Game Plan 2011

It’s also that time of year when I start to look back at what I’ve done over the past year and start to think about plans for the next year. I know I am far more productive when I have a plan – and especially when there is some specific goal worked into that plan – a game weekend or other big event of some sort.

However, I have, in the past, bitten off more than I could chew, so to speak. Took on projects that were just too big, took too long and just couldn’t keep me focused. Quarterly plans seem to work better, with easily achievable goals and a sense of what might come after, but not putting down anything in stone.

So what AM I doing now?

Currently most of my gaming has been Savage Worlds skimishy-tabletop-adventure type gaming (on ”Savage Saturday Night”). It’s mostly been World War Two (or “Weird War Two) for the last bit (see the East Front campaign at Savage Timmy’s Playhouse). I’ve been having a lot of fun running it and the players seem pretty committed to showing up and seem to be having a lot of fun with it too.

What would I LIKE to do this next year?

Regular Gamin’

Well I’d like to keep “Savage Saturdays” going. I’m still interested in the East Front campaign and wouldn’t mind seeing it through to the end of the war… or until all the characters are killed in some climactic battle against some ultimate German evil nasty.

I have a Realms of Cthulhu campaign on the back burner and would like to get playing that again.

The release of the Savage Worlds version of Space:1889 may very well pose a major potential distraction…

Back in October I did get in a few games with John (DBA – Vikings and Saxons, DBA-x – Seven years War, CLA – Very British Civil War). I’d like to get in a few more games like that every so often… Try out Black Powder… Get some more DBA and HOTT games in… maybe even some more Contemptible Little Armies and Blitzkrieg/Cold War/Future War Commander…? Maybe I should set up a regular biweekly game night for wargames…?


Events

I am thinking about hosting a couple events again this year and participating in a convention in the fall. A friend of mine and some other fellows are organizing a game convention in Saskatoon this October, which I will definitely run a few games at. I am pondering hosting a couple game days/weekends in February and/or June.

Toon Con

I currently have enough stuff that I could now, with minimal preparation, throw down a number of games for 4-6 players to participate in. Most options would be various Savage Worlds skirmish games (Victorian Horror, Fantasy, Pirates, Seven Years War, Dark Ages, Great War, Russian Civil War, Pulp Adventure, Sci-fi, Vietnam, Modern Ops, Zombie Apocalypse… etc, etc…). I could easily bust out a Big Battle Hordes of the Things game with three or four commands per side (Goodies vs. Baddies). Possibly a DBA-x Big Battle with two or three commands per side (Seven Years War, Russian Civil War, Great War).

If I finished up a couple re-basing projects (maybe of week of work) I could probably run a biggish Cold War Commander game; Soviet Motor Rifles and/or Air Assault Troops versus a scratch force of British, Canadians, and Americans. With a bit more work I could put together a Contemptible Little Armies game. Vimy, perhaps? Or maybe a “Back of Beyond”/Russian Civil War game…? If I painted a couple more units of British and German Askaris I could put on a decent sized East Africa game.

It might be nice to use this as an objective/deadline for some new(-ish) project after I finish the WW2 stuff. Luckily I have until about March to firm up what games I’m going to run there. Preferably this would be something that builds on things I already have (rather than something completely new). The two options that spring immediately to mind are Fulford Gate or Stamford Bridge 1066 and Quebec 1759.

I have complete Viking and Anglo-Danish armies for DBA already – plus a number of extra stands for both. I also have enough unpainted figures to do at least two more Viking armies and one other English army – and I could cast enough generic Dark Age infantry men to round out a third army/command for the English. Make some terrain… wouldn’t be too hard to put down a big battle with three commands per side.

I did have a plan to do a big Quebec 1759 event back in 2009 (for the 250th anniversary). But it sort of ran out of steam and fizzled before I’d got much done. I did get some skirmishing figures ready and played a game or two (Washington’s Ambush). Near the end of last year I got to work on the forces again and finished up a couple DBA-x British and French Armies. I’d have to finish off two more Brigades/commands for each to do the Battle of Quebec. Also seems do-able. Alternatively I could run it using Black Powder - if that turned out to be a better system…

Well, I’ve got a couple months to think on it.


Game Days/Weekends

The idea here would be to follow the previous format of Friday night and all day Saturday. A whole weekend is just too damn tiring…

Februrary?

February is actually coming up pretty fast (from a game event planning perspective)… I had thought about a small 1066 campaign weekend with just a couple of guys that I might actually play in. Not sure if that’s going to happen. Because I won’t have time to get a lot of new stuff painted – whatever the format – it will have to pretty much be with stuff I already have done.

A Hordes of the Things campaign is a possibility – have plenty of armies, I’ve done it before, just need to recruit players, make a map and I’m ready to go. I was, however, also considering a Savage Worlds skirmish campaign – a series of bigger linked scenarios that are interconnected and bring our heroes to some ultimate confrontation in a final, epic, climactic conclusion on Saturday night…

I have a feeling the latter option may be what I do with in the end. Might even tie it in to one of the campaigns I’m currently running on Savage Saturday.

June

HOTT or DBA campaign for sure. If I was going to do the 1066 event in the fall this might be a good intermediary goal/deadline to have a couple more Dark Ages armies completed.


So… What to work on…

28mm World War Two

I’ve been working on my 28mm WW2 forces for a good chunk of this past year. I think the first order of business will be to carry on and finish that up. It happens to be what I am playing most these days (see the East Front campaign at Savage Timmy’s Playhouse).

I did a little stocktaking of the WW2 stuff a few weeks back. Since then I’ve finished off the Canadians and the Russians (well, except for the universal Carrier and three T-34s). Next I’ll probably work on some partisans (They conveniently double as armed civilians for Pulp Adventure games) and then maybe some Germans…? Finish up either the SS or the Fallshirmjägers of DAK? Chip away at the mountain of Heer. In between batches of Germans I could also finish up the British Commandos and Paras. After that…possibly the Japanese...? The Americans and Italians are pretty low on the priority list – partly because I haven’t really even started them, partly because I don’t have much immediate use for them in any of the adventures/scenarios/campaigns I’m planning for the immediate future.

..and then…?

I guess it depends on what I plan to do for Toon Con in the fall… either some Seven Years War British and French or Dark Ages Vikings and English (and Irish, and Scots, and Welsh…)

…and then there’s all the other projects that keep tempting me that I should really just ignore and know that I’ll get to them SOMEDAY…

DBA
4x Ealry Imperial Roman armies, plus Early Germans, Picts, Thracians, and Skythians…?
5x Successors (Antigonos, Lysemachos, Ptolemaios, Seleucus, Antipatros) …? Plus Classical Indians…
ECW - Royalist, Parliamentarian, Scots…?

HOTT
Generic fantasy - Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Humans, Centaurs, Narnians,
LOTR - Rohan, Mordor, Moria
L5R- Lion, Crane, Dragon, Crab, Unicorn, Naga, 3x Shdowlands (undead – oni – goblins)

Black Powder or DBA-x
Seven Years War
18th Century Imagi-nations
War of 1812

Great War – CLA?
Vimy
East Africa
Turks
Back of Beyond

Victorian Horror/Sci-Fi

More WW2
Early War French?
British 14th Army in Burma?

Oh don’t get me started thinking about all the 20mm BKC/CWC stuff…