Another year done! As you’ve probably noticed if you read the blog with any frequency, it’s been very quiet on the writing front with only a few blog posts during the whole year. As usual, nothing dramatic – my enthusiasm for blogging tends to wax and wane, and for the last years I’ve had less and less time and enthusiasm to put into writing in my spare time alongside my academic work. What I do regret a bit is spending less time reading other people’s blogs, though! Although Salute didn’t happen this year, I did have a great gaming trip to Dublin for some Ghost Archipelago, which was definitely one of the high points of the year, both in hobby terms and overall.
For hobby things, this hasn’t been a bad year at all, although towards the end of the year my time has been taken up by digital gaming, primarily Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. I heartily recommend all three – you can find me on Steam under the nickname manatic if you’re up for some Darktide!
As usual, I made some resolutions last year. How did they pan out? Weeeeell….
Learn some freehand
No. This was something that was carried over from the previous year, and again didn’t materialize. I haven’t given up though, surely I can do this one year! Keeping this one.
Paint at least 100 miniatures and other pieces
Another thing that’s starting to be a staple. I nearly met this, but my painting output sadly stalled a bit towards the end of the year. I did manage 75 miniatures and terrain bits and two larger pieces, so this was well within my reach. There are five nearly finished models staring at me while I write! Still happy with this number, and I’ll keep this goal for next year too.
Build a 1000 point 40k force
Nope. This just didn’t happen. I did paint a lot of stuff related to the 40k universe, but my interest for army level 40k turned out to be a very brief thing. Never say never and all that, but my minis found much more use in Kill Team.
Try solo gaming
Yes! I did and I liked it. I played a bunch of Five Parsecs from Home early on in the year. It’s a great game and I only stopped playing because I had to clear away the terrain from my usual gaming table, and then the table got cluttered and I needed to paint some stuff for the next scenario and it just sort of never happened. I think I just might get back to it in the next few days before work starts again.
Clear some backlog
Nope. A few old minis found new use in Five Parsecs, but for the most part I was printing up new stuff and painting (or not painting) it. With some late Kickstarter stuff coming in and the printers seeing active use, I built up more backlog – yay! I did publish an academic book chapter on the subject, maybe that counts?
Experiment with something new
Not to the extent I would have liked to. I did play around with some blood effects and bought some fancy colourshift paints, but have yet to use them. I think I’ll try this one again!
Resolutions are always fun, right? I’ll keep some of the previous ones (Learn more freehand, Paint at least 100 miniatures, Experiment with something new) and let’s throw a few new ones into the mix:
Complete a project
I’m intentionally leaving this vague to make it easier to complete. Here, project can mean anything deemed to be a project: a squad for Kill Team, a collection of walkways, a set of object markers…anything, as long as it doesn’t get stuck in a half finished state.
Learn awesome drybrushing skills
I’ve been looking at (but not watching) drybrushing tutorials by Artis Opus on YouTube for a while now. I drybrush a lot, and updating my technique seems both useful and viable, so I’ll try and pick up some new pointers for the new year.
Come up with ways to use the stuff I have
I guess I’m not alone in that I keep buying useful new tools, fancy paints, texture effects, and whatnot – which then end up sitting unused because nothing suitable for them comes along. I want to flip that around, and come up with things that allow me to use all that great stuff.
With this, I want to wish everyone a great new year! Let’s hope the new year brings us a more peaceful world, with war limited to pixels and toy soldiers.
