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After my failure to make it all the way to Hobby Streak Day 1000, I am proud to now be back up to Day 100. And this hobby streak report is a little different than some of the recent ones. Here I undertook a project for the holidays, as well as started playing a couple of new games.

Okay, so the first ones are not for a new game, but for a favorite game that I haven’t played in over a year. I have dusted off Aeronautica Imperialis, one of the best-reviewed wargames on this site, and have been painting some Orks. These are the Fighta Bommerz. I’m quite pleased with the flame effects. I just generally love Aeronautica Imperialis miniatures.

For that matter, I really love working on this small scale. These are going to be (I think) the same scale as the new Epic Horus Heresy game, which makes me think I’m going to like that thing quite a bit, too. I love Flames of War tanks for the same reason. Something about this small scale on a relatively normal-sized miniature is so much fun. (What I mean by that is I like this small scale, but only when it scales something BIG down into something about the same size as the average 32mm model. I DON’T like 10mm infantry, because it’s just way too small and it hurts my brain.) (And yes, I know there are infantry in the new Epic Horus Heresy. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

The Dakkka Jets didn’t turn out quite as well, but I’ve never been good at painting checkerboards. Even so, they’re fun to paint. One thing I think I like about this scale is that a minimal amount of effort–especially drybrushing and washes–can work wonders. It’s very rewarding because the payoff is greater than the investment.

But that’s not the only models I’ve been painting at a small scale. I’ve also taken a dip into Dystopian Wars, with the Hunt for the Prometheus starter set. At this point I haven’t played the game, but I really love the aesthetic of these ships. They’re steampunk but I feel like they also are spiritual kin to Battlefleet Gothic. And, if Armada, Black Seas, and Victory at Sea are anything to go by, I’ll really fall in love with this naval game.

Like I said, I haven’t played the game yet, so I don’t know what this ship does, but it’s got five pods where it keeps some kind of whales? I don’t understand it, but I look forward to learning more.

And the Control Ship from the other side of the fight. They are similar in style, but unique enough to be very entertaining. And, like with Aeronautica Imperialis, they’re very rewarding when painting them. (Though now that I’m looking at that photo there’s an appalling tide mark from a wash toward the bow.)

And, finally, a project that I’ve been working on just for fun: I got the new Command Squad and decided to turn it into a series of Christmas ornaments. So these Warhammer Christmas ornaments contain (so far) a Space Wolf, a Blood Angel, and an Iron Hands. The bubbles come from the craft store where you can pick them up very cheap. And the interior is just sculptamold, flocking and trees.

This one didn’t turn out as well because the Iron Hands armor kind of blends into the darkness of the trees. I’d like to say that it looks better in person, but this was the first one I did and the sculptamold hadn’t fully dried when I sealed the ball, and a humid condensation has appeared on the inside of the ball. So it looks pretty awful.

The simplest of the bunch, this Blood Angel is just standing on a grassy knoll. I’m not sure if he’s my favorite. I still have the Imperial Fist to paint (he’s got the heavy bolter) but the Space Marine with the banner seems slightly too tall to fit inside one of these baubles, so I might not actually get the full Command Squad.