The Painting Table -December 2022 and the 2022 Review.

I'm merging the December Painting table update and the annual review into a single post this month, so eyes down here we go!

HQ's and Generals for Altar of Freedom

The headline news is that the Huns have finally left the table.  Fully painted and based as of 27 December.  To quote the late great Douglas Adams "I love deadlines.  I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by!"  Although the deadline for getting the Huns off the table has passed so many times this year it no longer had the energy to go woosh.  I also got all of the 2mm castings I purchased in November done so I have finished the year without increasing the size of the lead pile, for I think, the third year in a row.  I even found time to finish a single 28mm figure as well.

15 completed cavalry brigades for AoF

It’s also time to take stock of 2022. No matter what else I remember about this year, first and foremost it will always be the year we lost George.  However, sad as that was there are other things to recall too so let’s look at some of them.  This was the year when we started to put Covid-19 behind us.  As a result Sealed Knot re-enactment returned to something like normal.  I made it to the August Bank Holiday event, although Mrs E arranged matters to prevent my taking the field.  She did this by the simple expedient of going off site in the car with all my kit inside!  Probably for the best as the display field was a very steep hill side.  I’m more hopeful of taking part in events in 2023.

I managed some actual wargaming during the year too.  Both the solo games I blogged about and latterly some remote gaming via Zoom with Trebian’s Monday Night Gamers, you know the ones who meet on a Tuesday evening.  I also played my first games of ADLG version 4 following an invite to spend a day in York getting to know the rules from Paul Dawson.  By my count I managed one western shootout, four Tuesday night games (spread across history from Alexandrian by way of the Reconquista to Normandy in 1944 via the French Wars of Religion), and two games of ADLG.  I even won one of the ADLG games albeit with some substantial mentoring. 

In the autumn I began attending a modelling club, which had started recently, here in town.  It has an interesting mix of attendees ranging from GW Warhammer kit builders through diorama makers, model truck and train makers to me with my Wild West town builds.  Most of the Warhammer fans have never actually played a game and were unaware of historical wargaming as a hobby (The GW blinker effect as I have taken to calling it) they were stunned that you could by figures without needing a mortgage too.  My Wild West shootout stuff has created some interest in trying a game though and there is talk of them even playing  some actual Warhammer.

My painting has taken a bit of a backseat to modelling this year and I have made my first 1/56 scale scratch built buildings as well as my first MDF kit in that scale.  In fact the uncovering of the 28mm old west figures in my lead pile earlier in the year has triggered a return to skirmish gaming for the first time in nearly half a century!  The 2mm ACW project will be complete soon I only need the models for the outstanding artillery units to be done.  

I suppose I should look back on the objectives I set for the last year if no other reason than I don't actually recall what they were!  So I'm guessing I may not have done particularly well in meeting them.  (Brief intermission while Elenderil changes screens to check the 2022 spreadsheets).

BBC test card F - This takes me back

Intermission over we now return to our program.

My objectives for 2022 were adjusted mid year to remove the War of the roses DBA armies and the armies and enemies of EL Cid DBA armies.  What was left was this:

• Complete the 2mm ACW armies
• Create a base line Hunnic army
• Reduce the lead pile
• Recount all the figures |(for ego and insurance purposes)
• Play some actual wargames!

As mentioned above I haven't quite finished the 2mm ACW armies so that's a narrow miss.  Rolled over to 2023 ready for some games with real life opponents.

Base line Hunnic Army I'm calling done as I have sufficient light cavalry and need to add some heavy cavalry and subject allies.  New objective required for 2023 of complete the Hunnic Army.

I have played some actual games - so objective met there.

In terms of the lead pile I have 84 less 6mm castings than I started the year with.  So only the odd 1,200 6mm figures left to deal with!  2mm/3mm is down by 25 3mm vehicles although I have painted way more 2mm ACW than that but these were the November purchases so in strictness those 882 figures balance out (maybe I should count castings rather than the figures they represent in future?).  Lastly the 20mm plus lead pile is down by 7 foot figures.  So The lead pile has shrunk -objective met.

And I recounted the completed figures - another objective met.

All in all I did better than I thought, and as an aside creating and publishing objectives has actually kept me close to being on track over the year.

So without further ado here are some objectives for 2023:

• Finish the 2mm ACW armies
• Play some face to face games of Altar of Freedom using those armies
• Complete the DBA Hunnic Army (probably going for the army of Attila)
• Complete a DBA Gothic army
• Reduce the lead pile
• Attend some wargames shows (Vapnartak and one of the Newark shows?)
• Finish painting the 28mm Wild West figures
• Build at least a small main street for 28mm gunfights (lets call that a minimum of six buildings/corrals)
• Finish Painting the 6mm WW1 aeroplanes

That should keep me going for a while.  So that's 2022 all wrapped up onwards we go for another trip around the sun.