Another year, another audit. In last year’s audit I predicted I’d play more 40k, get Malifaux going again and get started with Chain of Command in 2018. I also wanted to get more terrain done, bring my Blood Angels to 100 Power, paint a Mei Feng crew and a Hunters team. Let’s see how I got on…

Hobby and Painting

This has been a good year for painting. I’ve brought the Blood Angels to well over 100 Power, adding units, characters and vehicles. I’ve also painted up some Deathwatch models (from the Overkill box, which I bought for the Genestealer Cult; and from converted Conquest models). I’ve been painting these to tabletop standard and I’m really happy with the way this force has shaped up.

Other than that I haven’t painted that many other models. I’ve added a squad to both my late war German and USA platoons, mostly for use in Chain of Command (an extra squad is a common and useful support option). I also painted some halftracks that I picked in a bring and buy sale in Hamburg in late 2017.

I’ve actually done very well on the terrain front and it happened mostly thanks to an unexpected diversion into Kill Team. The starter, and subsequently the Sector Munitorum Killzone box, offered such lovely terrain that it was easy to satisfy this goal. I set to painting them, with the Ravenor trilogy on audiobook for company, and my Warhammer 40,000 terrain collection is looking pretty good now! This was one of my goals for this year and it has certainly been met.

I also worked on bought and assembled the lovely 15mm 4Ground WWII buildings pictured above.

On the hobbying front I’ve also worked on a VASSAL module for Chain of Command and an extension for Kill Team. They feature in several of the tweets shown in this post.

Gaming

This year has been an amazing year for gaming! Kill Team took me completely by surprise and I’ve probably played over thirty games of it alone since August. It’s a fun game, with a low model count, that is played out to a satisfactory conclusion in less than an hour. It really is a good game.

If you’ve read this blog before you’ll know that I really enjoy the narrative opportunity campaigns give, so it’s probably no surprise that I’ve had two Kill Team campaigns on the go this year. Both should conclude early in 2019, with Vigilus offering an interesting setting for future campaigns.

One of my goals for 2018 was to play Chain of Command. I’ve wanted to play it for ages and it didn’t disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the games I played of it this year (mostly on VASSAL) and I very much look forward to playing more in 2019.

And, you guessed it, campaign play featured heavily for Chain of Command. I wrote and ran the Tailleville Campaign, which was great fun.

An honourable mention should also go to Battlegroup. Chain of Command is aimed at infantry platoon scale games and I was interested in something that would allow for larger (e.g. company) conflicts. I only got to play it late in 2018, but I hope to play more of it in this new year.

I only started playing Warhammer 40,000 in 2017, and 2018 saw me growing by Blood Angel force and playing lots of games with them and my Genestealer Cults.

Yeah, yeah, and there were 40k campaigns!

Guild Ball remains a fantastic game, one a core focus for me, but certainly something I enjoy. I’ve played a handful of games this year and it proves to be a competitive and fun game. I anticipate more of the same in 2019.

I only played one game of Malifaux in 2018. That was probably due to Dan (my regular opponent, now converted to Kill Team) losing some interest in it and with the announcement that the third edition of the game would be arriving in 2019.

I even managed a game of the new version of Saga, which remains a solid game.

I played my Genestealer Cult in Necromunda, which completed the skirmish set with Shadow Wars: Armageddon and Kill Team. It was a good game, obviously more detailed than Kill Team, but is something I’ll happily play opportunistically.

One final game that I’ve played several times this year is Gaslands. It’s an elegant game and my son loves playing it. At 7 years of age he certainly doesn’t get the nuances, but he enjoys it.

On a related note I got to play lots of games with my kids in 2018… this is a trend I see continuing.

2019 Plans

So… how can I top 2018? Well, the truth is I probably can’t. If I managed more of the same I’d be pretty happy. What I’d like is to:

  • Play more Kill Team, probably with campaigns set against the backdrop of Vigilus.
  • Ditto for Warhammer 40,000.
  • Expand my Genestealer Cults for Warhammer 40,000 with the releases dues early this year.
  • Possibly add more terrain for 40k, if GW release some interesting kits for Urban Conflict.
  • Play more WWII games – Chain of Command and Battlegroup specifically.
  • See what Malifaux 3rd Edition looks like and paint my Mei Feng crew when it releases.
  • Play more games with my kids.

Finally, thank you to everyone I’ve played, chatted with or who has inspired me in 2018. This hobby is a silly thing, but it’s a thing I get great enjoyment from. That enjoyment is fuelled by the people in the hobby. Thank you.

Until next time,

Owen