A momentous decision

About a couple of month ago, I had an epiphany.

I was looking at my Marlburian miniatures, feeling not too happy about the basing, nor about my painting, or lack thereof... I looked at the pile of well-ordered units waiting to be painted on my workbench. I quickly thought of how much time it would take me to add just one or two new units to the current roster. And all the sudden, I had to ask myself the question: what is my hobby? Is it my hobby primarily painting miniatures? Or it is about playing battles with them? Until a couple of years ago, my answer would have been a resolute "Both!" but what about now? I am at the stage of my life in which time has become the scarcest of the resources. Back in the days, I was not bothered by projects that would require one, or two years of painting units before one single die could be rolled on the tabletop. But now? Those one or two years have become three, or four, or who knows how many. Painting in any significant batch of time has become nearly impossible, and you don't make much progress with twenty minutes here, and twenty minutes there.

In that moment, I realized it was time for a decision. Either I make painting my primary hobby, and I postpone for good any hope to fight a battle any time soon, or I focus on the gaming side of the hobby, which may require... somebody else to do my painting.

OK, I said it. Until a few years ago, this was anathema to me. But now my disposable time has evaporated, and it might be time to reassess how I do things. My good friends Peter "Gonsalvo" and Bob Jones, of "Piquet" and now "Zouave" fame, have been recommending the outsourcing of painting for a long time. I think the moment has come for me to follow the lead of these wise men. As of July 2010, the decision is taken: I am back to miniature wargaming. And a large package is about to be shipped to Fernando in Sri Lanka to get the proverbial job done.

I feel I am about to enter a new era of appreciation and enjoyment of my hobby.

I am back!

Well, it has been a while since my last update, wasn't it?

You may imagine DestoFante leisurely reclined next to a pool, or on a beach, with a frozen margarita in one hand, and the latest issues of the Battlegames magazine is the other, maybe only partially distracted by a couple of beauties sunbathing nearby (that's usually when Mrs. DestoFante's slap brings me back to reality...)

And you couldn't be any farther from the truth. In fact, the last 60 days have been busy. Really busy. On the personal front: the DestoFante family bought a new home in May, went to closing in June, did the remodeling in July, and we are now ready to move next week! The job has kept me busy, too, with travels through the Midwest and the East Coast. The good news is -- because of a meeting in Philadelphia, I was able to be at Historicon, although for just one day and half! I will provide my personal report from the convention in the next few days.

But, most importantly: I am getting into a new period. The war of Austrian Succession/Seven Years War. This sounds like a momentous decision, but it is not: it is the result of a couple of years of pondering (read what I wrote back in 2008, here and here) and some conclusions reached over the last couple of months. The explanation of which will take the next post.

For the time being -- I am back!