MAAS ( Miniatures Addiction Acquisition Syndrome) or The Lead Mountain and what I had to do

A recurring subject for discussion among wargamers is "The Lead Mountain". You know that never diminishing pile of unpainted figures that grows ever larger with each new project.  For some it's a source of pride for others a source of anguish.  

I used to have a lead mountain. Actually it was a large box full of Flames of War and Warmachine and other things I can't now remember that sat in the loft. It bothered me. I don't really know why as they didn't need feeding or caring for and weren't doing any harm. I think it may have been some strange conscience thing going on where I felt I couldn't buy any more without finishing what I had.  And  there's always something shinier and more interesting out there isn't there?   There was also an element of almost fear in wondering where I was going to get the time to paint all that stuff.

That was a long time ago. I sorted out the stuff that I really wanted to do from the stuff that would have been nice to do with unlimited time and inclination.  The latter category items went onto eBay or to a bring & buy at a local show, and I got some money back and haven't given them much thought since (apart from that 25pdr platoon perhaps). The rest of it I got on with and have added to my collection.  And from that point I stopped buying so much on a whim.

For those few (and I mean FEW) that have read any of the posts of this blog you'll know that I flit from one period/project to the next. I can't help it.  Awful species that we are, we seem to have been killing each other from day one and there's been numerous conflicts to research.  But I have realised I don't have enough time or space or money to do everything. Therefore, over the years I've learnt to be far more discerning and questioning over what I buy. 

Now when I see something shiny or read something interesting and I go into new project mode I ask myself these questions:

  1. What exactly interests me about this conflict?
  2. Does it give me anything different to projects I'm already doing or have done?
  3. Can I use anything from my existing collection?

These help to keep my case of MAAS ( Miniatures Addiction Acquisition Syndrome) at bay so that I can ask more questions and logically work through whether I REALLY want to do the project.  Sometimes I've researched a project to the point of having the items in an online shopping basket and about to press buy and then stopped.  I don't consider this a waste of time as I enjoy the research side (it's all history and knowledge) and I like looking at new figure ranges, terrain,  rules etc.  What would be a bigger waste of time and also money would be to buy stuff WITHOUT doing all the research and then deciding it wasn't for me. 

The three questions also help to inform how I can approach a project and in particular what scale to use. For example, if the answer to question one is "I like the uniforms", then there's little point in collecting this in anything less than 15mm as you can't see them that well.  If the answer to question 3 is "yes" then this also has a deciding factor as to what scale to use. 

Please don't think I'm being smug about this. It's just the way I've adapted to keep things under control.  And there are the odd moments where I've missed not having a big box of stuff to delve into.  But I'm happier buying small amounts that I know will get done in the near or at least foreseeable future. 

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