2013...where did that go?

It's that time again. This year I decided to try painting things rather than figures but didn't really stick to my own game plan, with the inevitable results. It started well in January with the completion of a Neo-Soviet fleet for Full Thrust using the very neat Brigade Models range as a substitute for the proper GZG ships. In February, I followed this up with a small force of GZG New Swabian ships which have since been given to the sprog in a futile attempt to get him interested in sci-fi gaming.

In March and April, I began the long awaited Coastal Forces project with a large flotilla of mid-war British MTB's, MGB's, ML's and a minesweeper or two. This project was prematurely swamped by work and other diversions but I will be returning to complete it in 2014, along with a matching Kriegsmarine force. In the time I did salvage, I completed three objective markers and a bridge for AK47, so it wasn't a total washout.

In May, I added a unit of tribal militia loonies to my AK47 dictatorship army, followed by the completion of the bulk of my 1/285th aircraft for the on-going late war Luftwaffe project. These included a couple of Me262's, a flight of Me109K's and two flights of FW190D's and A8's. To balance out the collection, I also painted up eight P51D's, which took awhile but was worth it in the end as they were used in a couple of games this year.

With the summer holidays interupting play, I started on a 28mm US Late War Reinforced Platoon for Bolt Action, which was eventually completed by the end of October. I cut some corners with this one, using the Army Painter dip approach on the figures with a simple spray and drybrush for the AFV's, but it still took the best part of two months to complete. I still have some figures and vehicles to finish off the force but, in the meantime the platoon has seen some action, with more to come in 2014.

In November I started on my new AK47 Superpower backed army, having sold my old Colonial Settlers and having promised to loan my Dictatorship army to a club player for a future AK47 campaign. I got a fair way through the initial units, with a couple of tanks and some AFV's completed but will be carrying over the army to 2014, as I need to complete it ready for the campaign in February-March. It's almost half way there already, so I'll be tackling the infantry next alongside the remaining vehicles.

In December, I decided to kit up a 1/72nd scale aircraft model for the club WW1 aerial warfare rules, Knights of the Sky. I had a Pfalz DIII kit to hand, so took a few days to stick it together and paint it up, before the Xmas holidays began. I enjoyed this mini-project, so will be adding more of my kit pile to the on-going project next year, with late 1917 German planes as a gap to fill in the existing collection. 

So, on balance, the 'things not figures' strategy seems to have been reasonably successful, with at least some of my vast pile of lead cleared from the overloaded shelving and dusty boxes under the workbench. As always, I have finished only a fraction of what I hoped to achieve but, on the flip side, it's been a great year for gaming with a number of enjoyable games at the club and some memorable not quite victories to celebrate. 

Happy New Year!