2015 in Review and Looking Ahead

Another year, another review post.

We played a total of 21 games in 17 sessions, which is fewer than what we did last year, but perhaps not surprising due to our various work commitments.

Most of my predictions for the year did not come true: we did not play any Warhammer game (despite the large number of figures I painted or refurbished - although I am still optimistic for 2016), we have not played a single game of Black Powder (but that is due to Martin and I playing Chain of Command whenever we have a session), and rather surprisingly, we did not play Frostgrave even though fg bought a copy of the rules.

Also did not happen were the Bronze Age heroic warfare game (my fault, that) and the Blood Bowl tournament.

The first third of the year was spent mainly on painting figures for Warhammer Fantasy and playing our dungeon crawl game. The second third of the year was spent painting up the Rohan figures (which have not yet seen any action, come to think of it) and the 15mm War and Empire figures. The final third of the year was dominated by Chain of Command, and for me the acquisition, building, and painting of vehicle models.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed painting vehicles, and since August I have been building one model after another, either something I bought myself, or something wahj or Martin bought themselves a long time ago but never painted and then passed to me. At this moment I have seven models in my building/painting queue, and I am eyeing a couple of releases from Plastic Soldier Company next year.

Chain of Command looks set to be the main course for 2016 too. Wahj, fg, Martin and I each have our own platoon (Martin has two, in fact), and we aim to play two of the Pint-sized campaigns from Too Fat Lardies over the course of the year. To achieve this I will need to complete the vehicles in my list, and also produce some 40 feet of walls for the tabletop. This will be a major enterprise.

The other period we are also painting for is the Roman-Sassanid War in 15mm, which will be played using our own Impetus-Dux Bellorum mash-up rules. My own contribution for this project is small (amounting to 54 figures in total), but Late Roman infantry is proving to take longer to paint than I had expected.

Our focus for the next year seem a lot narrower, which is probably a good thing.

That said, another thing that is likely to demand our attention in the second third of the year is the Heavy Gear kickstarter, which will likely deliver in the first quarter of the year. Again, my part in this is small (only 8 models), but I do look forward to painting and weathering some mecha models.

Another side project possibility I am keeping an eye on is the Immortal rules from Broken Spirit Wargames. The release of the rules have been delayed, but hopefully the result will be worth the wait.

The year 2016 will also see a few other changes.

I will be working fewer days each week, which will give me more time to spend with my family, on the hobby, on personal and professional development, exercising, and generally just keeping my place tidy.

One of the things having an extra free day a week allows me to do is to get back into role-playing games. RPG, specifically fantasy RPGs, have been a major passion of mine since I was a teenager. But as my friends and I get older and take on more responsibilities it became harder and harder to find the time it takes to game at the regularity that a campaign requires to maintain its momentum. Now, I have taken the leap and posted on a local meet-up forum and found myself a few players who are willing to play in a campaign I will game-master. Hopefully this will work out.

Have a good New Year, and thank you for reading.