Towards 2012 - Now that the Cataclysm has been averted....

I had a very lazy weekend. After a busy few days at work; coupled with some inevitable train dramas it meant that I was in need of some 'r and r' and so this weekend was 'it'. No painting, no modelling, no gaming - just allowing my thoughts to wander and taking care of a few PC related issues. I had a minor problem with my Ebook reader in that rather foolishly I had tidied up the downloaded files on my PC and had not considered the impact on my reader. I charged it up and suddenly had gone from 120 to 5 books! Sorting out the resultant chaos was easy enough but it took a while to do so - mainly because I took the opportunity to tidy up the said download files on my PC. One thing I did do though was to download the manual onto the reader for future reference.


I must confess to being somewhat behind the technological curve in terms of technical ability and so the exercise probably took me longer than it should have done but I was pleased that my back up enabled me to restore the reader to its former glory - and with some extras!
Whilst waiting for the various screen prompts I gave some thought to the 'plan' for next year on the gaming front; as well as reviewing the events of this year. Next year is surprisingly modest in terms of what I plan to tackle. On the ship front I will have the scratch built 1890 Turkish and Russian fleets to do (as soon as the remaining ACW models are completed) followed by the 1/1200th WW2 North Atlantic kit. I have a pair of 1/3000th items to consider - the U-boat convoy game and the Spanish Civil War; both of which I have the models for.


I will get the two 'toy soldier' 15mm 1890 armies finished and then would look to tackle something for Fezia and Rusland on a 1930s basis. Any other 'land' stuff will of course be using my block armies and these can be used as and when the whim takes me. Regular readers of the blog will no doubt remember that I had expressed an interest and intent in gaming Operation Barbarossa in some fashion but I am now unsure that this will take place. The 1930s war between Fezia and Rusland will take precedence and will provide sufficient mechanical interest!  Incidentally, the 1930s armies will of course be organised with the Portable War game in mind and naturally with some mini campaign applications thrown in for good measure.


The first task will be to finish the ACW ships and ideally I would like to have this done by the end of the year. It is 'doable' but I need to start 'doing' rather than just thinking about it!


Overall I am fairly satisfied with the way this year has gone in terms of gaming achievements. The 1890 to 1920 naval rules have at last got to the shape I want and the block armies in conjunction with 3d terrain has been a revelation. As a concept for use with other applications; both of historical period or land or sea (or even air) based it has much to commend it. Best of all though is the potential for my new den - a potential I am only just beginning to make use of.


Isn't there a Chinese proverb along the lines of 'May you live in interesting times.'?


I certainly hope so!