2019: A year in review

Greetings fellow wargamers and welcome back to Wargamer Ramblings!  It's been a helluva year for many of us in this hobby and in our lives so I hope you are doing well and that fortune has favored you in your endeavors.  It's been a year in the making but here is the last wrap-up post on the journey in 2019 where I resolved to "just try and paint more minis."  I can say that compared with a lot of years in my hobbying career that I did just that.  So grab a nice drink/snack, get comfy, and enjoy this segment on your Sunday morning/afternoon/whenever.

In total, I have painted 235 (forgot to include the 8 Battletech minis on the board) miniatures this year which as a ratio of miniatures to days I have painted the equivalent of a "mini a day" for about 62% of the year!  Compared to my historical average of about 0% I'd say that's a pretty nice change of pace.  So what can I say I've taken away from this information?  Well, earlier in the year I had a personal revelation where instead of relying on motivation I would discipline myself to try and do some kind of hobby-related thing daily.  For the most part, this was painting but there were times where I gamed some, assembled some, and truthfully allowed myself a break from time to time.  I think for me personally this resulted in a lot of painted stuff than I would have any other year!

Now I won't say that I'm a pro-painter or anywhere super-skilled compared with a lot of folks out there, but I like to think that I did improve somewhere along the road here.  I've experimented with some weathering powders, started using contrast paints as a base, and trying out different basing textures.  I think mechanically I've got some work to do on things like edge highlighting as they still end up being thick, but now I'm able to go back and fix them a little instead of just leaving them thick and ugly.  Throughout the year I have learned a lot of valuable lessons and have made an effort to try and be less afraid of new techniques in fear that I'll "ruin the model" and "waste money."  I hope in the end I improved my skills as well, which after 235 models I would hope so!

So does this mean my model queue has been relieved somewhat?  Uhhhhh...........

Not really...

I'll get to that in a second but 2019 was a great year in my hobbying world and I have felt great being able to sit back and complete projects that I have for the longest time let fester in my mind.  Some were new and goal-directed, such as the Thousand Sons for NoVA Open, and others because I either really liked the models or the game, much like the 4 Blood Bowl teams and Shadespire bands.  Motivation does have a use in sparking that "ooooh I should paint X next," but in making sure I actually follow through and complete the project I rely on discipline.  It's inspired me to continue the process of painting and I would be interested in seeing the hobby results in 2020.

So now what does that mean for the blog?  Well, I started this blog at the end of 2015 because I love this hobby and just getting my thoughts out there.  Last year was hobby/painting focused and for my resolutions this year I am still keeping "paint more minis" as one of them.  I also want to try and expand my projects from just minis.  In a couple of recent games I've played I kept thinking to myself "man if only this terrain was painted up. We have our armies painted up but the scenery isn't," and with that, I want to (weather permitting) start getting terrain painted up.  First I have to get a gameplan established but then once spring hits I should have some terrain up.

Also, I have recently invested in Age of Sigmar for real this time as I have purchased a 2000 point set of Ossiarch Bonereapers (hereafter referred to as Bone Daddies).  I've dabbled in AoS models but not the game, however, with the release of these Bone Daddies I have taken the plunge and so with that in 2020, in addition to the paint more minis and paint terrain, I will take a monthly look at my progress in building, playing, and painting up these Bone Daddies.  I am very excited about this upcoming prospect and I hope here in the next week or so I should get to cracking down on assembling some of them for a 1000 point game.

So that's 2019 in a nutshell with pictures of models all throughout the year.  I hope your year has been kind or productive, especially both, and that I hope 2020 is a great year for your hobbying.  What are some of your resolutions this year?  Did you keep your 2019 resolutions for the hobby?  I'm curious to hear what you have to say so leave a comment below and as always happy gaming until next time folks!