A Brief review of 2023 and preview of 2024

 I am a bit late with this but let's move right along...

I can say with some confidence that 2023 was the year that I finally shifted my gaming gears out of neutral and got moving again across the tabletop.  Now, my gaming total was not as impressive as some, but more miniatures games were played than several of the previous years combined.  Here is the list:

        15 games of BattleTech

         4 games of Warhammer 40K 10th Ed.

         1 game of Infinity N4 

The boost that I needed occurred in the summer, when my local game store organized a 4-round BattleTech league.  The organizers made sure that I (and others in our little group) did not play against each other during the league.  This marked the first time in more years (maybe decades) than I can remember when I played a game against a total stranger.  Usually my gaming is with my sons or our little group, and playing against others was a bit of an eye-opener for me - for the better.

The games of 40K - against my sons - made me realize that I need to learn the rules better and focus my army along a different path.  The new edition of the rules seems to make large figure count forces, like my Orks, harder to play, but there are portions of the rules that I do not fully utilize which will make a difference once we get back to it.  Despite getting massacred in each game, it was fun.

Infinity is another game that I am still struggling along the learning curve.  It is quite different from 40K and other games but I think that once I figure out the basics it will be a lot of fun.

Concerning the Pile of Potential, I will admit that not much was painted in 2023.  I do not have a grand total but it was definitely less than 100 from all genres.  There were several bagsful of purchases especially for BattleTech, along with my 15mm Greeks.  However, I did make a considerable dent in the Pile by selling/trading approximately 700 figures in 2023.  A couple of projects went away, including my WW1 land forces and the last of my Tékumel fantasy figure collection.  Most of these were unpainted figures as I continue to sort through boxes of stuff.

And now for looking ahead at 2024:

A few changes from the previous posting of The Chart are evident (as marked in red above):

    40K slips down a bit as I rethink my troop choices;

    Goblins still in the top tier, especially as the new Fantasy Battle rules will launch soon - my sons and I are looking forward to them;

    BattleTech gets a big NO in the terrain department as we are finding that playing on mats is fine but terrain is best.  My oldest has started a BT terrain collection at the local store, and I have plans for my own collection;

    OGRE is warming up as there is to be one last crowd-funding campaign to start manufacturing the missing units from the current selection;

    The Greeks saw some progress, mostly in purchases as I finally acquired all of the Greeks I 'should' need;

    And Naval is getting under steam again but more on that later.

Gaming-wise I expect 2024 to continue with many games of BattleTech - my sons and I meet almost every Saturday now, since the league - but that might taper off as WFB comes about.  I have much to paint for my goblins but my oldest son's dwarves are waiting.  Warcrow will eventually ship later this year, and the solo projects might see some attention.

The Pile of Potential will continue to see reductions, but not nearly so drastic as previous years as most of the low-hanging fruit has been harvested.

Purchases in 2024 need to concentrate on terrain.  BattleTech, Warcrow, 20mm SCW, and others all need terrain.  Some figures will come in of course - I foresee a need for rank and file goblins for one - but those are secondary to terrain.

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Battletech stuff part 1 - Comstar

 Slow progress here, with work picking up tempo, holidays, and not feeling well recently.  I did get a bit done with some BattleTech figures:

Decal time for some proxy Comstar vehicles - from Death Ray Designs.  Takes a fair bit of time do apply them especially the checks, but they really make the vehicles stand out on a table.

And the decals are mostly done - I missed the checks on one of the tanks!  The mechs in the background are almost completely finished, just some basing details and varnish to go.

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Greeks, part 5

 Finally, a little bit of progress with my classical Greeks:

One stand of 15mm Spartan cavalry from Xyston.  These are on a super-size base - 80mm x 60mm - and are rated as 'Bad Horse' for Triumph.  Triumph has a few extra unit types compared to DBA; this would be Light Cavalry for DBA.  The base is not finished as I have yet to get an appropriate mat for the game, and I want to get some units painted before then.

Next element is some hoplites:

Fourteen hoplites for a Heavy Foot unit in Triumph, on a 80mm x 30mm base.  This element has a pair of the new thermoplastic figures from Plastic Soldier Company along with a dozen metal Xyston originals.

Slowly, but surely!

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SCW, part 8

 As I have not posted anything about the 20mm Spanish Civil War project for a long while, this entry is to bring myself back up to speed and to show the readers where the projects stands at the moment.

First up are some Republicans:

 

From the left:  a section of 15 infantry; infantry support - LMGs, medic, a 50mm mortar team, and platoon command with commissar; and 3 Renault FT tanks.  The infantry force organization is based on the España supplement for Chain of Command.

As one can see, they are in various stages of completion, with the front FT almost complete, just needs a bit of touch-up.  In all, close to being a useful force on the table.  Most of these miniatures are from Minairons - the tank commander is a French WW2 TC from AB Figures/Eureka Miniatures, and the kneeling/pointing trooper on the left is a kitbashed Zvezda WW2 Russian with a Minairons helmet.

And, some Nationalists:

13 infantry figures from Minairons.  Again, close to being done although I think the green might be too dark on some as these figures have yet to get a dark wash.

More vehicles were being worked on:

2 T-26s, 3 Pz-1As, 2 L3-33s, 2 UNL-35 armored cars, and 1 Ba-FAI armored car.  These are from Minairons except the L3-33s which are S-Model, and the Ba-FAI is a diecast vehicle I found on eBay and re-primed.  The sprues are WW2 Russians from Zvezda and Plastic Soldier Company that are being used for kitbashes and bits for other needs for the Minairons troops.

Out of sight is a paper ream box with plenty of other stuff, the ever-present Pile of Potential!

Not much effort is needed to get these figures ready for games.  The big obstacle is appropriate terrain, and that is on my 'Necessaries' list for later.

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The State of my Hobby, part 3

 So, where does all of this text leave me with regards to my toys?  How about a chart!

Hopefully that pic is readable.

I am going to start the periodic (and probably irregular) posting of this chart in the hope that it will keep me on course.  My hobby brain is wondrously capable of wandering off the path - which is to play games and not just think about them!

Out of all of these projects, the only one that is ticking off all of the boxes for play is BattleTech.  It has been the focus of much effort over the past 20 months or so.  Most of the others in Tier 1 just need as much concentrated effort as I put into BattleTech to become equally complete.  The exception is Warcrow, which has yet to be released.  The first miniatures, from the dungeon-crawler Kickstarter early this year, will be shipped Spring 2024, with the full tabletop game being released late Summer 2024.  Then why is it in Tier 1?  My sons are very interested and also backed the Kickstarter along with me; once the figures start to arrive they will get a lot of attention.  Also, I have a nice stash of terrain for 28mm which, when finished, will be used for Warcrow and potentially other projects.

Tier 2 is more problematic, and therefore more fluid.  My 1690 Ireland project, with very few resources here, should be lower on the list, but at the moment it is not.  I very much want to get this going, but there is a large amount of investment that has to occur first, both in purchases and thinking.  I have yet to decide on rules, and I want to have that settled first before more substantial shopping.

I am also giving more thought to naval and aviation.  Little to no terrain is needed to get started, and there are plenty of rules out there, especially for naval.  Obstacles at the moment include what era (for naval) and basing (for airplanes).  Lots to think about there, especially for naval, which can be discussed in another post!

Speaking of naval matters, I have imported all of the posts and comments from my other blog, Mini Ship Gaming, into this one.  More focus, more better, right?  

And to keep up the momentum for posting, there should be more posts about what I do play, historical or not.  In fact, I'll be getting together with my sons tomorrow; not certain about the game to be played but Warhammer 40K is likely.  Avert your eyes rross!!!

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