2024 plan

Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all have a marvellous 2024. 

I'm doing something a bit different this year.  Usually I split the year into three sections of four months with Salute in April being the first key point to work towards.  For 2024 I'm trying out the Ovelist approach of The Hobby Support Group.  I've chosen  nine things to work on for the whole year.  I'm still going to take those check points at April and August and revise if needed.

The starting numbers for the year are: 128 28mm; 10 20mm and 152 15mm.  I started 2023 with 321 unpainted figures made up of 108 28mm, 53 15mm and 163 10mm so broadly similar, just replacing the 10mm for 15mm really.   

New projects

I've currently got one brand new project to work on:
  • 1st Century. A.D Imperial Rome.  I've had the Infamy, Infamy rules for well over a year now, but could never find figures I liked as I wanted to do it in smaller scale.  I really liked Cromarty Forges' 10mm range but they were too small, so I was absolutely made up when they started doing a 15mm range.  I was even happier when PSC did a 30% discount so I bought both a Roman and Ancient German force.  I may follow the Plastic Crack Podcast Online Painting Challenge guidelines as I work on this project.
  • I have a couple of ideas for other new projects but they need to marinate before I commit to putting them down in black and white.  I'm allowing space for the inevitable new project or two  marked as ? on the Ovelist.

Existing projects

  • Late-Romans (28mm) - this was going to be last year's big, new project but I didn't get going on it until mid-way though the year.  Once I did start I thoroughly enjoyed working on the fantastic Victrix figures.  This year is about finishing off the core for each force and then working out what's next.  I'm going to keep the scope of the game as "large skirmish" but I've yet to decide on rules.  
    • Complete Late-Roman spearmen (6 already painted, 6 prepped and ready to paint).
    • Complete Armoured/Command figures (18 to do).
    • Add more missile troops for both forces (number to be determined).
    • Add cavalry .
  • Dark Ages/Norse Age (28mm) - I played a game of Ravenfeast in 2023 using my old Gripping Beast collection and really enjoyed it.  I'd been putting together small forces using Victrix figures for the game Ragnarok and the natural progression is to add some more so I could play Ravenfeast with some nicer figures.
    • Add more figures.
    • Collect appropriate character and monster figures (for Ragnarok).
  • Verrotwood (28mm) - I finally bought this game in October, having meant to earlier in the year.  I love it, being one of those games that fills the gap between table top game and RPG.  Verrotwood the Wild West is due in 2024, but I'm ahead on this with a load of Old West figures I've had for years.
    • Finish off the two cults I started on in December.
    • Make more cults.
    • Add some creatures.
  • Second World War Partisan Warfare (28mm) - I played a couple of great games of Ambush Alley/Force on Force set in the Nazi occupied areas of the Soviet Union last year.  I've long been interested in asymmetric warfare setting previous games in Yugoslavia, Indo-China and Algeria and this was an obvious progression.  Inspired by Verrotwood I'm going to try and introduce a folk horror element weaving in Slavic mythology for some games.  
    • Continue adding more units.
    • Add horror miniatures.
    • Work on rules.
  • Second World War Italy 43-45 (15mm) 
    • Take stock of collection, possibly rebasing and add support options with a view to using Chain of Command rather than Bolt Action as my main WW2 platoon rules.
    • Work on bases for the MDF Italian buildings and make other theatre specific terrain.
    • Repair and repaint water tower building.
    • Potentially add more units and support options.
  • Terrain 
    • Make terrain/scenic pieces that can be used for any of my 28mm/32mm collections (Celtos, Warmachine/Hordes, Burrows and Badgers, Verrotwood, Ancients/Dark Ages and WW2 Partisan games).  I particularly want to focus on creepy woodland terrain.  
    • Work on MDF ruined buildings and urban terrain in 20mm that can be used for any post industrial games (WW2 and Post-Apocalyptic).
    • Add more terrain pieces as needed in 15mm and 6mm.
  • 28mm Sci-Fi - something totally new for me.  I played Space Weirdos and thoroughly enjoyed it.  With it's low model count it allows you to dip your toe in.
    • Complete the 3D printed Sci-Fi figures I bought in Spring 2023.  
Not on the Ovelist but something I'd like to finally finish:
  • 1/48th Sopwith Camel model - yes it's still sitting there waiting to be done.  I did think about completing the final assembly and leaving the rigging but I know it would annoy me.
  • I also have a few Burrows and Badgers miniatures to work on when I fancy a change.  

Gaming

I've split the gaming out from the "doing". 


I'm going to aim for a minimum of nine games in 2024.  I have whole collections that have never seen action and I really want to rectify this.  Like many gamers I have a plethora of rule sets and I need to start rationalising which ones to focus on and then stick with these.  Possible games in mind as I write this are:
    1. 20mm First Anglo-Sikh War  - one of the never gamed collections.  I have Black Powder but it doesn't really enthuse me so I may have to look around.  
    2. 10mm Second Punic War  - another never gamed collection.  I'm tempted to wait for Midgard to come out to to use for this.
    3. 28mm Ragnarok - I've yet to play this set of rules although I've had them since they came out and really want to.
    4. Verrotwood  - a new game for me, very much looking forward to this and one of my "doing" squares is working on the cults for this game.
    5. Second World War Partisan Warfare ("Bloodlands") - my own WW2 game with horror elements.  This is also one of my "doing" squares but I have enough to start playing straight away. 
    6. Chain of Command - another set of rules I've owned for years.  I've used Bolt Action for platoon level games but fancy a change.  When I started wargaming this period again more than 20 years ago, my focus was all Eastern Front for the 1944-45 period and in particular the campaigns such as Narva and Poland in summer 1944.  With it being 80 years this year I'm going to revisit these and use it as an opportunity to learn how to play Chain of Command using my 1/76th collection as I have nearly all the support options you'd want!  
    7. 20mm Zona Alfa/Post-Apocalypse - yet to play this set of rules, although I did use some of the collection for Space Weirdos.  Yet again I've had them years!
    8. Second World War Company Level - I've been wanting to play at this level for ages.  I have quite a lot of 15mm Western Desert and Italian Campaign assets in the collection and need to decide on rules.  Potentially this may drive a new project in a smaller scale.  
    9. 10mm Fantasy -  I built Chaos Dwarf and Ogre Kingdoms armies for Warmaster last year but it's another of the never gamed collections.  This may be another one where I wait for Midgard to come out.
That's enough to be going on with.  I know my hobby time will be less this year as I'm back at the workplace more, I'm studying for a qualification and I really need to do some 1:1 scale building work!  

Famous last words, but I really want to keep my miniatures expenditure to a minimum for the first period of the year.  I've got enough to last me all year as it is, with enough variety as well to keep me motivated.  I'd like to clear the backlog and have a spend up at Salute.  

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