Happy New Year

                     

Second Xmas Presents

 

As we are away for the official Xmas Day we don't open our presents until we get back home, usually on New Year's Eve. This is a family tradition and is a great way to avoid the after Xmas doldrums. Today I was given an Army Painter speed paint set by my sons, a box of Perry Hundred Years War cavalry by the dog, a two year subscription to WSS by my daughter and a ticket to see Rhod Gilbert live by the other half. I also finally got to up wrap the NB neoprene hex mat I bought for myself way back in November. A good day.

Goodbye 2023

                     

Well that was a bit of a ropey year with a few highlights on the wargaming front to lighten the mood and lift the spirits. I'm taking Mr Kipling's advice and will look forward to 2024, in which I'm hoping to enjoy more games at the club and at home as well as trying out some rules I haven't tried before, with some projects designed to get miniatures on to the table rather than packed away in boxes. I hope you have enjoyed my incoherent rambles around the wargaming hobby this year and thank you for tagging along.  

Projects 2024

         

AIR

Arctic Eagles for Bag the Hun (1/600)

NAVAL

An early war RN fleet for the Norwegian Campaign (1/3000)

WW2 Coastal Warfare East Coast Convoy and Escorts (1/600th)

Either Franco-Italian or Sino-Japanese pre-dreadnought fleets (1/2400)

Later ironclad French and Royal Navy squadrons (1/2400th)

Napoleonic Royal Navy fleet (1/2400th)

LAND

An Ngoni army for Death in the Dark Continent (28mm)

A small 600 point White army for the Back of Beyond (28mm)

A Numidian or Ancient British army for Strength and Honour (2mm)

As you can see I'm going to focus on naval projects this year, with air projects cut down to just the Arctic Eagles Bag the Hun scenarios, with only a handful of land based projects, albeit quite extensive ones. I'm sure other things will crop up too but this is my core list of stuff to tackle in 2024.

Extra Early War Royal Navy Cruisers

We got back home from Brittany this morning and, once everything was unpacked and sorted, I hit the workbench for some remedial wargaming fun. I thought my heavy and light cruiser force for the Norwegian Campaign was looking a bit feeble, so have added two more Town class light cruisers, HMS Southampton and HMS Birmingham. While I was about it I also cleaned up two County class heavy cruisers, HMS Norfolk and HMS Dorsetshire, which weren't part of the Norway action but will be a useful addition to the home fleet nonetheless. The plan now is to complete the Norwegian Campaign project by the end of January, ready for some games if Find, Fix and Strike and Nimitz.

Back of Beyond Ablaze

           

This is going to be available at the beginning of February it seems, which is another reason for me to reboot my Back of Beyond shenanigans. I have the previous version of Setting the East Ablaze but couldn't get anyone at the club interested in playing them, believe it or not, as enthusiasm for the Back of Beyond has seemingly fizzled out. I'm hoping this new edition might spark some renewed interest and give me an excuse to paint up one of my armies waiting in the wings, either the Turkish or the Chinese Warlord forces that I've amassed. Oh, and that's my old scratch built armoured train on the front cover again, which is always nice to see. 

2023 Games Photo Review

The New Year Resolution this year was to play more games at the club and until the last month or so of 2023, I've definitely managed to do so. I also played a solo mini campaign over the summer holidays and a few games at home, although far less than the previous year. Not bad.