Happy New Year 2017! Everyone......
It is that time of the year of again to write the first post of 2017 and lay out my plans for the upcoming 2017 (only to be disappointed on December 31st.... LOL)
As I mentioned in my recap of 2016, this past fall I moved from Arizona to Michigan and unfortunately I had run out of room on the moving truck to bring any of my models/hobby supplies with me. I did not think I would need them right away as I knew I had a lot of painting that needed to get done for the house. I finished painting most of the room by early December and I was looking for things to do. With the new relese of Version 2 for Bolt Action this past Fall, I thought it might be a good time to jump back into Bolt Action. Another reason I chose Bolt Action over Warmachine/Hordes is that most of my friends/people I know that play in Chicago (only 100 miles from where I live in Michigan) play Bolt Action and not WM/H. My other group of friends that play in Chicago play Warhammer and Warhammer 40K (and I did not feel like getting back into Games Workshop), so Bolt Action it is.
Mid December I had my oldest son in Arizona ship me my two Bolt Action armies (Soviets/Germans), Army Books, and my paint brushes and other supplies that I would need. Unfortunately during the moving clean up I had thrown out all my Vallejo paints (so I needed to place an order for these).
So now my armies are with me and it is time for 2017.
Bolt Action
Painting Goal: Just before Christmas 2016, I took advantage of a 'deal' that Warlord Games had on a Great Britian army package. $500 plus dollars of models for around $300. Probably close to around 3000 poiints (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.
Warmachine/Hordes
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 younget 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 painiting 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.
Events/Conventions
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.
For the summer months of 2017, I need to see what is available in the area, I know at the end of May I will be busy going back to Arizona to pick up my wife and youngest son, and June will be busy taking them to Disney World. I may spend the summer months away from gaming and get back to cycling while it is warm outside.
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).
I think If I can make it to those four events, it will be a good year with plenty of games played.
Have a Happy New Year!
Unfortunately still waiting for my sprues from Warlord Games to finish my British Infantry, but that's ok, plenty of other models to tackle (I could not believe how many models were included in their Christmas deal).
The British Army gets a free Forward Observer in Bolt Action as part of it's National Rules. While I was painting my Officer Team, I included this guy as well.
Since I am still waiting for a couple more sprues from Warlord Games to arrive (so I can finishing assembling my four Infantry Units), I decided to go ahead and paint up a few of the British Army Command.
Back in May of 2014 when my oldest son graduated High School, I purchased him an US Airborne 1000 point army (that we never got around to assembling and painting). So I know we are 15 months away from AdeptiCon 2018, but my son and I are going to work on a themed force the Bolt Action Team Tournament (assuming they will run it again in 2018).
Nothing better to do on Sunday's than to watch football and get some painting done. IN the last 15 years of painting, I never had space next to my painting station to place a TV or an iPad next to me to watch TV and paint. With my new setup, I actually do. So I took advantage of that and had my iPad next to me with the games and got some painting done.
Well last night I finally got a start on my Great Britain army for Bolt Action. It has been over 2 1/2 years since I last painted anything for Bolt Action and that wa for my German army.
Yea I know, I am always shaking of the dust. I go in spurts when it comes to wargaming. I enjoy so many hobbies, but can usually only concentrate on one at a time. Now that I back up North in the frozen tundra, the winter months keeps me from cycling outdoors, so it's time to get back to an indoor hobby.
