (GLPCTM), Part 1
My reserves of (unpainted) lead are organized (a very loosely applied term) in various locations, somewhat related to era/manufacturer. The first location surveyed was the Blue Mini drawer case, which is mostly Old Glory Renaissance and Byzantine stuff.
| Landsknecht HI Pikemen | OG | 20 |
| Landsknecht MI Early Pikemen | OG | 16 |
| Landsknecht MI Later Pikemen | OG | 23 |
| 2 Handed Swordsmen primed | OG | 12 |
| 2 Handed Swordsmen, Unprimed | OG | 18 |
| Halberdiers/officers | OG | 8 |
| Drummers | OG | 8 |
| Fifers | OG | 2 |
| Stradiots | OG | 2 |
| Mtd Crossbowmen | OG | 2 |
| Spanish Arquebusiers | Hinchliffe | 9 |
| Wars of Religion Lancers | ? | 12 |
| HYW Kts w./ Lances | OG | 10 |
| HYW Kts w/ hand weapons | OG | 19 |
| HYW command | OG | 7 |
| HYW Phalanx 1/2 HI, 1/2 MI, 4 halberd | Essex | 36 |
| Byzantine SHC | OG | 12 |
| Byzantine Generals (foot) | ? Essex | 3 |
| Revolting Peasants | OG | 4 |
The idea is to gradually survey the other locations and sort and total the troops by era and army as I expand (and hopefully, contract) the Census.
Most excellent progress on reducing the Lead Pile, my friend!
ReplyDeleteI do not have the stomach to conduct a census of my unpainted lead.
Perhaps, one day?
How did you get away with only spending $100 at BTD? For me, BTD sales are akin to shopping at Costco. I go in for one or two items and I check out owing $150-$200!
The lack of any unit painted in March wasn't such great production, but the Uhlans should be done in a few days. Then it will be Hussites and Egyptians to get ready for Historicon games in July.
DeleteIf I do a tally one sector of the storage a month I MIGHT be done with the census by the end of the year... maybe.
BTD - well, aside from throwing in a new unit of Assyrian Cavalry, which isn't needed any time soon, I just bought the Egyptians I needed to bulk up the army with more chariots, spearmen, and a few skirmishers, leaders, and heroes. BTW the last of that BTD order just arrived today (which wasn't a problem at all, I expected it to take a while). I just didn't need any more than that, and I do have all those Macedonians to paint, so I have plenty of ancients to last for quite some time (I also added 3 Old Glory Ancient general packs to the Ancient sector of the Leap Pile.
I am above budget but as my Birthday was in March technically almost half the purchases were applied against that, so I can fudge it to be close to target, heh heh.
I don't have to carry out an inventory of unpainted lead, I can work it out in less than a minute on a scap of paper. I carry the guilt round with me like Jacob Marley's ledgers :O(
ReplyDeleteLOL, Garry. Have you been visited by the Ghost of Wargames Past?
DeleteI keep it all in my head, it's probably best like that and it helps me get to sleep at night, more fun than counting sheep but still able to send me to sleep, of course I don't have the vast numbers and periods that you have and still good productivity.
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
I could perhaps try reciting my Painted units as a sleep aid, but fortunately that is seldom a problem. The unpainted lead is a lot more slippery. I have a pretty good idea overall what I have, but a firm grasp on the numbers is lacking; hence commencing the GLPC!
DeleteNice post. I admire your courage and organisation. I'm not yet ready to confront the true size of my lead mountain, and don't know if I ever will be!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Aaron
I have been pretty disciplined over the years, so my Painted lead outnumbers the unpainted by at least 10:1. or so I believe. The Truth may prove otherwise! I haven't completed the survey of all the Painted lead, even. although I have most of it tallied now. It is my Renaissance forces that are the least well accounted for, and they are substantial. I also have quite a bit of lead to add to them yet!
DeleteGreat idea counting and organizing the unpainted lead. I think it helps to see what you actually have. I just did it for my AWI collection and was a little shocked with what I had. Counting the painted figures surprised me by how much was actually done. You can lose touch when things are left in the boxes and drawers too long.
ReplyDeleteYes, exactly. The biggest reason the lead backlog has grown a bit more than it might otherwise have is the prevalence of decent sales now days, the high cost of overseas shipping... and the Old Glory Army Card!
DeleteWell done on the budget and lead mountain. I am on track...but only because that silly thing called "work" has gotten in the way.
ReplyDeleteWork is definitely what held down March painting production - not direct patient care but the seemingly endless demands for "quality assurance" data, "Meaning(less) Use", and other Govt and private insurance programs. It is soon going to need a FT employee just to do all of that, which is crazy!
DeleteI find this post interesting, as it allows some insight into someone else's lead addiction, er, hobby habits. I've managed in the last year or two to keep my lead pile down to reasonable numbers, meaning a few hundred 15mm figures. Twice this year I've completely emptied the pile! But it was quickly rebuilt again with first Wurttemburgers, then some Napoleonic Polish and Spanish. I also have a big order of 15mm fantasy on the way soon.
ReplyDeleteI won't mention that the Wurttemburgers and Poles are for Blunders on the Danube scenarios, so in a way, you're directly contributing to the growth of my lead pile (can you see the tears in my eyes?) But with shipping prices so high, you almost have to order in bulk to make the order worthwhile, meaning a couple of good sales quickly pushes you well past any limits you've set for yourself. Good luck with the rest of the census.
Glad you find it of interest. I consider myself fairly disciplined with purchasing for a wargamer. However, as I contemplated the matter, it seemed to me that I probably had rather more unpainted lead than I thought, and that taking stock of the matter was appropriate. I think we both agree that high shipping costs and sales are a contributor to lead backlog that is relatively new in the past 5 - 10 years. I'm glad that Blunders is contributing to some temporary growth of your own lead pile, and of course even better to see them turned into painted troops!
DeleteDoctor Peter.... I have a problem. It's in my garage you see.... and growing even with my best efforts with paint and brush.....
ReplyDeleteOk... Strictly 1790-1820 era unpainted collection inventory.... guaranteed to be within 10% accurate... give or take a few percentage points.
The gods at Excel .xls say:
Austria 254
Baden & Berg 0 [all painted]
Bavaria 327
Brunswick (1809 & 1815) 0 [ all painted]
Conde (French Royalist) 0
Denmark 0 [all painted]
Dutch Beligan 1814+ 0
England 839
France 1398
Hanover 0
HEIC 0
Hesse States 0
Naples 201
Northern Italian [Italian states] 0 [all painted]
Ottoman 1500 rounded up
Poland (Duchy of Warsaw) 0
Portugal 0 [all painted]
Prussia 718
Rhine States 0 [all painted]
Russia 1119
Sardinia [1814] 0 [all painted]
Saxony 0
Spain (+King Joesph and S. American) 585
Sweden 390
Swiss 0
United States 135
Westfalia +1809 Isurrection 0 [all painted]
Wurtemburg 171
Trains 100
Misc Miniatures list 166
Total unpainted Napoleonic Era Figures 7903
....then there is the 28mm ancients collections.... the Dark Ages, the medieval period, WSS anyone?, small SYW, 15mm ACW, and the vast 20mm plastic kits and plastic miniatures for WWII gaming. Pending their own special "count me" inventory.
Is it terminal Doctor Peter?
signed... the concerned rabbit.
Dear Concerned,
DeleteYou have done well to seek consultation with a wargamer/collector/physician in this grave matter. Contrary to common wargamer myth, buying more and more lead and leaving it unpainted does not guarantee immortality! our UNPAINTED Napoleonic lead easily exceeds my (large) painted collection, and we've been at it nearly the same number of decades, I believe. You have already exceeded your estimated lifetime paintings capacity. This dangerous imbalance (not to mention several violations of California's Hazardous Substances regulations) requires immediate action to avoid an untimely case of lead overload. You have fortunately provided yourself with wargaming offspring who might potentially absorb some of the excess, however in order to rehabilitate the Warren, I prescribe Acrylic Tincture of Fernando applied to at least 100 figures a month until the problem is back under control. Now pin your ears back and hop to it!
DP
Dear Doctor Peter,
DeleteTreatment plan isn't working but will try to increase production to 100/month as proscribed. Currently working, with occasional flogging, by painting 100 (10x10 units) of Hungarian Insurrection infantry for the Raab 1809 scenario at LA LAX Gamex Convention this May (Memorial Day weekend). Pulled the short straw on that one.... who paints Insurrection infantry? They will show up, stand for a moment, then flee to the safety of their storage box without a passing morale check. Otherwise that will leave a few stray Insurrection hussars to clean up and rebase for the convention.
WR always keep in mind Number 41 had it worse on the rowing bench (Ben Hur). Stale food, sweating conditions, cold nights, hard bed (bench) and no pretty pictures of napoleonic uniforms to look at.
So the 7900 napoleonic miniatures should last me 10-12 years of projected paint brush servitude [estimated lifetime painting capacity or ELPC]. I average 600-800 painted miniatures per year unless something special lights a fire and brain goes numb.
Michael aka PB Slave WR
P.S. The Napoleonic & FRW 25/28mm collection now numbers exactly 21,787 painted and based for comparison ratio of painted to unpainted.... that make me a "good rabbit... pat on head... with 73.38% of the collection painted. WR does try to keep the USA on even keel with all those rabid east coast painters/gamers and their fabulous lead collections.... including yourself.
Nation name - # of miniatures painted - and % of collection
Austria [1790, 1798 and 1809+] 3230 14.83%
Baden & Berg 191 0.88%
Bavaria 33 0.15%
Brunswick (1809 & 1815) 116 0.53%
Conde (French Royalist) 213 0.98%
Denmark 431 1.98%
Dutch Beligan 1814+ 259 1.19%
England 380 1.74%
France [Republic & Imperial] 3914 17.96%
Hanover 242 1.11%
HEIC [+1812-14 Canadian units] 415 1.90%
Hesse States 261 1.20%
Holland (Batavian Republic) 213 0.98%
Northern Italian [Republic + Minor Italian states] 692 3.18%
Ottoman 2126 9.76%
Poland 390 1.79%
Portugal 402 1.85%
Prussia [1790-1807, 1813+] 2264 10.39%
Rhine States 250 1.15%
Russia 1607 7.38%
Sardinia [1790 & 1814 eras] 419 1.92%
Saxony 542 2.49%
Spain (+King Joesph and S. American) 1169 5.37%
Sweden 231 1.06%
Swiss 37 0.17%
United States 606 2.78%
Westfalia [+1809 Isurrection] 362 1.66%
Wurttemburg [+ Kreis Regiments] 70 0.32%
Trains & Misc. Miniatures 722 3.31%
Total Painted Napoleonic Era Figures 21787 100.00%
Egads, Michael, that is one HUGE collection. Just storing it all and finding it must take a very high order of organization (and yes, I've seen your boxes sop I have an idea how that part works). At your scale of 1: 100 that equates to over 2 MILLION soldiers represented! I can only think of Dan Beattie in Virginia who claims to have a Napoleonic collection of similar size as anyone whop comes close to numbers like this. If I hadn't already met Sanath at Historicon years ago, I'd swear you WERE Fernando, LOL! Yes, you have been a very, very good bunny... here's your carrot! :-)
DeleteHungarian Insurrectio - Yep, I have some of those, which I rather enjoyed painting. Remainds me to put Raab in the que myself for a game. It was actuially on the maybe list for this year, but it got replaced by Liebertwolkitz. I do think I will do Klagemnfurt, however.
DeleteThis is a great idea Peter although I probably would run out of painting years is I tried to properly list my lead pile!
ReplyDeleteThose rawkins are very handy. I believe 1 on the Saxons is in the pipeline.
Thanks, Paul, and despite all the other references I have, I fully agree on Rawkins. I usually thinkl of my Lead Pile as being relatively under control, but the realization that it was perhaps not as much so as I believed was part of what prompted the start of the GLPC!
DeleteI was so impressed until I realised the list was just one of your draws!
ReplyDeleteYes, here's plenty more - I'd estimate 8 x as much. These are probably the longest languishing ones, though. I may actually need to paint some of the HYW Cavalry for my Hussite games, though. Aside from the British Napoleonics, which are an active project, and the 1st Corps and DTD figures that arrived last week, almost all of which will be painted in the next 3 months, the two big outstanding projects are the Eureka Tyrolian rebellion figures and the bargain basement Macedonian army I bought last year. There are plenty of loose ends in the various Napoleonic armies, plus the Old Glory Austrians I just bought, some Perry HYW amd Eureka Italian Wars Gendarmes, etc., etc. The GLPC is FAR from over, LOL!
DeleteHa ha ha! Its a great feeling when you get an army bag down to the dregs. Of course that's when I start thinking supply wagons or Guard troops.
Delete