For my first post of 2019, I have appropriated the popular trend of coming up with a list of games I want to play, projects I would like to complete, and challenges I would like to participate in this year. Note that this is what I hope to do; what actually happens is anyone’s guess. Therefore I have included my best guess of the chances of any given project happening.
First, the top 5 games I really want to play (with others) this year. This of course, requires that I get my friends together to do some gaming.
Gaslands (Osprey): With Gaslands: Refueled already announced, and over a dozen cars converted and ready to go, it’s way past time I actually played this damn game. Chance of success: 90%
Star Trek Adventures: the Role-playing Game (Modiphius): I would love to run and/or play this game, as I really like the system and the setting. Trying to get my friends to play would be much easier than trying to get them to buy into it, as it’s not a cheap game, and we don’t seem to be able to game nearly enough to justify its purchase. That being said, the character creation system is a lot of fun, but very involved, so one session would likely be devoted to that alone. Chance of success: 40% for one game (using my books), dropping sharply for successive games.
Super Mission Force (Four Color Studios): It should be no surprise to anyone who visits this blog even casually that I love this game. I will continue to play it; ideally with friends, but solo if necessary. It’s very easy to pick up, and my friends who have played seem to enjoy it a lot. Chance of success: 100% solo, 85% with friends.
Legends of the Old West (GW): This OOP Old West game from Games Workshop seems like a pretty good way to finally start some western skirmish gaming, since I’ve been putting it off for years. Now that I have my new “arid lands” battle mat, I have little excuse. Just need to round up a posse. Chance of success: 50%.
Dungeon Saga: The Dwarf King’s Quest (Mantic): I didn’t paint this game last year for no reason. It would be nice to get a game or two of this in before the end of 2019. Luckily, my friends like this kind of game, so playing it should be relatively easy (in theory). Chance of success: 75%.
The biggest obstacle I have to playing any of the above is finding people to play with and coordinating a game day. Even if I don’t, you can expect more posted After Action Reports, especially for Supers gaming, which I can play solo.
These are my top 5 hobby projects for 2019:
1. Paint my Star Trek Adventures miniatures. With three sets primed and ready, I’ll be getting to these pretty quickly. Expect a review soon.
2. Paint more old-school miniatures! It’s a pretty good feeling when I paint something I’ve had for decades that I never got around to, or when I repaint a miniature that’s had a horrible paint job because I painted it when I first started out. I’m a sucker for nostalgia, and revisiting old lead is a lot of fun.
3. Write a game of my own. I have several ideas for miniatures games kicking around in my head, and have gone back and forth over the years trying to get a rules system down that I like. I’ve got the ideas for the games firmly secured, I just need to find a way to make them work without making things super complicated (which I want to avoid) or ripping off someone else (ditto). It’s the system that plagues me, not the concept…
4. Start a gaming club. Probably the only way I’m going to be able to play more games is to find new people to play with. Sadly, all the game stores around me only carry and support Warhammer 40K, Age of Sigmar and Warmahordes, so the style of gaming I prefer is not exactly well represented in my local community. (I went into a local shop recently and no one had ever even heard of Gaslands or Frostgrave, but everyone plays 40K and the current darling, Necromunda.) There isn’t even a significant Historical gaming community near me, which isn’t really my kind of gaming, either, but at least it would be something other than GW and Privateer Press.
5. Paint an army, or complete an entirely new gaming project. It’s the beginning of the year, plenty of time to make a commitment and see it through. I have several “armies” ready to go, all of which I will most likely never use (40K Orks, Warhammer Empire, and some generic Wargames Factory Shock Troopers, to name but a few). Not the point. Other than those, I have plenty of gaming genre interests I should really pursue, like the Ronin rules I got for Christmas.
Of course, in addition to the above projects, you can be certain I’ll be painting whatever takes my fancy throughout the year. I will continue to repaint Heroclix for use with Super Mission Force, and I will most likely convert more Gaslands cars.
Finally, I very much enjoy taking part in painting challenges, and I hope to do more of that this year. I will happily take part in Forgotten Heroes for as many years as Carrion Crow will have me. Perhaps it may be time for me to host another challenge myself. It’s been a couple of years since Dwarvember and WizarDecember, after all. Should I bring those back, or start something new? I am considering hosting a “Monster Month” challenge, which was a challenge I did all by myself last year in May.
All in all, 2019 could be a very productive year for my hobbying, if I can stick to my resolutions. Hope I’ll be better at sticking to these than sticking to my actual New Year’s resolutions. I never make it past the first month with those…