Game Plan 2024 - Q1

It's a whole new year.... Whole new First Quarter.... 

This maybe isn't so much of a PLAN as a "Review of Things I'd LIKE to DO"... maybe some general guidelines...? While plans have worked in the past, when I've managed to stay FOCUSED... more often than not, they just make hobby-fun-time feel like work when I lose focus and interest in the thing I'd declared I would do... I really like the idea of challenges (10x10 Annual, or 5x5 Quarterly) because it encourages one to really DIG INTO a game and LEARN it... but trying to guess what those games I might be interested in over the next three months (let alone YEAR) is almost impossible for me to foretell anymore...

I have a Game Room again... so I should probably PLA Y SOME GAMES!!!

GAMES

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

I would really, REALLY like to get back to playing and/or running some role-playing games. I'm not quite sure what that might look like. 

I picked up a few new RPGs this year...

Blade Runner... 

and the new version of Twilight: 2000!

Both are from Free League - and I REALLY LIKE the look of the systems. 

I'm also still really interested in giving Wrath & Glory another go... I picked up Litanies of the Lost for this - a book of four adventures that can be run as one shots or strung together into a campaign of sorts. 

and maybe Hellboy, if I could ever finish reading through the rules.. 

And I really like the idea of FATE and would like to explore that some more! 

If I got playing Warcry and/or Warhammer Underworlds and/or Warhammer Quest: Cursed City again, I could also see myself wanting to try Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound again! 

Maybe in the new year I could run a series of one-shot adventures to try out all the systems and try out some new potential players and figure out something to run as a campaign later in the year...? 

SOLO (or CO-OP?) GAMES

Last year I tried out some solo games - starting the year with a LOT of solo games of One Hour Wargames, and ending the year trying out Five Parsecs From Home and Five Leagues From The Borderlands. It went pretty okay. I had a lot of fun playing the games and even more fun tracking the campaigns of the armies (One Hour Wargames/Back of Beyond) or Crews (Five Parsecs From Home). It seems likely I will continue to do so this year. 

It might be nice to try playing them as CO-OP games, though! I'm hoping maybe I might get Amanda to join me for some of those adventures!? 

We also still have a lot of Warhammer Quest games to play through. 

Amanda and I had a lot of fun playing through Blackstone Fortress in the early part of the pandemic. We finished the first campaign in the box, but never finished playing through all the OTHER campaigns... 

ALL THE OTHER CAMPAIGNS!?

(Maybe we defeated the Ambul Hulk...?)

I never even finished painting the Cursed City stuff - let alone started PLAYING it...

 Or either of the two Finnegan has (Silver City and Shadows Over Hammerhal - though he's played through the games - with UNPAINTED MINIATURES!?) I'd like to get back to that at some point! Will that be THIS year...? Not sure... 

Also, Hellboy the Boardgame!!! 

BOARD GAMES

So many board games I really want to play... once the Game Room is sorted, we'll have to start inviting people over on a more regular basis... maybe get a regular weekly (or... bi-weekly?) Game Night (or Afternoon?!) going...? 

I mean, they're starting to get organized onto shelves in the basement... 

The other shelves... These are both in the hall outside the Game Room. 

There are a few IN the Game Room. 

There are still a LOT of games spread about the house on assorted other shelving units. There just isn't enough space in the basement for all of them!?

SO MANY GAMES TO PLAY!!! 

MINIATURE GAMES

I still love the idea of miniature games... I'd like to play more regularly... There are SO MANY though and I feel like it would help a LOT if I could just focus on ONE for a bit, get some stuff painted (miniatures AND terrain), and then play it for a bit (while painting up stuff for the NEXT project...?). 

I am still really interested in Kill Team... (which is good, because I have an awful LOT of stuff for it!? It's a little ridiculous, really... I am DONE buying these boxes, though... I'll buy the books as they are released, if I have one of the teams... but I do NOT need more Kill Teams or terrain!!) 

 and Warcry... 

and Warhammer Underworlds...

ALL of the fast-playing, skirmish-level GW games... I have LOTS of stuff for each of the games that are painted and ready to go, that I could play with at ANY TIME - and SO MUCH MORE that I could play with if I finished painting them! 

There are lots of other skirmish games I'd like to play again (or new ones to try out) - All the Ganesha Games (Song of...., etc) and others... 

And all the LARGER skirmish games by Dan Mercy - Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Pikeman's Lament, Men Who Would Be Kings, Rebels and Patriots... I HAVE forces ready to go for any of the first four - and so much MORE I could add to those forces... again... painting... There's also Xenos Rampant.. but I wasn't as wowwed by that one... maybe I just need to give it another try - maybe with some of the other genres (modern, weird warss, etc...) 

I only just picked up new edition of Warhammer 40K (the mini version without all the fluff) and started playing it! I love the setting, but I'm not sure I have the time or patience for this to be a VERY regular thing like it maybe once was... I think I'd rather play the role-playing game (Wrath & Glory) and maybe bust out the armies when there is a narative driven scenario to play out! Maybe when and Imperial Guard or Aeldari codex comes out, I'll get more excited about it again... If there was an Emperor's Children Codex... I'd definitely have to pick that up!! 

[ONE HOUR WARGAMES]

Playing One Hour Wargames was fun last year. Wouldn't mind doing MORE of that! 

GAME WEEKEND

It has been a long time since I hosted a game weekend. I'd really LOVE to get back to doing that. 

I'm not sure WHEN exactly that might be or format that weekend might take (minicon, cooperative campaign, competitive campaign or tournament) or what game(s) might be played. 

There are many, MANY ideas I have for these that I'd like to play SOMEDAY... but the current MAIN ideas are:

The Under-Carngard Championships - this would be a Warcry Campaign/Tournament where all participants would be playing with Skaven warbands provided my ME. The weekend would start with drafting warbands from the collection of Skaven I have. This is one of the main sticking points for this one - I would NEED to FINISH PAINTING ALL THE SKAVEN!!! Which isn't a LOT... But I haven't been painting a lot the last few years... so... 

The other options would be an RPG-lite tabletop miniature adventure... Each participant would have ONE CHARACTER that is a member of an adventuring party and over the weekend we would play through a series of linked scenarios leading to an ultimate battle with a big bad main protagonist. 

I'm not 100% on what system or setting... could potentially make use of Five Parsecs From Home/Five Leagues From The Borderands - or possibly a return to Song of Blades and Heroes (or one of the other systems using the Ganesha Games Engine) or maybe even Savage Worlds - which has more options for non-combat skill use... 

It could even be Wrath & Glory or Soulbound (with some larger tabletop battles making use of all the Warhammer Age of Sigmar or 40K miniatures!) 

This would be for a very small group of 3-4 players... (maybe five or six if ALL of the DREAM TEAM of players were ALL able to travel to Saskatoon for the game!!) 

CONVENTIONS

I feel like I'm done with public conventions. 

Maybe MORE smaller invitational Game Weekends. Why just do ONE a year?!

TOURNAMENTS(!?) 

Honestly, this wasn't even a consideration until a week or two ago when my friend Orion announced she was looking for a new partner for an upcoming 40K team tournament in February - Strange Bedfellows. I'm not sure there are any restrictions on who can pair up, but since she was planing on taking her Space Wolves I offered the option of bringing Imperial Guard or a mess of Agents of the Imperium and Grey Knights... OR maybe the Harlequins...? She suggested it would be fun to team up with the Tallarn, so... Tallarn it is! My Desert Raiders are going to see some action again! 

Will I sign up for others...? My gut reaction is to say; "I doubt it!"... but then again, I would have said "I doubt it!" to the idea of signing up for ANY tournaments a few weeks ago, and yet, here I am... Battleforce Recon was fun the last two times I went! 

MINIATURES

I'd really like to just try and NOT BUY ANY miniatures. I know it's ridiculous to make any such proclamations like: "I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT BUY ANY MINIATURES THIS YEAR!" But I will say it is my INTENTION to minimize miniature purchases. I can't see any great NEED to buy anything at this point. Most of what I'm interested in playing I already HAVE everything I NEED... Honestly, I probalby have WAY MORE than I need for all the things... I just need to PAINT THINGS!?

I'd like to do some stock taking - now that the basement renovations are "finished" (are you EVER REALLY "finished" renovating your home...?) and we're sorting things out. Also some realistic planning of what I might EVER be able to finish painting... and maybe start clearing out some projects that will just NEVER see the light of day... Maybe...  

WHAT will I be painting!? 

Well that all depends where my ADHD brain decides to take me. I imagine with the upcoming tournament, I'll probably get some Tallarn painted up!! 

After that...? stuff for whatever game I'm interested in at the moment... Likely some Sci-fi stuff for Five Parsecs from Home or Fantasy stuff for Five Leagues from the Borderlands...? But maybe also some Warhammer Underworlds warbands - as I've had a hankering to play that again. Or SKAVEN - in case that game weekend idea goes ahead (also, they could be useful for Five Leagues from the Borderlands).  

I guess if I had to pick twelve things I could do, weekly, over the first quarter, right now, and had the power to STICK TO IT, it might look like:

1. Manticore (40K - Self-Propelled Storm Eagle Rocket Launcher) 
2. Manticore (40K - Self-Propelled Storm Eagle Rocket Launcher) 
3. Basilisk (40K - Self-Propelled Artillery) 
4. Basilisk (40K - Self-Propelled Artillery) 
5. Scout Sentinel (40K) 
6. Scout Sentinel (40K) 
7. Ephilim’s Pandaemonium (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
8. Thricefold Discord  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
9. Cyreni’s Razors  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
10. Blackpowder's Buccaneers (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
11. Hexbane’s Hunters  (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
12. Elathain's Soulraid (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)
13. Shadeborn (Warhammer Underworlds Warband)

I'll get those first six done, for sure (because I need them for the upcoming tournament!) after that, though...? 

I'm also currently interested in getting some Skaven finished to try out the current version of Warcry (and possibly use them as hostiles in Five Leagues From The Borderlands) 

I feel like I'm about half done them... ALMOST half done them... (I think there are a few in another box somewhere - like a couple more Rat Ogors, a Ratling Gun crew and a Master Moulder).

...and there are only about 24 Highland Dwarves I need to finish up to be COMPLETELY FINISHED that entire force for Dragon Rampant. (The two units in the top right of the picture!) 

I'd also like to work on the boxes and boxes of sci-fi terrain that's come with all the Kill Team sets I've bought over the years! Not sure when I'll work that into the mix...?

What are YOU looking forward to playing or doing in 2024!? Got any BIG PLANS!? Or maybe just some modest, attainable plans...!?