Painting objectives 2008: first update

At the end of the year, following a lunch with Giles Allison, I rather stupidly sat down to set some objectives for what I was going to paint in 2008. I said that I had no Guildford Club driven objectives so I was free to do what I wanted. I am just going to review this first four months and see how I did.

I made a list of my priority armies as follows:
Sudan British and Beja
Great Northern War Swedes
Dark Ages Early Saxons
Ancient Greeks and Spartans

Other ones I thought I might do some work on included:
Punic War Spanish
Pulp
Back of Beyond Chinese
Lord of the Rings Gondor
WW1 East Africa
Napoleonic Quatre Bras
3rd Century Romans and Palmyrans
Caesarian Romans
Wars of the Roses mounted men at arms

What I have actually done is as follows:

Sudan British 27
Pretty good this and I was pleased to do the Gardener gun, although I wasn't expecting to do the Egyptian unit. Basically I am still scared of starting the Highlanders!

Sudan Beja 6
I need to get a lot more of these done but I do have another 10 under way at the moment.

Great Northern War 5
I would have hoped to have got more Swedes done but I do have another 6 under way now.

Dark Ages 13
I did finish the unit of Duguth but doing the 8 Byzantine archers came from nowhere!

Greeks and Spartans 0
This is my only priority category where I got no figures painted at all. I do have a couple of the Foundry Spartans well under way and these should be ready soon.

Of my lesser priority category I did the following:

Punic War Spanish 0
Oh dear. I was going to get some shield transfers at Salute, maybe if I did this would help.

Pulp 2
I did paint a couple of Artizan heroines but haven't made the progress I wanted on my Sky Pirates or Nachtjaeger.

Back of Beyond Chinese 0
I did base a couple of cavalry but no painting.

Lord of the Rings Gondor 6
I did get these done to build a Battle Company.

WW1 East Africa 0
Nothing done here. Instead I am basing up BEF figures.

Napoleonic Quatre Bras 0
I have started the last two figures I need to complete my first company of Dutch jaegers.

3rd Century Romans and Palmyrans 0
I have based a whole unit of Roman Infantry but no painting yet.

Caesarian Romans 0
The first unit is based but that is all.

Wars of the Roses mounted men at arms 0
Nothing on these and they are so complex I will probably do them one by one.

In addition to what I had planned I also painted the following:

Gladiators 3
Prompted largely, I am afraid to say, by buying one of those dodgy novels (about a girlie gladiator who gets tied up a lot) from the top shelf of a bookshop at Heathrow airport. I have a few more under way.

English Civil War 7
This finished off my Tower Hamlets trained band. I have four more to complete which would finish off my blue foot regiment too. I have started these.

Swashbuckler 1
I finished off one of Mike Owen's foundry Elizabethan sea dogs and have another nearly done.

Darkest Africa 20
I don't know why I started painting Ngoni and Ruga-Ruga but these are going to have to be promoted to a priority group I think.

So going forward for the next four months I think that my priorities will be as follows:

Sudan
I must get those cursed Highlanders done plus some more Beja. I would like to finish the next Beja rub of 60 figures plus the camel troops. I also have an Egyptian field gun to do.

Great Northern War

Musketeer Miniatures are promising Swedish cavalry and more Russians over the next few months so I need to get more of my Sweish infantry done.

Darkest Africa

I think I will get on with the Ngoni and Ruga-Ruga plus I have based some Belgains and some Zanzibari Arabs. Darkest Africa is now promoted to a priority category!

I am not going to commit to any more than this at this stage!