Wednesday 1 January 2020

Happy New Year!


So 2020, or MMXX as the Romans would say, has arrived. We saw it in as we did last year at a resort in Fiji and we certainly saw it in in style!

As usual I like to use the turn of the year to review my hobby achievements for the year. Every year I tell myself that this will be a quieter year. In fact to quote myself about the figure count for 2019 it will“…DEFINITELY will not be as high a count as the year just gone.” And I was right. The count of painting points was 12,240 compared to 13,060 for 2018 – a drop of just over 7% - but it was still my second biggest year ever. As always the painting points are calculated: foot figures 5 pts, mounted figures 10 pts, gun or equipment 10 pts and each hour of work on a scratch built items 10 pts.

There were thirteen projects tackled during the year of which only four were anticipated at the start of the year, namely the Carlist War expansion, the Spanish Napoleonic, the Crimean War Heavy Brigade and the British in the Peninsular War.

Unanticipated projects have been the French Revolutionary army, a few odds and ends for the French 1813 Napoleonics, the Russian Napoleonic limbers, a sizable expansion of the Crimean War British, a small force of British for the American Revolution, a small addition to the War of 1812 American army, the Bavarian Army for 1813-14, a small German WWII force for Bolt Action and the refurbishment of an ACW collection. I also added a few scratch built items and five Napoleonic wagons.

The statistics are:




Although the number of posts  for the year were down  the goal of 24 games was exceeded by one. The breakdown of the games is:


And what does 2020 hold in store? Well I am not really sure yet. I have a few ACW figures still in the plastic pile. The French Revolutionary armies are also on hand and their Austrian and Russian opponents are on the cards, but they will not be big armies - frequent readers can stop laughing now. I did succumb to the Foundry Christmas special and have four battalions and a battery of Crimean Turks on their way. I can also see myself doing a few battalions of the new Perry 1807-1812 infantry (ha ha...a few..more like 15). Some French for the American Revolution is attractive idea too, but beyond that there is next to nothing, unless some smart manufacturer comes up with something shiny to attract the inner magpie.

One project I do want to get on with is sorting the garage for a gaming area, complete with terrain tiles - and there will be something to show on these very soon.

For now I am not thinking of things wargaming. Instead I am going to have a leisurely breakfast then sit back back on my sun lounger and enjoy the 30 C degree temperatures while I finish reading the Robert Massie biography of Catherine the Great, interrupted by the occasional dip in the pool to cool off..

16 comments:

  1. Once again Mark that is some serious output.
    I love the idea that the Austrians and Russians will not be big armies....
    Have a great new year and keep up the output even if many of use only get to within 20% of your volume.
    Best wishes
    Stuart

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    1. Thanks Stu. I know, I know, small armies are not natural to me but the revolutionary campaigns that interest me are those of Suvarov that involved relatively small forces.

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  2. Happy New Year, Mark!

    2019 was another impressive year for you, no doubt. Your painting output boggles my mind. You must keep a room of Santa's elves working for you full time. The speed at which you dream up, commit to, and complete a project is without equal. I look forward to your FRW and Crimean War projects in 2020.

    Have fun in the sun relaxing by the pool while I go out and shovel several inches of new, overnight snow from my driveway.

    Cheers!

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    1. Thank you Jonathan, but your productivity is prodigious in its own right. I bet you will surprise yourself when you tally up!

      Be rest assured I have enjoyed my day in the sun...in fact I have had to retire to the room for a while to escape the heat. I certainly do not envy your snow shovelling.

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  3. Mark, thanks for a great year of posting. Best Wishes for 2020.

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  4. Happy New Year Mark.
    Congratulations on another fruitful year of collecting and painting. I’m relieved that I won’t be building French Revolutionary armies alone. Like yourself there has been many packages winging their to me as well (Calpe Prussians, Foundry Russians (couldn’t resist the greatcoats), Emperor Toad, Eureka, Elite & Trent French & Austrians.
    Hopefully we can get a few games in with them in the coming months?

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    1. Greetings to you too Nick! For many years I have wanted to find a way to game in the Swiss and Italian Alps and the Suvarov campaign has given me that opportunity...the though of Russian, French and Austrian troops fighting amongst alpine chalets is just too exciting...I can see the need to make some chalets now.

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    2. Yes maybe we should work on a plan for painting up the brigades?

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    3. Plan? Plan? What is a plan? ...yes worth looking at

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  5. Great work as always Mark but I think both you and Jonathan have an over analysing fetish! That time would be much better spent painting a few figures!

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    1. What paint more!? My analysis is just a speadsheet...takes seconds to calculate.

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  6. What a fantastic level of output. I knew it was going to be impressive, but had no idea you would get so close to the 2000 figure mark. I lost track of what that cyclone was doing around Fiji. Last I heard they were cancelling flights, but that was a week or so ago and it sounds like the rough weather has well and truly passed by.

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    1. Yes I had a bit of a big finish to the year! The cyclone passed further to the west, then swung east once it passed south of Nadi, so some of the outer islands got a bit of a hammering, but here in Denerau they got some wind that did a bit of tree damage but little else. We have had four days of brilliant weather, with temperatures peaking at 32 and the pool like a warm bath.

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  7. What a splendid output Mark...
    Once again you have managed to paint more than me... who’d have thought. ;-)

    The Suvarov campaign sounds fun... I am looking forward to seeing what you do...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. The thought of Russians in Switzerland is intriguing. I remember traveling there in the mid 1980s, seeing all that magnificent scenery and thinking how can I wargame in this? I had no knowledge of Suvarov then, but for a while I centred on the Swiss Civil War and even began to convert sone figures, but I quickly lost interest.

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