2019 was a great year for Wargaming. I painted a Tyranid army, visited Phil in Hamburg (pushing forward our Syrlene campaign and getting a start on Warcry) and started playing with two new regular opponents, Colin and Rafal. It was also a sad year, with Dan returning to Poland.

In last year’s audit I said I’d:

  • 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 due 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.

Let’s see how I got on…

Hobby and Painting

I’ve painted loads of things this year, but as I look back on the 65 blog posts from this year I realise they were more gaming focussed with very little reporting of my painting progress. The Wargaming Hobby Bingo posts captured some of that progress, but much was missing.

In January/February I painted a full Tyranid army – this was my most significant hobby project of the year. They were an opportunity that was too good to pass up. Colin was selling them, fully assembled and primed, which was a dream as assembly is my least favourite part of the hobby. Between my Purestrain Genestealers (of which I now have 50 thanks to adding another 15 this year) and those models I can field a pretty respectable looking Tyranid army.

They’ve only seen the battlefield in a few discrete Kill Team games so far, but they will impact all of the campaigns underway.

In 2019 I also painted a Blood Bowl team …

… a warcry warband …

… and I converted up my own Inquisitor …

… amongst other things. All told it was a good year for painting and hobbying.

Gaming

On the gaming front things have been good. Much more GW-focussed than in previous years. This symptomatic of two things: GW have been knocking out of the park in terms of their products and the richness of gameplay possible; and the interests of the players I play with regularly. I discussed this in blog post early in the year where I discussed Willingness, Opportunity and Readiness to play different games.

I managed games of Guild Ball and Battlegroup early in the year …

… and a game of Chain of Command in June.

All of my other gaming has been GW games… but I’m not complaining. The variety of games has been great. Kill Team is still offering a great range of different game types and has been a key element in driving the narrative of all three of the campaigns I have ongoing this year. This has prompted me to write a lot of (bad!) fiction this year. Here’s an example …

I’m surprised Black Library haven’t been knocking on my door! The Tyranids also saw some play in Kill Team.

Warhammer 40,000 has continued to be a mainstay (it still feels weird saying that) and I’ve fielded my Blood Angels a lot this year. Mostly in VASSAL, but they also came out to play in Hamburg.

They’ve seen a lot of action in the Syrlene campaign. I haven’t had a chance to play them with the new Blood of Baal rules, so I’m looking forward to giving them a go.

Warcry was a late addition to my stable of games and one that was precipitated by my visit to Hamburg. I painted up the Corvus Cabal before going and played two excellent games. I liked the format so much I’ve picked up a second warband and some terrain.

I also played a couple of games of Blood Bowl…

I had hoped to play more, but I prioritised existing campaigns.

On the gaming front my kids painted their first models…

This just gives a taster of the gaming from 2019, but it really was a great year for playing games.

2019 Reflection

So, how’d I get on with my 2019 plans?

  • Play more Kill Team, probably with campaigns set against the backdrop of Vigilus.

Yup, definitely nailed this. Kill Team continued to be a great vehicle to spur on narrative games. Phil and I used ideas from Vigilus to push a lot of what we did on Syrlene this year.

  • Ditto for Warhammer 40,000.

Again, this was achieved. We used a lot of the Vigilus missions in our 40k games.

  • Expand my Genestealer Cults for Warhammer 40,000 with the releases due early this year.

This was completed, but not as expected. The Tyranids were certainly unexpected, but they have augmented the narrative potential of the Genestealer Cults. I’ve added more Purestrains and characters to my force, but the Atalan Jackals have not been painted. I assembled them yesterday, so they’re next on my list!

  • Possibly add more terrain for 40k, if GW release some interesting kits for Urban Conflict.

Urban Conflict didn’t bring terrain kits, but I added more 40k terrain: some handmade elements, the Sector Munitorum Kill Team box and some Mechanicus terrain.

  • Play more WWII games – Chain of Command and Battlegroup specifically.

I played a couple, but I don’t feel like I came close to completing this.

  • See what Malifaux 3rd Edition looks like and paint my Mei Feng crew when it releases.

I played one game of Malifaux in 2019. It’s still a fun game, but it was crowded out by other things.

  • Play more games with my kids.

We certainly played some, but not in a sustained way (they have busier social lives than I do!). It’d be nice to instigate a regular gaming slot. It’s something I’ll try to do next year.

2020 Plans

So? What do I hope to achieve in 2020?

  • Play more games with my kids.
  • Develop some stories (and games) involving Inquisitor Calicus Rackham.
  • Continue the Kill Team and Warhammer 40,000 campaigns. Maybe throwing in a little Epic or Apocalypse (using Epic models) if it fits the narrative.
  • Declutter. I have a lot of armies sitting in drawers, while new armies are strewn about the place (not literally, but they’re not as organised). Some armies need to be archived (i.e. bubble-wrapped and stored away).
  • Play more Warcry.
  • I still want to play more WWII games, but the opportunities to do so are limited. I need to cultivate opportunities if I’m to realise this wish.
  • See what ‘Infamy, Infamy’ from Too Fat Lardies looks like when it releases. It’s something that may interest Phil too.

I think that’s more than enough to be getting on with. Happy New Year everyone.

Until next time,

Owen