New year, new update format! Rather than looking at projects, I’m instead going to take a look at the various aspects of the hobby, giving a much wider view over it all.
But as an intro, I’m feeling pretty happy with January. I may didn’t paint as much as I wanted but there was some nice variety. And perhaps most importantly, so many games!
Collecting
I actually did pretty well this month in terms of purchasing. I didn’t actually buy any models! One of my goals this year is to save money by not buying too many new things, and I’m happy to report it’s going well… for now.
However, that didn’t stop me getting some new toys in the post however. Thanks to White Dragon Miniatures, I got hold of a taster pack to look at all the ranges he currently has on offer (including some outside of the usual 28mm). I was planning to only mention I had these guys once I got them painted up but alas a combination of slow painting and other people doing their feedback, time to spoil the surprise! There will be a full impressions piece coming in February.
I also received a gift from the Dastardly Regular Opponent for my birthday – a Stuart V. I’m still deciding how to assemble it – a light tank is handy but by the end of the way the turretless recce vehicle is also a possibility (and something different for the table top).
3D Printing
Now, 3D printing was another matter. As well as the monthly patreon additions, I also picked up some kickstarters from people like Bobmack3d and Miska miniatures to add to my supplies. The advantage of this stuff is it’s nice to have it on the back burner – if I suddenly need a Scorpion tank or a bunch of Syrian militia, I can get them printed quickly.
The biggest in terms of volume printing this month was the modern French Foriegn Legion from Normandy Miniatures. I’m still in the process of cleaning these guys up (and dealing with some misprints) but once ready I want to get them turned around soon-ish so I can bring another force up to Platoon strength.
The biggest single printing I did this month was the Typhoon, the model for which a friend bought me for my birthday. It’s a gloriously huge vehicle (which might be slightly too big for the figures I use) but it was also fun to just see what the printer can do.
Building
Speaking of big things, I finally assembled the other big model that’s been waiting in the build queue. The Morathi kit is two figures and I adore it. For all the issues with Games Workshop, I adore their design work – this giant kit goes together with so many nice ways of hiding the joins. This will definitely be one I’ll spend some time painting up, really pushing my skills with a centrepiece (much like I did with the Godling).
Painting
I started off the year well by painting up the trio of Churchill gun tanks for my first Chain of Command game. As required by the dice gods, they spent their first game exploding but I’m super happy to have them painted up now. I still have the Croc, AVRE and Comet to finish
With the rise of platoon level wargaming, I realised I had to finish off some platoons. Originally, my first plan was to finish off my USMC (in preparation for needing more) as I assumed my US Army were complete. However, part way through I realised that actually I would need to go back and add another set of US Army troops. Even so, I did get two Assaultmen finished off with their SMAWs.
Finally as mentioned before, I painted up some of the White Dragon Miniatures. I’m in the process of finishing off the Brits, but it was a fun project jumping between the different colour schemes (IDF, Taliban and Russians). Expect some more details once I get my impressions piece up.
Gaming
I think the big thing for this month was I got three games in! And shockingly, they were all Chain of Command.
At the start of the month, Operation Carronade took us back to 1945 for a Big CoC game. It may have got spooky by the end, but I was really happy getting my WW2 guys out. It was also cool as a first go with an actually good camera, letting me get some glorious zoom levels.
Operation Rubicon took Chain of Command to the ChargeReal, with the first testbed of my Ultramodern tweaks to CoC. We all had a really good time with it, with only a few little oddities to smooth out. It’s very promising for the upcoming campaign, especially once I start adding the actual support lists.
I’m still writing up the battle report for this one, but Operation Kinder saw another UIltramodern Chain of Command game against one of my former housemates as his intro to the game. More details in the post but we had a really good time, including some glorious firefights. It was also good testing, revealing stuff I need to work on… but that’s in the next section!
Writing
As mentioned, main writing focus this month was getting the Ultramodern Chain of Command to a first version. I’ve got a WIP post in progress to talk about the tweaks in more detail but the Operation Rubicon post has some basic details. So far, I’m getting the basics up and running, allowing for two regular forces to go up against each other. Next step will be writing proper force lists, and then I can start work on the weirder styles of play (insurgents and SF).
For other writing, I’ve been working on some more ChargeReal stuff. With the decision that the campaign will be a border skirmish between the Albion Commonwealth and the Bazi Empire, I’ve started writing up the details of the various forces (including their partners) – one thing I am excited about is making sure we’re not just playing the classic “modern military with all the gear vs middle eastern army” – I’m already carefully choosing who might be on the Bazi Empire’s side.
And finally, fantasy. My sister has begun itching for some more gaming/story missions and so I’ve begun thinking about the rule set I wanted to throw together. It’s a little early to mention specifics but it’s coming.
Blogging
Blogging wise, I managed to do 11 posts with two battle reports and two major updates among them. Not bad! Also the site got 4.8k views, some of the highest monthly totals heading back to the dizzy heights of 2019.
If you want to know what’s coming next month, why not jump over onto the Patreon? I’ll be putting up a preview post there around the same time as this goes up, detailing what’s on the docket for next month. If you like the sound of what I mention, then you can become a patron to help fund it. There are no tiers to choose between – just pay what you want and the support is much appreciated. Click the button below or follow the link to my Patreon page