2023 Mid-Year Review

 My gaming year runs October - September, so the end of March is time for a mid-year review.

• Work, Work, Divorce, Divorce, Work, Basketball, Basketball, Cold, Work:  A new position at work, and a new career direction ought to be celebrated, especially the flexibility provided by it to handle all the crazy basketball the kids do.  Except, all of that was dampered by the mutual separation of my wife and I, the stress of me finding a place and moving out during the busiest season for work.. and the holidays.  It was so much, I actually stepped away from helping run the local basketball rec league... and came back under protest to handle the playoffs.
• Gamma World:  103 episodes of Star Wars d6 are completed and written up, and we're going through the growing pains of Gamma World 4th Edition.  Even allowing Renaissance tech has created a lot of meta-gaming, but I'll continue to press forward, and encourage them to move east on the map.  Monday nights continue to be the high point of my week.  
• You guys like what?  Let's be honest.  Folks love miniature game AARs more than RPG actual plays, at least in blog form, I haven't provided them much of that reading material.  I will point out that out of the Top Ten list from last year, only three remained in the top 10 at the end of the year, so things are always changing.

1. Fall-In 2022! (Conventions)
2. Cold Wars 2023 AAR (Conventions)
3. The Bachelor Gaming Lifestyle (General Blogging)
4. (Planet 28) Battle for the Tractor of Ukrainius (Planet 28)
5. (Planet 28) Incident at Colgar Station 6 (Planet 28)
6. Lehicon 7 with Twenty-Six Years of Hindsight (Conventions)
7. Gaming with the Gnomies New Hotness (General Blogging)
8. (Star Wars) #63 - Inside the Spyder (Star Wars d6)
9. Gnome Wines and Mad Elf (Gnome Art)
10. (Star Wars) #61 - A Team in High Demand (Star Wars d6)

Conventions:   Fall-In!, Mepacon, and Cold Wars have created the solace to my soul.  Here's hoping Historicon and spring Mepacon do more of the same. 

Checking off my Gaming Plans from the start of the year:

1. Unofficial Painting Guide to Gnome America Update - Hard to do when the Swiss troops you'd base your painting around are out of stock at Brigade Games.  Units just starting appearing back in stock at Cold Wars, but this has been a process to watch unfold.  

2. Gnomish Space Marines - Planet 28 Second Edition did arrive, but I'll continue to run through the impromptu campaign using the 1e pamphlets, for now.  Almost everything on the painting bench now is related to that game. 

3. Star Wars Life Day Game - Never went off, so I might reserve it in a "Life Day in July" sense.  

4. Star Wars Kurabanda of the Old Republic -  The one shot had more of a Jackass feel to it than Jedi awesomeness, so  I posted some comments about it and left it at that *COMPLETE, FOR NOW*

5. Pulp Season 4 - Getting the Season 4 "Made for TV Movie" has not been on the top of my to-do list and it should!  I try not to play/post stuff specifically for views, but the Pulp games before best overall and launching into Pulp Alley should be a a great influencer for traffic.

6. Zombies - Outside the appearance of some in the HMGS Gnome Wars game, and some Post-Apoc discussion by the boys, definitely need to revisit this.

Checklist for the Second Half of the Year

5. Gaming with the kids

4. Painting with the kids

3. Season 4 of the Pulp Game... someday

2. Expanding the Gamma World campaign

1. Moving through the Lead Pile backlog