2013 - The Year As It Might Be

2013 is here and that means it is time to ponder the year ahead.  These types of posts are pretty common in the game blog community and I rather like them.  It is chance to document where my head is at right now.  Of course, what I write here will, most likely, have little to do with what I actually do with my hobby in the coming year.

This year poses some challenges for me.  First of all, the girls are getting older and are in need of more room.  Since the economy and the housing market are in the crapper moving is not in the cards.  So we have been switching around the rooms.  No longer does Dad get the largest of the rooms as an office/hobby room.  Now I have the smallest.  This means that my killer painting desk has been moved out to the garage (it just will not fit in this small room).  I now have a small IKEA table for painting.  Just this change will greatly impact the hobby for weeks to come.

Since moving is not an option the wife and I have decided that now is the time to put some $$$ into the house as we will likely be here for quite some time.  These domestic expenditures will really cut into the fun money.

With the caveats out of the way let's jump into the meat of the matter!

Bolt Action

This game has really come on strong in the last few weeks.  It feels really good to get my 28mm figures back on the table.  Since I have been collecting an painting 28mm WW2 figures and vehicles for many years I am ready for just about anything.  First up will be to fill in the gaps in my Fallschirmjager collection.  Tim and I have talked about doing some Crete games from the Skirmish Campaign books so I am hoping we can get that going.

My friends Tim, Mike and Jerry are doing a painting challenge for Bolt Action this year.  Their progress will be posted on their blogs as well as the BoltAction.Net site. Tim and I have also talked about doing a battle report for the same site.  Stay tuned for more on this.

Flames of War

Over the last couple of years this has become my main game.  Last year was a great year for me and Flames of War and I hope to keep things going this year.  With the rise of Bolt Action things with FoW has cooled a bit bit I hope to get back into the game soon.  This game has lots of things going for it that keep me coming back.  We have a great local following for the game and many of my friends are players (though some are dropping out).  There are plenty of events (tournaments) and the availability of product local is good.

It is true that I am a little put off by some for the business practices of Battle Front.  I think their book release/production policy is a mess.  I understand that they are trying to keep the game in balance to help the players but the high frequency of new releases/re-releases make it very expensive to keep up.  The easy solution to this is I don't buy everything they release and I never buy it when it first comes out.

As for projects, the only thing I have planned is to continue my Early War French project.  I have a solid plan in place and have started to collect the HQ elements.   I would like to have this completed this year.

Black Powder

Building on the success of our first real game I plan to keep making progress on this.  I need to get my Confederate forces painted up for ACW.  I have a large collection of figures I just need to get motivated and paint them.  I also need to get the casualty figures done and come up with some other markers for disorder.  I would love to see this on the table a couple of times this year.

A few of the guys have expressed an interest in getting into Napoleonics in 28mm.  I already have a start on some French and since no one else wants to do French I will try to get some of this done this year.  If that goes well I would like to do Austrians.  All the new Victrix stuff is just amazing.

28mm Ancients

I had this on the list last year but managed to do nothing with it.  I still want to get in some games of Clash of Empires and Hail Caesar.  I did start to reconfigure my WAB Saxons for these games and I would like to finish that up and get these games on the table.  If things take off with either of these I would be very tempted to do a plastic Greek army...

Warhammer 40K

This is the game that will not go away and I am OK with that.  I have no plans for any new projects but I am sure I will continue to paint my collection of Orks and Catachans.  It would take an amazing release by GW to get me to spend any money.  I am sure I will get in several games in the coming year.

Other Games

I am interested to see where Rick Preistley's new project, Beyond the Gates of Antares goes.  I think many of my friends are really looking for a new and fresh sci-fi game and maybe this one will get some interest going.  Time will tell.

While I have no specific plans many of the old stand by games are still on the radar.  This year might see some old west gaming and maybe even some LOTR (or The Hobbit:SBG if I can find a used copy).  I would still like to do some WWI gaming but this would require a new figure collection and I just don't think the funds will be there.

Other Hobbies

Since this blog is devoted to my miniature painting and gaming hobby I almost never mention other things I am into.  Many of these other interests have been ignored for a long time and some of them may get more attention this year.

1. Comic Book Collection - I first collected comics as a kid in the 70's.  My brother and I have lots of cool comic books (his were cooler because he had a job and could afford to go the the comic book store and buy even cooler stuff).  In the early 80's my bother went off to the Navy and I went to high school.  Like a fool I sold off my collection to another kid (who got a smokin' deal) and never thought about them again.  In 2009 I jumped back into collecting for about 9 months (curse you Dark Reign!) and things got a little crazy for a while.  Then for my birthday this year my brother sent me his collection from when we were kids.  It was amazing!  Now the fire is back stronger than ever.
2. Guitars - For many years in the 80's and 90's this was my main hobby.  I have a collection of 4 Ibanez electric guitars and I used to have a killer amp rig (the amp was stolen several years ago).  For a long time I have wanted to get back into playing.  I really kick myself for not working harder at this when I was younger.  I have never called myself a guitar player but rather someone that plays with guitars.  I would like to play.
3. Drawing - About the time I rediscovered comics I got into drawing.  For about a year I was really into art and even took some art classes.  I even have a sketch blog!  But for some reason I just stopped.  It would be nice to find time to dome some this again.
4. Shooting - This is another hobby I used to really be into but has been on the back burner for years and years.  In 2012 I finally purchased my first handgun and I have been slowly been getting back into the hobby.  While I don't plan to buy anymore guns I would like to get lots more trigger time this year.
5. Jeepin - I love my Jeep!  This year will mark 2 years with the Jeep and I look forward to getting out on more tails than ever this year.
6. The Great Outdoors - I live in one of the greatest places on Earth for enjoying the outdoors - Arizona.  I love hiking, camping and fishing.  I want to do more of these things this year.

Well, there you have it.  Another glimpse into the acrylic ball in a misguided attempt to foretell the future.  It should be a good year.

Figures painted:

28mm WW2 - 45
28mm ACW - 24
LOTR - 4 (1 Chariot, 1 mounted)
Flames of War - 79 (1 aircraft, 8 tanks, 4 guns)
40K - 63 (1 Battlewagon, 1 Valkyrie, 1 Dakkajet, 5 Deffkoptas)

Total - 222

Game Record:

40K 0-5-0
LOTR 4-5-1
FOW 18-11-3
Bolt Action 5-1-0