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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.

What's in store for 2023!

Happy New Year 2023!

Well, today is the day I write out all my goals for the year only to find out on December 31st that I fell short once again.

So I think for 2023 like I did for 2022, I am going to keep it short and realistic.

This list will be again much shorter than last years, and if by chance I do play something not on the list, well then that will be a bonus. It is a little sad that some of the old staples will not be on this year.

Bolt Action

Bolt Action has not been on this list for some time, but not long ago when the AdeptiCon preview cart was made available, there was an event called "Combat Patrol" that sounded like it could fun, 450 points with quick games to be played on Thursday night. This itch made my son and I did out all our Bolt Action models and see what we have and start working on lists.

There is a semi-local 1000 point event on January 21st that we are going to attend to help us shale the cobwebs off.

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.

Marvel Crisis Protocol

Well since around February of 2022, Marvel Crisis Protocol (MCP) has basically taken over all of my hobby/gaming time. I love this game for a plethora of reasons, some are, it’s Marvel!, it plays quick (90 minutes and we can play 2 games in the time it takes 1 in other systems).

MCP will be my staple game for 2023, a new Crisis card set was just released three weeks ago so we have new missions for the year, and there are plenty of models scheduled to be released.

Middle-earth SBG

MeSBG making the list once again this year because there is still a small chance I may be playing in the Battle Companies event at AdeptiCon or Doubles event at NOVA Open.

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.

Warhammer 40,000

I was way off with Warhammer 40,000 for 2022, but I am going to leave it on the list for 2023 “just in case”. You never know what may happen with this game or MCP.

Painting Goal: Currently no plans.

Gaming Goal: Currently no plans.

Star Wars Legion

Star Wars Legion (SWL) was a new game we added in 2022. The goal for us was to play this game with the Skirmish rule set and we did get a few games in. We picked up this game as filler between MCP games and I think this will still be the case for 2023. I have painted 800 points of Empire, so playing Skirmish games at 500 points is easily doable. There is a chance this game may get shelved for us (see below).

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).

New Games for 2023?

Events

I originally had planned quite a few events for 2023, but a change of jobs recently is going to damper those plans. I am still working on what events we want to attend, I have thoughts in mind compared to what reality might be. Realistically it will probably be a Spring event and a Fall event.

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?

As you can see above, the Fall event is still undecided. I really wanted to go back to the Atlantic City Open in June, but I do not think that will be possible.

Now we’ll see if the above holds true for 2023.

2022 Year in Review

Well it is New Year's Eve, December 31st 2022, and you know what that means. It is my annual "2022 Year in Review"

As I do each year, 2022 started with a "What's in store for 2022!" so we will use that post as a basis for our year in review.

Middle-earth SBG

Painting Goal: This one is hard to say, as stated above, if we play in the Doubles, I'll have to finish an army in time.

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.

Well MeSBG had a small chance this year, and I failed to live up to that little bit. The urge to play would come and go, and I even painted a few models to prepare for AdeptiCon 2023 just in case. With a goal of 1-2 games, 0 games were played.

Warhammer 40,000

Warhammer 40,000 will be the bulk of 2022 for me. Between adding on more Units to my new Necron army, and new Codex's coming out for armies I already have to attending tournaments, all my time will be mainly spent here.

Painting Goal: In all honestly, I think for the first time I do not have a painting goal. I would have said my Necron army, but this past Fall I managed to paint over 2000 Points of Necrons, so 2022 will be adding to that army. I also have a Chaos Space Marines, and a Tyranid army on the back burner that are waiting for a new Codex, so we shall see who gets a Codex first and that army probably will hit the painting table next.

Gaming Goal: Last year I had a goal of 24 games and I hit it with 29 games played and I think 24 games will be another realist goal to hit. I do think that with events somewhat opening back up, this number should be easily attained.

I cannot believe what a FLOP! I had with Warhammer 40,000 this past year. W40K was going to be my bread and butter game for 2022 and half way through the first month of January things really turned around. I did attend the Las Vegas Open 2022 and played the first day of the 'Warhammer 40,00 Friendly' with the second day shopping and enjoying myself at the bar.

A few more of my Necron models did get completed, but with a gaming goal of 24 games, I only managed to play 5 games in 2022 (and 2 of them were in Vegas).

X-Wing

X-Wing is a great game that can be played in 75 minutes, so it always seems to make the list for the New Year.

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: I had a goal of 6 games for 2021 and I fell way short with only 1 game played. An updated version (v2.5) will be coming out early 2022 so I know we will play a few games to try out the updated rules. So for 2022, I think I will set my goal to 5 games.

As with the three games above, X-Wing was another FLOP! for me. We did not try the new v2.5 rule set, nor reached my goal of 5 games played, kind of hard to do when 0 games were played. I have a feeling in 2023 this game will finally be officially shelved/boxed for me.

Events

COVID has really messed up 2020 and most of 2021 for attending events, 2022 has more events scheduled but there seems to always be a new variant coming out, so events are always risky at the moment.

We do have quite a few events planned out so far for 2022:

January 28th - 30th: Las Vegas Open
March 23rd - 27th: AdeptiCon
May 13th-15th: Motor City Mayhem
August 7th - 14th: Cruisehammer
September 30th - October 2nd: Michigan GT

If we can make those 5 events, it will be a good year.

Some of the events above we did attend (LVO, AdeptiCon) and some we did not (MCM, Cruisehammer, MiGT) but we added a few other events for the year. One of the biggest add-on's for the year was the Atlantic City Open (ACO) and I had a really good time there. We had a few more planned for the Fall, but personal reasons kept us from attending.

New Games for 2022?

NONE.... I have too many games already sitting on the shelf. Warhammer Age of Sigmar did not make the above list and we do have plenty of models for the game now, so if its played, as originally stated way above, it will be a plus.

Okay, here are where things took a change and I believe for the better. Back on January 24th of 2022 in my "Weekly Chronicle #4" I talk about the game Marvel Crisis Protocol (MCP) and how it has started to interest me after attending Universal Studios Florida. That happened to be the week before Las Vegas Open 2022. While at LVO, there were some vendors selling MCP at a really good price so a lot of models were purchased, followed by vendors at AdeptiCon and so on and next thing you know we have almost every model in the range including two copies of the Core Set.

I have always liked games that are quick to play, and MCP is that game (plus the added benefit of Marvel Super Heroes). Between setup, playing, and clean up, you can be done in 2 hours. Each game is 90 minutes (and we play on a clock) and there have even been days where we would get a back to back game in.

So as you can see in the original games above, of the three games, only 5 games were played in total, that is because I had played 62 games of Marvel Crisis Protocol this past year and I do not see it letting up anytime soon.

Another game we picked up in 2022 was Star Wars Legion, we have been going back and forth about this game for awhile and finally picked up some models. We were going to be playing in a Narrative game at LVO 2023 (but that is not going to be happening now) but I did manage to paint up a 800 point force. We also played 5 games this year and then it kind of sizzled again due to MCP. Not sure what will happen in 2023 for this game with talks of a new Star Wars game coming from AMG similar to MCP.

Come back tomorrow for "What's in Store for 2023!"

MeSBG: 'Iron Guard' x4

Yes I know it has been awhile again since I last posted, I seemed to have slowed down quite a bit this Fall (and this is usually the time I pick things up, I guess not this year).

Part of the reason is that the main game that I am currently playing is Marvel Crisis Protocol and I already painted a lot of models for the game this year and not it is just painting models that I feel like painting.

Anyways this post is not about MCP, but instead MeSBG. "Rings of Power" on Amazon Prime has given me a small itch that needs a little scratching, so my son and I are going to try Battle Companies at AdeptiCon 2023, Battle Companies is a very small (skirmish) version of MeSBG just to get back into the game for me, there is a chance of a full blown MeSBG for Nova Open 2023.

I figure I would start with my Kingdom of Khazad-Dum army and start to add a few models for it that may be needed during promotions in Battle Companies.

Here are four 'Iron Guard' that I have just completed.

Iron Guard x4

Painting Points: 4

2021 Year in Review

As I always say each year, the two blog posts I enjoy writing the most are "What's in store for" (next year), and the second one is my "Year in Review".

2021 started with a "What's in store for 2021!" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Arena Rex 2021

Painting Goal: None, I am not setting any expectations for painting.

Gaming Goal: I missed my planned goal of 5 games last year with only 2 played, so we are going to shoot for 3 games played in 2021.

Arena Rex was a big MISS in 2021 with no models painted and 0 games played.

DCU Miniature Game 2021

Painting Goal: If Knight Models would ever ship me my models, there may actually be a goal in place. I placed an order in November and still have not heard anything from them, honestly I do not think I ever will. If my models arrive, then I may put a few on the painting table through out the year.

Gaming Goal: Just like with Arena Rex above, this game be played every now and then when we want to change it up. I think 3 games played may be a good expectation.

DCU was pretty much a MISS, but I did get a few models completed in January 2021, but 0 games were played in the year. I did offer to play a game with my son, but then we ended up playing Warhammer 40,000 instead.

Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl 2021

Painting Goal: 1 full Blood Bowl team box of 12 players will be my goal for 2021, I really think this is attainable and may surprise myself with another. I just need to decide which team will be first.

Gaming Goal: I have high expectations for Blood Bowl this year (at least with Blood Bowl 7's). We are planning on playing an in house League with 4 Teams to start the new year off and then add a few Teams in future Seasons. Blood Bowl does still take a few hours to play, so combing Blitz Bowl/Blood Bowl.... I am going to shoot for 30 games played in 2021.

I had really high hoped for Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl in 2021, with purchasing a lot of new armies for the game. But with like most games lately, it was a big MISS. We did end up playing 2 games of Blitz Bowl, so far that is better than the above two games. I also did not get a Team painted for the game either.

Middle-earth SBG 2021

Painting Goal: I did buy a lot of models at the end of 2020 for quite a few different armies so I may concentrate on getting some of them done. I am not really setting any goals or armies completed, where I can see myself painting a few models / warbands here and there through out the year. There is a big convention in the Fall (that actually may happen) where it would probably kick my painting into high gear if I elect to play MeSBG there.

Gaming Goal: My plan is to try and play 1 game a month, so in theory that would be 12 games for the year, but we all know other plans do happen. So I am setting a goal of 10 games for 2021.

Well I did paint a few models for Middle-earth SBG, like with DCU above, they all got completed in January 2021, and nothing since. NOVA Open 2021 was cancelled, so that Fall event did not kick start me into a higher gear. Unfortunaltly 0 games were also played this year.

Warhammer 40,000 2021

Painting Goal: With AdeptiCon 2021 already cancelled, it is tough to set any painting goals. I think it will be more like MeSBG above and when I am in the mood to paint a model for Warhammer 40,000, I'll just paint it. I have fully painted Imperial Fists army for 1000/1500/2000 point games, and plenty of more models to add to that army.

Gaming Goal: Last year I had a goal of 30 games and I hit it with 38 games played. If we are not attending any events this year for Warhammer 40,000, I have it scheduled for twice a month which would be 24 games. That is less than last year, but we are adding MeSBG and Blood Bowl into the mix. I think I will stick to what is scheduled and set my goal of 24 games played in 2021.

Warhammer 40,000 was our mainstay game of the year and we stuck with it. This is where most of my painting time was spent with expanding my Imperial Fists army, and in October starting a whole new army with the Necrons and completing over 2000 Points of them. I had a low amount of games set for the year with 24, and we barely just hit that with 29 games played, at least I did hit my goal for the year.

X-Wing 2021

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: Last year I lowered my expectations with a goal of 6 games played, and I hit it with 10 games played. For 2021 I will keep the same goal of 6 games played. If more games are played again in 2021, that will be a bonus.

X-Wing was another HUGE MISS for the year, I honestly thought we would get more than 1 game played in the year.

Events 2021

As I had thought, the early part of 2021 were not good for events with most of them being cancelled due to COVID. The first event we attended was Motor City Mayhem in April which was a nice event and close to home. Then in October was the Michigan GT that we attended and once again was close to home. At least we were able to get away to two events for the year.

New Games Played 2021

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

Painting Goals: None

Gaming Goals: None

Warhammer Age of Sigmar was a new game I picked up for 2021. We started off the year pretty hot about it with building a whole Kharadron Overlords army and playing 4 games, and then it kind of simmered. Age of Sigmar v3 was released in the Summer and thought we may get a few more games in, but it has still been sitting.

Painting Points 2021

January 2021 started the year hot for Painting Points with 66 points for the month, then it cooled way down until the Fall when I decided to start a new Necron army for Warhammer 40,000 and the points really picked up and saved the year for me finishing with 293 points.

By reading the above post, you'd probably think that 2021 was not that good of year, but in all honesty, I did pick up Bass Fishing as another hobby and some of my weekend time in the Spring thru Fall were spent Fishing instead of playing games and painting. To me, I had a satisfying 2021.

Weekly Chronicle 2021 #2

Last week was pretty good for me...

I ended up completely 4 Heroes for my "Survivors of Lake-town / Halls of Thranduil" army list with 'Bard', 'Legolas', 'Tauriel' and 'Bilbo Baggins', which only leaves me the Warrior models for that list.

For gaming, my son arrived back from AZ late Saturday night, so yesterday I got to play my first game of 2021. Originally it was scheduled for some Blood Bowl, but my son was in the mood for Warhammer 40,0000.

We threw down for a 1000 point game of my Imperial Fists vs Dark Angels using the recent points update from Game Workshop along with the updated scoring rules for the 2020 GT Mission Pack.

This was a pretty close game, for the Primary Objectives we were both tied at 35 points a piece, it was in the Secondary's (plus Battle Ready) where my Imperial Fists managed to get the victory 60-43. Maybe that extra 10 points for Battle Ready will urge my son to get more painted....

For this upcoming week, I have a couple models ready to go for DC Universe Miniature Game and then I need to get building on some models. Gaming this weekend is still up in the air, I do have a Gaming Schedule I am trying to follow, but sometimes we may be in the mood for something else, so it is just a recommendation, so we shall see.

Models Completed: 4

Games Played: 1

MeSBG: 'Bilbo Baggins Master Burgler'

Today marks the end of MeSBG week for me, and it was a pretty decent week. With today's model, I already painted 2x the number of models I painted last year.

On Wednesday afternoon my package of "Champions of Erebor" arrived, so right away I had to open it up and start prepping 'Bilbo Baggins Master Burgler'. 'Bilbo' is the last Hero I need for my "Survivors of Lake-town" alliance list (for now). I purchased this box specifically for 'Bilbo', but I do see myself occasionally adding another third alliance to my list especially if time runs out to finish painting warriors.

With this model, it is actually the first time I really painted with the Citadel Contrast paints, I did a test Tyranid model before and was not happy with the Black Templar Contrast, so I stopped, but here on 'Bilbo', I used Contrast Talassar Blue on his coat and Apothecary White for the fur on the coat.

The next step would be to test out my list in a game and we have MeSBG scheduled to be played at least once a month, but we will be missing out on January unless we get to somehow squeeze it in, otherwise it will be the second Saturday in February. Maybe sometime between now and then I "may" work on some of the Warrior models.

Bilbo Baggins Master Burgler

Painting Points: 1

MeSBG: 'Tauriel'

The second Hero I completed for my "Halls of Thranduil" alliance is 'Tauriel'.

Just like with 'Legolas' yesterday, 'Tauriel' is the plastic version of her model.

Now that is all that is left for the "Halls of Thranduil" alliance is 20 'Mirkwood Rangers', not sure when those will be hitting the painting table.

Tauriel

Painting Points: 1

MeSBG: 'Legolas Greenleaf'

Continuing with my Hobbit week, I am working on my Heroes for my "Halls of Thranduil" alliance and today I have 'Legolas Greenleaf'.

Games Workshop does make two different kits for 'Legolas' and 'Tauriel', an older kit which is made out of resin and 'Legolas' is wielding Orcist, and a slightly newer kit which was made from the standard GW plastic. This 'Legolas' is the plastic model which also came with a pre-molded base.

Legolas Greenleaf

Painting Points: 1

MeSBG: 'Bard the Bowman on Foot'

As I mentioned in yesterday's Weekly Chronicle, this week is going to be for Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.

A month or so ago, I re-watched the Hobbit Trilogy of movies (first time since seeing them in the theaters) and the urge to play a Hobbit force in MeSBG really hit me. I enjoyed the character 'Bard' in the movie and of course 'Legolas' and 'Tauriel'. I was looking at a possible force that can combine these three characters.

'Bard' comes from the "Survivors of Lake-town" army list, and 'Legolas' and 'Tauriel' come from "Halls of Thranduil" and it was just my luck that these two lists formed an Historical Allie so I would be able to play the three characters together. I also do have a slight variation to this list where I also add "Erebor Reclaimed" but that list is really cutting down on my number of models (it may be an option if I am behind in painting).

I enjoy painting characters more than warrior models, so first up for the "Survivors of Lake-town" is 'Bard the Bowman on Foot'.

Bard the Bowman on Foot

Painting Points: 1

Weekly Chronicle 2021 #1

The first Weekly Chronicle for 2021!

There was no gaming to be played (hopefully this Sunday) this past week a my son is still out of town, but plenty of work continued on assembling models and getting them prepped for painting.

On Saturday I posted the first model completed for 2021 which was a 'Stormhawk Interceptor' for my Imperial Fists army.

In the pipeline for this week I will turn my attention back to MeSBG for a few days as I work on some Heroes for a new "Survivors of Lake-town / Thranduil's Hall" army.

Models Completed: 1
Games Played: 0

What's in store for 2021!

Happy New Year 2021!

Today is the day where I get to use my psychic powers and predict my gaming trends for 2021.

Yesterday I posted my "2020 Year in Review" and today we shall see what stays on the list and what is going away and if there are any new additions.

Arena Rex

Arena Rex is going to stay on the list for 2021, we do have some models painted along with terrain, so it is a nice quick game to occasionally throw down.

Painting Goal: None, I am not setting any expectations for painting.

Gaming Goal: I missed my planned goal of 5 games last year with only 2 played, so we are going to shoot for 3 games played in 2021.

DCU Miniature Game

DCU MG for now is staying on my list for 2021, but it slid way down to another occasional game.

Gaming Goal: Just like with Arena Rex above, this game be played every now and then when we want to change it up. I think 3 games played may be a good expectation.

Blitz Bowl / Blood Bowl

I am going to combine these 2 games in 1, Blitz Bowl being the quick board game style of play and Blood Bowl being more in depth.

Middle-earth SBG

In all honestly the re-watching of the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings movies toward the end of 2020 and it re-sparked my interest in the game. We do own quite a few models for the game and I have recently added some more in the past few weeks. Will the fire keep burning through all of 2021, that may be a tough one. I may just have to re-watch a movie to light the spark again.

Gaming Goal: My plan is to try and play 1 game a month, so in theory that would be 12 games for the year, but we all know other plans do happen. So I am setting a goal of 10 games for 2021.

Warhammer 40,000

Just like in 2020, Warhammer 40,000 will more than likely be our primary game in 2021. We have a lot of models and different armies to play/paint throughout the year. With the ease of just going into any gaming store and picking out a new model when we want, it is the easiest to get a hold of all the games I have listed so far.

X-Wing

X-Wing is a great game that can be played in 75 minutes, so it always seems to make the list for the New Year....plus we do have a lot of ships for the game.

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

New Games for 2021?

This is a little tough one to decide. Towards the end of 2020 we picked up Blood Bowl and I seem to have resurrected MeSBG, so it will be tough to get another game into 2021.

Is there a chance to also resurrect Warmachine/Hordes? I think that would be very slim. I have been out of WM/H for awhile now and have not kept up with any of the changes.

What about bringing back Bolt Action? Possible, but slim also.

Then there is another game that is very easy to pick up at the gaming store, Warhammer Age of Sigmar. All of my Warhammer Fantasy models are gone, and with Age of Sigmar they really changed the game, but AoS is played a lot like Warhammer 40,000 now and there are a few models that I really like, but you do need quite a few of them to play the game. I can "maybe" see this game happening if MeSBG is not quite doing it for me (I enjoy the world of MeSBG and the models, it is the game play of almost always needing 6's on the dice that gets to me). I think squeezing in AoS will be really tough unless something else gives.

Another possible interest may be Star Wars Legion, again there is quite a few models to this game and it is sci-fi like Warhammer 40,000. When Legion was first released, there was not a lot of choices for models, but it has been out for a couple of years now and the line has grown. It is hard to get into Legion when we have so many models already for Warhammer 40,000.

Events

Well the early part of 2021 is not looking good for events. The Las Vegas Open in January and AdeptiCon in March have already been cancelled. The next two larger events that interest us, NOVA Open and Renegade Open do not happen till the Fall, September/November. Those two events are a possibility if the vaccine for COVID-19 works and gatherings are allowed again. The problem with the Fall trips is that I still have a month long Europe trip scheduled for the Summer and getting more vacation time and dollars may be an issue. If Europe gets cancelled once again for 2021, then there may be a chance.

The above is not set in stone, I like to look back at this post through out the year and see how I am doing and if anything changes. There are only so many weekends in the year, and other interests sometimes do take some of that time.

We shall see what happens in 2021.

2020 Year in Review

As I always say each year, the two blog posts I enjoy writing the most are "What's in store for" (next year), and the second one is my "Year in Review".

2020 started with a "What's in store for 2020!" so we will use that post as basis for our year in review.

Arena Rex 2020

Painting Goal: 1 model, I purchased 1 model at GenCon 2019 and would like to get it completed.

Gaming Goal: Lowering my expectations quite a bit this year, even though 0 games were played last year on a goal of 20, we are going to shoot for 5 games.

Arena Rex was a sort of a hit and a miss for 2020. My Painting Goal was to finish a model I purchased from GenCon 2019, that did not happen, but I did complete 1 other model for Arena Rex. The Gaming was a miss, I lowered my expectations for this game, but it was lower than I had planned. I was shooting for 5 games to be played, but it ended up just being 2 games played.

Batman Miniature Game 2020

Painting Goal: This is a tough one for me, I have a huge backlog of BMG models waiting to be assembled/painted. It is on a hold pattern at the moment till we can see how the game is, interest may pick up if we like the game.

Gaming Goal: I am going to try 3rd Edition, so it really depends how much we like the game. If we like it, it will probably be played quite a few times (since I built a lot of buildings in 2019).

Batman Miniature Game was a "no go" for 2020. We never did purchase 3rd Edition to try the game out, with the use of all the "cards" for the game really changed the game play and I was no longer interested in playing. With that feeling, no models were painted for the game either. I really do not think this will see the list for 2021.

DCU Miniature Game 2020

Painting Goal: A lot of the DCU models are the same models as BMG, so we have a pretty good collection. I do have some models that are DCU specific so those may be completed this year.

Gaming Goal: First we need a test game, so I can say 1 for sure, if I like the speed/ease of play it may hit table more frequently and in place of Arena Rex. My plan is to get a game in early this month so we can evaluate how we like it.

DCUMG was so so for the year. I did paint 4 models for the game and we actually played 2 games. This one will be staying on for 2021 but in a limited capacity.

Guild Ball 2020

Painting Goal: I still have quite a few recently released Captains that need to get completed, so I do not see myself painting any complete Guilds for 2020, but at least a handful of models.

Gaming Goal: As mentioned above, I really like the game....I am going to have a new high priority game for 2020 (see below) so it is tough which game will be my second. I have a feeling it will be Guild Ball so I will set a reasonable expectation of 20 games played. Currently I do not have any events lined up for Guild Ball, but there may be a weekend here or there where I may be able to attend one.

Guild Ball was probably the biggest MISS of the year. With my renewed interest in Warhammer 40,000 all my painting time went to that and away from Guild Ball. Then came the announcement from Steamforged Games that they were ending Guild Ball and that just put the nail in the coffin. So there was no models painted and no games played of Guild Ball in 2020 and I already found a replacement with Blood Bowl.

Middle-earth SBG 2020

Painting Goal: Once again no expectations, if anything gets done, it would be an accomplishment.

Gaming Goal: Keeping my expectations low again like last year, I think at least 1 game in the next few months before AdeptiCon so my son can refresh on the rules, and then we'll see what happens.

2020 was not so hot for MeSBG, but the fire is still burning. I did recently paint 2 models, 'Durin' and the 'Witch King' for MeSBG and 3 games were played. Looking forward to 2021 to see what happens.

Warhammer 40,000 2020

Painting Goal: My #1 goal is to finish what I need for my 1000 points and 1500 point lists for AdeptiCon which is for my Imperial Fists army, long term goal is to get them completed to 2000 points. My plan with the Imperial Fists is for them to be my "main" Space Marine army with which to add new models too, so the army will be growing. The collector in me likes to see other armies too, so my plan is to add another Warhammer 40K army in 2020 and for now that will be Tyranids. The reason for Tyranids is, I like the look of the models and it it something different to paint than just Power Armor. I believe with the Tyranids I am going to look into the new GW Contrast Paints for them. Going to start small with them (1000 points) and we'll see.

Gaming Goal: As stated above, Warhammer 40K will be my highest priority in 2020 but I will be realistic. I'll be getting in around 8 games just at AdeptiCon, so let's set a goal of 30 games for 2020 (I still have to squeeze in all the other games in too).

Warhammer 40,000 was huge for me in 2020. I was able to get everything painted that I needed to for AdeptiCon and then as we all know, COVID-19 hit. I was slowly painting more models for the game throughout the year and I am happy with my progress. I did start on some Tyanid models, but the Contrast Paints were not working with for me and had to go back to regular paints. I did not get too many Tyranids completed unfortunately as I was concentrating on my Imperial Fists. In regards to gaming, I did hit my goal even without attending any conventions, 38 games of Warhammer 40,000 were played in 2020.

X-Wing 2020

Painting Goal: Not Applicable (pre-painted miniatures)

Gaming Goal: Last year I set a goal of 20 games, and I just managed to squeeze that in. I think with trying to add in DCU and possibly MeSBG, 20 may be a bit tough. I do like that the game only takes 75 minutes to play, I think realistically 6 games would be a good goal (1 every other month).

I was right on par with my prediction for X-Wing, 6 games was a good expectations and 10 games were actually played in 2020. More than likely my expectations for 2021 will be kept the same.

Events 2020

Well 2020 will not be a good year for events for me. I am attending AdeptiCon at the end of March, but that is basically it for the year. My vacation days are very limited in 2020, 3.5 weeks will be spent in Europe over the Summer, and then another week in the Fall with my wife on a cruise. Any events I attend after AdeptiCon will mainly be just single day events on Saturday/Sundays and those will even be tough this year. There is a very loooooong shot that we may be able to attend NOVA Open again since its falls on a Holiday weekend, I will need to look at the schedule of events and see if it is worth it.

So I predicted 2020 was not going to be a good year for events, but it was because of a planned vacation to Europe and not because of COVID-19 shutting down the World. Every event that we had planned was cancelled for the year and as of now it is not looking to good for the early part of 2021.

New Games Played

Blitz Bowl

Blitz Bowl is a faster board game style game of Blood Bowl. We picked this up late in the year just to have something to play in an hours time. I am liking it a lot since it uses the same models as Blood Bowl. We managed to get in 7 games with this late pickup.

Blood Bowl

Just like Blitz Bowl above, Blood Bowl was a late game pickup for us this year. At the end of November, Games Workshop released the newest edition of the game with an all new starter box, and since we just started Blitz Bowl, I thought it would be fun to grab Blood Bowl. We only played through 1 full game to learn the rules and 1 game of 7's (less models/smaller Pitch).

Painting Points

Painting Points were not as good as the previous 3 years, but I still managed 200+ Points. Even though COVID-19 had hit and a lot of people were stuck at home painting, I was really busy, so at the end of the day I did not feel like sitting down to paint. Another reason was all the events being cancelled. Usually I sit down to paint models I want to play in an upcoming event as a motiviation, well obviously that motivation was not to be had. So it was not a great year, but it was not bad either.

All in all 2020 was not too bad considering dealing with COVID-19. Honestly most people would think that I would have gotten in more games played, but THANK GOD my real job was keeping me busy all year long. Tomorrow we shall see what will make the list/expectations for 2021.

Weekly Chronicle 2020 #52

We are now in the final week of 2020.... thankfully it is almost over!

As I have previously mentioned, my gaming has come to a stand still for a few more weeks, but I was able to get another model completed this past week before 2021 arrives.

I honestly know I will not squeeze out another model before 2021, but the time I have this week I have been touching up some older Morannon Orcs for MeSBG. My oldest son shipped them back with my middle son and I took a look at them and was that pleased. Hopefully they will look a little better when completed.

Stay tuned on Thursday when we cover "2020 Year in Review".

Models Completed: 1

Games Played: 0

MeSBG: 'Witch-King of Angmar on Fell Beast'

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I really did not think I would get another model completed before the end of 2020, but with yesterday being Christmas Eve and I took the day off from work, I sat down in the morning and started painting the 'Witch King on Fell Beast' for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.

This model has been sitting in it' box since we first picked it up a little over 2 years ago when it was released at the NOVA Open and I thought it was finally time to get him done. Instead of always playing Good vs Good, I do not occasionally mind throwing down with Evil, so this would be a fun addition.

Too make it a little easier for storage, I did magnetize the flight stand to the miniature and the base itself.

Witch-King of Angmar on Fell Beast

Painting Points: 5

Weekly Chronicle 2020 #51

Not really much to report this week, with my oldest son now spending a few weeks in AZ, the gaming is at a halt.

No painting was neither done last week, but I am taking the available time I have to build some of my models. I ended up building my Elven Union team for Blood Bowl, and some models for MeSBG (mainly Survivors of Laketown and some Elves from Thranduil's Hall).

Models Completed: 0

Games Played: 0

Weekly Chronicle 2020 #50 (X-Wing, Blood Bowl, MeSBG)

I am going to have to say that this past week was not that bad. I did not get a lot painted, but I did at least sit down and paint and complete a model, 'Durin' for MeSBG.

Then for gaming, we played three games over the weekend. We started Saturday off with a game of X-Wing, recently there was another points update for X-Wing along with which ships are Hyperspace legal, and most of my Scum ships were removed, so we elected to play an Extended game. It was nice to finally bring out some of the older Scum ships as I sure missed them. Scum took the win over the Rebels wiping them out and only 1/2 damage to a Kihraxz Fighter.

When we finished with X-Wing, we laid out our new Blood Bowl Pitch for our first game of Blood Bowl 7's. We are planning on starting a small League (in-house) after the New Year playing 7's, so this was more of an exhibition game to see how it plays. With the smaller Pitch and less models, the game does the play faster and the greater chances of scoring. My Skaven defeated the Humans 4-1 in this game, although I dd forever lose one of my Skaven rats forever to Death.

On Sunday it was time to break out the models for a game of MeSBG. It has been a long time since I last played this year (9 months) so I was a bit rusty again with the rules. Since I recently finished 'Durin', I broke out my Dwarfs of Khazad-Dum vs some Men of Gondor for a 700 point game (and we were both Hero heavy in this game).

We played Scenario 4 from the Tournament Pack which was basically kill as many models as you can and hope to survive. You keep tally of the number of Wounds and awarded Victory Points at the end of the game. Once a force becomes Broken, you roll a D6 and on a 1-2 the game ends, or it may continue for another Turn.

The dice were not in favor for the Men of Gondor and much better for the Dwarfs (the 6's just kept on coming). The Dwarfs had Broken Gondor and were up 22 Wounds to 12 and then the game ended on another roll of 1 from Gondor. I did not tally more than double the Wounds, so I scored 3 Victory Points for that, 1 Victory Point for causing a Wound on 'Aragorn' and an additional 3 Victory Points for not being Broken myself. Khazad-Dum were able to keep the stronghold and their gold secure.

Just like with Blood Bowl, after the New Year, the plan is to try and play MeSBG at least once a month. I have some new models on order with Games Workshop (taking a long time to ship) so I hope to change up the armies a bit through out the year.

Well this past weekend was probably the end of gaming for me in 2020. My son is off to AZ tomorrow till after the New Year and more than likely I will not be going to our LGS for any gaming, but I do plan on assembling some models while he is gone and hopefully get some painting completed.

Models Completed: 1

Games Played: 3

MeSBG: 'Durin'

Yes you are reading this correctly, it has been just over 2 years (26 months) since I last painted anything for Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game and it has been just as long as this model was sitting on the shelf.

I picked up 'Durin, King of Khazad-Dum' 2 years ago to add to the existing Khazad-Dum Dwarves I already add (just a little bit more strength for the army).

Now that the itch to play MeSBG has somewhat come back and looks to make the list for 2021, I thought it was time to finally paint this model up. I thought I would just get started on him yesterday, but ended up painting start to finish.

Durin, King of Khazad-Dum

Painting Points: 1

Weekly Chronicle 2020 #49

It was another so so week for me. No painting was completed this past week and it looks like it may be a little bit before anything gets done (my office is being used in the evenings for my sons online Drivers Ed) but I may attempt to start on a model this coming Sunday.

For gaming, we did get in a game of Warhammer 40,000 on Saturday playing with 1000 points and w were supposed to play a game of Blood Bowl 7's on Sunday....but someone did not wake up till the afternoon. I'd like to squeeze that in this weekend too if possible, but we are currently looking at three different games to played this weekend, X-Wing, MeSBG and Blood Bowl. After this weekend, my son will be down in AZ for the Holidays and not returning until after the New Year.

I mentioned a few days ago that I received terrain for MeSBG (actually it's AOS, but we will use it for MeSBG) and that I was hoping to start building it this past weekend, well the mornings of both Saturday and Sunday, I was able to complete all of them.

I am not sure when they will get painted, maybe some time in 2021 if I am feeling up to it.

Models Completed: 0

Games Played: 1

MeSBG: New Ruined Terrain Has Arrived

I mentioned yesterday that I had ordered some new terrain for Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, and all 3 orders have finally now come in from Amazon.

It is not MeSBG specific, but actually Warhammer Age of Sigmar terrain, but it is part of their Azyrite series of terrain. All these pieces are ruins and I thought they would look great to represent the ruined cities of Dale and/or Osgiliath.

Azyrite Ruins

Azyrite Shattered Plaza

Azyrite Townscape

Azyrite Ruined Chapel

I am not exactly sure when I will take the time to assemble them all (in no rush at the moment), but who knows, maybe this Sunday while watching some football.

December 31, 2023

January 1, 2023

December 31, 2022

October 4, 2022

December 31, 2021

January 11, 2021

January 8, 2021

January 7, 2021

January 6, 2021

January 5, 2021

January 4, 2021

January 1, 2021

December 31, 2020

December 28, 2020

December 25, 2020

December 21, 2020

December 14, 2020

December 12, 2020

December 7, 2020

December 1, 2020

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