First off I had planned to game more. The year started off strong but our disillusionment with The Hobbit kicked in and gaming tapered off. I'm definitely gaming less than in 2012.
I had also planned to play more games. I listed five different games that I planned to play. Bolt Action, Gruntz, Kings of War, The Hobbit and Hail Caesar. Of the five, I've played three, Gruntz, the Hobbit and HC. I now don't plan on playing either of the other two this year. Bolt Action will have to wait. Instead of Kings of War I've decided to play HC Fantasy. So, 60%. Not bad, I guess. I have also been playing quite a bit of X-Wing, so that's a win.
I had planned to buy three different rules sets, Pike & Shotte, Black Powder and Drop Zone Commander. I'm doing much better here, having bought all three of these sets of rules. I'm still to pick up Albion Triumphant for BP, but that will slide off to next year. 100% on this task. I've also picked up In Her Majesty's Name, which was not on the radar at all in January, though I had expected that to happen too.
Now, the important part, new minis. I haven't actually bought all that much this year. I had planned on bulking up my EIR for HC. Check. That's done, and mostly painted. I had also planned on starting a Parliment army for ECW. I've now pushed that back to next year as well. I had also planned to pick up 28mm for Bolt Action. Not a single model. Thirdly I had expected to start my Napoleonics. That's going to have to wait for next year. Really not an impressive showing there.
On the other hand I've added to my 15mm Sci/Fi for Gruntz; both models and terrain. I've bought more ships for X-Wing. I have eight Marines for IHMN, the start of a nice Company for that game. Nothing too out of control in the purchasing department.
The final bit I wanted to work on was terrain. I've added a bunch of 15mm stuff. I bought a really nice barracks for my EIR. The topper, and probably the high point of the year, is I finally built my table and I'm working on the terrain tiles for that. I've been dreaming about the table for years so this is truly exciting.
Where does that leave me? I've come to the realization that I can do two big armies a year, plus some odds and ends and small projects. The first half of the year was taken up with EIR for HC. The second half of the year will be Romano British for Dux Brit or HC. I'll be adding some more models for Gruntz, as well as more terrain.
At the end of the year I plan to buy single boxes of a bunch of different stuff. Nothing for an army, just the model equivalent of last years Year of Rules. I'll buy some stuff from different periods and different companies and see what I like.
I'm off plan but on track, if that make sense. I'm looking forward to seeing how things go for the rest of the year.
Good to hear that you're working through your things well and expanding into new games and rules. I'm very interested in reading more about your Hail Caesar exploits and seeing your armies grow. I've just picked up a copy of the rules and I'm planning to build up some forces, probably 6mm for the cost and storage side of things.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good to have a realistic and measured approach to painting and collecting. I've gone too far the other way in the past and ended up dispirited.
All the best
Pete
Thanks Pete. I think you'll like HC. I don't get 6mm but you can definitely build some awesome looking, big, units with it. I've also gone the other way in the past, with having too much on my plate at once. I'm trainable, it just takes a few decades.
DeleteI like what I've read of the rules so far. It'll be fun to try it out on the table. My choice of 6mm has a couple of reasons.
ReplyDelete- Cost. We are saving up to buy our first apartment together and so extra expenses should be kept down as far as possible.
- Storage. I've already got two 40k armies that take up a fair bit of space and adding 80+ new 28mm figures per side (since nobody else here collects I'll need two armies) will be tough.
- Painting. I have a backlog of painting for my 40k models and I find that 28mm models demand my effort and attention to paint them up well and focus on details etc. With 6mm I'll be able to let go more and just paint them for the overall effect, saving time.
- Gaming space. The local shop has 6x4 tables and no real way to put them together. I've read that HC in 28mm needs a larger table to allow more tactical moves. I'm hoping that with 6mm and using cm it will give the game more freedom.
That said, I love reading your blog and seeing nicely painting 28mm models :-)
Pete
I understand the logic of 6mm. I had quite a struggle going down to 15mm. When I look at 6mm armies I am amazed at the level of detail they can have, but from table top distance they are just too small for me. Having said that I'm still going back and forth between 6mm and 10mm for mass scale tank battles.
DeleteThe brilliant thing about 6mm is that you will be able to make your armies look like real armies at that scale.
Jonathan and I have been playing on a 6x4 table and we have a bit of space left, but our armies are also not full sized yet. You will definitely get more of the operational feel of things at 6mm. Your flanks will be out in the open and you'll need cavalry and light troops to cover them. That's part of why I built my big table, so that the armies can't possibly take up the whole table.
I look forward to seeing how you progress.