Monday 21 March 2016

Some Painting, Finally...

Last post I mentioned a goal for 2016 around getting some more paint on my models. Well, after a late night I actually have a few things finished...

Covenant of Antarctica Diophantus Battle Carrier

Semi-submerged...

Covenant of Antarctica Icarus Fliers



Covenant of Antarctica Thales Corvette




Well, the last photo is a bit of a cheat, 4 of those 5 were already completed, so really I just finished off the Squadron. But still, a relatively productive flurry of activity that will now probably mean I will get little done between now and 2017.


My lad is also getting old enough to now pester his Dad into letting him paint and wanting to play... so dutifully I asked him which game he would like. It looks like we'll trying out Firestorm Taskforce, the spaceships were something he just couldn't resist.


Simple and straightforward, with small fleets like the ones that come in the starter box he should be right.



Washed, and then magnetised. The models come with spaces for 2mm magnets, but I drilled them out for 3mm ones.







The models look really nice and go together well. I'm looking forward to giving the game a run with the lad.





Monday 14 March 2016

Goals for 2016

I claimed this post would be along 'shortly', who knew I was using 'shortly' in a geological sense. In between then and now I have been busy with work for Spartan, as well as some writing for Modiphius, and of course my family and my day job.

This post is my ambling attempt to collate some various gaming/hobby related goals into one location, something I can refer back to over the course of the year and can stand as a stark reminder both of how poorly I estimate my ability to achieve goals is, and how lackluster my ability to follow up on goals is.

In any case, my various goals for gaming/hobby related things for the course of 2016 stands as the following:

Unique Plays


Last year I embarked on a quest with some local gamers to play a minimum of 50 unique games. This year I am upping the ante and aiming for 100, something I am reasonably certain I will not achieve, but what the hell! Here is the Geeklist I created to track this quest.



Unplayed Games


For someone who has close to 400 board games or so, my list of unplayed games is actually reasonably short (I think). So far I am reasonably sure I have about 13 games I haven't played before on my shelves, with a few more I have ordered or Kickstarted due to add to that number. My goal here is to play at least 6 of my unplayed games at some point this year.

My list of unplayed games:
  • Control Nut
  • Insecta
  • Sekigahra
  • The King Commands
  • Bios: Megafauna
  • Dux Bellorum
  • Pax Porfiriana
  • Greenland
  • Neanderthal
  • Flashing Steel
  • Pulp Alley
  • Templar Intrigue
  • Industry
If I was to add my list of unplayed RPGs here, things might get a little extreme, so for now I think I'll focus on the board games. There will be several more added to the list as Kickstarters are fulfilled and preorders sent... still - I want the list at the end of the year to be shorter than it is currently.



Family Time


One of my goals this years is to play more with my family - this means my wife and my kids. My wife and I used to play quite a lot of games together, and while times are busy and parents tend to spend the evenings holding out for the kids to go to sleep before collapsing themselves, spending that time with the kids and my wife is a great time spent together, and a lot of fun.

RPG Goal


I have a whole shelf full of RPGs, this year I want to make sure I get at least a few more games in - so I am aiming to finish off at least one of the campaigns I have started for Edge of the Empire, and possibly start something else...


Painting Goal


I have a very poor record of getting paint on my miniatures, this year I want to make the effort to paint the remainder of my Australian fleet, and all my land and naval models for my Covenant of Antarctica force for Dystopian Wars. I also want to finish off the 10mm Pendraken Dark Age Saxons and Late Romans for Dux Britanniarum. That's a whole lot of painting, and probably far too lofty a goal to be realistically achievable, but you never know! To begin with I will try and focus on at least a squadron of models a month.




Blogging Goal


Short and sweet - my goal is to blog at least once every two weeks.



Podcasting Goal


My aim is to get something recorded and edited around once a month. This one will be a challenge as lining up schedules is always difficult!



Reading Goal


This is one I have been meaning to push myself on for some time. As an avid reader who would chew through my book shelves with little worry in years gone by, I am finding it increasingly difficult to start and finish a book nowadays. Of course, it doesn't help with work and kids and writing and so on, but I really do love reading, and making time for it is something I need to do. It is a thoroughly unambitious goal by most standards, but if I can knock over a book every two months, I'll be a happy man. So far this year I have read The Martian (by Andy Weir), a thoroughly excellent book I would recommend to anyone, and have started The Fifth Elephant (by Terry Pratchett).




And that sums it up for the course of 2016... I think I am being a little unrealistic, but hey ho, we'll see how it pans out!