As always, the two blog posts I enjoy writing the most each year, the first one is my "What's in store for" (next year), and the second one is my "Year in Review".
2019 started with a "What's in store for 2019" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.
2019 started with a "What's in store for 2019" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.
Arena Rex
2019
Painting Goal: I still have quite a few models in my backlog for Arena Rex (11). I honestly feel it may be a doable goal to have these all completed, as long as I do not add anymore to the backlog. I think as long as I stick to the two Ludus' that I have, this goal should be completed (especially if one the games way down below takes a back burner). Once these get completed (maybe by GenCon in August) then I may add a third Ludus.
Gaming Goal: Currently Arena Rex for me is just a game I am playing for fun, the play is quick and enjoyable. At least in the first quarter of the year I do not see myself partaking in any events, but the goal will be to at least play the game every other week. I am going to shoot for at least 20 games played in 2019.
Well, this was a huge MISS for me (mostly in part to picking up BMG this past year). My Painting Goal was non existent, and only 1 game of Arena Rex was played for the entire year.
Batman Miniatures Game
2019
Painting Goal: Maybe the occasional one off miniature to paint, I am not setting any expectations on getting a Team completed. I do have some models already completed painted that I can play with.
Gaming Goal: As I mentioned yesterday, my feeling right now for BMG is just to be a punching bag for my son so he can warm up for AdeptiCon, who knows, maybe after all those games I may actually enjoy it some more. I can see us playing a handful of games before the end of March and then I will need to reevaluate.
This one was a huge change of events and probably received the most time from me in 2019, at least in the Painting aspect of the hobby. My Painting Goal expectation was not even to get a Team completed, well I far exceeded that and painted around 100 models for BMG this past year. I also managed to play 24 games of BMG which is much more than I had expected. Although the last 2 months of BMG has taken the back burner with the release of 3rd Edition, and currently I am not sure where I stand with the game.
Bolt Action
2019
Painting Goal: As of now, no expectations to paint anything for Bolt Action...again that may change come June.
Gaming Goal: The current plan is to play at least two games of Bolt Action this year. A warm up/practice game, and then a game to be played on June 6th, 2019 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. After playing this game, the interest to play more may happen.
This was another MISS for me and nothing was ever done with Bolt Action. In fact most of my models have been packed away in my storage shed. I really do love the era, but there is just not enough time. I can probably say for certain this one will not make the list for 2020.
Guild Ball:
2019
Painting Goal: I need to make this one a bit realistic compared to what I actually want. I would love to say to finish up my entire backlog plus any new models that are released. Right now my backlog is at 39 models (not including the Union Guild) nor the Cook's Minor Guild releasing in February. Main priority will be to finish the one off models to complete my Guilds, then I will tackle some of the Minor Guilds. With Guild Ball being planned to be my main game for 2019, my painting priorities will be with Guild Ball.
Gaming Goal: I shocked myself at the end of 2018 having played 32 games of Guild Ball (with the majority of them coming the last two months of the year). If I want to be somewhat decent at playing the game, I cannot take long breaks in the game. My goal is to attend a monthly tournament (if there is one in a close vicinity) and to try and play a friendly game at least once a week. The total goal for the year will be 50 games of Guild Ball (which is very doable with the tournaments).
Guild Ball was my main priority at least for the beginning of the year and I can say I am pretty happy with my outcome. I did not complete everything in my backlog, but I did manage a few one off’s, some new Captain’s, Rookie’s, and the new Cook’s Minor Guild were completed.
I was short of hitting my Gaming Goal of 50 games, but 40 games played of Guild Ball is still pretty good. I also managed to host 2 events, one in February down in South Bend, IN and the second one this past October at the Michigan GT. I did start out of the 2019 gate really good with games played, but it also has recently taken a back seat as priorities have changed.Guild Ball will definitely make tomorrows list for 2020, I just need to see how much.
Middle-earth SBG
2019
I actually almost forgot about this game, that is how much I have been thinking about it recently.
Painting Goal: No big goals for me. An accomplishment would be to finish the models I have for my The Dead of Dunharrow army. I believe I still have another 20 models on foot and 8 riders on horses.
Gaming Goal: I have a feeling that this one may be a lot like Bolt Action where it may only see 1-2 games for the year. Considering we have only played once since the release of the new rules set back in September.
Another MISS for me. No models painted, nor any games played this year. I know my son is still excited for this game, but the playstyle no longer interests me. I won't count it quite Dead yet for me.
Warmachine/Hordes
2019
Painting Goal: I own a lot of models for Warmachine/Hordes (between what I own and what my son has). I feel that for WM/H I will still will be painting them throughout the year. I know there will be times when I want to paint something different than Guild Ball or Arena Rex, so that is when I will throw down a WM/H model to paint. I have a lot of models that I received in the last half of 2018 for a Cryx army, and thought of a fairly quick paint scheme, so I may decide to work on them a bit.
Gaming Goal: This is a tough one...between my son and I, we have a lot of completed models between my two main factions Khador/Minions and his Cygnar/Circle. I opted not to sign up for any WM/H events at AdeptiCon 2019, but that does not mean I will totally be giving up on this game. I just do not feel it will be played as much as it was in 2018. I think it will become the occasional throw down game just to have some fun. Goal for the year, probably a bit low, but lets shoot for 12 games (average one a month, especially with no tournaments planned at the moment).
I wouldn’t technically call this one a MISS, more like there was/is no more interest in the game for me at the moment. This will be a tough one for tomorrow’s list, it may still make the list for 2020.
X-Wing
2019
Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)
Gaming Goal: I really like what was done with the release of X-Wing 2.0 bringing all the Factions back to a balanced playing field. So for at least for the first half of the year I see that this game being played the second most behind Guild Ball and to prepare for AdeptiCon. After a few months my mood may change. Having this game and Arena Rex to counter some of the games played of Guild Ball will be a nice change. I did not get in as many games of X-Wing since the release of 2.0 (8 games), so I will be once again realistic and will place a goal of 20 games played for 2019.
I can say I really enjoyed X-Wing for 2019. I hit my goal of 20 games played for the year (barely), but it was still achieved. Like stated above, it was a nice game to play as a filler game, and it does not take more than 90 minutes to play. I did try signing up for a few events, but only played in 1 game at this years NOVA Open. This is one that will still make the cut tomorrow.
Events
2019
So what kind of events and I am looking at for 2019. In my previous years, this section mainly was for the larger conventions that I had hoped to attend. But for 2019, there are a lot of 1,2 day out of town Guild Ball events that I will be looking at also. There is still not much info out there for the later part of 2019, but here is what I am looking at:
February: Bourbon Trail Open IV (Guild Ball)
March: AdeptiCon (Guild Ball, X-Wing)
April: Spring Fling ? (Guild Ball)
May: MuseOn Con ? (Guild Ball)
June: East Canadian Nationals ? (Guild Ball)
August: GenCon 1 Day (Vendor Hall)
October: SteamCon USA (Guild Ball)
December: Second Wind (Guild Ball)
To be honest, 2019 was a really great year for Events and exceeded the above list. In June, I did not attend the East Canadian Nationals, it ended up being too close to MuseOn Con in dates. SteamCon USA never happened in October, so in September we attended NOVA Open again, and October I hosted the Guild Ball Championships at the Michigan GT. I cancelled Second Wind in December in favor of attending the Renegade Open in November. 2019 saw a lot of travel to events, and unfortunately the list for 2020 will be very slim for me.
New Additions:
Aristeia!
While at AdeptiCon 2019, Aristeia! really caught my attention and thought it would be a fun game to throw down every now and then and I jumped all in. Well it was another MISS, we played 3 games and it has since been just sitting on the shelf.
Judgement
Boy did AdeptiCon 2019 do a number on me and bought into another game, just like Aristeia! Above, it was MISS. Models are still sitting in the same boxes as purchased and no games were played. I am going to have to look at unloading these models as I really see no time for this game.
Comebacks:
Warhammer 40000
This one really surprised me! The past few months I got the itch to break out Warhammer 40000 again, I had told myself I was done with GW, but we seem to always get sucked back in. One of the huge benefits of this game is that you can find models at any gaming store, and I like to impulse buy, so it is nice to walk into a gaming store and purchase a model and not just a pot of paint. We are still getting our feet wet with the rules of 8th Edition, but I see 2020 looking really good for this game, with a new Imperial Fists army that I am currently working on, and I have my eye on one more for 2020.
Conclusion:
All in all, I can say 2019 was actually a really good year for painting models (mainly BMG) and getting in some games. I had a goal of 110 games played, but fell short of that mark, not too bad as it was still in the 90’s.
Here’s to 2020! and Happy New Year1
2019
Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)
Gaming Goal: I really like what was done with the release of X-Wing 2.0 bringing all the Factions back to a balanced playing field. So for at least for the first half of the year I see that this game being played the second most behind Guild Ball and to prepare for AdeptiCon. After a few months my mood may change. Having this game and Arena Rex to counter some of the games played of Guild Ball will be a nice change. I did not get in as many games of X-Wing since the release of 2.0 (8 games), so I will be once again realistic and will place a goal of 20 games played for 2019.
I can say I really enjoyed X-Wing for 2019. I hit my goal of 20 games played for the year (barely), but it was still achieved. Like stated above, it was a nice game to play as a filler game, and it does not take more than 90 minutes to play. I did try signing up for a few events, but only played in 1 game at this years NOVA Open. This is one that will still make the cut tomorrow.
Events
2019
So what kind of events and I am looking at for 2019. In my previous years, this section mainly was for the larger conventions that I had hoped to attend. But for 2019, there are a lot of 1,2 day out of town Guild Ball events that I will be looking at also. There is still not much info out there for the later part of 2019, but here is what I am looking at:
February: Bourbon Trail Open IV (Guild Ball)
March: AdeptiCon (Guild Ball, X-Wing)
April: Spring Fling ? (Guild Ball)
May: MuseOn Con ? (Guild Ball)
June: East Canadian Nationals ? (Guild Ball)
August: GenCon 1 Day (Vendor Hall)
October: SteamCon USA (Guild Ball)
December: Second Wind (Guild Ball)
To be honest, 2019 was a really great year for Events and exceeded the above list. In June, I did not attend the East Canadian Nationals, it ended up being too close to MuseOn Con in dates. SteamCon USA never happened in October, so in September we attended NOVA Open again, and October I hosted the Guild Ball Championships at the Michigan GT. I cancelled Second Wind in December in favor of attending the Renegade Open in November. 2019 saw a lot of travel to events, and unfortunately the list for 2020 will be very slim for me.
New Additions:
Aristeia!
While at AdeptiCon 2019, Aristeia! really caught my attention and thought it would be a fun game to throw down every now and then and I jumped all in. Well it was another MISS, we played 3 games and it has since been just sitting on the shelf.
Judgement
Boy did AdeptiCon 2019 do a number on me and bought into another game, just like Aristeia! Above, it was MISS. Models are still sitting in the same boxes as purchased and no games were played. I am going to have to look at unloading these models as I really see no time for this game.
Comebacks:
Warhammer 40000
This one really surprised me! The past few months I got the itch to break out Warhammer 40000 again, I had told myself I was done with GW, but we seem to always get sucked back in. One of the huge benefits of this game is that you can find models at any gaming store, and I like to impulse buy, so it is nice to walk into a gaming store and purchase a model and not just a pot of paint. We are still getting our feet wet with the rules of 8th Edition, but I see 2020 looking really good for this game, with a new Imperial Fists army that I am currently working on, and I have my eye on one more for 2020.
Conclusion:
All in all, I can say 2019 was actually a really good year for painting models (mainly BMG) and getting in some games. I had a goal of 110 games played, but fell short of that mark, not too bad as it was still in the 90’s.
Here’s to 2020! and Happy New Year1
