2013 Goals

I thought I would go through looking at my goals from last year and update them for this year and see how I progressed or not!

Here we go:

1. NAPOLEONICS 6mm

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.
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
For 2013
Get back into placing 6mm orders with Adler and UK based painter every 1 or 2 months to fill out my armies for Waterloo and then 1812, beginning with Waterloo allies such as Dutch, Belgian, Nassau and Brunswickers.

2. MODERNS 6mm & 20mm

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
For 2013
I have recently settled on using 6mm for moderns and Force on Force for larger engagements and then 20mm for smaller team based engagements. An order to GHQ and H&R rounded out my 6mm armies well so this year will be a lot of painting and terrain making for this period in both scales.

3. ACW 6mm

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

For 2013
continue the army build. In particular I want to get 2 or 3 brigades in each side fully completed for a few demo games this year.

4. NAPOLEONICS 2mm

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.

FOR 2011
more sample units to be painted and blogged for inspiration for others
a demo game of Empire using 2mm
2013
During this year I sorted out my basing for 6mm in order to satisfy my need for mass as well as affordability. So this project has now been dropped and I will need to sell off my collection.

5. CRUSADES 10mm

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
2013
Over the past year I have collected a few hundred 10mm crusaders so this year I need to paint a few up and purchase some Muslems and get a few demo games of Tactica done.

6. SCI FI FLEETS AND LAND BATTLES 6mm

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.
2013
Nothing done here last year but this year I hope to scratch build a few capital ships and work out how I will model smaller craft.

7. 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
2013
Working on getting to know the rules a lot more for gaming with my weekly gaming group. Also developing quick look up sheets and aids and also researching a few house rules. I should be able to get more solo play done and so should make some progress on the Tactical AI.

8. 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
2013
This is a big one. I now need terrain for 6mm Euro, 6mm Middle East, 10mm Middle East and 20mm Middle East as well as terrain for space. I have stuffed around for years trying different ideas for terrain and none have made me happy so this year has a goal of finally settling on a terrain methodology and progress towards building euro and mid east terrain by the end of the year.

So there you have it. My projects and their updates for 2013.

I intend on focussing on 1 or 2 of these each month and posting monthly updates following the same idea here where old text is referenced for accountability purposes.

So what are your goals this year? Comment below.