2012 Year in Review

So as lots of the blogs that I read seem to be doing a Year in Review, I'll join the bandwagon and officially open my blog with one of these, too.

Firstly, I had a hard time playing many games this year. Whether I was too lazy to climb the steps to my attic or for some other reason, to me this year seemed all about the painting. I have a sneaky suspicion I might enjoy this aspect more than actually playing, though over the last few days I've begun to put a few plans into action that will hopefully see more motivation to game.

Anyhow, on to what I did.

Warhammer Quest
Earlier in the year Yo and I delved into the dark passages of Warhammer Quest fairly often, though almost all games ended in bitter defeat at the hands of rampaging Minotaurs, or from work of the evil dice gods. Worse, the few quests that we did manage to complete almost always went awry whilst travelling back to town, resulting in very few of our Heroes reaching Battle Level 2, and I don't think any reached their third birthday.

I started drawing up plans to somehow make the game a little easier, whilst still trying to keep the 'ROLL ONE MORE ONE, AND IT'S A DIVORCE FOR YOU!' level of panic. Specific Monster-themed Dungeons, gentle house-rules, and new Event cards were all on the table, but were never actually completed. I also put into action a sweeping plan to increase the variety of monsters we could draw from (basically an excuse to buy buckets of new miniatures), and I can say - a little smugly - that this was a resounding success, even if my wallet seems all the thinner for it, but more on that a few sections below.


Warhammer 40K
I'm a die-hard 2nd Edition fan, but have never been around to see a new edition launch, so I was a little curious. I temporarily got hold of a copy, and started a (small) collection of Ravenguard Space Marines and Necons. I was unimpressed, and will probably never play it again. Though I do intend on picking up a few more boxes of 40k stuff (Tau, Eldar and Tyranids) so I can occasionally drip-feed them into my Necromunda campaign.


Modified Mordheim  -"Mord-omunda of the Rings Quest"
I kicked off a new solo campaign just last month, and am writing up the rules for my own convenience and consistency. The idea of Necromunda transplanted into a Fantasy setting appeals to me very much, and if I have to write my own rulebook to get it to work, then by Moridin's Hammer I'll see it done!

Painting & Collecting
This was the Year of the Paintbrush for me, and I did lots of it. Way too much to list here, though the focus was to purchase small amounts of each of the GW Fantasy Armies so I could use them as antagonists in Mordheim and Warhammer Quest. The amount of evil denizens still sprayed chaos black and sitting on my shelves is simply staggering, though I am pleased with the amount that are painted and ready to pillage and kill.

I took part in the Reaper Kickstarter, pledging the Vampire Level. $100 to get more than 200 minis? Hell. Yeah. I'm a little dubious as to the expected quality of these minis, and doubt very much they'll be up to their usual standard, but only time will tell. I'm also not looking forward to the massive import fees the UK will undoubtedly impose...



Summing Up

I'm fairly with happy how last year went. Just a quick headcount showed that I've painted 116 miniatures in 2012, not including the 4 sat on my desk unfinished. I didn't game that much, but hopefully the new rules I'm writing will give me the kick in the backside that I need. And if it doesn't, well, I always have my paintbrush...