Chat: Recap of 2019

Looking back on 2019, I have to say that it was a wholly nice year, unexciting as that may sound.

As usual, I got to work with a variety of models from all corners of the wargaming spectrum, starting with some really nice pirates by Dead Earth Games for Pirates of the Dread Sea.

During the summer I did the promo miniatures for their second Kickstarter wave as well. The human and undead crew.

In terms of other things I got to paint some things new and different, like men 1st Grenadier Guards, the Guards Camel Regiment, 1885...

...and I had the chance to finally work with some Front Rank figures.

Lovely, lovely sculpts. In general, I got to do a bunch of Napoleonics this year; in 6mm, 18mm and 28mm.

And I had the chance to paint some more Infinity minis. No less lovely than Front Rank ones, just very different. In fact, I did quite a lot of Infinity minis the past spring. Two Haqqislam armies and a Yu Jing one. Here's one of the Haqqi ones:

In early fall I got one of those "emergencies" in: a 3d printed U-Boat (for the board game of the same name), close to 1 metre in length. With basically one week time to do it.

I'm sure some of you are familiar with this recently released and very popular cooperative board game. A very skilled gentleman drew up a 3d model with removable top and magnetized segments on his computer for printing. I got one of the early prints to paint.

It's a Typ VIIC, the paint job I based on U-201. This also was one of the highlights of my year. The last submarine model I'd done until then was about 15 years before, in my early teens. I have to say that during that week I not only realized that submarine modelling was way bigger than I thought, and I gained a lot of respect for the proper submarine modellers.

The interior was probably the biggest challenge due to ...well, it IS a 3d print. It's got a lot of details (right down to recipe pads on the wall in the galley and a coffee mug on the captain's desk), but they're a bit 'wobbly' and of course, got 3d print marks all over them. So you gotta 'work out' the details while resorting to techniques which fit the weird surface. On the outer hull of the U-Boat, I had to do a LOT of grinding. However, it worked out in the end, and in time. Even the faux-woodgrain on the plinth worked on the first try! I was rather proud of that.

Then I did some more Super Dungeon Explore chibi goodness again of course.

Especially on the second batch all that NMM drove me to near insanity. Oh well. There are few minis which look as pleasing when done and all together as these Super Dungeon Explore figures. And some of them are pretty darned big too!

Of course, I also did a bunch of GW figures as well. Ultramarines...

...Space Ork Goffs...

...another Warhound titan...

...a bunch of Harlequins...

...among other things. These Harlequins quite possibly were another highlight. Well, once they were done. When I closed my eyes I still saw diamond patterns for weeks.

Stuff for Myself

Starting with two larger figures I didn't quite do for myself, but in a way I did. Those are mostly for practice, and fun, and for showcasing at shows. First, Mierce Miniatures' Ophios:

...second, a Polish Lancer of the Imperial Guard bust (1/9th scale):

He's a proper big'un. Hope to do more busts in the future.

Gamey Stuff

Early in 2019 I got two rules sets I did quite a lot with over the year. First (and certainly one of the highlights of the past year): Twilight of Divine Right, published by the Pike and Shot Society.

Not only did I have a number of smashing games with these rules, it also prompted me to add a whopping 20 more regiments and a whole lot of guns to my 10mm Thirty Years War collection over the year. This has been my pet project since 2012, but now finally I found some rules I really enjoy and which I believe reflects the period really well.

At one of the shows I attend in spring with the painting workshop, the showcase stuff, and all of that, I got Osprey's Last Days on a whim, and it turned out to be a solid zombies skirmish game. I'd been looking for just that for a long time. I don't love everything about it, but it's simple, and well-suited for quick and fun games.

To get a nicer table together, I also painted up some more scatter terrain. Nice wargaming tables are all about the scatter terrain, aren't they.

I also got to play some new stuff like Kill Team, Rangers of Shadow Deep, Blacktone Fortress and the excellent Sellswords and Spellslingers. One of the absolute highlights of last year was our christmas-themed game. This year I threw myself into getting a table for a Halloween game done:

On the night of the 31st we had the game, and it was an epic fantasy adventure. The game report was very well-received indeed.

Tabletop Stories

...which leads us to another highlight of the past year - the launch of Tabletop Stories. After the very sudden demise of Skirmish Wargaming (very much a lowpoint of the year very early on. Most of my battle reports and reviews I was able to salvage, but some were lost. The whole affair firmly put me off doing battle reports). Then a friend of mine set up a blog for our games again. 

The Mad Tooter, Tabletop Stories' mascot,
who manages to get a cameo spot in many of our games.

This time it's just us, AND this time I do the articles in English and German language. Which is a thing I had hoped to do for while, but never had the chance. Now I do. It's a lot of work, but I enjoy having an archive for our games and being able to share it with others.

It's also nice to have an outlet for my non-painting related stuff aside from this site and Tale of Painters.

More Highlights - Shows

The past year I attended several wargaming/miniatures/gaming events again throughout the year. There were the usual ones like VIVAT, Austrian Salute or Tabletop Knights' Gaming Day, all of which are really cool and very different (once more showcasing the immense diversity which is so great and important about what we do). And then some new ones like Go Modelling, which takes place at Vienna Army Museum. An amazing backdrop to figure shows. 

Vienna Fantasy Gaming convention made a comeback as well, which I was very happy to see. No wargames show is just like another, even though I only cover the relatively small patch of Austria and Southern Germany (so far!).

Looking forward to do a lot of shows, new, and old, again next year.

Resolutions for 2020

I guess this leads us to the resolutions part. Apart from 'get better in every regard, be industrious, fearless, helpful and useful'... I guess my resolution would be to play more games? 

Overall I'm really, really happy with the place I'm in. Wouldn't mind doing more Space Marines of course, but overall I really enjoy the variety of things I get to build and paint for people all over the world and, if I'm lucky, myself as well.

As for gaming projects I got plans for Sharp Practice, Sellswords and Spellslingers, maybe some more Chain of Command, and much more!

So yeah, all the best for 2020, right? It's going to be a good year.