Hello again and its time for my latest and rather belated blog update!
Gee time has flown since my last post back in August. While the blog was quiet (due to laziness and general disorganization on my part) my hobby and gaming time certainly wasn't. So rather than dwell on the lack of blog updates, lets dive straight into my review of the 2017 Hobby year and cast a soothsayer's eye to the year ahead.
First up: The painting tally.
Well this year, for one reason or another i was unable to match the output of the previous year with only 190 miniatures painted. I also yet again failed to reach my target of 365 miniatures for the year.
On the purchases front i was a lot less disciplined with 535 miniatures purchased although those numbers were given a massive upsurge with the arrival of a certain kickstarter (more of that anon!)
in reviewing my painted versus purchased tallies since i started keeping records (2015) i have managed to paint 666 miniatures while purchasing 1,468. That results in a 45% return on painted figures. I need to work on increasing that percentage this year!
This year my painting efforts focused in the following areas:
Superheroes -28mm
Bush Wars -20mm - 80s Imagi-nations Africa
German 1/1800 predreadnought ships
Early Imperial Romans -28mm
Labyrinth boardgame miniatures
Gladiators - 28mm
Frostgrave miniatures
Napoleonic Russians - 28mm
So a fairly diverse range of periods and genres.
No major terrain projects were undertaken this year due to lack of time and available space in the garage.
Now onto the gaming:
My Top 5 games for the year:
Some favorites from last year were still popular but other games were a surprise appearance.
Number 5: Chain of Command
I really enjoy this game. I have played it in two different scales, 15mm for Eastern front and 28mm for North Africa. However i haven't played it as much as i would like with shorter games more commonly played on club nights. This is a game i certainly want to play more of in 2018.
Number 4: English Civil War
A regular favourite that gets at least 3 or 4 outings per year. We mostly play this period using the Blackpowder: Pike & Shotte rules but in 2017 I experimented with some rule writing and we playtested a few games of my rules. Some encouraging results but still a few bugs to work out. We will definitely play more games of ECW in 2018.
Number 3: Super System, 4th edition
I couldn't resist the lure of Super Heroes bashing each other and throwing cars. I painted up my own Superhero team and played several games of this fun and exciting game. The game is even better when played on a fantastic city terrain setup by clubmate James Wright (Check out his blog here: http://leadcapes.blogspot.com.au/ ) Another game that should occupy my gaming this year.
Number 2: Frostgrave
Last year's favorite game was still a game that occupied a lot of my gaming. This year will probably involve finishing off a few bits and pieces for my existing collection before branching out into one of the many expansions. I have purchased an MDF Dungeon set for "Into the Breeding Pits" scenarios.
Number 1: Striker!
Striker! is a ruleset for playing football games. Its written by a local chap here in Victoria who is a professional soccer coach. These rules finally gave me the impetus to paint up my soccer players from Eureka miniatures that i had lying around for several years.
The game is a lot of fun and really does capture the excitement of a soccer match. Several players at the club have teams now and one clubmate got really excited and built himself a nice stadium.
We have been working a fair bit with the author on the next edition trying to work out a couple of minor issues with the ruleset and developing some sort of player/team advancement table and a league/campaign system. The author does not appear to be much of a gamer so he doesn't necessarily grasp what appeals to gamers in a rule system. He developed the rules initially as a coaching tool for players.
This year i want to purchase a couple more teams to paint up. I currently have Manchester United and Chelsea, but I think I will add a couple of contrasting colored teams like West Ham Utd or Aston Villa and Totenham Hotspurs or Derby County.
Honorable mentions:
Sharp's Practice Another Lardy gem that I only got to the table a couple of times this year. I need to work on a French force to oppose my Russians and I want to also get into the ACW with SP.
I purchased a bunch of Perry ACW figures in 2017 exactly for SP.
Force on Force This is the rule set we are using for the Bush Wars Imagi-nations gaming in Africa in 1980s. I only managed one game this year but it has some appealing mechanics that I will be keen to try more of in 2018.
Boardgames:
I've never been much of a boardgame player, however over the past couple of years i have fallen to the lure of Kickstarter and backed several boardgames. I was able to play a few games this year and definitely want to increase the number of games played. The advantage of quick set up and pack away is a nice feature of boardgames. Unfortunately a lot of boardgames these days are supplied with gorgeous miniatures which are crying out to be painted which means that the unpainted pile isnt getting any smaller!
This year I have played:
Labyrinth the Boardgame
A nice family cooperative game that does capture the feel of the film and the miniatures are simply lovely! The game is a race against the clock to save baby brother Toby from the Goblin King. In all our games it has gone down to the wire with us saving Toby on the 12th or 13th (last) turn.
I'll post a longer review soon.
Commands and Colors-Napoleonics
I picked this game up in 2016 and finally was able to play a few games this year. It is a really fun and exciting game that gives a nice Napoleonic feel although I am not really sure the firing mechanics reflect Napoleonic battles. However as a tatical challenge its a lot of fun. I am now keen to buy the Ancients version as I think that will work even better historically.
Battle of Britain
Another Richard Borg classic game reimagined by The Plastic Soldier Company via kickstarter.
The kickstarter itself was handled poorly by PSC with poor communication throughout and some serious issues with the plastic planes. There have been a lot of complaints of bent models.
I was able to fix my planes with some boiling water but to PSC's credit they have acknowledged the problem and have taken the massive step of remaking all the planes in a less flexible plastic.
This will be great as I ordered a lot of extra planes to use for WW2 dogfight games. I should recieve the new models sometime early this year along with a large scale map board so I can use croupier sticks to push planes around just like in the movie!
As for the games itself the game components are great quality and the game play is a lot of fun. This will definitely get played a lot more in 2018.
Kickstarters:
2016 was a huge year for backing kickstarters. 2017 was a bit more controlled. Here is what I backed.
Obsidian 3D Printer
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1403065126/obsidian-3d-printer-high-quality-sleek-and-afforda
I have wanted a 3D printer for a while and finally took the plunge with this little beauty. It will be delivered sometime in 2018.
Everlasting: The Best Wet Palette
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1061749597/everlasting-the-best-wet-palette-for-miniature-pai
I use a wet palette often in my painting. I have improvised one with a tupperware container but its not perfect. This product looks like it should work very well.
3D Printable Tanks by 3D wargaming
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847988960/3d-printable-tanks-historical-and-sci-fi?ref=user_menu
Well since I will soon have a 3D printer, I need some models to print! You can get free models on websites like Thingiverse but they are usually quite poor quality. These models are extremely well sculpted and for a small amount of money i will get a heap of tank models. These models will probably cover the vast majority of models I will need for my WW2 gaming.
Mythic Battles: Pantheon
And finally I had a nice big package arrive just before Christmas. My Mythic Battles: Pantheon kickstarter. I had been so excited waiting for this game and it didn't let me down. The quality and volume of miniatures is simply some of the best I have ever seen! I havent had a chance yet to play it but this will keep me very busy in 2018.
Lots of boxes! and the miniatures are stunning!
And so looking forward....
Well that was the hobby year 2017. A pretty busy year even if i didn't paint as many miniatures as i hoped.
So what are the plans for 2018? Well in short, consolidation. In my gaming I want to continue to play my existing games. Chain of Command, Sharp Practice and Lion Rampant are three games I want to get to the table more often in 2018. Frostgrave, Striker, Supers etc. will still get a regular outing.
If I do take on any new projects they should be small. Small in size and also small in the amount of time i need to invest to get it to the gaming table.
On the painting front I will still aim for my target of 365 miniatures. I already have several projects to work on which if i complete most of them will put me well on the way to meeting my target.
The current projects waiting in line for this year are:
Bush Wars. I have about a dozen vehicles to finish to complete my UmBongo force.
The UmBongo military expansion in full swing!
Early Imperial Romans. I am aiming to finish a sizeable Roman army to start playing Hail Caesar sometime in late 2018. In my painting pile I currently have about 70 odd miniatures to clear my current Roman stockpile.
SAGA Anglo-Saxon army. I have resisted the Dark Ages bug for a long time but this year I will finally paint a 6 point army. All the figures are bought and ready to go once I finish with the Romans.
Afrika Corps Platoon. I need to make an opposing force for my Desert Rats.
ACW Union army for Sharp Practice. In 2017 I picked up a bargain deal on a bunch of Perry ACW plastics and want to play some raiding type games.
And of course I have over 100 Mythic Battles miniatures to paint, some of which are huge!
On the Terrain making front 2018 will be a year of refresh. My European terrain is looking a bit tired. I want to make some new trees and hedges. Give my existing buildings a bit of a spruce up and make a few more buildings. I use this terrain in so many games so it is overdue for some maintenance.
Likewise my North African buildings are also in need of a refresh. Since we are planning to play a lot more Chain of Command North Africa games this year I need to breathe new life into these buildings.
As for new Terrain projects, I have three in mind. The first is new terrain mats for Europe and North Africa using Teddy Bear fur. I have seen some fantastic results using this material so I have picked up a roll of fur and some clippers and will get stuck into these early in 2018.
And finally my major project that will be useful for ECW and Lion Rampant is a castle!
I purchased a very nice castle from Old Glory but it needs a dedicated base with moat to really finish it off.
So that's it! 2018 already is shaping up to be another busy year. Please check back from time to time for an update.
All the Best!
Cheers
Neil
Gee time has flown since my last post back in August. While the blog was quiet (due to laziness and general disorganization on my part) my hobby and gaming time certainly wasn't. So rather than dwell on the lack of blog updates, lets dive straight into my review of the 2017 Hobby year and cast a soothsayer's eye to the year ahead.
First up: The painting tally.
Well this year, for one reason or another i was unable to match the output of the previous year with only 190 miniatures painted. I also yet again failed to reach my target of 365 miniatures for the year.
On the purchases front i was a lot less disciplined with 535 miniatures purchased although those numbers were given a massive upsurge with the arrival of a certain kickstarter (more of that anon!)
in reviewing my painted versus purchased tallies since i started keeping records (2015) i have managed to paint 666 miniatures while purchasing 1,468. That results in a 45% return on painted figures. I need to work on increasing that percentage this year!
This year my painting efforts focused in the following areas:
Superheroes -28mm
Bush Wars -20mm - 80s Imagi-nations Africa
German 1/1800 predreadnought ships
Early Imperial Romans -28mm
Labyrinth boardgame miniatures
Gladiators - 28mm
Frostgrave miniatures
Napoleonic Russians - 28mm
So a fairly diverse range of periods and genres.
No major terrain projects were undertaken this year due to lack of time and available space in the garage.
Now onto the gaming:
My Top 5 games for the year:
Some favorites from last year were still popular but other games were a surprise appearance.
Number 5: Chain of Command
I really enjoy this game. I have played it in two different scales, 15mm for Eastern front and 28mm for North Africa. However i haven't played it as much as i would like with shorter games more commonly played on club nights. This is a game i certainly want to play more of in 2018.
Number 4: English Civil War
A regular favourite that gets at least 3 or 4 outings per year. We mostly play this period using the Blackpowder: Pike & Shotte rules but in 2017 I experimented with some rule writing and we playtested a few games of my rules. Some encouraging results but still a few bugs to work out. We will definitely play more games of ECW in 2018.
Number 3: Super System, 4th edition
I couldn't resist the lure of Super Heroes bashing each other and throwing cars. I painted up my own Superhero team and played several games of this fun and exciting game. The game is even better when played on a fantastic city terrain setup by clubmate James Wright (Check out his blog here: http://leadcapes.blogspot.com.au/ ) Another game that should occupy my gaming this year.
Number 2: Frostgrave
Last year's favorite game was still a game that occupied a lot of my gaming. This year will probably involve finishing off a few bits and pieces for my existing collection before branching out into one of the many expansions. I have purchased an MDF Dungeon set for "Into the Breeding Pits" scenarios.
Number 1: Striker!
Striker! is a ruleset for playing football games. Its written by a local chap here in Victoria who is a professional soccer coach. These rules finally gave me the impetus to paint up my soccer players from Eureka miniatures that i had lying around for several years.
The game is a lot of fun and really does capture the excitement of a soccer match. Several players at the club have teams now and one clubmate got really excited and built himself a nice stadium.
We have been working a fair bit with the author on the next edition trying to work out a couple of minor issues with the ruleset and developing some sort of player/team advancement table and a league/campaign system. The author does not appear to be much of a gamer so he doesn't necessarily grasp what appeals to gamers in a rule system. He developed the rules initially as a coaching tool for players.
This year i want to purchase a couple more teams to paint up. I currently have Manchester United and Chelsea, but I think I will add a couple of contrasting colored teams like West Ham Utd or Aston Villa and Totenham Hotspurs or Derby County.
Honorable mentions:
Sharp's Practice Another Lardy gem that I only got to the table a couple of times this year. I need to work on a French force to oppose my Russians and I want to also get into the ACW with SP.
I purchased a bunch of Perry ACW figures in 2017 exactly for SP.
Force on Force This is the rule set we are using for the Bush Wars Imagi-nations gaming in Africa in 1980s. I only managed one game this year but it has some appealing mechanics that I will be keen to try more of in 2018.
Boardgames:
I've never been much of a boardgame player, however over the past couple of years i have fallen to the lure of Kickstarter and backed several boardgames. I was able to play a few games this year and definitely want to increase the number of games played. The advantage of quick set up and pack away is a nice feature of boardgames. Unfortunately a lot of boardgames these days are supplied with gorgeous miniatures which are crying out to be painted which means that the unpainted pile isnt getting any smaller!
This year I have played:
Labyrinth the Boardgame
A nice family cooperative game that does capture the feel of the film and the miniatures are simply lovely! The game is a race against the clock to save baby brother Toby from the Goblin King. In all our games it has gone down to the wire with us saving Toby on the 12th or 13th (last) turn.
I'll post a longer review soon.
Commands and Colors-Napoleonics
I picked this game up in 2016 and finally was able to play a few games this year. It is a really fun and exciting game that gives a nice Napoleonic feel although I am not really sure the firing mechanics reflect Napoleonic battles. However as a tatical challenge its a lot of fun. I am now keen to buy the Ancients version as I think that will work even better historically.
Battle of Britain
Another Richard Borg classic game reimagined by The Plastic Soldier Company via kickstarter.
The kickstarter itself was handled poorly by PSC with poor communication throughout and some serious issues with the plastic planes. There have been a lot of complaints of bent models.
I was able to fix my planes with some boiling water but to PSC's credit they have acknowledged the problem and have taken the massive step of remaking all the planes in a less flexible plastic.
This will be great as I ordered a lot of extra planes to use for WW2 dogfight games. I should recieve the new models sometime early this year along with a large scale map board so I can use croupier sticks to push planes around just like in the movie!
As for the games itself the game components are great quality and the game play is a lot of fun. This will definitely get played a lot more in 2018.
Kickstarters:
2016 was a huge year for backing kickstarters. 2017 was a bit more controlled. Here is what I backed.
Obsidian 3D Printer
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1403065126/obsidian-3d-printer-high-quality-sleek-and-afforda
I have wanted a 3D printer for a while and finally took the plunge with this little beauty. It will be delivered sometime in 2018.
Everlasting: The Best Wet Palette
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1061749597/everlasting-the-best-wet-palette-for-miniature-pai
I use a wet palette often in my painting. I have improvised one with a tupperware container but its not perfect. This product looks like it should work very well.
3D Printable Tanks by 3D wargaming
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847988960/3d-printable-tanks-historical-and-sci-fi?ref=user_menu
Well since I will soon have a 3D printer, I need some models to print! You can get free models on websites like Thingiverse but they are usually quite poor quality. These models are extremely well sculpted and for a small amount of money i will get a heap of tank models. These models will probably cover the vast majority of models I will need for my WW2 gaming.
Mythic Battles: Pantheon
And finally I had a nice big package arrive just before Christmas. My Mythic Battles: Pantheon kickstarter. I had been so excited waiting for this game and it didn't let me down. The quality and volume of miniatures is simply some of the best I have ever seen! I havent had a chance yet to play it but this will keep me very busy in 2018.
And so looking forward....
Well that was the hobby year 2017. A pretty busy year even if i didn't paint as many miniatures as i hoped.
So what are the plans for 2018? Well in short, consolidation. In my gaming I want to continue to play my existing games. Chain of Command, Sharp Practice and Lion Rampant are three games I want to get to the table more often in 2018. Frostgrave, Striker, Supers etc. will still get a regular outing.
If I do take on any new projects they should be small. Small in size and also small in the amount of time i need to invest to get it to the gaming table.
On the painting front I will still aim for my target of 365 miniatures. I already have several projects to work on which if i complete most of them will put me well on the way to meeting my target.
The current projects waiting in line for this year are:
Bush Wars. I have about a dozen vehicles to finish to complete my UmBongo force.
Early Imperial Romans. I am aiming to finish a sizeable Roman army to start playing Hail Caesar sometime in late 2018. In my painting pile I currently have about 70 odd miniatures to clear my current Roman stockpile.
SAGA Anglo-Saxon army. I have resisted the Dark Ages bug for a long time but this year I will finally paint a 6 point army. All the figures are bought and ready to go once I finish with the Romans.
Afrika Corps Platoon. I need to make an opposing force for my Desert Rats.
ACW Union army for Sharp Practice. In 2017 I picked up a bargain deal on a bunch of Perry ACW plastics and want to play some raiding type games.
And of course I have over 100 Mythic Battles miniatures to paint, some of which are huge!
On the Terrain making front 2018 will be a year of refresh. My European terrain is looking a bit tired. I want to make some new trees and hedges. Give my existing buildings a bit of a spruce up and make a few more buildings. I use this terrain in so many games so it is overdue for some maintenance.
Likewise my North African buildings are also in need of a refresh. Since we are planning to play a lot more Chain of Command North Africa games this year I need to breathe new life into these buildings.
As for new Terrain projects, I have three in mind. The first is new terrain mats for Europe and North Africa using Teddy Bear fur. I have seen some fantastic results using this material so I have picked up a roll of fur and some clippers and will get stuck into these early in 2018.
And finally my major project that will be useful for ECW and Lion Rampant is a castle!
I purchased a very nice castle from Old Glory but it needs a dedicated base with moat to really finish it off.
So that's it! 2018 already is shaping up to be another busy year. Please check back from time to time for an update.
All the Best!
Cheers
Neil
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