Why Bother?

I am not sure how many of you guys and gels are as lucky as I am to have a partner as good as mine is. Obviously I am talking hobby wise ;-) I often show Cath what I have recently painted or am part way through. I always get an interested answer and it's always honest, sometimes brutally but always honest. That is a boon in itself but it gets better as she often asks questions, questions I have sometimes failed to ask of my self. So when I was asked why I bothered to paint up the Adler Command to the level I do when I could get away with a more basic job and done so much quicker? I gave her a fairly quick and mostly accurate answer which only raised fresh questions which lead me to look closer at original answer.

So why bother? My quick answer was more or less that command figures get looked at more closely than the regiments and so benefit from the extra work. But that's only a half truth, what follows hopefully is closer to the bone.

Pride. It's a curse but I think it's the largest factor in the equation, hence it's first on the list. Why am I releasing one base at a time, after all it takes longer all told to do single basings that the nine all together. Impact is part of it, paint the lot up and show them at once they have less impact. For the challenge it's not even good use of time as they take longer to do each than any other comparable points supply but still I want to get them all done in the time frame of the challenge. It's that pride thing, it gets them seen by more painters via Curt's blog than just through mine. I get to show off a bit more and the positive comments really do mean something. So yes one of the original sins tops the list.

Fun and Challenge. These are really mixed in together too much to separate. First up these are all painted based on colour plates so should be close to the real thing. This adds to the fun as I know they look right and also to the challenge of pulling it off. I am having a ball doing these and am rather glad I choose to spread them out over a number of weeks.

Focal Points. Turns out the reason I gave first as the MAIN reason is further down the list than I would have thought at first. It still stands and is quite important. I like many other gamers put that bit more effort into command stands and as such seek out others when I look at a game. Anyway well painted commanders make the men fight better.

If the Detail is there.... Command figures seem to often get more detail added than the regular lads, first up often it's because they had more detail to be picked out. Which came first is beyond me to answer but it's the way it is. So I try and paint it, this is one reason Adler is not going to be the first choice for many regarding building an army. The sooner you need the figures the less likely you will go for these as Baccus paint up much faster. Not sure in the other scales if we have comparable examples. When Battle Honours first released their Napoleonic range I felt then that you could go for quick and easy or you bought BH.

It would irritate me. Maybe this would start as the last reason but give it time and I would rate it much higher if I did just do a basic job. I have taken a fresh look at the Baccus command figures I have done for the same army and whilst the detail was not as good I am still happy with the results as I painted them up as well as I have skill to do and that is all that matters to me right here and now.

As to the question is it worth it? I can only say it is for me. I was recently told I was doing a great job with my ASL blog but they were surprised that I was still doing it and how it was great that I was doing it for the community. My response fits now just as well as it did then, I do it more for myself than anyone else and blogging (sub in painting figures) is a self gratifying action. But I don't mind you enjoying the ride  ;-)