2015 Retrospective, 2016 Intentions

Looking Back

'tis the end of the year, and therefore time for a little navel-gazing. It's been a year with some ups and downs in my personal hobby universe. But mostly ups.

Could have been better...

I didn't finish, really, any personal projects save one. This has more to do with continuing to pick up new figures for unfinished projects, not to mention picking up new projects.

My sportsmanship at a few events could have been better. I need to remember not to take this thing too seriously. Also, need to avoid things that make me grouchy at events: lots of ambient noise, not enough sleep, low blood sugar, arguments over trivial matters...

I started too many projects, including a few that I gave up on rather quickly - but not quickly enough to save me some cash. Examples include Star Wars Armada, Star Trek Attack Wing, and my Circle Orboros force.

Speaking of cash... I really spent too much on hobby every month.

Could go either way...

Well, I gave up on competitive Warmachine play. I still want to win, but I recognized that I don't have the time or energy to really compete with the top players in the local meta.

Likewise, I gave up on 15mm Flames of War, for a couple reasons, but chiefly out of irritation with the continuing cycle of releases from Battlefront, and the way competitive FoW play works. I can't say I've seen anything from Battlefront since that's made me regret this decision.

I discovered I don't really like list building. This is enlightening, and also a little annoying.

The monthly historical miniatures game day I've been trying to get going at Guardian Games hasn't really taken off. The days that went well - with attendees, interesting games, and so on - were much fun, but they were somewhat outnumbered by the days where no one showed up and I spent five hours by myself in the bar.

... but this was pretty good!

But on the other hand, there was more good than bad in the past year.

I really got into Saga, which I enjoy, and the sole personal project I really finished - as in I have no unpainted models and it's a complete playable force - is my Crusaders army for Crescent & Cross. And I finally won an event, the Saga tournament a couple weeks ago.

Even though I turned back to Skorne in December, I did have a good bit of fun with my Circle Orboros, especially the painting side. It was a nice palate cleanser, and I don't regret it at all. Plus I'll be able to use the furry dudes in Dragon Rampant or Song of Blades & Heroes!

Both conventions I attended - Enfilade and Lock & Load - were loads of fun. Really looking forward to Enfilade next year; not sure I can swing Lock & Load in terms of budget...

After dropping the idea of competitive play, and dabbling in Circle, I'm really enjoying playing Warmachine with my Skorne army again. Also, it's mostly painted. Just a dozen or so models to go...

I managed to get a few historical game events in - a few Waterloo battles and a few others. Each one was without exception quite a lot of fun.

I painted a lot. Even though at least half of it was commission stuff, that's plenty of practice. I'm pretty happy with my painting skills right now, but I can still see places to improve. It's a nice position to be in.

I seriously winnowed down my collection of unpainted and/or unplayed toys through some ruthless purges over the course of the year. This freed a fair bit of basement space, not to mention room on the painting queue. It also lets me focus on just a few games in terms of actually playing.

Looking Forward

If 2015 was good, I hope 2016 will be better (though I'm not counting on it). I have certain intentions, but experience has taught me not to make resolutions.

First is my Skorne army - as I said, only a dozen or so models left to paint. (Plus quite a few that are neither essential nor even competitive, but will be fun to paint when I get around to them.

After that are a number of projects that I'm defining as "playsets" - that is, two or more opposing forces plus the terrain and table for them, so I can have a complete game for demos or what have you. In likely order of completion, they are:

• 12th Century Holy Land, in 28mm - for Saga and Lion Rampant. I have the Crusaders already, the Saracens are on their way, and the terrain is in progress. I'll probably grab a desert mat from Cigar Box to complete the set.
• Europe, 1944, in 15mm - for platoon level WW2 games such as Bolt Action and Troops, Weapons & Tactics. I have all the figures I need, but not much in the way of terrain. The terrain from this will overlap quite a bit with some of the other playsets.
• The Battle of Magnesia, 190 BC - Probably for Hail Caesar, but really I just want to build something I can use to mess around with ancients rules. I have most of the Seleucids already painted, still need to pick up the Romans, and the terrain needs are few.
• Napoleonics in 6mm. After Enfilade, I said I'd decided against 6mm for horse and musket. I changed my mind after encountering a very good deal on a lot of figures, which I hope to finish buying next month and then rebase for... well. Not sure yet. But I'm going to be trying out Blucher and Black Powder for certain.
• The Neo-Spartan Revolt, 15mm - some sci-fi skirmish with a variety of figures. A militaristic state fighting a servile war on a colony world at the same time as a xeno infestation erupts. This is a long-burning project that I'd like to get done this year, but it's very low priority. I do have a good bit of terrain for it already, though.

Outside of the playsets and the Skorne army, I'm thinking about a few other things. I'd like to stay in the black on hobby expenditures, paying for them with my commission painting. I did not do well on this in 2015; try harder next year...

I'm definitely planning on hitting Enfilade 2016. I'd like to run a game for it, but I don't think I can get enough done in five months to really pull it off and enjoy the process. I can start planning for Enfilade 2017, though. Other conventions I'd like to attend, but haven't committed to are Gamestorm (in Vancouver, WA) and Lock & Load, as well as Trumpeter Salute in BC and Fix Bayonet and Tactical Solutions in Washington. Most of that boils down to being able to swing a hotel room and the travel...

I'd like to finally get a handle on airbrushing. That might involve getting a new airbrush, and will definitely involve putting in some serious practice on models I don't care too much about, something that's eluded me so far.

I want to get in more historicals gaming in 2016 than in prior years. That might mean cutting some Warmachine from the play schedule, but that's already been happening anyway... It might also mean badgering certain interested onlookers into actually playing instead of just making noises about it. Getting some of the above playsets completed will be a great help on this score.

Finally, I really want to make the historical games days work. I'm looking at some changes to the format to help this happen, but in the end this depends on the community - I can't very well force people to attend. So, here's hoping.