When I started the wargaming hobby two years ago, I had childishly thought that I would never get tired of painting miniatures. Three-hundred painted miniatures later, I was so burnt out from the hobby that I could not fathom the thought of picking up a paint brush. In any hobby, the chance of burn out is very high. You dedicate so much time and effort to your craft that at some point your brain tells you enough. There is no way to prevent it, but there are ways to get around it.
When I finally put up my brushes and paints, I decided the best thing to do was to do something else that did not involved miniatures at all. I found a lot of wargames on Steam and GOG (Good Old Games) that would whet my appetite and keep me busy while recuperating from my year long slog. Games like Ultimate General Civil War, the Warhammer 40K Dawn of War series, and Mount and Blade Warband are just a few games that I play to wind down. After a few weeks, I was back to painting my miniatures again. When painting Napoleonic miniatures started to get stale, I moved on to my fantasy miniatures from Wizkids.
Sometimes it is best to take a break from whatever type of miniature you are painting, historical, fantasy, science fiction, and move on to something else just to take a break. While we all want to build that 1200 point army to play at the next game session, there will come a time were you can’t paint another single miniature. This is why I tend to paint more than one type of miniature. Some would say this is counterproductive, and in some cases yes it is, but it will save you from total burn out. When I was getting tired of painting my 28mm French Old Guard Grenadiers, I moved on to painting 10mm American Civil War miniatures and felt much more refreshed. It is always good to try something new before going back to your previous project to keep your hobby alive.
There were times when I was struggling to get through my Napoleonics that I would pick up some game manuals and magazines and browse through them just to get some inspiration. Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy is by far my favorite magazine to crack into when I feel a lull in my enjoyment of the hobby. Other times I would just grab some history books that I have in my library and read about the time period that I am working on. I have a huge Napoleonic collection, mostly primary documents, so there is always something in there that might inspire me, like creating a short skirmish based on battle between French cavalrymen and Spanish guerilla fighters!
There will come a time when you will refuse to paint. This has happened to many people, including myself. You cannot bring yourself to pick up a paint brush, let alone look at a miniature. At this point, it is best to put it all away and leave it alone for a couple of days and enjoy other activities. Hiking, boating, gardening, play an instrument, whatever makes you happy. Treat yourself to a small vacation before returning to your hobby.
