Monday 13 January 2014

Shadows in the Mist

One last post before I leave for three weeks.  I just finished Shadows in the Mist, a novel by Brian Moreland. 



It was one of those books where I had a hard time putting it down.  I finished it in a few days, and stayed up later than I should have in order to read just a little more!  

For those of you who like Weird War II, this book is for you.  I won't spoil it, but the concept is pretty cool and it's suspenseful and action-packed.   You really get to like the characters and care about them.  Moreland is a great writer and I've read a few of his works now.


 

Friday 10 January 2014

2013 in Review

2013 was a good year for miniature painting and gaming!

I did more painting last year than I ever have!  My output really increased when I stopped worrying about getting it just right, and to just enjoy myself.  I like that sense of accomplishment when you finish a miniature or get that last unit done before a game!

Here is what I wanted to accomplish last year:


Plans for 2013 are:

  1. Keep painting the Gothic Horror-themed figs - Accomplished!  I have more gothic miniatures painted now than I ever thought I would get done!
  2. Playtest the horror ruleset I've been working on for my company, Harwood Hobbies - Didn't get this one done.  I made some progress on the rules but that's about it.
  3. Finish my accounting course asap and get out of my current job - Accomplished!
  4. I'm considering starting and Indiegogo campaign to get the miniatures I had sculpted a few years ago into production and put onto the website.  All I'm lacking is the funding for production, so shouldn't cost too much to finish off.  I think this will be a go for 2013, but will have to finish my course first to get the time to do this. - Didn't get this done, but am seriously thinking of doing a cultist kickstarter (see below for more details).  I did scrape up the funds to get the previous sculpts cast up and have the master castings and half of them painted by Simon.
  5. Work on my 15mm Assyrians - I've started this and hope to have all of the miniatures completed by the end of the year - Didn't get this done.  I'm not saddened by this as I got a ton of miniatures painted last year.  I'm still interested in getting these done so they go on my list for 2014.
  6. Try to keep a budget of $50-75 a month on miniatures - I SO didn't accomplish this!  ;-)  With the new job paying a lot more and me burning through painting the miniatures I spent more than this budget for last year.  



Plans for 2014:


  • Finish my 15mm Assyrians.  I really want to get this done this year!  I have all the miniatures and the bases, but just need to get them painted.
  • Have the Gothic Horror rules playtested.  I have it mostly done, but just need to polish it up.
  • Get the Cultist Kickstarter going!  I have a few miniatures sculpted already and would like to get the funding necessary to make a good sized variety of them.


 
  • Finish my French & Indian Wars force(s).  I have all of the miniatures and have got about 10 or so painted, but I'd like to have a good sized force done by the end of the year.
  • 6mm Modern & WW2.  My wargaming friend has recently gone to only 6mm, so I will have to work on finishing up my modern Soviets and start on a WW2 force - probably German.
  • I have a hankering for Weird War II - I'll probably work on getting some of those done this year too.




Of course, most of this depends on me getting my man cave finished - the longer it takes to get done, the less painting I will do.  So depressing!  ;-)

All in all it was a pretty good year for gaming!  I'm extremely happy with my painting output over the year, the highest it's ever been!

I'll be going up to northern BC for work on Monday, so I will be away for three weeks this time.  They're short staffed, so I have to work more - but that means more money for me!  :-)