That was the year that was....

 ....an absolute shocker and no mistake!

It is now thankfully done and dusted and so let us all hope that 2021 turns out to be a vast improvement!

I am not going to review what I have done over the old year but instead want to focus on what I will be doing in the new one. It is not so much a plan - more like a wish list.

Ships and Stuff

Naval stuff will feature significantly as I shall complete the ACW, Russo Turkish and a further ironclad project before then moving on to Madasahatta. As a late 19th/early 20th century largely Colonial island setting I plan to build a selection of models up to pre dreadnought battleship size - possibly larger. The models for this will be built when needed so the initial batch will be gunboats. I also need to organise the rules I have been playing around with into a coherent shape - at the time of writing they exist partially in my head but mostly as a collection of hastily scribbled notes.

To support the ironclad projects I am seriously looking to make use of the 6mm MDF figures so I shall be experimenting with painting/colouring techniques. I have painted figures in this scale before but not for some time but having said that they look fairly straightforward. Initially this will be for the ACW but the Russo Turkish War may feature at some point.

The English Civil War and Jacobite Risings

As soon as I have the final parts from WoFun I shall be looking to get some games in using either (more likely both) Bob Cordery’s Portable Pike and Shot Wargame or the Command and Colours variant devised by MSFoy. Terrain will not be so much of an issue in this smaller scale as I have a lot of bits and pieces that can be pressed into service. I have been quietly reading my way through my ECW library and also have my eye on a newly launched block based board game covering the first civil war.

The Jacobite Rebellions will feature using Jacobite Rising - the Command and Colours Tricorne standalone game. Again, I have been quietly going through the appropriate titles in my library in readiness.

WW2 Far East

This will be Memoir ‘44 based and I am spoilt for choice in that I can game either the US or the UK theatres. I have a plan around ‘3D’ gaming either using models but it is not essential as it will be good to go as is. Even the naval/aerial side can be catered for and in fact the biggest job I have is punching out some 1,300 counters for Flat Top.

Everything else

This year I want to make a conscious effort to tackle some 28mm skirmish level games. When I say skirmish I mean around a dozen models a side as a maximum. I am intrigued by Frostgrave and have also acquired the Ghost Archipelago version - the supporting figures are rather nice and I quite fancy painting a few. Also of interest is a Fistful of Lead and the Sci fi version - Galactic Heroes. These all need very few figures and so for me are achievable. Even I could manage to paint up a dozen or so figures for a game!

Taking all the above into consideration the first thing that struck me is how modest the list is. At the time of writing I am around a third of the way through the ironclad ship build and once Warbases are back in action I can really push on with these projects. Everything else is largely a matter of occasional modelling/painting or actual gaming, something I really want to get back to.

The End of It

Anyway, enough of my rambling! I want to wish us all a happy new year in the hope that it will be a considerable improvement on the last one - it may be a while before we turn the corner but at least we now know that there is one!