Sunday 3 January 2021

Happy New Year

I hope you had a marvelous Christmas – topped off by making it onto Santa's “good” list, and have enjoyed every minute of the festive period. I wish you all the very best for 2021, and good fortune with whatever New Year Resolutions you might have made!

Traditionally this is a time of reflection and looking at plans for the future – due to personal circumstances here at Westwood Towers (my wife needed an emergency op on the run up to Christmas, and her convalescence continues), I've had plenty of time and opportunity to do indulge in both over the last few of weeks, so here's my weB LOG record of “the state of my hobby”.

First off, I was already aware that I had too many projects on the go at once, with less time available than when they all started (since we can't get out and about entertaining, we volounteered to host a weekly internet radio show which is aired on both “Move-Radio” and “GHR Midlands”).

The “new normal” due to the covid restrictions initially presented hours of 'free' hobby time, obviously this allowed me to dive headlong into my gaming with gay abandon.... and so it was that I ended up “plate spinning” – even with all of that extra time, painting up minis for one game would delay the basing of minis for another, which prevented the terrain being built for a different game, and the campaign 'down time' checks for the ATZ campaign still needed doing before I could start a new table top session for this blog, and of course there's a mass battle to fight which will open the new feudal Japanese campaign I've been working on for THE EMERALD MUSKETEERS blog – but I need to play out the prequel to that battle where Lord Toji meets the oracle, but I really must sort out what the Wormriders are up to after completing the “Dragon Heist” campaign before they venture into the Dungeon of the Mad Mage over on THE GAME CUPBOARD blog...........et cetera, et cetera. I'm sure you get the picture, and of course, plenty gets done but very little seems to get finished!

This (dis)organised chaos obviously requires resolving, but I don't intend shelving any of the 'new' projects - or scrapping yet more which I have in the pipeline since the desire to play them is quite simply TOO great and my personal wargaming world just won't be complete without the planned Dark Age chronicles, a little WW2 action, and a dash of Steampunk whimsey.


So just what IS the New Year Resolution?

Well, thanks to the mobile phone game “AFK Arena”, my better half developed enough of an interest in fantasy gaming for me to lure her into a few simple adventures. I cobbled together the 'combat dice' from the old Milton & Bradley HeroQuest, the floor tiles from Games Workshop's Advanced HeroQuest, and the rules (especially the solo / co-op mechanics) from Mantic's Dungeon Quest and we've had a whale of a time.

The lesson I learned is to keep everything else SIMPLE and concentrate on the GAMING, which is my aim for this year, which should result in less of this........

 


 and more of this...........


Many thanks for dropping by, and if you don't already (and perchance derive some entertainment from my efforts) please consider checking out the blogs mentioned above, since they'll be carrying more-or-less “equal shares” of my game write ups from now on and until further notice ta.

 

 

19 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your wife Greg and hope she is on the mend soon.
    Good to hear your trying to find a better balance and hope 2021 brings that for you

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    1. Cheers Dave. The patient is doing very well thank you, and I'm getting used to my nurse and cleaner's outfits :-)
      The "reboot" after taking an enforced break in gaming related activities should help towards a new routine (I hope so anyway, and will keep you posted).

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  2. HNY to you and yours too, I hope all is sorted !
    Like yourself, I've been playing nurse, maid, general dogsbody and goffer to my nearest and dearest too over the festive period but she is slowly getting better.
    I don;t make plans for the future anymore, they never seem to survive contact with reality, but I will be doing bits and pieces in the future too, but nothing concrete atm - I'm still waiting for a day when I can take figures outside to spray undercoat them !

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    1. Many thanks Joe. Jane is well on the mend now, and every day is a step towards putting the whole experience behind us - I hope your good lady is soon fully recovered and you're released from your carers duties.... but in truth, I think they get a bit TOO used to the "pampering" treatment :-)
      Undercoating a few figures by brush is OK, but same as you, I won't be tackling any more 'units' until I can spray them outdoors. I did think about getting a cheap airbrush for the job, but there's nowhere "sensible" indoors that I could set it up.

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  3. All the best to your wife Greg. I know all too well the trials of too many projects, hopefully you can focus on the dice rolling this year 😀

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    1. Thanks Ivor, the "patient" is doing fine now (we had a minor hiccup, but a course of antibiotics seem to have done the trick), and I'm working my way through those spinning plates - taking 'em off their sticks one at a time so they don't all just crash to the ground and waste the time and effort spent on 'em to date :-)

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  4. Uuugh I cant believe I didn't spot this post until now. Mind you, I see the others missed it too (will give them a nudge).

    Heart warming post (I always love this sort of post-festive thing). I`m completely with you about Advanced HeroQuest and Dungeon Quest. I feel just the same way about that Parker Bros D&D boardgame, which gets an airing at least once a month. I know things like Massive Darkness and Black Plague are still relatively new in the great scheme of things, but I feel sure these too will one day fall into the realms of classic retro games... given a decade or so to mature them a bit more in people`s mind psyche and turn them into happy nostalgia trips.

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    1. Cheers Stevie, no worries :-)
      S'funny how easy it is to 'throw out' the simpler game mechanics and go off in search of more detailed, 'realistic' sets of rules, which we think will improve our gaming enjoyment - overlooking the truth that we then become slowly bogged down by the extra effort.

      I'm sure the new wave of games will achieve "classic" status over time - unless nostalgia isn't what it used to be LOL :-)

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    2. Hi :)

      Yes, I agree completely. It feels almost as though often we are our own worst enemies.. sometimes. We get our hands on the perfect game, full of scope and endless promise, with enough repeat value to enhance, houserule, adapt and enjoy, solo or with family and friends, and what do we do? We play it, love it, but then push it aside to buy yet more, newer things, and invariably lose the perfection we already had I our hands. Examples of fantastic games like this might be Space Hunk, Space Crusade Heroquest, Dungeon Quest, HeroScape, and others. So what do we do? We go and buy these games again 20 years later, instead of treasuring them first time round hehe.

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    3. ....... and sadly, if we didn't have them squirreled away, they tend to demand a king's ransom to replace! :-(

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  5. I love this post Mr Greg. It feels all Christmasy and New Year-y. Festive and full of promise.

    Welcome 2021 everybody woot!!!

    BB

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    1. Thanks Tarot my dear, the cogs ARE turning, but a little slower than I'd hoped. It must be down to the siege mentality this extended lock down has induced.

      "Welcome to 2021" indeed, and I'm determined it will be an improvement on the previous year :-)

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  6. warmest thoughts to you and your wife and all the best for the new year. Ive come to this post late im afraid but enjoyed it very much. it mirrors its TGC sister site musings nicely.

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    1. Many thanks Luke, and just remember - a bloggers comments are never late, nor are they early. They arrive precisely when they're "meant" to :-)

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    2. Listen to ol` Gandalf... he knows a thing or two ^^

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  7. I keep looking at the picture of the latest book you are reading "Fantasy Wargaming". I vaguely recognise the cover and I know its old skool, and therefore it intrigues me.. as I adore reading these best of all.

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    1. It is in my humble opinion one of the old classics. The comments section isn't the best place for a review, but three key facts SHOULD give you an insight....
      1. published 1981 with a printed cover price of "£7.95 or 20 gold pieces"
      2. Bruce Quarrie is one of the contributors
      3. "Our aim throughout has been to demonstrate our belief that greater richness and flavour can be introduced into fantasy games by delving back into our historical past"

      HIGHLY recommended my dear friend :-)

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    2. I WANTS a copy of this my precioussssssss!!

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  8. Happy new year Greg, hope you are well.

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