Well 2010 is nearly over. Boy it has gone through fast. I guess the main thing in 2010 for me was moving house from a 4 bedroom house in the burbs to a 2 bedroom apartment in the city. Space is now more important than it was before. But I also now have loads more time.
Here are my projects from this time last year with an update on each going forward:
1. 6mm NAPOLEONICS
2010 was to see experimentation in figure scales to see what number of figs I would settle on for my units. Empire V uses a figure scale of 1:60 resulting in a battalion of 720 men represented on the table by 12 figures. This is perfect for the foot print of that unit on the tabletop battlefield when checking the historical footprints but I like to see massed troops on the table and 6mm is perfect for massed figure units. I played around with 24, 36 and 48 man units and even 72 man units.
See the posts earlier this year here:
http://wardepot.blogspot.com/2010/01/160-or-115-ratio-debate-continues.html
No settling in 2010 was made except to continue building armies at 1:60 ratio using 12 man units.
Purchases were to slow down in 2010 and apart from a large Adler order at the beginning of the year and a couple of wins on ebay, nothing else was purchased.
FOR 2011
more painting to get more of these troops on to the tabletop
more demo games run
2. 20mm MODERNS
2010 was to see some of my 20mm collection painted and on the table for demo games. The year was also to see the beginning of a set of rules to use Ambush Alley and Force on Force for solo gaming. Sadly none of this came to fruition in 2010.
FOR 2011
terrain produced for demo games
painting of small units for demo games
3. 6mm ACW
2010 was to begin building painted armies of 6mm Adler ACW troops for playing Fire and Fury. This year saw the release of Regimental Fire and Fury. This was purchased and troops began the long process of having any flash removed, split from their casting strips and all muskets and bayonets straightened.
FOR 2011
continue the armies build for Regimental Fire and Fury and get some demo games done to learn the rules
4. OTHERS
This category included a lot of miscellaneous Wish List ideas including Sci Fi Fleets and Land Battles, 2mm Massed Naps and Crusades. There were other projects in this item but 2010 saw them disappear as things that I just would not have time to do in my lifetime.
Therefore these 3 listed above need to become items of their own.
THE REAL NUMBER 4. 2mm NAPOLEONICS
Playing around with base sizing from the range of 2mm casts from Irregular saw a decision made in late 2009 and a purchase of a large collection of these. 2010 saw a full Brigade of Prussian Infantry painted and ready to go to battle in a tutorial on the blog. Great feedback was received. As far as I can tell, no one is using 2mm for battalion level gaming as most glue a few casts onto a base and field this as a brigade or division.
See the 2mm items posted on the blog this year:
http://wardepot.blogspot.com/search/label/FIGURES%3A%20%202mm
FOR 2011
more sample units to be painted and blogged for inspiration for others
a demo game of Empire using 2mm
5. CRUSADES
This item was hard. I love 6mm gaming but the heraldry and colour of this period would not be shown easily using the 6mm figures that I could find covering this period. A quick scan of 10mm manufacturers and I was easily satisfied.
FOR 2011
continuation of reading material on the period
place an order for some 10mm troops and paint them as sample units
6. SCI FI FLEETS AND LAND BATTLES
2010 saw nothing done with this project and 2011 will probably be the same. This project entails the production of scratch built starships and the compilation and creation of 6mm land forces.
So there you have it. 6 projects had now been defined and begun that I intend to focus on in my lifetime. Life is just too short to do 100 projects half heartedly so these are it.
Before I go, to coincide with these projects are a couple of other items:
EMPIRE TACTICAL AND CAMPAIGN AI
2010 saw a fair amount of work done on an Empire players guide. This got the blessing of Scott Bowden and a number of hardcore Empire gamers. After a few months or work and around 60 pages of content and pictures I decided the work was becomming too big and would need a break from it and restart in 2011 with something a little more streamlined.
Nothing was done for the Tactical and Campaign AI for gaming with Empire.
FOR 2011
in working with item 1, some demo solo games should be accomplished with notes for solo play
TERRAIN
2010 saw some major advancements in my terrain making. When I moved into my new apartment, I cleaned out a lot of the junk I had collected over the years. I took the opportunity to take another look at gaming mats, painted boards and other ideas but eventually settled upon cork tile terrain squares. I selected these as I found a good source of accurately cut and sized tiles that could be purchased cheap when the stores had incomplete boxes to offload. Tutorials were completed on the blog and some great comments came through as a result. They look good and I am keen to complete this project and get the troops in action.
FOR 2011
complete the set of tutorials for Euro terrain project
use the same techniques for modern middle east terrain
PAINTING
I got a fair bit painting done in 2010, including quite a few jobs for clients for commission. About half way through the year I called a halt to orders so I could get a few units done on my own.
Undercoating in a base colour turned out to be a silly idea. Most of the undercoats I selected were gloss and thick and did not work well when painted over with water based craft paints. Back to the black undercoat.
One of the breakthroughs I had in 2009 was to prebase my troops and only paint what I could see. This continued to be a great time saver in 2010.
FOR 2011
continue painting fast to add to my own collections
only accept a few painting commissions on a case by case scenario
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