Yeah, maybe a little late. Starting up a new(ish) job has been a bit distracting, in the sense that after I come home I haven't been thinking much about gaming, beyond my usual heavy reading - largely Napoleonics at present.
I am trying here to pick things that I think I'm actually capable of doing (and posting about) in the near future.
1. Rationalize and organize my Wofun 18mms into proper "Imagi-nations" armies. I have a lot more units now than when I first posted about them, and they are scattered in stackable toolboxes and one or two less effective containers. I've also found it would be a good idea to label them, as at 18mm some are not easily distinguishable. I'll leave them at their full strengths (usually 5-6 bases) in the box, drawing out the number appropriate to the ruleset as needed. I'm not sure how to label them, with the bases 20x30mm and low in height as well. I'd rather not have tags, since that'll make arranging columns a bit unwieldy. Some sort of very small sticky labels might be best. Suggestions?
2. Organize my solo gaming and do it on a more regular basis. I have two books of solo scenarios - Mike Lambo's English Civil War and Charles S. Grant's Programmed Wargame Scenarios. The ECWs already have a ruleset, while after all my '45 tests I'm leaning towards a reduced version of Charge! for the Grant scenarios. I've done the first ECW and the first two Programmed scenarios for this blog already, and I'd like to simply work my way through them. Given my other gaming commitments, I think one per month, perhaps alternating, is the best way to do this.
3. Do a little actual painting. At a minimum, I'd like to paint my 8th Edition 40K starter set to the standards in the booklet, which require just six paints apiece and do not include things like highlighting. I've spent so much of my effort on Wofun and Paperboys that my coloring skills are atrophying - and despite my love for Youtube painting videos, I've never tried many of their techniques. This is more of a challenge I'm setting myself, but I think I can get fifteen basic 40K minis to "tabletop standard" in twelve months! Anything more, like following along with a proper video, will be a bonus.
4. Library gaming (and gaming-adjacent activities). Not the fairly random things I've been doing, but something better planned and perhaps even promoted. My new branch seems a little more easy-going about that sort of stuff, and my bosses have expressed interest. I'd like to run a plan by them with specific dates and projects. I don't think I have time to prep a 180th-anniversary refight of Olustee, but at a minimum I ought to be able to do:
- 54mm Paperboys suffragettes for March.
- Paper pirate ships and a round of Limeys and Slimeys for Talk Like a Pirate Day.
- DnD-esque games for summer (Summer Reading Theme this year: Adventure).
- A Christmas Carnage-style snowball fight in December.
Nice to have:
- Paperboys US Colored Infantry for February.
- A refight of Trenton around Christmas.
- A jousting game taken from White Dwarf 215, using either 54mm Paperboys knights (easy for kids to color) or painted plastics (requires more planning). Perhaps during Renfest time.
- Some activities with the Warhammer Alliance set. Might also work for summer.
The system has also emphasized skygazing, so paper or other crafting of spacecraft models might be possible in between attempts to spot the International Space Station and watching an eclipse - particularly in April, Dark Skies Month.
So that's what I think I can achieve this year. A few other things I'd like to do if I can find the time:
5. Some colonial campaigning, either Darkest Africa or Northwest Frontier. I've been talking about these for a while, but I have the terrain for both now and it would be nice to get something together with them.
6. Something to do with Very British Civil War - I have most of the books now, and enough painted minis to run a game.
7. Going to another convention. I ought to get to one of the Orlando ones.
8. Running that dang Picacho Pass scenario. I have the appropriate rules and minis, just need to absorb the former, figure out a scenario and source proper terrain.
9. Another remote game, or more. Jon Freitag kindly offered me a slot recently, so I hope to get that one in soon.
Hope your gaming this year goes as well or better. Until next time!
Happy New Year and good luck with your 2024 gaming endeavours
ReplyDeleteQuite an impressive to do list.
ReplyDeleteI hope this one is more achievable.
DeleteAll the best in your endeavours for 2024.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you want the labels to represent. If just type of unit, what about little coloured dots - eg red for line infantry, blue for heavy cavalry etc.
Thank you. The labels will name the regiment, and they'll need to be on the top or back of the base, which means a low point size and a really narrow label.
DeleteIt is only the second week of January so still early days for resolutions. I can certainly help knock out at least one of your goals. We will get a game in this year. Hopefully sooner rather than later to show progress against resolutions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jon. I look forward to it. I hope these are more realistic than the last batch...
Deletehaving more than 2 goals is like a set up for failure for me, but then again i am naturally lazy and easily let myself off the hook. 😁
ReplyDeleteI use labels in ACW games with Fire and Fury (required for game play)and in my dark ages Hail Caesar games to label the unit. Just a slip of cardstock tapped to the bottom so that a little tag shows in the rear. Black with white writing.
I've used tags before, but on the increasingly large scale I've got that will get annoying, especially when trying to arrange units in column, and I'd have to replace them every so often. I'd rather have tiny labels at this point. Still, the ease and low expense of tags are tempting.
ReplyDelete