So, Defiance showed up last week, and I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve noodled up a plan to get it painted (skip the CA models I’ve already got painted, focus on closing the gap on the models in the core box, don’t get overwhelmed by all the extra models).

I’m having a hard time finding any motivation to actually start on them, though. Instead, I’ve been wrapping up Aeronautica Imperialis models and finding more Skaven to paint up on round bases.

The fact is: although I’ve painted an almost record amount of stuff this year… effectively none of it has been Infinity. I’ve painted 5 Rodoks and an Anathematic (which was for someone else, a pre-‘Rona commitment)… in a period in which I’ve painted literally over 300 other models. I love Infinity.

Meanwhile, games I’ve painted for: 40K, Age of Sigmar, Necromunda, and Saga. 40K is not what I want out of a game any more: simplistic where I want complexity, complex where I want simplicity. Age of Sigmar’s gotten a lot better since it’s initial release and although my experience with it is extremely shallow, I feel like it’s probably the better game than 40K at this point. Necromunda… how many gangs do I need for it? Probably not three. What is it going to give me from a gameplay perspective that Infinity gives me? Nothing. I haven’t played Saga 2E, but after an initial honeymoon with 1E I quickly soured on it. I’m not going play any of these games.

What’s happening here is, I think, pretty clear to me. I love Infinity, but so much of that is bound up with the community around the game and traveling to play it. COVID-19 ruined, as it has so many other things, a year of Infinity travel for me. A month after the isolation hit, I was supposed to be in Albuquerque for Rumble. 2 months after that: Ohio and Ruckus. 2 months NOVA Open. 3 months Brawl.

I’d just finished painting up a bunch of new models, didn’t get to use them, and that’s just put me in a funk about the game. Instead I’m just painting these other models.

Not sure where I’m going with this; mostly just musing. If this funk about a game I love is the worst fallout I catch as part of this pandemic, great. That I’m painting models I enjoy painting is hardly a problem.

I hope all of you are happy and healthy.