2015 review and plans for 2016

Well, Happy New Year everyone. I got back from the beach mid-week and a very nice break it was. 11 days away from the shed and the temptation of doing a bit of 'soldier stuff' is always good for me. It gave me a bit of time to reflect and to plan for the year to come. I also get to do a bit of reading, and this year for the first time in forever, I spent most of my time reading fiction. I've found it very relaxing and rather inspiring.
I figure I have some undiagnosed OCD in there somewhere, because I like to make lists, and I thought I'd share a couple that were hammered out while on holiday.
First of all, the painting tally for 2015. When I added this up, it blew me away:
15mm = 231 foot figures, 56 mounted figures and 4 guns.
28mm = 330 foot figures and 2 mounted figures.
And two 1/2400 ships.
And that is just what I can remember. Included in that was the whole Great Northern War project and a lot of painting for other Geoff, Craig and John. This year I expect to follow a similar pattern of doing most of my painting for others, accumulating capital to reinvest in the hobby.

Indian Centurion tank 1965

What new projects beckon for 2016? There are two in particular that I have made the plans and shopping lists for. The first is the Irish Rebellion of 1798. This will be a pocket project utilising adapted Neil Thomas rules. The second will be the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War using the Flames of War rules. The modifications aren't decided as of yet, but both nations will use the Jordanian list from Fate of a Nation as the basis for their forces. I'm looking at accumulating the figures and vehicles for these two periods this year, as opposed to actually getting them all painted and completed - although the 1965 project will probably be one I'm eager to get on the table. There will probably be a couple of posts about the history and the attractions of these two conflicts for gamers this year.

The Irish rebellion - Irish pikemen hope that the British get the point.

In terms of personal projects that I want to get painted and complete this year, the first priority is the figures for 1588. Then I have a few extra units to paint up for the Crimean War and Great Northern War pocket projects. Finally I want to get my early/mid war Germans for Flames of War completed. I'm not making any plans beyond this. We'll see where we are in a few months.

Above: Some recent purchases.

I seem to have achieved my Holy Grail for rules, having only 4 main sets or their variants that I plan to use. I'm looking to Dan Mersey's Lion Rampant/Dragon Rampant and adaptations of them for Gallic Wars 15mm, Dark Ages 15mm, Wars of the Roses 28mm, Lord of the Rings 28mm and Samurai 15mm. Craig Woodfield's Ronin for 28mm Samurai and En Garde for 28mm 1588 takes care of the skirmish periods. Flames of War will cater to 15mm WWII, 1965 India-Pakistan and the Yom Kippur War. Finally Neil Thomas' rules which have very similar systems to each other and have survived my tweaking them, will form the basis for Great Northern War 15mm, Irish Rebellion 15mm, Napoleon in Russia 15mm, Crimean War 15mm, Great Paraguayan War 15mm, Franco-Prussian War 15mm and WWI 15mm. Rounding out the rules I have Galleys and Galleons for 1588 naval and I've been looking at Captain Kobold's Clobberin' Time for superhero battles.

Of the periods listed above a good number of them are unpainted, but I'm in no rush. I've decided 2016 will be about gathering the hosts and 2017 onwards will be about getting them all painted. The pocket project idea has been wonderful here. It has given me a tidy finite way to accumulate a number of projects which I can game comfortably in an evening, paint in a couple of months, and indulge my passion for military history in some of the more obscure conflicts.

Is there anything else on the horizon? I'd like to get some Byzantines and Sassinid Persians for a 15mm Lion Rampant project, but they aren't a priority at the moment. Lancashire Games brings out their Napoleon in Egypt range this year, and that is another pocket project that I'm unlikely to be able to resist. We will see as the year unfolds.

Tomorrow night I'm back to work. I have 45 Fallshirmjager to paint for Craig's Bolt Action army and the suggested timeframe of finishing them by mid-January has now blown out by a month. Let's see if I can outdo my painting record for 2015!

Nate