I personally think part of your goal should be entering a mini at GenCon this year because I bet you could place for sure it not win outright.
I'm mightily tempted by this 100 minis challenge. If I paint my Saga army and my SoB cores alone, that would almost cover it right there - I could paint a few other outstanding warcasters/solos and be done. Hmm. It actually sounds really doable.