A Year In Gaming - 2024

A very Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Happy Holidays to everyone else!

Once again, another year has passed, which gives me a chance to look back at my involvement in the hobby

As always, we start with the games played:

• 'O' Group - 1
• Downsync - 1
• General d'Armee - 2
• Pickett's Charge - 1
• Pike & Shotte - 1
• Rapid Fire Reloaded - 2
• Wars of Such Magnitude - 1

Wow! Nine games in total. That's a somewhat dismal showing compared to previous years. 

Reflecting on this, the lack of games comes from several factors. This has been an incredibly busy year for me personally. Some major trips and life changes (like getting married!) meant I had to juggle my schedule and put gaming on the back burner. I also don't have the same regularity of gaming that I had while I was back in New Jersey. With Ted's hosting and the SJGA's monthly meetings, I was pretty much guaranteed three to five games per month. And Cold Barrage was the only convention I was able to attend. 

I do have a hope to increase these numbers, either by getting involved more locally or setting up a gaming space. 

My painting numbers are somewhat more comforting:

• 6mm Monsters - 21
• 6mm Infantry - 76
• 15mm Vehicles - 3
• 15mm Vehicle - 4
• 15mm Infantry - 340
• 15mm Equipment - 7
• 15mm Cavalry - 6
• 15mm Artillery - 8

15mm continues to dominate as my go-to scale, mostly thanks to the Napoleonic and WWII projects. 6mm sneaks in thanks to Starship Troopers: Sector Sweep.

And no 28mm at all this year! I think that's a first ever since I started tracking my painting progress back in 2017.

To round out the post, here's a look at the games I played. I'm looking forward to more gaming in 2025!

'O' Group 

Downsync

General d'Armee

Pickett's Charge

Pike & Shotte

Rapid Fire Reloaded

Wars of Such Magnitude

A Year In Gaming - 2023

 And we're back here again! 

What a year; some big personal changes for me impacted my gaming and painting schedule. However, it looks like I've some some good people down here to hobby with, so 2024 looks bright. 

So here's the games I played this year:

• 'O' Group - 1
• All Quiet on the Martian Front - 1
• Arena Rex - 2
• BattleTech: Alpha Strike - 2
• Breakthrough - 1
• Chain of Command - 9
• Combat Patrol - 1
• Downsync - 3
• General d'Armee - 1
• Live Free or Die - 1
• Midgard - 1
• So Convenient for Hewing - 1
• Strength & Honour - 4
• Wars of Ozz - 1
• Washington's War - 1
• What a Tanker - 2

32 games in total. One less than 2022, but I did pack up and move in the middle of the year, so overall I can't say it's that bad. Chain of Command definitely wins the "Most Played" spot, thanks in large part to Ted's focusing on the rules for his campaign (and what a shame that I never got to see the conclusion to it!). 

As for what I painted:

• 15mm Artillery - 4
• 15mm Cavalry - 42
• 15mm Infantry - 190
• 15mm Vehicle - 4
• 28mm Infantry - 31
• 28mm Vehicle - 3
• 2mm Cavalry - 2
• 2mm Infantry - 5
• 6mm Infantry - 20
• 6mm Vehicle - 5

Again, not too bad, especially since I had to pack everything up for a couple months and lost my enthusiasm while focusing on my new job. There was a focus on 15mm this year, thanks to my Napoleonics project. I expect to see the same focus in 2024 as I work on the French. 

And the usual recap of the games I played in:

'O' Group

All Quiet on the Martian Front

Breakthrough

Chain of Command

Combat Patrol

Downsync

Live Free or Die

Midgard

So Convenient for Hewing

Strength & Honour

Wars of Ozz

Washington's War

A Year In Gaming - 2022

Once again, it's the end of the year and a look back at what I played and painted during that time. 

Let's start with the games: 

• 'O' Group - 4
• Age of Hannibal - 1
• Basic Impetus II - 1
• Battlefleet Gothic - 2
• Breakthrough - 1
• Castles in the Sky - 1
• Command & Colors: Ancients - 1
• Fire and Fury (Homebrew) - 1
• For King & Parliament - 1
• Frostgrave - 2
• General d'Armee - 2
• Mythic Americas - 2
• Naval Thunder - 4
• Pickett's Charge - 1
• Regimental Fire & Fury - 1
• Saga - 1
• Sharp Practice - 1
• Strength & Honour - 4
• The Battlefield - 1
• To the Strongest! - 1
• Wars of Orcs and Dwarves - 1
• Wars of Ozz - 1

I played 33 games in 2022. That's... not great, to be honest. That's two less games than in 2020, the year when the world shut down due to the outset of the pandemic. 

Then again, I could consider myself privileged to have been able to play so many games in the past. I'm sure there are plenty of hobbyists out there who would be happy to be able to hit that number of games, and the variety therein. 

I also note the lack of any campaign or tournament games in the list that would usually come in the double digits. In the years past that would have been games like ADLG, Blood Bowl, Mordheim, and Guild Ball. 

And here's what I've painted: 

• 1/1200th Ships - 31
• 15mm Cavalry - 31
• 15mm Infantry - 162
• 28mm Infantry - 61
• 28mm Monsters - 3
• 2mm Cavalry - 3
• 2mm Infantry - 20
• 2mm Terrain - 8
• 6mm Vehicles - 18

Not so bad a tally once again. Definitely a focus on 15mm this year, and you can see the Castles in the Skies and Strength & Honour projects in the 'weird' scales. 

'O' Group

Age of Hannibal 

Battlefleet Gothic

Breakthrough

Castles in the Sky

Command & Colors: Ancients

Fire and Fury (Homebrew)

For King & Parliament

General d'Armee

Mythic Americas

Naval Thunder

Pickett's Charge

Regimental Fire & Fury

Sharp Practice

Strength & Honour

The Battlefield 

To the Strongest! 

Wars of Ozz

So that's the last post of 2022! I hope everyone has a happy new year, and has plenty of gaming, painting, and general fun in 2023.

A Year In Gaming - 2021

Well, that's another year come and gone. And what a year it was.

In-person gaming became more regular again as wargamers got vaccinated. This also meant that the SJGA could start meeting again face-to-face. And I even went to a convention!

Here's what I played this year:

• 'O' Group - 4
• Battletech: Alpha Strike - 1
• Beyond the Gates of Antares - 1
• Black Powder - 1
• Bolt Action - 5
• British Grenadier - 2
• Chain of Command - 1
• Field of Battle 3 - 1
• Frostgrave - 1
• General d'Armee - 1
• Glory: 1861 - 1
• Hail Caesar - 1
• Live Free or Die - 1
• Middle Earth SBG - 3
• Mythic Americas - 4
• Rebels & Patriots - 1
• Saga - 2
• Strength & Honor - 1
• To the Strongest! - 1
• Warlords of Erehwon - 3
• Warmaster: Revolution - 4
• Wings of War - 3

That's 43 games total for 2021. Far less than 2019, but hopefully it's building up again. 

It's also another year of mostly one-off games. This is something else I noticed while going back over the end-of-year posts for 2020 and 2019. This year, I only managed to play a single game at least five times; that was Bolt Action. The same set of rules also managed to hit that benchmark in 2020. But back in 2019, there were five sets of rules I managed to play at least five times. Hopefully I'll get into some sort of league or campaign next year. 

And now a look at what I painted over the year:

• 10mm Cavalry - 60
• 10mm Infantry - 146
• 10mm Monsters - 32
• 15mm Infantry - 118
• 2mm Infantry - 1
• 28mm Cavalry - 1
• 28mm Infantry - 100
• 28mm Monsters - 9
• 28mm Vehicle - 5
• 6mm Vehicle - 15

In reverse of 2020's played games, I painted less. But then again, I didn't have a span of three months when my workplace was shut down and I was stuck at home. 

It was more spread out this year, with no scale really taking precedence. Though I did paint my first set of 2mm miniatures!

'O' Group

Battletech: Alpha Strike

Beyond the Gates of Antares

Bolt Action

British Grenadier

Chain of Command

Field of Battle III

General d'Armee

Live Free or Die

Middle Earth: Strategy Battle Game

Mythic Americas

Rebels & Patriots

Saga

Strength & Honour

To the Strongest!

Warlords of Erehwon

Warmaster: Revolution

Wings of War

As always, here's to a happy new year and lots of fun hobbying in 2022!