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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Hobby Plans for 2019


No, I am NOT starting a massive Napoleonic Campaign, LOL!
(Map by Alexander Altenhof - Own work. (from Wikimedia Commons)



Expenses:

After 2 successive over budget years, I really need to do better in  2019. I will increase the allowance to $1800, or $150 per month, and hope to come in below that. The only lead I have in mind to purchase for sure in 2019 are the Murawski Baden Artillery and Baden Light Dragoons, probably accompanied by a Duchy of Warsaw Horse Artillery battery.

Painting:

The main theme this year should be whittling down the Lead pile. With no major project on the drawing board I(at least at present), I expect painting output may fall this year as well. 

1)  Once again, the lead for a large Macedonian Army I picked up several years ago is high on the list. Perhaps I should plan to run a game with them; A game with TTS at HAVOC in April or at Historicon might be a viable target. 

2) Add the elite companies and an early Legere unit to flesh out an early Imperial  French "Division" of 5 units in Biciorne/side plumed shakos for the Legere. I have more than enough lead on hand for a second such "Division" as well. 

3) Paint some of the backlog of Great Italian Wars troops. Play testing daft versions of TTS, 2nd edition, if Simon proceeds with same, could provide some needed incentive there!

4) Start work on the ECW reinforcements I bought a year ago, with an eye towards running Soggy Bottom with FK&P.

5) Avoid starting any new projects! 

Games:

Try to hit at least 12 games run/assisted with/played in this year. Get in at least one more game from the Lannes campaign. Run at least 2 Tyrolese games at Historicon, maybe a game at Jared's game club, HAVOC, and/or EllisCon. Hopefully assist and play in rather than run a Campaign in a Day at The Portal again this spring. 


Blogging:
Maintain about the same number of Blog posts - circa 80 - 100 per year. 

Rules:

I have several sets I want to try out, some perhaps even solo the first time, including Galleys and Galleons for my 15 mm Renaissance ships, Grand Fleet Action in the Age of Sail, and Steven Whitesell's Neil Thomas OHW inspired "Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells". Also maybe some play testing on Brent Oman's revised "Season of Battle" campaign rules. 



Gratuitous Puppy Picture - 6 weeks old.
"Can we come out and play?  Can we, can we, huh?!"

25 comments:

  1. All seems perfectly reasonable and reasoned to me--with the exception of 5) under painting, haha!!

    Love those puppies! How many will you keep? Have you found homes for the others. Sooooo beautiful!

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    1. I am pretty good at not starting new projects... on the other hand, as Napoleon said to King Louis in 1815 - "no need to send more, I have enough troops already!"

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    2. We are keeping one,,and my daughter, now the 2nd Dr Anderson in the house (DVM- Cornell), is keeping another. The remaining four are all spoken for, and have been since before they were born. We will see where she winds up getting a job, so hers might or might not be in the house for a long time.

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    3. You'll get a chuckle from this...

      I showed my wife the picture of the pups, she responded, "No!". I said, "it's okay, they are in Connecticut USA"!!

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  2. I agree with James on both hobby front and puppies!

    You put forth a set of attainable goals for 2019. Our high-level goals seem to remain consistent year-over-year. That is, game more and work down The Lead Pile. The problem is that we both enjoy painting and fielding large armies. My lead pile never seems to reduce much in size with new interests popping up all of the time. In 2018, i ACTUALLY managed to game more. A small success!

    Whatever route your 2019 journey takes, I will be following!

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    1. Thanks for coming along for the ride, Jon. I really do expect to restrain new lead purchases this year, but we will see,; if past performance is predictor of future results, that may not work out so well! Games is mostly a matter of the self discipline to schedule them!

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  3. Good to have a plan but I find they always unravel once that enemy time appears

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    1. I think we can safely bet that achieving ALL of those goals is... unlikely!

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  4. A solid plan, sir! It will be tremendously exciting to watch. Looking forward to stopping by your games at the HMGS conventions this year!

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    1. Historicon is the only one of the "Big Three" that I attend; not enough time off or money to do more than one! I am very happy to be back in Lancaster, and I look forward to seeing how the new venue works out!

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  5. Good plan, best of luck with it,as with all wargamers and no offense intended but I'll believe it when I see it!
    Best Iain

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    1. Understood, Iain, and none taken. Anything related to a planned convention game is HIGHLY likely to come off as planned; I have yet to fail in that regard, although there is always the unexpected, uncontrollable surprises that life can throw at us, ja!

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    2. Really,I meant the"avoid starting new projects", I have no doubt you will achieve your convention plan!
      Best Iain

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    3. I would say that starting a new project (i.e., starting an era, scale or army I don't already have)is exceedingly unlikely; I have plenty of existing ones to work on saleslady!

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  6. A solid plan and should be fun to watch. I am interested to see how your TTS for Renaissance armies works out. (Maybe when the "daft" version gets a higher approval rating.)

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    1. Yeah, I wondered about that version too!

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    2. The first version of most rules do turn out to be somewhat daft! :-)
      We will see how Simon comes along with his work on the 2nd edition.

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  7. Good job looking forward to seeing the Baden, I have them on my desk right now! :)

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    1. Do you have the Light Dragoons and Artillery? As there isn't any pressing need for them, they might go into the post Historicon queue, although they are troops I have been eager to field for years.

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  8. Replies
    1. Thanks, Jon. They are adorable, even if they are getting to be full of mischief, as young pups usually are!

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  9. I have the Badener artillery and light dragoon’s on my wish list having already purchased a few battalions of infantry (although I have mislaid them in the pile). I think your budget looks quite reasonable for what s, after all, a not inexpensive hobby.

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    1. Excellent; there should be quite a few of us fielding these units in 2019, then! Compared to many other hobbies, ours isn't excessively expensive y any means. And of course, it CAN be done inexpensively, up to a point.

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  10. If you can 'team up' with another game player and use each other as accountability partners pushing each other to achieve some troop painting goal for a battle or specific engagement; I have found this to be the best method for getting the rust off the brushes and at the painting table.

    Love to the puppies.

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    1. Exactly; we did this for Borodino and Wagram with great success. Convention games are usually the biggest driver of painting for me. Having said that, I am now strongly leaning towards doing an ECW battle at HAVOC; there should be enough time to paint what is needed.

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