Gaming Year in Review: 2012

Like a weird federal tax cycle, my gaming year starts in October of every year.  I've been doing it like that for 24 years now, deal with  it.

Despite financial and convention logistics issues, the gaming year was great!  I got just enough gaming in, and some of it was even with my girls, Maja (3 1/2) and Amelia (almost 2).

Let's start off with the closest item: The Blog
I got some spirited feedback from my Gnome Wars 2.0, as well as a quick review of Contemptible Little Armies.  The biggest post was pics from Historicon in Fredericksburg, even though I wasn't even there.  the GWTG special correspondent Mike Lung was a great on-site reporter.

From my gaming record for the year, I can extrapolate this:

Gnomes! We got the first part of the Tanga campaign finished, with an added scenario to see if the Germans were completely screwed. The Swiss had fought back hard and pulled out a minor victor. Now onto the battles around the actual port itself (time to paint the Sikhs!) We also had some great games at the HMGS cons. Heck, even my buddy Steve bought into Gnome Wars. Mind you, he also had a baby boy this past year, and the thought of him breeding surprises me even more than that!

Cthulhu: four sessions in a year!  I'm on fire!  We have enough of a base group now to survive the fatherhoods of Steve and Nate, and the distance of new players Bob, Aaron, and Josh.  After that first game with Jess and Phil, I finally got them to meet the core group and hilarity ensued.  I'm hoping for four sessions between now and June, or at least iron out a consistent schedule. The year 1924 has finally arrived.  No one's lives will ever be the same.

I also experimented with TIARA (Toddler Interactive Adventure Resolution... Adventure),  We enjoyed some quick 1-hour games and with a little time, and little more maturity, we can play Advanced TIARA.

Risus:  Our annual Day of Sloth IOU game was back up and running , with a great rehashing the old villains I had used previously.

Legions of Steel:  One of my gamer resolutions was to play this this year, and I got in one game.

Conventions: Fall in 2011 was a hoot.  Nice Gnome Mega-games, my Yellowstone game was a hoot, we had a freaky snowstorm, sucky rooms at the Host, and sleeping in a room with three kids under three was interesting.  Late night drinking with the stout gnomes at the bar was epic.  I've used the "heart attack joke" a good half dozen times with much success.  I returned to Mepacon after a year absence and threw in a new dynamic: my wife.  Cold Wars was epic, with the three table mega-game, the Canadians, Mike Lung's cannibal gnomes, and my first dabbling into the my new interest: The Samoan Civil Wars, real and gnomish.

Purchases: A lot of gnomes (surprise!)   I got American Gnomes, with lots of support staff.   MBA Customs House, and some Middle Eastern buildings, and wishing well add to my table nicely.   I've slowly recovered my LOS collection, at least book wise, although there are plenty of new figures way down on my painting list.  eBay has been good to me, picking up a bunch of random Warhammer figs which average $2 apiece after shipping.  And I almost forgot Contemptable Little Armies! 

Painting:  not impressive, but consistent.  This year's Gnome Wars unit was British Marines for the Cold wars mega game (and Samoa). Throw in 2 ships for the the game, my daughter's royal tower, and some mouslings, and that's just about it.  I did about the same as last year, just with no real terrain pieces. I do know I'm eventually going to need more storage.

And now my inconsequential awards my own accomplishments for the past 12 months.

Best Game: This has been keeping this post on the back burner since the 1st.  All the games I've played have been good, the Cold Wars games were awesome.  My Yellowstone game is either the most innovative thing in the last thirty years of historical wargaming, or it the idea of educating while playing got boring real fast back in the day.  The winner has to be my June  Rorke's Drift  game.  Historical wargaming with a fantasy twist, an inexpensive "Zulu" army, and my daughter chucking prodigious amounts of dice will trump just about anything.

Best RPG Purchase:  Outside of two Rifts books and Hero Old West I picked up for a buck apiece at a flea market.  I made no true new RPG purchases..  I will say then, for inspiration to myself and my daughter Maja, Mouse Guard Winter 1152 is the best RPG related product I've bought this year.

Best Miniature Purchase:  Despite the gnome explosion, the winner is the Warhammer Fantasy Undead Wolves pack. despite losing a tail on one, the other one stoked my desire to paint, if only for a bit.

Best Miscellaneous Purchase  The MBA Customs House may win on shear awesomeness to some, but the fact that I picked up Contemptible Little Armies plus book 3, covering Africa and the Middle East.

Best New stuff:  This whole Kickstarter thing, might just be the thing the keeps the hobby afloat, or it will be the final death knell to gamers using the brick and mortar system.  The idea that people  have hundreds of dollars invested in multiple miniatures Kickstarters might be great for them, but that money isn't going into the normal transaction circuit.  Plus that money could be tied up with the company for months before it delivers actual product.  We shall see...