2020 Year in Review

Happy New Year all and I hope everyone had a safe Christmas and New Years. I think it's safe to say that we can all bid a good riddance to the train wreck that was 2020. 

So let's start with the review of my goals for this part year.

1. 28mm World War II French - I actually completed this. Literally on the last day of the year a package arrived from Warlord with some additional figs, so I'm not counting those.

2. 28mm World War II Germans - I actually don't think I did anything for this army this year. I only have a handful of figs that are assembled and ready for paint. I do have a bunch of submachinegun equipped guys and a number of machinegun teams ('cause that's what Germans need is more machineguns). Overall it's not a lot left really.

3. 54mm War of 1812 - I didn't touch this project at all.

4. 28mm French & Indian War - didn't complete all the boxes I had and definitely didn't get a game in. I did get a bunch done but I think I added enough new figs to the pile to make it even bigger. Hmm.

5. 28mm Samurai - my goal was to get 4 bases done and I managed to do 5 bases in all. 

6. Star Wars Legion - I've got everything done except for 2 vehicles.

7. 15mm Sci-fi - I only had the one faction left and I did get all the infantry done. I do have a bunch of power suits and walkers still to do.

8. Counterblast - I did get all my figs completed, No games of course.

So out of the 8 goals I had set, I got 3 accomplished and a couple others well on their way. One of the projects that I really wanted to work on this year was to work on early war Soviets for a friend. I really got a ton of these done, so that's probably my key painting highlight of the year. 

So for 2021 here's my goals or what I'm focusing on might be a better way of putting it:

1. 28mm World War II French - complete this army.

2. 28mm World War II Germans - complete this army.

3. 28mm World War II Soviets - complete this army.

4. 54mm War of 1812 - complete the units I have left.

5. 28mm French & Indian War - complete at least 100 figures. This should cover I think 75% of my F&IW paint pile.

6. 28mm Samurai - get 4 bases done. Commands & Colors Samurai Battles is out this year so I'd like to be able to field a game of this. I'll have to get a mat somewhere. . . 

7. Star Wars Legion - complete everything I have.

8. 15mm Sci-fi - complete the last army and I need to get building some terrain. Or just complete the figs and get rid of it all. Have to realistically think about whether I'm going to actually use it. More I think about it, may just finish painting the figs and get rid of them all.

9. 15mm Ancients/Medievals - I'd like to get at least 6 bases of Ancients and 10 bases of Medievals done. 

That's a lot of figs to get painted. I didn't add anything for my Carthaginian army as it's pretty much done (although I do have a bunch I can add to it) and I'd like to maybe get started on the Romans. We shall see. 

I definitely need to get some of my figs to the table this year and get more boardgaming in as last year was...bad. I really miss my boardgaming night. Realistically though vaccines for the general public probably won't be arriving till at least late spring, so the first part of the year will be a bust. 

Well, here's to everyone's continued health and have a good productive year!

Nightstalkers

Finished this set of three figs. These plastic 28mm figs are from Mantic Games and their Nightstalkers army. From left to right they're a Banshee, a Screech and a Shade.

I don't know if the figs are any good game wise, but they are neat figures. The Screech was definitely my favourite of the trio.

Early War Russians

Finished some more early World War 2 Russians. These 28mm figs are from Plastic Soldier Company and are the Infantry Heavy Weapons box. First up are two teams of AT rifles.

Next is a pair of AT rifles going for a walk.

Next up are four machinegun teams. I failed to notice that on the two walking teams both of the figs are supposed to be pulling the gun. I made them so that only one of them is and the other guy is holding his arm behind him in moral support I guess?

Next is a pair of 50mm and 82mm mortar team.

I should hopefully have one more post before the end of the year.

Ashigaru Archers

Merry Christmas all! This short post contains a pair of 28mm skirmish bases of Ashigaru archers. These metal figs are from Kingsford Miniatures. They're based up for Impetus, although I'm also looking forward to using them for Commands & Colors Samurai Battles when it comes out.

One of my painting resolutions for 2020 was to get done 3 bases of samurai/ashigaru. These bases, coupled with work done in last year's paint challenge will finish that resolution. 

Rebels, A Monster & Books

Been a while since I've posted. The figures I eluded to in my last post took a long time. These are the Rebel half of the Star Wars Legion core box. 

There's 7 different poses with 3 of each pose. So a nice variety of figures. 

Next up is a lone monster. This figure is an Adult Remorhaz from Wizkids D&D miniatures line.

I went with a purple colour. It's actually a little darker in person. 

The Analogue Hobbies Paint Challenge starts tomorrow so I'll probably have 1 or 2 more posts before the end of the year. 

Lately I've been watching a number of book videos on Youtube. One of them had mentioned the SF Masterworks collection done by some publisher a number of years ago. The entire list of books is on Wikipedia SF Masterworks. There's 203 books in total and I've decided to read them all. Prior to deciding to read all of these, I've read 10 of them. Since I started a couple weeks ago, I've completed an additional four more. So only 190 more to go! Edited to add the book covers of the ones I've read so far.

Soviet 28mm Anti Tank Guns

So it's been a while since I've posted anything, Covid hasn't killed me so, yay. Haven't been painting much of anything really. I've been mainly working on a different type of gaming: role playing! I've been engrossed in Mongoose Publishing 2nd edition Traveller.

I'm the gamemaster for my group and I've got three players and they're running as traders along the Bowman Arm, for those familiar with the classic Traveller Third Imperium setting. I'm a little rusty but I'm enjoying it overall.

So the main focus for this post are the following figures. I actually finished these quite a while ago and just haven't posted them up. These 28mm figures are from the Plastic Soldier Company Soviet 45mm Anti Tank Gun set. Overall the people figures aren't great but the guns are perfectly fine. First up is the 45mm M1937 ATG.

Next up is the 45mm M1942 ATG.

And here's the two guns together.

On my table currently is the Rebel half of the Star Wars Legion core box set. I'll probably be a while painting these guys. I'm going to try and pick up the pace of my painting and I should see if there's some of my New Years resolutions I can wrap up.

'Til next time! Stay safe!

French & Indian War Artillery

Finished some artillery for the French & Indian War French and British forces. Both of these units are metal figs from Sash & Saber. First up is the French 4 lb gun.

The crew was ridiculously easy and quick to paint up. They're nowhere near as fancy as their British counterparts. And here's the British 6 lb and crew.

I also have finished some little bits of terrain. These are all from one of the Mantic Terrain Crates, with the exception of one item.

The one exception are the barrels. I got this piece from Terry and its a 3D printed piece. Painted up quite nice and dead simple.

I've got some WW2 Soviets that are finished and just need to be based. The next thing I'll be painting will be a large batch of Rebel terrorists from the Star Wars Legion core box.