Monday, December 30, 2019

2019 Year End Summary





"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories."
-Deborah Kerr




December


December, the last year of the month, and the time one usually takes to look back at the year and see what's been done.




Overall: I've had a decent, if a little lack luster, year of miniature wargaming.  Not as active in my hobby as I would of liked to be, however I had some big stuff going on in life which took up a lot of spare time.  Mainly to do with my father; selling the house in southern CA where I grew up, then his funeral, and then everything that follows.  Not that it was all sad, I also took two long family trips that were a lot of fun and celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary with a vacation.  Time well spent, just spent doing other things as life would have it.  Plus as kids get older they get more active, and you have to, you know, take them to go do things or they just end up destroying the house (worse then they already do).


There is a price to pay for everything, and that price is time. 

Accomplishments!



Back in January, I posted a bunch of goals for the year.  This is a silly practice in hindsight.  So instead of going over each one and giving a pass or fail, let's instead focus on the positives.

I played 13 games this year, which I track in that little box over on the right that you can see if you view the blog in the web version versus the mobile.  13 is well short of my goal of 24, but what can you do?  I know there are some people who would of loved to reach 13, so I best be grateful.  Especially because a several of those games took place over a 'wargaming weekend' where I played 2 days in a row, which is kinda like a mini vacation.  In that light I've had  a banner year for vacations!

I only attended one convention this year, while I usually attend 2 or even 3, so that lack of gaming hurt the bottom line.  It was because I was double booked on those weekends.  One convention I missed because I went with the wife to a convention of her own to keep her company.  It was for cookie decorating, as I've mentioned she's big into decorating cookies.  Another I missed due to a wedding.  Next year will be free and clear from such commitments.



Big Winners


The ACW was the biggest winner this year as I played 4 ACW games and even managed to paint up some more troop stands and some terrain.  This is hardly surprising as I've mentioned that the ACW is fav-vor-writ. 



Wargaming genres are kinda like children; you love them all but there's always one that you love a little more than the rest.


Second place big winner is The Lord of the Rings.  Two games of that were plated out of the 3 I hosted (I hosted LOTR games at a convention and for one session no one showed up to play, probably because I had been eating nachos all weekend and had the thick cheese oozing from my pores). 
However LOTR is the big production-wise winner as I painted up around 50 miniatures for it, 1 troll, and made around 6 totally-kick-ass terrain items out of the Hirst Arts blocks for Osgiliath. 

You can tell from this post..
that I like a good meme.


3rd place is the Age of Sail.  I played two game of AoS (using Post Captain rules) and constructed 2 ships.  This happened early in the year and then the genre just languished as I got distracted by LOTR.  But I love these little ships.  what I ought to do is start reading some AoS fiction again, because readingaa genre almost always triggers miniature painting. 

Biggest Winner


Two goals that I did set out for the year that was to play a variety of games and to have fun while doing it.   Accomplished that! 
 I also enjoyed reading the blogs of others; leaving comments and reading the responses, and being part of the online community of super bloggers.  Here's to another year and more to come.


So who has two thumbs and is the biggest winner because people like you take time to read this blog..









35 comments:

  1. It sounds like a whole bunch of us will be glad to see 2019 drop below the horizon. Chin up, stiff upper lip and all that; next year will be better all-around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks BW! But while I am glad to see this year end I’m worried now that the post sounds too negative. It’s not like last year was the worse ever or anything. It just wasn’t a great year for hours and hours of wargaming. But that’s alright bc life is like that sometimes and I can wait. I can wait all day long like a cobra, and when I bite I slice like a hammer,,,in a wargaming sense. Lol. 😀

      Delete
  2. Stew, you do put on a good ACW game and I enjoyed seeing those tables in 2019. Hope you get another convention or two under your belt in 2020

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm, as fo you.
      I really like going to conventions and so far have 2 already confirmed for this year, so things are looking up! 😀

      Delete
  3. Happy to be following along as this next year progresses. Sounds like a good year and I 100% agree focus on the positive, people who follow my blog will know I don’t really set targets do what you enjoy and do more of it if you can. Have a great new year 👍👍

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt. I think this time around I’m not gonna bother with goals at the beginning of the year but select projects as my interests varies. I do try to be a positive. Thanks for following and comments. 😀

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Thanks Mike. These thumbs can go all day thanks to their intensive training at the school of iPhone texting. 😀

      Delete
  5. Two thumbs up for you! Your posts are always entertaining. Despite a year that may not have unfolded as planned, you maintained your sense of humor throughout. Looking forward to your 2020 exploits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jon and I appreciate the support. I’m glad you find my lame posts entertaining. I rather people thought of this blog as entertaining than being full of useful hobby tips. 😀
      I’m enjoying following your adventures as well.

      Delete
  6. Bravo: better at the end of the year to list what was good rather than itemize what wasn't done, hobby-wise. Leave all that "must do" stuff for that other "adult" existence we must drop into when not with our toy soldiers. Looking forward to blogging along with you in the new year (thumbs up, indeed!).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ed! Yeah, I feel better saying what I did rather than what I didn’t. I tried to emphasize at the end that I did what was the most important; I had some fun. 😀

      Delete
  7. All sounds pretty decent, especially considering everything else you had on this year, looking forward to more entertaining posts!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Iain, it was a pretty decent year overall. I’m happy to provide the entertainment. Thanks for following along and writing comments. 😀

      Delete
  8. Well, not a total waste of a year cos you got lots done and your collections in general and painted collections increased! Sad that I wasn't able to help bolster the "games played" tally much with you, this year will have to be better!

    Hope 2020 is an improvement over 2019 mate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dai, but you have let me down extremely.
      Kidding of course! Just our busy schedules not lining up. I’ll have more weekends free once the wife stops working weekends out of town. 😀

      Delete
    2. Yeah, loads to chat with you face-to-face about too. (Check your email mate!)

      Delete
  9. Poor Little Mac. He don' get no respect. Sounds like a fun year, and kudos on mixing up black powder wargaming with Lotro. It's a winning combo ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi FMB, Mac is such a Complicated guy; a general that loved the army but not battle.

      Thanks for the kudos; it seems like a natural combination to me! 😀 And thanks for following along.

      Delete
  10. A good productive year. Your enthusiasm for LOTR is tempting me, I just wish I didn't have enough projects of my own already!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks TP, I’m getting around to reading your year end summary. I think we all know what it’s like to have enough on going projects to be reluctant to start a new one. 😀

      Delete
  11. Yes I am glad you mentioned ships! I have been waiting patiently for you to build more ships for me to drool over! 😶😴

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Vol. but try not to drool over the ships, they’re not that great and I doubt the rigging is actually water proof. 😀
      I’ve already started reading an Alexander Kent novel to get back in the sailing spirit.

      Delete
    2. Whose your fav?
      I’ve read all of the hornblower books, about half of the Aubreys (and that’s plenty, I’ve lost interest), all 4 of the Hayden, and several of the Bolitho.

      Delete
    3. S. Thomas Russell (Hayden) and Dewey Labden (Alan Lewrie) are my favorites for reading. CS Forrester was fun. O'Brian is "accurate" but dry, with decent action when there is any! Kent is like reading a Forrester wannabe! Russell and Lambden put all together in the right measures for my tastes. You mentioned Hayden so you know what I mean 😉

      Delete
    4. I like Kent!
      I liked Russell a lot. But I couldn’t stand the main character of Landens novel, I only read the first one but I’ve already had enough of him. I might pick up a Ramage novel but I seem to remember not liking those as much as Bolitho.
      When I want to feel handsome, I imagine myself look like Bolitho. 😀

      Delete
    5. Haha, yes Lewrie is a rogue, but the writing is good and the action is great and frequent. I only read two Bolitho books and they just didn't capture me. Haven't tried Ramage. All of that being said, I loved the Master & Commander movie and the job done portraying Aubrey and Maturan. I wish they had made more.

      Delete
  12. I feel similarly on yearly goals. I think going into 2019, I made a number of them and probably only fulfilled about half of the goals I had intended (partially because my plans changed and I didn't pay attention to the goals in the first place :)). With that said, I enjoyed reading about your year and I'm looking forward to seeing what you get up to in 2020. Personally, I'm hoping it involves at least a little Lord of the Rings :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kuribo! Yes, I think this year I will forgo setting any goals and just focus on a project as it catches my interest.
      I hope there will be lotr in the near future. In theory I’ve set myself nicely to start playing several of the Gondor at war scenarios with minimal effort now that the terrain and orcs are done. 😀

      Delete
  13. Happy new year Stew may you get as many if not more games in this year. Need to get some ACW action in myself this year, sadly lacking in 2019.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tony. Happy new year to you. I really enjoy reading of your ACW games. 😀

      Delete
  14. Happy new year Stew!

    Hopefully 2020 is just chock full of games, and of course if you stay with ACW/LotR/AoS then you have plenty of figures to amortize!

    ... so expecting a switch to 40k or something any minute. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Laz!
      No switching to 40k. But with a new edition of Muskets and Tomahawks being talked about perhaps the AWI finally. 😀

      Delete
    2. Well hard to argue against that when I have suggested it previously!

      Delete