Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of year once again. That time where we look back on the year and see what we accomplished.
That time to get sad after looking backwards and then quickly look forward into the New Year where we make more promises to ourselves that we cannot keep. Let’s see how your old pal Trav did with his 2016 resolutions from his post last year.
2017 Resolutions: Did We Succeed?
- Resolution 1: Finish painting all remaining models before buying new ones…. Yea I did manage to finish my starter set of Stormcast Eternals and the High Elf portion of the Spire of Dawn Set. However, I never got around to doing the Skaven side before getting new models. I did however manage to paint a total of 60 models over the course of the year and only purchase 29…. so about 50% is close to passing right?
- Resolution 2: Organize all my models and paints as well as painting and unpainted miniatures. I put together a spreadsheet of all my painted and unpainted models, and then organized them in a cabinet that I took over for the sole purpose of my hobby. Paints and unpainted models stay in there, while the painting miniatures sit on shelf in the same room, so I can look back at past work and think about how much I want to touch them up… This is the year.
- Resolution 3: Become a better painter. I believe I did become a much better painter over the course of the year. I took on my first large model and painted him to what I think is a high standard (Archaon the Everchosen). When I compare newly painted models to older models I can defiantly tell the difference in terms of shading, highlighting, and over all improvement on color choices.
Taking a quick break here I want to reiterate joining or creating a painting league at your hobby store. It is such a great motivator to get models painted to a good standard especially when you make a commitment for this month. Prizes help too, but even outside of that finishing a model and putting it up on a website or Facebook group for others to see and comment on really helps you improve. You also see all sorts of stuff on there from Zone Mortalis Tiles, to hand built gaming tables (see this article), to people who paint DnD terrain. It makes you want to paint and show off your stuff!
- Resolution 4 Getting two games a month in was a complete failure. My daughter was born on January 21st and the amount of time it takes to take care of a kid is crazy. Both my wife and I work, so that makes it even harder to fit games as we both want to blow off steam on weekends. Building my own table has done wonders for me in terms of getting some games in at the house, but it’s still not enough.
Overall, I would give myself a C, but I do like to look over the past year and point out some highlights and things I am proud of. First again the birth first child has been both the best thing in my life, but also the most stressful and time consuming. Finding time to paint and play, even though it is less then last year, is still a huge bonus for me and I am proud that I can still find some me time to do the things I love. Next, painting Archaon the Everchosen was daunting, time consuming, and made me buy all sorts of paints I didn’t know existed. I also learned a ton from painting him and, frankly, he is a centerpiece I am proud to show off. He is the one model my wife lets me keep in the living room.
Going beyond my local GW and FLGS to build a table and create handmade scenery has also been a highlight. It allows my little group to create out own battlegrounds and scenarios as well as play on random nights we are free. Finally, my writing has gotten a lot better over the year. Still not perfect, but hey I work in IT not an English department. My favorite article from the past year was my first foray into the competitive hobby scene. It got me out of my comfort zone, playing with people I know don’t know rather then ones I drink beer with, but in a good way! Now I will spend hours on GW’s Warscroll Builder thinking about various combos and synergies that I can use with whatever force I happen to be working on. Now that we are done looking back at the year, let’s look forward and make some more resolutions!
2018 Resolutions: Can We Do It?
- Playing two games a month. Now that my daughter is older (1 being older), hopefully I can get a group of us together to start a campaign set in the Season of War Firestorm, or the new one GW is teasing.
- Become a better painter. I already have ideas for this in that I want to start messing around more with two brush blending! Setting aside my newly acquired Nurgle models to be the test subjects to this. Along with using a white primer which I have never done before, should lead to some interesting results.
- Increase two side armies to 1500 points. This is a big goal of mine so that the beer and pretzels games we have at the house will get some variety.
- Continue exploring the miniature wargaming board game scene. Shadespire is awesome and I am definitely hoping to continue that and get some of the expansions that go along with it. Would also like to try the Warhammer Quest games, by getting a dedicated group of 4-5 of us to play it.
Shifting focus to GW, lets look at some of the highlights from the past year and what I expect them to do in 2018. The biggest was the 2017 Generals Handbook, which balanced points a nicely except for the battalions. In my opinion, the massive regiments are a nice touch as well as more battle line units, but the battalions come in at a little too many points to be useful. We saw all sorts of model releases across the board, with the two biggest being Tzeentch and, my personal favorite, the Kharadron Overlords. My favorite thing though from the past year must be Shadespire. There is just so much there that they can build on and the game is easy to learn and fun to play.
Here are best guesses at what GW is going to be doing in 2018. We will see a new Generals Handbook in July, with more balance and they will merge a couple of the armies together and release special rules for them (example merge Swifthawk Agents and White Lion’s). Two big releases will be Nurgle (like what Tzeentch got) and a new Death faction that GW is teasing. Within that they will merge dead walkers and death rattle together to create a zombie and skeleton heavy army. When that comes out, they will do a big summer campaign like the last one, that will help shape the future of AOS. Within the campaign they will offer city like factions so that you can get an army bonus and use a variety of models from 2 or 3 different factions. For specialist games, you will see a new army for Shadespire every other month or so, along with new boards that you can purchase independently. Finally, my real shot in the dark is that they are going to re-release Mordenheim that is set in the Mortal Realms, probably in the Realm of Death.
There you have it! My guess at where AOS is going and my goals within this silly hobby we call wargaming. Will I meet them all? I would put money on no, but it does not hurt to have the resolutions sitting in the back of your mind. They make great goals to work towards and, if you meet them, you get to “treat yo self” to new models and even more goals! Otherwise, just remember to take time to enjoy the hobby and the people you play with, because that is really what keeps this community together. So, make sure you start this New Year off right by staying safe on New Years Eve and getting home, from whatever gathering your attending safely.
Have a wonderful Holiday and here is to an amazing 2018.
Check out more “newbie” tips for the Hobby
About the Author: Travis Perkins
