2017 Year in Review

This is actually one of my favorite posts each year when I get to look back and see what I did and did not accomplish for the year.

2017 started with a "What's in store for 2017" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Bolt Action
2017
Painting Goal: Just before Christmas 2016, I took advantage of a 'deal' that Warlord Games had on a Great Britain army package. $500 plus dollars of models for around $300. Probably close to around 3000 points (if not more). I had always wanted to start a British army, so my goal for 2017 will be to work on this army. My 'plan' is to work on this army over the entire year to keep me busy. No need to really speed paint these guys. I already have two armies painted that I can play with, so I am just going to enjoy myself modeling/painting this army. I still have a few models I can also add to my Soviet and German armies if I get a little bored with the British. By chance I get the British done before the end of 2017, then we will scope out another army to start.

Gaming Goal: Well there are no gamers that are 'real' close to me, but I did find a Facebook group called 'Michiana Bolt Action' and they meet once a month in Michigan City, IN (about 50 miles from me). The first meetup for 2017 will be January 22nd, so I do plan on heading out for a reintroduction to Bolt Action along with Version 2 of the rules. So the plan, try to meet with these guys once a month if possible. Other than that, most of my other game will probably come from events that I plan on attending in 2017. I will be heading out to LVO next month (more details below) and I offered my 'ringer' services to BA Chef on that Saturday of the Bolt Action Tournament if needs it.

Painting Goal:  Well I sort of accomplished what I wanted to do with Bolt Action.  I did manage to get quite a few models completed for my British Army, I think pretty close to 1250 points.  I also managed to get a few vehicles completed for my sons United States Army.  Once March came along, the painting projects slid to other games.

Gaming Goal:  I played a few games with the ‘Michiana Bolt Action’ crew early in the year and played in the Bolt Action AdeptiCon Championships in March.  After AdeptiCon, just like with the painting, my time went elsewhere.  I was able to get in 9 games for the year.

Warmachine/Hordes
2017
Painting Goal: As of right now, I have no painting goals for WM/H. All my models/paints are back in Arizona. When I go back at the end of May to pick up my wife and youngest child, if there is still room in our van, I may bring back my models with me. I really do enjoy the models from WM/H and enjoy painting them. Gives a nice break from painting WWII. But I am not setting any expectations for me.

Gaming Goal: Well without my models I obviously cannot get many games in. I do plan on getting in a game or two with my oldest son at LVO though.

Painting Goal:  I am actually impressed with myself on this one.  My expectations were very low, but I did manage to get decent amount of models painted for my Hordes Minions Army.  Towards the end of the year, I also painted a few Warjacks and Solo’s for my Warmachine Khador Army.  I am really happy with the results.

Gaming Goal:  When I picked up my family at the end of May, I also grabbed my Warmachine/Hordes armies and brought them back with me.  I did not get in as many games as I had wanted, and every time I was going to play in a local league, something else came up.  I met a friend out in Kalamazoo and played a few games with him and then when my son visited a few weeks ago for SteamCon USA, we also got a game of Warmachine/Hordes in.  For the year, I played 8 games.

Events/Conventions
2017

I actually think this will be a busy year for me in regards to events and conventions. Last year my plan was to attend Las Vegas Open (LVO) and Privateer Press Lock & Load and I attended both of those. This year I think I have a little bit more planned out.

I will be attending the LVO again next month with my oldest son. I will be flying back to Arizona, and the two of us will then drive to Las Vegas. So in the car I plan on bringing my WM/H armies, along with my sons United States army for Bolt Action (in case BA Chef needs me to 'ringer'). I think my son and I will also split his army into 2 and play some US v US just so he can refresh on the V2 rules.

At the end of March, we have one of the largest conventions in the US called AdeptiCon in Chicago. Before moving to Arizona in 2005 I had always attended this convention (and helped run the Warhammer events). I had been back once in 2010 and my son went a few years ago by himself. Now that it is only 2.5 hours away from me, I will be going back in 2017. I was just going to go and catch up with some old friends, but I saw they still had openings in the Bolt Action US Nationals for Saturday/Sunday. So I decided to sign up for that event, and I think I will be playing my Germans (have not fully decided yet). I have NO expectations on winning any games, for me it is just to throw some dice and meet up with the Chicago Bolt Action crew.

I know there are two events I do plan on attending in the fall. There is the Michigan GT the weekend of October 6th-8th in Lansing, MI (and more than likely they will have a Bolt Action tournament again). In November there is Operation Sting back in Chicago (if I can get quickly registered for this event, it sells out).

This one I was 50/50.  2017 started off really good and I was able to attend both the LVO and AdeptiCon and then when the Fall arrived I missed out on the two above events.  I had car issues in October and missed out on the Michigan GT (though I was registered for the Warmachine/Hordes Tournament) and Operation Sting happened to be the same weekend as Warmachine Weekend in St. Louis, though my car issues kept me from attending that event also.  A new convention that popped up on my radar was SteamCon USA a few weeks back at the beginning of December.  I flew my son out from Arizona and we did attend this convention.

Guild Ball
2017
Painting Goals: Not Applicable
Gaming Goals: Not Applicable

Guild Ball from Steamforged Games really snuck up on me in 2017.  I previously heard about the game but it was not until I attended the LVO in February where I was able to get in a quick demo game and get a better look at the models.  I always prefer games with low model counts (quicker to setup) and each Guild on the Pitch only plays with 6 models, and most Guilds have about 12 models.  As I have previously mentioned numerous times, I am more of a collector than I am a gamer.  So back in February there were about 9 Guilds so roughly around 108 models.  I could easily collect all the Guilds and models and have fun playing the game.  Well guess what, mission accomplished.  I now own every Guild in Guild Ball (including the 2 new Guilds introduced late in the year, Farmer’s and Blacksmith’s), every model (besides some Limited Edition models) and nearly all of them are painted.  I did not play as many games as I had hoped for (14 for the year), but Guild Ball is now my favorite game that I own.  When you read my post “What’s in store for 2018” in a few days, you’ll see Guild Ball high up on the list.