December 31, 2023

2023 Year in Review

As we come to the close of 2023 and welcome 2024, it is that time of the year for my annual "2023 Year in Review".

As I do each year, 2023 started with a "What's in store for 2023!" so we will use that post as a basis for our year in review.

Bolt Action

Painting Goal: None currently, we have enough models painted for the 1000 point event and plenty for the 450 points for AdeptiCon.

Gaming Goal: We will probably be playing 3 games at the event, and I can see at least another 2 for the year. For now I am going to keep it real low at 5 games and we shall see what happens.

As stated above, I had no expectations of painting anything for Bolt Action, and that stayed the same. I did manage to get in 3 games of Bolt Action, but fell short of 5 for the year. We played at one event early in the year, but did not manage to play at AdeptiCon.

Marvel Crisis Protocol

Painting Goal: I am not making any promises on this one. For 2022 I painted around 100 models for the game and we now have painted what really need. I still have 30+ models in the back log for the game and I am currently painting them when I am in the mood. I am sure when a “new, cool” model gets released it will take priority.

Gaming Goal: With 60+ games played in 2022 (which was a record for me with a single game system), 2023 “should” be a good year too. I am going to set my goal of just shy of 1 game a week with a total of 50 games played for 2023.

Marvel Crisis Protocol was/is the staple game for my son and I currently, where most of our time has been spent with this game. In regards to painting models, I did manage to paint another 22 models for the year and as stated, it was mainly models that I thought were cool or wanted to try out in a new list. Most of my time the last few months has been catching up on painting terrain for MCP, and boy do we know have a lot of terrain.

For gaming, I set another new record with 90 games played for 2023 (a new record for single game system). We ended up playing at quite a few events (local and distance) and quite a few games at home. With the quick game play of Marvel Crisis Protocol, we will be riding MCP into 2024.

Middle-earth SBG

Painting Goal: This one is hard to say, nothing is currently planned, but there is a chance that a model here or there may need to be completed.

Gaming Goal: Also as above, a few games of practice will be needed, in either case, I think maybe I can get in 1-2 games in for the year.

Middle-earth SBG was a bust this year. I did not play Battle Companies at AdeptiCon, nor did we attend the NOVA Open. I think these models will still be staying in the gaming bag in the future.

Warhammer 40,000

Painting Goal: Currently no plans.

Gaming Goal: Currently no plans.

I had no plans for Warhammer 40,000 this past year and it stayed that way, even with the release of a new edition. I realized the Games Workshop money grab once again and the game stayed on the shelf. As of now I only see this game hitting the table again if Atomic Mass Games loses the license for Marvel.

Star Wars Legion

Painting Goal: No plans, but a few models may get painted in between painting MCP.

Gaming Goal: Tough to say with what we may see coming out this summer (see below).

Star Wars Legion was a bit of a disappointment for me in 2023. No models were painted and no games played were played. Atomic Mass Games did release a new game called Star Wars Shatterpoint which is more skirmish based like Marvel Crisis Protocol, but we did not jump on that game either. We have been just having too much fun with Marvel Crisis Protocol, nothing else fit in.

New Games for 2023?

As I had mentioned twice above “see below”, Atomic Mass Games (makers of MCP, and current owner of SWL) are releasing a new Star Wars game this Summer called “Star War Shatterpoint”. AMG currently has only teased the game with planned demos at AdeptiCon 2023, but as of now looks to be played very similar to MCP. If that is the case, this game will be competing for time with Star Wars Legion.

I think I can honestly say that 2023 was the first year I probably did not get into a new game. Already mentioned above plenty of times, MCP was the game.

Events

March 22nd - 26th: AdeptiCon

August 30th - September 3rd: NOVA Open ?

October 6th - 8th: Michigan GT ?

October xx- xx: Second Wind ?

November 3rd - 5th: Warfaire Weekend?

Events are what I look forward to in the year, and we actually had a really busy year (especially in the Fall). We managed Adepticon in March, Atlantic City Open in June (not on above list), Michigan GT in October, Second Wind 5 in October and Warfaire Weekend in November (not on above list). We also attended some one day events of MCP in Chicago, Lansing, Kalamazoo and even a trip to Ontario Canada. Next year a new event will be on the list, but stayed tuned tomorrow for that one.

Come back tomorrow to see What's in store for 2024, I have a feeling it will be a very short list.

MCP: Ultron, Metal Tyrant (Ultron) and Ultron Drones

I finally got around to assembling and painting a model from the new Marvel Crisis Protocol (Earth's Mightiest Heroes) core set, and elected to go with 'Ultron, Metal Tyrant' and his 'Ultron Drones'.

I elected to go with this model so I could have an updated Age of Ultron list that I play with my Avengers, but for the time being, Avengers are going to take a back seat. Hopefully soon this model will hit the playing table.

Ultron, Metal Tyrant (Ultron)

Ultron Drones

Ultron, Metal Tyrant (Ultron) and Ultron Drones

Painting Points: 10

MCP: Doctor Strange (Stephen Vincent Strange) (2)

I am not exactly sure why I painted up Doctor Strange at this moment, but since my second version of 'Wong' was recently painted, I decided to go ahead and paint up the second 'Doctor Strange' model that we have.

I elected to go with the same look as how I painted 'Wong', which may make for a nice looking Midnight Sons Affiliation. I also decided to place his portal on the base itself and make it look like Doctor Strange is coming out of it.

Doctor Strange (Stephen Vincent Strange) (2)

Painting Points:5

MCP: Cosmic Ghost Rider (Frank Castle)

I had this model sitting on my desk assembled since it's release, and this past Saturday afternoon I finally decided the prime the model.

Yesterday morning the primer was dry and 'Cosmic Ghost Rider' was ready to hit the painting table. A few colors here and there throughout the day, and my model was completed. Now my Guardians of the Galaxy Affiliation is complete again.

Cosmic Ghost Rider (Frank Castle)

Painting Points: 5

MCP: Wong (2)

I keep forgetting to make this post, but earlier in the month I decided to work on a second 'Wong' for Marvel Crisis Protocol.

"Just in case" my son and I both want to use him at the same time. With 'Wong' 2, I elected to go with a dark blue suit compared to green suit on my previous version.

Wong (2)

Painting Points: 2

MCP: Captain America (Sam Wilson)

For me, the true Captain America is Steve Rogers, and not Sam Wilson, Sam Wilson is The Falcon. So for this Captain America model, I elected to paint it more in line with the colors of The Falcon.

I honestly do not know if he will see much time as the Leader of the Avengers in any games soon, but I do plan to make use of him in a Team Tournament event I will be attending in November.

Captain America (Sam Wilson)

Painting Points: 2

MCP: Hulk (Bruce Banner) (Black Suit)

Lately in most of our competitive lists, we are "splashing" 'Hulk' in them since he is really good right now. I have been thinking about running a black suit Web Warriors this fall and I thought it would be cool to include a black suit 'Hulk' just to change things up a bit.

Our past event that we attended, I ended up winning Best Overall (includes Painting/Sportsmanship) and received $35 in store credit, I thought that would be a good time to purchase another 'Hulk'.

This past weekend with the family out of town, I went to work on the model, probably not the greatest looking 'Hulk' but he will definitely be different.

Hulk (Bruce Banner) (Black Suit)

Painting Points: 5

Daily Chronicle: Heading to Atlantic City Open 2023

I honestly did not think we would be heading to Atlantic City Open 2023 once again this year with my youngest son/s graduation next week and then the family heading to Florida (without me) for vacation, but I decided to bite the bullet and go down one more time. Next year is going to be really tough, so I thought I was going to have fun one more time.

Atlantic City Open 2023 is Father's Day weekend this year, June 16th-18th, and my oldest son and I are both signed up for the Marvel Crisis Protocol Weekend.

We plan on arriving sometime Friday morning and just relaxing for the day and recovering from the drive. Saturday will be the LVO Qualifier Event running 5 Rounds (so a long day) and Sunday is going to be a Fun 3 Round event for those that do not make the Top 8 from Saturday.

I am going just to have fun and enjoy the ambiance!

I think in the Fall (starting with Second Wind V), I want to play a Web Warriors roster themed with my black suit Spider-Mans, just something a bit different.

So good thing I waited just a bit to paint Spider-Woman, otherwise I would have gone with box art colors for the suit, instead, I decided to paint the model in her black suit.

Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)

Painting Points: 2

MCP: Amazing Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (2)

It is not some of my greatest work, but I wanted to do something different with this 'Amazing Spider-Man'.

Early on I painted 'Spider-Man' from the Core Set with a black suit, and I wanted to do the same with this 'Amazing Spider-Man'. I had already painted this models in the standard suit colors, but this one now will be for a "black suit" themed Web Warriors Affiliation, plus now it stands out from the other model my son always plays.

Amazing Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (2)

Painting Points: 5

MCP: Immortal Hulk (Bruce Banner)

I was hoping to get a start on this model last weekend, but my preorder did not arrive till Monday afternoon. After dinner on Monday, the assembly began on ‘Immortal Hulk’.

I primed the model on Friday night to prep him for the painting table on the weekend. After a couple of games of MCP earlier in the day on Saturday, the first base coats went down on the model and by Sunday lunch, ‘Immortal Hulk’ was finished.

Immortal Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Painting Points: 5

MCP: Dormammu (Dormammu)

Well it took a while to purchase this big guy, but with a $10 birthday discount with Miniature Market, I finally broke down and purchased 'Dormammu'.

How much play time will 'Dormammu' see is still yet to be determined, but he will hit the game mat today so I can see what he can do.

Dormammu (Dormammu)

Painting Points: 5

MCP: Winter Soldier (James “Bucky” Barnes) (2)

Most MCP rosters have a model that is almost an auto include, and one of those models is ‘Winter Soldier’. Seeing how both my son and I play, it was finally time to pick up a second copy of ‘Winter Soldier’.

I usually do not paint on Monday nights after work, and I was not feeling it last night either, but I decided to sit down and paint after dinner, next thing I know, ‘Winter Soldier’ was completed.

Now my son needs to decide if “Bucky” will be in his roster this weekend when we go to Canada for an event.

Winter Soldier (James “Bucky” Barnes) (2)

Painting Points: 2

Daily Chronicle: AdeptiCon 2023 Recap

Adepticon 2023 has now come and gone and I had a good time. I managed to play 8 games over 3 days, and had time to do some vendor hall shopping and meet up with some old friends, for me that is what AdeptiCon is about.

We played Marvel Crisis Protocol all weekend (Thursday/Friday/Saturday) and the nice thing about MCP events is, if you are no longer in the running, you can easily drop out of the event to go and do other things at the convention, and that is what I did. I am not a competitive player as I go for the comraderie.

Thursday started with the Affiliations tournament and I played one of the smallest affiliations with my "Winter Guard". I ended up going 0-3, but they were all fun games. There were still 2 more games left in the event, but we went to start our shopping and get some dinner.

Friday was the 2v2 Team tournament, and game #1 they put us on table #1 streaming to all the viewers. It was a tight close battle, but we lost by 1 point, 10-11. Games #2 was better for us and we managed a win in the event. Game #3 was another tight battle and lost by 1 point again, but it was really fun, all 3 games we had great time and left after going 1-2. It was going to be a long night as there were still 2 more games, so we headed out to complete some final shopping and dinner.

Saturday was Championship day and one last hoorah for my "Age of Ultron" roster. Game #1 did not start off to good for me, my opponent was nice, but you can tell right away these guys were serious for this event. The super fast play and not much chit chat was not that enjoyable. Game #2 was much better as I had a great opponent and we had a good time. I had the early lead in this game, but then fell apart and got another loss, going 0-2. Only the Top 8 were advancing to Sunday, and you needed a 4-0 record to advance. So with 2 loses, it was my final day for last minute shopping.

After my son was done (who played all 4 games), we headed out to Buona Beef for dinner and then went back to the hotel and packed our bags and headed back home.

The one good thing about this years shopping was, I managed to control myself and kept my purchases to the essentials and did not walk away with a new game (like I usually do), but it was tempting.

Here is a photo dump from the weekend.