Coming to the end of 2021 and in many ways, it was like 2020 about wargaming in many respects. My local club is still shut down (understandably) and several members have moved away, and others have never been heard from again so the future for it is unknown. Most not all the wargame conventions did not happen again this year. I attended HMGS Cold Wars in 2020 and have not attended another convention since that one.
My solo gaming expanded greatly with more scenery and terrain to use. I have also painted a fare number of figures up. I am currently painting what I consider for myself to be a good number though it is most likely for many a small number of figures. I am looking at 12 to 18 every two weeks which pretty good for me. I am getting one solo game in a month also and that is most likely on the small side for most people.
The Williamite and Jacobite forces for my Battle of the Boyne project is coming along well. It largely has replaced my WWI project. Not like I am the first wargamer to be pulled from one project to another. This is a period I have wanted to do for a long time and solo it seems to work alright though the actual scenario I think I will tweak to make it more interesting to game. The more I play the battle the more I understand that James II screwed up and then it was correct he lost the battle. Still, it offers a good period to solo game I believe with not a huge number of troops to paint up.
Sold off some of my old wargame stuff as well and will continue to do so I think in the future. I sold to Noble Knight Games all my old BattleTech stuff. I had all the original books, game supplements and maps and things from the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Some time ago I offered them to my nephew who declined them he was into RPGs. Noble Knight Games sent out an email of what they wanted, and I had a bunch of it so made a little money off some stuff I no longer was using nor was planning on using. A new version of BattleTech is around now I know but I don’t know anyone into it, and I have a rule of not starting up a period or game I have given up on again buying new stuff seems like a waste. The only downside was they did not want any of my painted mechs for the game. Still have those for the game and could get rid of them for some money to spend on something else might not be bad. I think I will continue to do this as it is a little easier than putting stuff up on eBay and selling things off that way.
I also played with a wargaming friend Age of Empires II online some this last year. I admit I am not very good at it as I don’t control things well and am the weak link in any game we play together. Online games do not have the same social interaction that in person wargaming. On several podcasts, YouTube channels and blogs I have read everyone mentions the social interaction being a key part of their wargaming experience. I must agree with this 100% and have talked about it with a wargaming friend who agrees as well.
For 2022
Who knows for sure what 2022 will bring with any variants and new normal for everything in the new year? Somethings I do have planned for 2022 or at least think they are more than likely to occur.
- Will continue to paint figures for Nine Years War in Ireland. The War of the Three Kings if you prefer. That one I know as I have some unpainted figures and plan to finish them all off.
- Going to continue to paint up scenery and terrain for gaming table. This is also for sure.
- Continue to solo game for sure as no other choices now.
- Try and paint all my unpainted WWI German, Russian and French troops. This I believe is doable and would allow for some more solo gaming. I might even see if I can get into one of the online painting challenges for motivation. I can see myself getting some done with a little bit of challenge.
- Going to buy another battle mat or two from Cigar Box Battle, I have one I like and feel as I will be expanding my solo gaming why not. (Not that I am getting a choice about solo gaming).
- Going to try and inventory all my wargaming stuff rules, supplies, unpainted figures, reference material, supplies etc. I was thinking perhaps I would sell off those things I am just not using and am unlikely to use again to Noble Knight Games or someone and get some money from it. Might as well what could it hurt. This would take sometime and perhaps many things no one would want but even if I could not sell everything to them, I guess after the inventory I could offer it up on other sites.
- I hope to get to some live games with friends again in 2022. This really will depend on a lot of things totally out of my control. The local club though which I gamed at for around 25 years might not be coming back at least in the old form.
- I would like to get to a HMGS game convention in 2022 but this is another thing that is dependent on other things and just not sure will happen.
- Going to let the blog die in April 2022. I started the blog in when I was bored, and blogs were kind of in. It always consumed more time and effort than I thought it would and got continually more expensive also. It was supposed to be a place to post about games I played at the local club and get discussion from readers. I never have had that many readers and now the club has not met for a long time. So, with gaming being what it is now I am going to let it go and concentrate my free time on painting and solo gaming no blogging.
- Perhaps, I will investigate a period for 6mm figures. One, this would be a good size for space considerations both on the tabletop and storage. Two, painting might take less time for me with the smaller scale. Three, if I do sell off a large portion of older stuff not being used it may give me some money and space to work with. This will only happen if I paint up all the unpainted Nine-Year Wars and WWI figures I currently have. I am close to the Nine Years War goal though; I will be forced to do some more cavalry. Cavalry is my least favorite thing to paint.
I will hope for a better 2022 both for wargaming and everything else. Have a safe and happy 2022.
morale roll 