Thoughts on 2012 Part 1- The Usual Suspects

I already have 4 so its not out of the question.

So over the years we've gone thru resolutions,predictions and whatever other foresight/hindsight machinations we like to do upon that time of year that the earth marks another trip around the sun. This time around I just want to make few comments on "what kind" of year it was, for myself, the blog and my hobbying in general.

The year of slacking- when it came to blog and hobbying for sure, in my personal life, work and raising two little girls had my back against the wall. I've moved from running my own operation for 13 years to essentially being a "freelance contractor"..if any of you use that word to describe yourself, you know what that means- you are not making blog post and talking about your hobby from your  office, that luxury is gone for me. as a result and my general lack of free time certainly kicked the blog in the shorts (I'll wrap the year with less than 50 posts), The hobby to an extent as well, I did work on a lot of stuff this year, much you havent seen. 

             I am an OCD multitasker, meaning I am complusively always doing several things at once when I am hobbying (or working) and as a result, I end up leaving alot of things undone. WIP projects I havent even began to talk about here include, a couple Hirst projects, another Pirate Ship and a couple of boxes of old school grenadier miniatures I was trying to paint as a wholeset before I unveiled. Notmention spending on lot of time working on my own skirmish game that after a 1/2 dozen playtests is back on the drawing board.  Needless to say this leaves the "accomplishment" meter low, and theblog suffers as a result in content.

The year of Lord of the Rings- While LotR is and has been a primary motivator for me in not just wargaming, but literature, other games and all types of media for me. 2012, with the release of the Hobbit films certainly brought that out front and center. Most of my completed work revolves around the LotR (now Hobbit) SBG,although I dont get to play it too much, I centainly love collecting and painting the models as its the only game I am playing in any kind of organized play setting outside of my home. I am happy that I do very much like (and I know many who do not) the last two rules adjustment presented by Games Workshop, the rules for the game are best out there, that I have found at this point for Skirmish gaming, The new added detail brought to the game was exactly the type of things I have been talking about being missing from the game 6 months ago when I worked on my own rules (although I went several steps further). I have just recently done a quick generic fantasy revision of the current Hobbit SBG rules, with some of the systems and campaign features from Legends of the High Seas and Mordheim. I am looking forward to trying it out in the next couple weeks and after I do I'll post here as its own page as this all based GW IP material my own additions are just classified as a"Fan Mod". 

Besides the new film, models and working on stuff for next year, I also got roped into playing Fantasy Flight Games, The Lord of the Rings: the Card Game. and I loved it. Its one of those "living card games" as the call them. I find the game one ofthe most difficult strategic challenges ever, I consider myself a hardcore strategy gamer for over25 years, and this game is tough!. especially in solitaire form, (it was alot easier in 2 player co-op) Anyway Professor Tolkien's legacy lives long in me, had has since I was first saw the Rankin-Bass Hobbit when I was 10 and it was all over.

The year of Games Workshop- Odd, you might say given my general distaste for the company. But GW is still ever present in my hobby, checking my purchases for the year, I was over $1000 in retail and second hand purchases on Lord of the Rings material from GW in 2012, The new books back in February, the new Book, starter set and models,and used Citadel items on ebay had all got my wallets attention. I did manage to purge myself of lot of Warhammer material that was just basically cash laying around my basement, but still havealot of stuff to go, for instance it took me 4 years to get rid of all my 40K material and I haven't played that since 2007!. In short as much as I complain about it, I am still buying it. I may be forced to the cliffs edge at some point as I have managed to avoid any finecast due to thecost and  it being an inferior product. Eventually I am going to be assimilated or just stop, we will see, I am contastly weighing my interest in the LotR game with my distaste for the company.

Next up, I want to talk about getting back on track with hobbying, making the most of my free time, and what I have in store for 2013, no Resolutions, just some plans I have to make sure I get to do the things I want.