Well, it wasn't as productive a year as I would have liked it to be, but the lead and plastic mountains did reduce a little. I managed to paint 190 figures as opposed to 234 for 2009. I put this down to a couple of purple patches in Feb/March and the end of summer. For some reason I just ran into a bit of painter's block each time; I just couldn't find the enthusiasm to pick up the brushes in those periods.
Gaming wise, there was an almost complete drought. I started to referee Doggerland, and whilst this is going very well, it would have been nice to actually play something on the tabletop. I guess it doesn't help that all my gaming buddies live so far away and it is almost impossible to get together these days - the pressures of modern day life I suppose?
I am hoping that 2011 will bring me more gaming opportunities and painting satisfaction. I think that if I am able to complete full armies rather than bits and bobs then games can be played. Looking at my painted collection from the last couple of years, I have only completed bits here and there, and nothing to put on the tabletop as antagonists, well, not in numbers any way.
I have downloaded some new rules over the last year and sent off for some too - Brytenwalda for Dark Age skirmishing and Dark Age Cthulhu for RPG stuff. All could dovetail nicely into the Doggerland world, with a new game aimed more at tabletop representation - it will be more at the skirmish level than army level (individual figures rather than stands of figures). Whereas Doggerland is all about warlords and their multiple warbands duking it out, the next generation Doggerland will be at the more local level of each leader only having one warband each on a smaller scale map - territory sized rather than continental. This will start up towards the end of 2011 when Doggerland has almost run its course.
Painting, however, will present a few challenges. I don't think I will set myself a target this year - it didn't seem to work the way I wanted it to last year, although it did give me a boost occasionally to try to reach the target. I will just try to set smaller scale targets to finish units and armies within X weeks/months that can fight each other, and any individual minis that take my fancy to fill in the gaps. I still have several hundred to paint but the pile is getting smaller, especially my old 1980s collection - there are probably less than a couple of hundred of them left now. My Romans and Celts are coming along nicely, but the main bulk is with my LotR collection. As long as I don't buy too many new ones then things will turn out right.
I didn't manage to get to too many shows this year, and Alex was only in tow for one of them. We both got to Salute and SELWG, and I also managed Colours and Crisis (a first time for me). Although I enjoyed the shows, they were mostly used for looking at new stuff on offer, seeing the display stands for ideas and chatting to people. This year I will try to play a few more demo games.
Alex has done well this year. He painted a fair few minis but unfortunately didn't get to play any games. His resolution is to finish his Bretonnian army and to get his Space Marines completed. He will also add to his HotT Elf army over the year.
So, in summary, 2010 wasn't too bad painting wise. There were a few dead patches but these were got through. Gaming wise, I was saved by Doggerland.
So, what is there to look forward to in 2011? Well, I will continue to paint the lead/plastic mountain, but in a more organised way in the hope of getting at least two armies each for HotT and LotR. I will start up a new Doggerland game at a lower 'social' level later on in the year and aim to get involved in a few more demonstration games at shows. I think it will prove difficult to join a club or get down to GW to play due to the nature of my job - I don't get home until way after 7pm in the evening, so by the time I have had dinner, sorted out an army etc I wouldn't get to a club until at least an hour later - way too late to start anything as everyone else will already be playing. I think the first games to be played will be HotT: Barbarians versus Dwarfs or Orcs or LotR: Rohan versus Isengard or Easterlings. That said, there will be plenty of 80s minis to be painted to keep the blog ticking over.
Which just leaves me to say "Thank you!" for reading over the last year or so. I hope you are enjoying it. I know it is a little disjointed, but hopefully I can remedy that this year.
Happy New Year!
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