Happy New Year!

As we have a Xmas in France every year, the kids open their 'English' presents on New Years Day, rather then cart them across to the in-laws and back again for Xmas Day. This means that they get two sets of presents, which can be a bit much, but it also means that I get to open my presents today as well! This was the Ministry of the Interior's idea and it actually works really well, allbeit with some suspension of disbelief about the existence of a French and an English Santa. 

This year, Father Xmas got me a Bolt Action Japanese Starter Army with some extra bits and the Armies of Imperial Japan supplement, so you can guess what I'll be up to in 2014, at least in part. The Japanese will be one of my 28mm projects this year, primarily for Chain of Command but with Bolt Action as a fall back. I'm hoping to add some terrain construction to this project too.

I was also allowed to get the classic Foundry Miniatures British Commandos that I had my eye on over the holidays, with enough figures for a couple of squads, a command group and a support team or two. These will be for raiding purposes only, so firmly at a skirmish level rather than a full on platoon set up, with rules as yet undecided. 

I also bought myself a copy of Henry Hyde's Wargames Compendium, as it was less than a fiver on the Kindle e-book store and looked like an interesting read for a rainy day. I like his style of writing and, in particular, the series of 'imagi-nation' articles he has written on wargame campaigning, so I thought I'd find some inspiration in this pretty comprehensive book.

This year, I have a number of intended projects but I'm keeping my options open, with the focus being firmly on 28mm WW2. I enjoyed painting up my 28mm US platoon last year, so will be building at least one more force for Chain of Command and Bolt Action in 2014. I also want to get at least one other 28mm army completed, with the Tribal Villagers for In the Heart of Africa at the top of the list, possibly followed by the Ronin skirmish project which I didn't get started in 2013.

In 15mm, I'll be completing the AK47 army for the club campaign, but that's probably going to be it for 2014. I have some plans up my sleeve for a 15mm French Resistance game based on the AK47 rules system plus a long term goal to paint up an ancient or medieval army for Impetus, but these will probably not be happening this year.

In 1/285th, I have big plans for a Soviet mid-war air force for Bag the Hun 2, using the models that I picked up on the bring and buy at Colours. This will be a pretty comprehensive collection of fighters, ground attack, light and heavy bombers, either in winter camouflage or in a summer scheme. I will also be adding some mid-war Luftwaffe planes to complement the late war fighters that I completed in 2013.

To round things off, I will definately get around to painting up the 1/600th scale ships for the WW2 coastal warfare project, with both British and German coastal forces plus some merchant ships. I have meant to do this for many years but it's time to crack on and actually finish what I've started. As a second but much smaller naval wargaming project, I really want to tackle at least a couple of the Peter Pig pirate ships, if I can squeeze them into the schedule.

Finally, the club participation game will need to have some new 1/72nd scale aircraft, which I've promised to kit up. At the moment, this is looking like a 1915-1916 early war multiplayer game, so I'll be digging out the old kits in the loft in search of Morane Saulnier N's, Fokker EIII's and Bristol Scouts, all of which I have stashed up there somewhere along with a few other suitable model kits.

...anyway, I hope you have a Happy New Year and lots of fun in 2014!