Hey, thanks, Dawg! And I understand your question. You're correct about figures, but with qualifications. There's less material to process, let's say, than building, oh, say, Monogram's B-29. But you can still go nuts--as I do-collecting research materials, tracking down figures, etc. And you can really go nuts--as I do--and start casting your own. I am teaching myself to sculpt, too.
Now let's talk about how you choose to finish your figure, and what you use to paint it. In my style, I can finish a figure over a couple of evenings, keeping the stock figure, and just using fast-drying enamels and acrylics. If I use oils, which I do for some things, that draws out the completion time, and I could assemble a 1/48 single engine aircraft, in the same period. But if you paint in matte style, or "connoisseur style", as we sometimes call it, you could take as long or much longer, as you might take putting together a piece of Dragon armor. So, it all depends. A lot of the figures in that photo are still in the same spot on the bench 
It's just like any other subject that I build, I'll start, get fired up, then hit a block and switch to something else for a while and come back to the first kit later.
I do use an Optivisor, have for several years. I can't focus at the close distances required to paint fine details, like I used to.
As to the chocolate stout, it's hard to say. I think they add cocoa to the mash, so it's not a sweet chocolate taste, but more like you'd get if you tasted cocoa powder. It enhances the smoky flavor you have with a stout. I've had some coffee stouts, too, that added roasted coffee beans, for the same kind of effect. I'd say it goes with chocolate cake, as well as good roasts, soups, chili. I like stouts in the winter, especially.
If you like stouts and porters, I do recommend trying a Bourbon barrel stout. That is a stout that has been aged in used Bourbon barrels. It picks up the flavor of the Bourbon, and when it's done well, it's an excellent variety. Old Dominion Brewery in Virginia was the first one I ever had; they bought used barrels from the Jack Daniel's distillery. You got the roasted malt flavors from the stout, with the oaky bourbon flavor, really excellent!
Wow! That was a lot to mull over. Pour yourself a beer and think about it 