The curtain falls on 2024. Join me as I take a look back at the hobby year that was. Here is my recap for 2024, including a gallery of all my painted models (Aeldari, Skaven, Death & lots of terrain), my goals for 2025, and a personal summary.

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Mosaic of various Warhammer models painted by Stahly, recap of 2024

Looking back, 2024 was fantastic. While I wish I’d painted more miniatures (see below), I’ve had a lot of other great experiences. My YouTube channel has grown nicely, and so has my library of hand-painted color swatches thanks to your support on Patreon. I’ve been able to spend some quality gaming time with Garfy (and Dunk), went on a (real) rollercoaster with Juan Hidalgo, and met up with lots of my partners and fellow content creators and painters at Spiel in Essen. Games Workshop had some cool releases, of course, I’ve been testing out tons of new miniature paints, and Space Marine 2 was a blast.

Here are all the models I painted this year.

My painted models of 2024

January to March

Age of Darkness Horus Heresy Blood Angel in MkVI armour, painted by Stahly
Front view of Sekhar, Fang of Nuhlamia painted by Stahly
Blades of Khaine Ulthwé Kill Team painted by Stahly

In January, I wrapped up my Tyranid Warriors from December 2023 (sadly, they’re no longer playable and became just NPCs in the latest edition of Kill Team). After that, I started on a Blood Angel, which I painted for a tutorial. I also got around to painting two Striking Scorpions (I already had the Scorpions, Banshees, and Dire Avengers from my Blades of Khaine Kill Team). Finally, I painted one of my favourite miniatures of recent times: Sekhar, Fang of Nuhlamia.

Note: Some of the models in this recap have been kindly provided by Games Workshop Ltd.

April to June

Death Korps of Krieg medic painted with Vallejo Model Color
Horus Heresy era Ultramarine in MkIII armour, painted with AK 3rd Gen paints
Sister Tariana Palos painted in the colours of The Order of the Golden Light by Stahly, front view

In the second quarter, I painted a few demo models for my reviews of the AK 3rd Gen and Vallejo Model Color ranges, an Ultramarine, and a Death Korps soldier. I also painted Sister Tariana Palos; you can find a free tutorial for her here. But mostly, I was working on the first half of my Kill Team: Gallowdark terrain. Next year I really need to finish the second half, and the Volkus terrain is still waiting for me too!

Space Hulk corridor elements from Kill Team: Into the Dark
Space Hulk corridor elements from Kill Team: Into the Dark
Space Hulk corridor elements from Kill Team: Into the Dark
Space Hulk corridor elements from Kill Team: Into the Dark
Kill Team: Into the Dark Gallowdark Space Hulk terrain painted by Stahly

July to September

Vargskyr from Warhammer Quest: Cursed City, front view, painted by Stahly
Sons of Horus Horus Ascended WIP image 2
3 Skaven Clanrats from Skaventide painted by Stahly, front

In early summer, I visited Garfy and Dunk in London, and for our Warcry multiplayer game, I needed some muscle for my Soulblight Gravelords warbard, so I painted up a Vargskyr. I also started work on Horus Ascended but had to put him on hold for the Skaventide launch. Instead, I painted some Clanrats for another free tutorial.

October to December

A Warcry gaming board with a chaotic, lava theme filled with Azyrite Ruins terrain pieces, on which Vampire Counts fight against Skaven Clanrats

Having caught the Warcry bug, I finally decided to tackle the terrain from the core box, and so I painted up a whole game board full of scenery. Alongside that, I started the Teratic Cohort of the Ossiarch Bonereapers and, in collaboration with the sculptor Elfhead, designed and painted my own miniature (you can find out more about that here). I also finished Horus towards the end of the year. I don’t have a picture of the completed model yet, as I need to make a few repairs, but here’s a sneak peek at the back.

The front of Stahly's own custom Eldar / Aeldari miniature on a pink background
WIP shot of the backside of the Horus Ascended model on a black background, painted by Stahly
Teratic Prowlers from the Teratic Cohort Ossiarch Bonereaper Warcry warband, painted by Stahly front

All in all, I painted 54 models, but only 17 were ‘regular’ miniatures. The rest was scenery, so it was a very terrain-heavy year. But I managed to paint a complete Warcry game board and half of the Gallowdark box, so that‘s something. I think next year could also be a big year for terrain, as I still need to paint the second half of Gallowdark and the Killzone Volkus.

I’m particularly proud of Horus, of course. Forge World Primarchs are incredibly complex models, and Horus alone took me almost three months to complete, but it was worth it – the pictures will follow here on Tale of Painters in the next few weeks.

2024 in content

Aside from painting (which I feel I have less and less time for with all the stuff I put out) I’ve also managed to get quite a bit published. I wrote 47 reviews (almost one per week!), meaning we’ve covered pretty much all the major Games Workshop and miniature paint releases here on Tale of Painters. I also uploaded 11 videos on my YouTube channel and reached 20,000 subscribers. This is in line with my goal of releasing about one video per month.

Stahly's 7 hand-painted swatches Patreon banner

I’ve also expanded my popular hand-painted paint swatches to now cover the 7 most popular ranges (Citadel, Warpaints Fanatic, Vallejo Game & Model Color, AK 3rd Gen, and Two Thin Coats). Thanks to your support on Patreon, next year I’ll be creating a big interactive 7-in-1 document and adding more paint ranges, as well as updating the existing swatches.

My hobby resolutions for 2025

For a few years now, I haven’t set any specific goals for my hobbies in the coming year. Overall, I want to continue my workload at the same level. As mentioned above, I’d love to finish the second half of the Gallowdark terrain and ideally also Killzone Volkus. I’d like to paint more Sons of Horus and Skaven, including at least one larger, more complex model, but the new Eldar that have been announced are also tempting. Either way, it’s going to be exciting.

Have a great rest of the year, and if you would like to share YOUR hobby output from 2024, head over to our Tale of Painters Discord channel, I’d love to have a look at your painting endeavours. Thanks a lot, and happy hobbying!

Find my recap of 2023 here, 2022 here, 2021 here, 2020 here, 2019 here, 2018 here, 2017 here, 2016 here, 2015 here, 2014 here, 2013 here, and of 2012 here.