2018 Hobby Reset

2017 was a different year for me regarding this hobby.  I played a lot of different games (21 different systems/rules!), drifting away from some previously regular games, namely Flames of War and Team Yankee, discovering new games like Battlegroup, and re-discovering some old favorites like Warhammer 40k. I divested myself of some projects and started new ones like I have always done in the past as my interests ebb and flow.  That said, about half-way through the year I started to think a lot about the hobby and realized that following my mantra of doing what makes me happy isn’t enough; doing that just led me to a point of having too many games & projects. 

So 2018 is going to be a “hobby reset” for me.  I am going to focus on completing projects for games I want to play with my friends, and not just working on a million things and never accomplishing anything.  I also want to stick to certain games so I can play them more frequently and be more versed in the rules when I do play instead of having to constantly look things up when I only play a set of rules once or twice a year.  This is where I think I am heading:

World War II – When Flames of War 4^th Edition was announced I was immediately concerned that the rules would be changed to the point of the game being awful like so often seems to happen with new editions.  Surprisingly, I was good with the rule changes and streamlining; yes, there are things that could be better (morale for large units for one) and they certainly could have closed some holes and inconsistencies with the EW/LW and MW periods being different, but overall the rules aren’t awful.  What stinks though is their new release/army book/list model.  I hate it.  What worked for Team Yankee because people didn’t have existing collections, doesn’t work for FOW in my opinion.  Battlefront has lost me with their new business model.  FOW doesn’t seem to get played much locally.  I have invested in several of the Battlegroup books and the few games I have played have been good fun.  In the past I would have divested my collection, but I don’t think I will be doing that at this point…I will continue to play 15mm WWII using FOW V3 (preferred) or V4 (if someone asks me) and Battlegroup.  I will not be adding new armies to this collection, but I may add some odds and ends to my collection so I can try some things in Battlegroup which aren’t prevalent in FOW (resupply, vehicle recovery, wire teams, etc.)

In 28mm I want to play more Bolt Action.  I have Italian Paras done and am working on Japanese SNLF and British for Europe, as well as acquiring figures for Soviet and German forces.  Like with FOW, Bolt Action has a new edition out which makes some changes that may or may not improve the game, but I don’t care.  I am fine with sticking with 1^st edition, as do my regular opponents for the game. 

World War I & Arab-Israeli Wars – These two periods are fine using FOW V3, and though there will be new books out for them according to Battlefront, I am good with using what has already been released.  I am looking forward to see how they handle the 1973 war though.  My Israelis are set; I got rid of my Jordanians, but have a complete unpainted 1967 Egyptian force that I need to get motivated to do.  And for WWI, my French and Germans are complete.

40k – 2017 was a great year for 40k for me.  A game I completely got out of after it went to 6^th edition pulled me back in.  Look simple rules…look an index that covers armies that I can use against friends…look, no eliminated troop types (HINT – BATTLEFRONT for future reference, this is a plus for existing gamers!).  I started collecting a Marine force, changed it out for another Marine force, purchased/traded for various Imperial Guard troops and Eldar, and repurchased my old 5^th edition Grey Knights!  Seems like a lot, and I did go a bit overboard, but I have settled on having 3 forces for the game – Grey Knights, Guard and Eldar.  I also played some Shadow War and had fun; I will likely build some specific forces for that game.  I just wish that the new Necromunda was the same system instead of being yet another slightly different ruleset as I like those figures too; maybe they will come out with a crossover?

Ancients & Medievals – This period is going to be my most diverse.  In 28mm I have several forces for SAGA and I am acquiring more figures to combine with these to be able to play larger games like Hail Caesar, Kings of War & Impetus.  Yes, I had a large 28mm collection that I got rid of when WAB died…that was a mistake.  I am not going to build several armies in 28mm, but rather will do one for the Dark Ages and one for the Classical Period…and maybe the Hundred Years War too.  SAGA is also coming out with a 2^nd edition in 2018, and I will see what that brings.

I am also committed to my own project of doing some 10mm armies for the ancient & medieval periods; these will be armies that I can use for Hail Caesar, Impetus, etc. and have a different look to them.  This is one of two projects I am keeping that are really for me; I have no expectations of anyone contributing to these games other than playing in them when I get around to it.

Fantasy – I had big plans for fantasy gaming but realized that was one too many things to be doing entire armies for, so instead I will be doing smaller fantasy forces to supplement my 28mm historical armies.  So maybe some bear riders to go with my 28mm Dark Age army, and some beast/herd allies to go with Romans or Numidians.  Doing a smaller force and combining with historical armies lets me double-dip and removes some stress that I had placed on myself.  I have also considered relooking at Frostgrave as a few of my friends are playing it and seem to enjoy it.

CAV – I will do a small force for this game too eventually.  It’s fun, plain and simple.

Black Powder/Pike & Shotte – I am currently completely out of these periods, though I like them a lot.  This is probably my longest term project on the list…this is something I would love to do in 10mm.  Only time will tell if I have the ambition to do it.

2018 Goal – So what will 2018 bring for me?  First off I am going to rework, repaint, rebase as needed the 40k Grey Knight and Imperial Guard I have.  Then I am going to finish off the 28mm British & Japanese for Bolt Action.  That will be followed by rebasing & reworking my 28mm Dark Ages figures and painting a bunch more to field an army for Hail Caesar, etc.  After that, I have no idea other than it being one of the things I have touched on above.

I am also going to stop tracking the hours I spend on this hobby...it doesn’t matter and just added unwanted stress on myself.  I will keep tracking figures finished and games played…and who knows how often I will update this as blogs seem to be fading in favor of Facebook groups which I have mixed feelings about.

Enough of my rambling…happy 2018 everyone!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead - 2016/2017 Edition

As I sit down to do my annual review of the state of my gaming hobby, I can only wonder where 2016 has gone so quickly.  Seems like it was just the summer and now 2017 is tomorrow.  That's life I guess...time flies when you are having fun so they say.

On the plus side for 2016 I actually had more painting time this year than last, though my production wasn't as good.  I chalk that up to all of the 15mm WW2 Soviet tanks and Team Yankee West German vehicles that needed cleaning and assembly.  The West Germans had a lot of plastics which I never really worked with so that took a bit of extra time for me to figure out how to best assemble them.  I am pleased that I finished the Soviet armor and Team Yankee Germans (still have to finish basing the infantry, but I'll get that done in the next few days...and update at that time..they will be done for Shifting Sands!).  It is always good to have something "complete".

I enter 2017 with a few things on my "to do" list:  a 28mm Mantic Ogre army which I have all assembled and primed, some 15mm terrain additions for my Team Yankee table, and to finish up a couple of 10mm ancients armies so I can begin using them.  The terrain additions will be done in a week or so.  The Ogres in a couple of months hopefully.  I will work on the 10mm ancients in between doing other things, plus I want to work on putting together a multi-player set of rules to use them.  There are a lot of good rules out there, and I know that no rules are perfect as we all have our own biases, but it always seems that a good multi-player set is the hardest thing to come by.  We'll see what happens with that effort...worst case, I stick with other rules, warts and all.

After those 3 things, I have plenty of other projects to chose from:  28mm WW2 Japanese SNLF, 28mm WW2 British, 15mm Flames of War Japanese, a 6 point SAGA Rus Princes force, 15mm Poles and Transylvanians for By Fire and Sword, more 10mm ancients, and some other 28mm Fantasy forces.  We'll just see what I'm in the mood to do.  I know I'll finish up a few of these projects in 2017, I'm just not sure which ones will call to me to be worked on at this point.

I thought I played more games in 2016 than I actually did; it turns out that I played a wider range of games in 2016 than I did in 2015, but the total number of games was less.  This is something I hope to improve upon in 2017.  As for what I'll play in 2017, Team Yankee is a definite, as will be Kings of War and the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Mummy's Mask...I already have games lined up for these in January.  After that we'll see.

I hope to get in more WW2 gaming and ancients gaming in 2017.  All of the buzz recently has been about Version 4 of Flames of War and what impact the major rules overall will have on game play.  I'm taking a wait and see attitude at this point because there is just a lot of speculation and rumor and assumption going on at this point; I will pass judgement once I have the new rules, read them, and a couple of games under my belt.  Just in case they don't catch on with the guys I game with, I am prepared to stick to V3 or look into other games.   I am especially concerned about what will happen to WWI, the Pacific and Arab-Israeli as I have 2 armies for 2 of those periods and have invested in a Japanese army...yet Battlefront  has only said what they have planned for Early War and Late War, but have remained silent about these 3 periods.  I'd like to get in some more Bolt Action games too; I have the 2nd edition rules, but haven't read or played them yet...I hope to in 2017.

As for new projects in 2017...I'm not sure at this point either.  The only thing on my radar at the moment will likely be a Warsaw Pact force for Team Yankee.  I'm not sure if I'll do Soviets or use the upcoming East German book as a basis for a Polish force.  With Plastic Soldier Company announcing plastic T55s (5 for just over $30), that becomes a viable option as 5 Battlefront resin T55s is over $70.  Other than that I will just likely acquire some bits and pieces for the Kings of War fantasy armies I'd like to do...but knowing me, there will likely be at least one project I jump into that I currently have no plans for.

So to sum it up, 2016 was a pretty good year...I wish I could have gotten in more game, but that, along with completing a couple of more projects, is something to tackle in 2017.

Happy New Year!

10mm Black Powder

I have been busy with a few things lately.  One of which is the decision to purge my 28mm ACW collection.  The reasons for this are many, but it basically boils down to doing what makes me happy.  I originally thought I would just replace my 28's with 10's as that is the scale I want to use for Black Powder.  I purchased a few packs of Old Glory 10mm and painted up a few units.  One is a standard sized unit for Black Powder and the other would be a small sized unit.  These were a breeze to paint and look better from a distance which is the way it should be...10mm is for a massed look, and too much detail actually gets lost too close up.

My gaming friends are sticking with 28mm for Black Powder and are doing ACW and Napoleonics.  I don't want to duplicate their efforts initially, so I need to figure out a different period that I can do both sides for so they don't have to worry about it and I can be able to host games on my own.  I'm looking at the Crimean War, the American War of Independence, the Franco-Prussian War (and others during that timeframe), and the Sudan.  I'm not sure what I will end up doing...

10mm For Gaming Ancients & Medievals - A New Start

When I first started gaming ancients & medievals, I used 15mm because that's what the group of guys that introduced me to DBx were using.  I later migrated fully to 28mm as I became fully involved in Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB); this included getting rid of my 15mm armies to fund 28mm.  When Warhammer Historical was shut down I really felt it as a punch to the gut; not only would it become next to impossible to get new players into WAB, but all of the time I had spent working on (play testing, proof reading, etc.) the 100YW supplement, the Successors supplement, and others was lost...time I would never have back for wonderfully written books that will never see the light of day because of how the company that "owns" the material operates. My 28mm armies just sat unused.  I tried to get interested in other rules, but interest seemed to die off locally as well.  Eventually I sold and traded my 28's off for 15mm again.

Last year though I started to shift my perspective on gaming and heed the words of a friend..."do what makes you happy...", so here I am starting over again when it comes to mass battles for ancients & medievals.  I am keeping 28mm for skirmish games like SAGA, but for big battles I am moving to 10mm.  My first test is in the pictures below.  I bought a painted army based for Warmaster Ancients off of ebay and realized that this will give me an opportunity to have units be a single base instead of multiple bases like in many games.  I fiddled with frontages and depths before arriving at 100mm by 50mm for infantry and 100mm by 60mm for cavalry, warbands and pike phalanxes.  I think this gives a nice massed look, allows the units to be handled by the bases instead of the figures (something that always drove me crazy with the Warmaster basing and most 15mm basing conventions), allows for for more diorama style basing (like adding some casualties or skirmishers in front of a unit of heavy infantry), and will still allow me to play a wide variety of games since most rules really just depend on similar basing for units.  Now, I did think of basing skirmishers and horse archers, etc. on narrower frontages in order to fit as "small" units for Hail Caesar, but decided against it in the long run.  Since this is a solo project where I intend to build matching armies and host games for my friends which they won't have to contribute anything except for their time, I will simply have unit rosters noting the unit size when/if needed...no big deal to me.

So, here I am...doing something that I have thought about for a long time...finally...and enjoying it.  The pictures don't due these units justice as I didn't feel like setting up the photo box today.  More to come as I get painting on this project...

Time Is Flying By in 2016

Man, where have the first 3 months of 2016 gone?  It seems like it was just New Years.  I certainly haven't been as active posting here as I would like; it seems like I find excuses not to post when it doesn't really take all that much time...something I need to work on for sure.

The good news is that I have been pretty active on the gaming front.  I've played a lot of different games, including playing in the Shifting Sands Flames of War event in January, and the Gathering in the Desert Bolt Action Operation Torch campaign event in February.  I enjoyed both thoroughly...played some excellent opponents and had a fun time.  I actually managed to be the top Axis commander with my Italian Paras in the Bolt Action event with a 1 win, 1 loss, and 3 tie record...just goes to show how poorly the Axis did!  Next year Shifting Sands is supposed to be Team Yankee, so I'll be passing on it...not that I have anything against Team Yankee, it's just that I have plenty else to do and I need to draw some lines.  Gathering in the Desert next year is supposed to be Normandy, so I am more likely to build a force for that than I am getting into a new period.

I haven't completed much painting this year, though I have been working a a few different things.  I prepped a couple of 15mm WWI armies for Great War to be painted by Saguaro Painting Service, painted some 28mm WWII, based some figures for SAGA, and have been rebasing a 10mm army as I shift to that scale for my big battle ancients and medieval gaming.

Here are 3 Perry Brother WWII German Fallschirmjager MG teams.  I am going to use these as additions to my Italian Para force when I want to play Chain of Command as the unit structure is different than that in Bolt Action.  They are nice figures, but a little smaller than the Warlord Games Italian Paras as you can see in the comparison shot:

 Comparison - Perry on the left and Warlord on the right

I also contracted some 28mm Varangian Guard for my SAGA Byzantines.  The painter, Andrew K., had posted some stuff for sale on a forum and I liked his work.  He was great to deal with and said he liked painting these up.  The figures are from Crusader Miniatures with the exception of Harald Hardrada which is a Gripping Beast figures.  All have LMBS shield transfers.

Harald Hardrada

 Command

 Spearmen - Front

 Spearmen - Rear

Well, that's it for now.  The next post will definitely be sometime in April as I show off the 10mm figures I've been working on.  I am not sure what I'm going to work on after that...it will be something as I think I'm starting to get back into a groove.

Looking Back/Looking Ahead - 2015/2016 Edition

Every year at this time I look back on my hobby goals for the year and look ahead to what the new year will bring.  I find doing so gives me a chance to focus on a few things, something which usually fades as I bounce around from project to project...such is life :-)

For 2015 I wanted to play at least one game a week; with 77 total and a record of 43-28-6 I managed that.  A great number of games were Pathfinder - Skulls & Shackles, a fun game.  We are almost done with that adventure path and will be taking a break from that system for a while, so I will find other things to fill the gap in 2016 and hope to meet the 1 game a week goal again.

I had a good year painting with 374 pieces completed, mostly due to the recently finished Flames of War army I completed.  I have plenty of projects to work on including: 2 28mm SAGA armies, 2 28mm Crescent & Cross armies, 28mm WW2 Poles and Japanese SNLF, 15mm Flames of War early war Soviet armor, 15mm American Revolution, 15mm WWI, 15mm Eastern Renaissance, and 10mm ancients.  I recently followed my own advice to "do what you want to do" in regards to gaming.  For a long time I have wanted to do 10mm ancients/medievals and I finally took the plunge.  I divested myself of all of my 15mm ancients & medievals (except for SAGA) and will start on my 10mm project.  I really look forward to having a large number of models on a single base representing an entire unit.  I will also be contracting out some painting like I always do so that will hopefully speed a few things up for me.

I set a goal of working on my hobby stuff for 182.5 hours in 2015.  I fell short of that, but I don't consider it a failure as I had never tracked my time before.  My goal for 2016 is simply to just commit more time (no gaming time which wasn't included) than in 2015; a goal that I should be able to accomplish.

As I start 2016 I am prepping some 15mm WWI figures and also have some 10mm troops prepped to serve as a test case to help me figure out my basing.  I have lots to do and hope to knock a few things off of my "to do" list in the year ahead.  Stay tuned for my irregular updates!

Hello 2011!

Wow...2 posts in 2 days...a good way to end the year I guess! So...having taken a bit of time to look back on my gaming efforts in 2010 I now turn to looking forward into what I'd like to accomplish in 2011. I had 10 items on my list for 2010 and I did ok, so I think I'll shoot for 10 more things in 2011. Here they go in the order I'd like to get them done:

1-Finish the freaking DAK for FOW! Ugh...this has been hanging out there for me and I just have a little ways to go, so I'm going to focus on it and get it out of the way so it's no longer haunting me!

2-Paint the rest of the 28mm Republican Roman Army for Mike. I have the velites done and the triarri preped and primed, so I'm looking forward to getting this done.

3-Assemble, paint and game with the Dystopian Wars Prussians I got. The models are very nice and the rules look good...just need to get ready to play!

4-Paint some 10mm Warmaster Dwarfs as part of a trade. This will be the first 10mm stuff I've painted in a number of years since I did a bunch of WWII (before moving to 28mm then 15mm); I'm looking forward to it because the figures are nice and should paint up quickly.

5-Base up the 15mm Mongol army for Might of Arms that Tim K from Saguaro Painting Service (see links section) painted for me.

6-I have 3 projects currently being completed by other people as parts of various trades. I'm in no rush to get them back because as you can tell I have a ton of other things to do, but when I do get them back I aim to do any completion work (namely basing) right when I get them back and not put them on the shelf in an incomplete state. Having stuff in an incomplete state is driving me crazy because I have too much of it already!

7-Begin working on the 15mm Polish FOW army I have. This army is for the Polish 10th Mechanized Brigade and is all True North figures that I purchased from Old Glory.

8-Finish painting and base up the 15mm Marian Roman army I have for Might of Arms.

9-Work on getting some of the 28mm American Civil War figures and units I have done. I'd like to build the forces for the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg eventually. I have Barksdale's Brigade and Graham's Brigade organized, now I have to get them cleaned/prepped and decide whether I'm going to try to speed paint them myself or send them off to Sri Lanka to get painted.

10-Something else that I'm undecided about. One of my big problems is that I like a plethora of time periods, game scales, etc. and I don't know how many times I've invested in a game only to have my attention switch focus and end up selling/trading stuff I've never used. I doubt this will ever change for me when it comes to gaming interests, so I figure that this year there will be a project that pops up that I will focus on and begin work on...whether it ever sees the table...who knows! That said, several gaming possibilities keep entering my thoughts including: 28mm English Civil War, 28mm American Revolution, 15mm Fantasy, 10mm Eastern Renaissance/Thirty Years War, 15mm Modern African wars in an alternate setting, expanding my Daemonhunters for 40k when the new codex comes out, and who knows what else!

So, that's what I'm looking at for the upcoming year. It goes without saying that I want to be able to play games too! That's one good thing I managed to do in 2010 with games of 15mm and 28mm ancients, 15mm WWII, Lord of the Rings, 15mm Viet Nam, 28mm ACW, Legends of the Old West, and others being played. Considering that 4 items from my list entail finishing things that are already started, and 2 other items are doing things for other people, I think I can get through a lot of the list and have a productive 2011. Oh, yea...I'd like to try to record more on this blog too...just takes time!

Later,

Tom O