Happy New Year - Or 2026 The Plan

2025 has been a good year. It's been the first year that every day hasn't felt like Salmon Day since my dad died. So it's nice to feel a bit of joy again. Most of the year has gone to plan. I have had a sense of balance again, even if I have been a bit slow. 

If last year was the year of bargains, this year has been iyear of freebies. I am very grateful to the people I game with. Some has come from a well loved member of my club who I think I remember from decades ago in another club. Cheers Dave.

The blog has done well this year. I've had about 100,000 hits in 2025. Not a single new follower though. Much as I like the numbers, I suspect it's all down to AI. From the start I felt this was going to be a good year. Some health and family didn't really agree. I did however manage.to publish as many posts this year since life changed in 2018. In fact I am close to posting as many times in all the years since.

My original plan had called for a picture of everything I had painted this year. When I looked at it my guess was that it was going to take about an hour to set up and take down. I just haven't got the energy for that. From one perspective, this is a good thing.

I kinda had a sub plan to paint a thousand minis this year. This was an attempt to push myself. Two hundred and fifty and five hundred seemed more realistic. Stuff happened in the background so this kinda petered out despite being on track until about November. The final number was XXXX. So I am realistically quietly happy.

Sludge, the wargames rules, really hit me hard. I've finally got round to building and painting an armi. Which is just about enough for two armies as I don't expect anyone else to get involved. I have yet to decide on a finish line but I am past where I wanted to be. I can feel a few more units in the offing. I can see at least a unit of heavy cavalry (twelve knights with pistol and modern helmets. Another unit or two of infantry and some specialiss might also make it into the plan for 2026. The minis are there waiting to be built. I can also see a light and heavy tank coming to a workbench near me mainly because I have one ready to go and probably some light tanks that are waiting for purchase. These come from the Quar range.

Quar, A Clash of Rhyfles seems like another shoe in. There is the tank I have already mentioned and some more Coftyran minis to go. This would complete the original plan. I could see some more infantry and even another tank But I think a second army might be a better choice. This is another system that I don't see anyone buying into so if I want to play I might need to buy the Crusader army. I am also looking at the Fidwogs who are coming in force this year. I have priced them up and looking for a seat (as soon as I recover from Christmas). These should be able to share scenary with Sludge.

About ten years ago I ran a Fallout based TTRPG which I loved. It was all done in 15mm and very much involved a lot of fudging. So I have ordered some Fallout Wasteland Warfare / Factions stuff, which is mostly yet to arrive. Bigger chunkier minis and lots of them. If I can get some good deals I will be ordering more. I have raiders coming and expect to move towards the New Vegas stuff the next time a sale comes along.

Blood Bowl is an ever present feature on my blog. I managed to paint my Skaven team and kit bash a few mutant types. Then I painted some goblins to round out my ork team. Some star players are still on the bench. The Skaven were a stumbling block for me. There was about four times as much work gone into them as the typical minis I paint. This almost caused a painting wobble. . I can't see any major purchases this year but I have seven teams to paint. I should probably paint two teams this year. So I guess I am on a few more star players at some point.

I have amassed a truly inspiring amount of bits this year with a plan to kit bash stuff. A good chunk has been used to build the Sludge army but also my Atomfallish/ sUNDERdGROUND game. I've really enjoyed this project and have some more ideas for it. So I strongly expect to do more in 2026. 

So this brings up the issue of storage. I am close if not actually at the point where I have run out of space. I need in the region of twenty foam trays and the boxes to put them in. The above illustrates the need for another 35l RU box and realistically I need two ( the other being for hexes).The smaller box will hold some of my daughters stuff. This will require space I haven't readily got.  There needs to be some thoughts on throwing stuff out, reorganising the attic and the shed. The attic is where stuff goes to die whilst the shed means it's dead until it gets warm. A bigger house would be nice.

I was planning on buying some Soviet bits for the above. It seemed like a good idea despite having this bit of the plan covered by my Irregular Minis Neo-Sovs (please make some more). I was talking it through with a guy I know who produced a Soviet army box at half price. I've acquired a few more sprues and been given plenty of bits. Whilst the plan was for sUNDERdGROUND, I now have a WW2 Soviet army for 28mm. About £50 would round it out and about £60 would buy everything I could want.

2025 started with a lot of Star Wars Legion stuff to paint. This has kinda got lost in the weeds. There seems to be a lot of stuff coming out in the next year or so. Some stuff I would like and some that would give me a wider range of poses. The initial purchase was seen as more of an idea for a role playing game, which has more meat on the bone. Not feeling it right this minute but I am sure that will change.

Carnevale is a game I hadn't really considered until this year. As I might actually get a game in, it seemed more like a going concern. So there are some minis on the bench right now. I can conceive I will buy some more but I will wait until I have painted what I have and played a few games. 

Paint is the one thing I say I will never buy. I have even given some away this year. I think I have only bought about twenty bottles this. One of the Grim dark sets and some Speed / Contrast / Express paints. I have acquired, mostly free or stupidly cheap about twenty paints in Vallejo type bottles (about £3 for the lot) and about 100 Foundation paint system paints (can't remember paying for them so they must have been cheap if I did). There is the possibility that I might get some more Speed / Contrast / Express paints as I am short of a few colours and maybe the other Grimdark box. I am running out of practical storage solutions so I probably shouldn't. 

I did buy some acrylic paint pens too. Not the £3 each kind, the £10 for forty kind, found on the market. I have had a play about with them. Not bad but not good enough to get me to buy a complete set of the good ones. I could see me buying some earth tones, greens and browns. I would sooner wait until I find some cheaper ones in the right colours.

BattleTech is something I have spent money on this year. I have even made progress with some of it. I am not sure I have finished a mini this year. I got a good deal on one box and an ok deal on the mercenary box. My plan sort of calls to buy the BattleTech amAces set, purely for the minis. If I find something cheap, I might spring for it. I can see me painting some mechs in 2026 and my intention is not to buy any more until I have made a good effort at painting what I have. 

Fantasy and dark age (there isnt much of a difference for me) are still in the mix although haven't played a big part of the year. I still have a hankering for some more hobbits even though they aren't part of the vision. There is a plan for some more stuff but this is quite vague at the moment. The thought occurs that this will involve monsters and bad guys.

I was given a set of Empire Free Company minis. This worked for me. This got some attention and ended with me getting some Empire stuff. I still have some stuff to paint and it's in the queue. It would be a big ask to get me to push this idea further. This was going to move into something else probably along the lines of nature/body horror, something like Verritwood or more likely The Weald. Thanks to some freebies, I can see a Turnip 28 army hitting the table. Some are ready to go. It would cost me roughly nothing in terms of money at least (and I should probably say nothing more), to make and paint two armies. 

Some fantasy stuff that I have a firmer plan for is the Guards of Traitor's Toll. The Wargames Atlantic miniatures more than the game. I have the minis and can see them in the queue soon. Not sold on the game yet but it is growing on me. If nothing else it's a jumping off point. There is some newer stuff out and I expect there to be more coming.

Speaking of Wargames Atlantic 🙄 I am still waiting for my Traitor Guardsmen. Think it's three years now. The plan I had for them is all gone now. So a kit bashing plan needs to be found. sUNDERdGROUND seems like an obvious choice but probably something vaguely generic. There are firmer plans for some of the kits (beast men and big guns) but I am more interested in all the bonus frames. If they don't appear soon I will be very unhappy.

Terrain was expected to be a big part of the year for me. Somewhere along the line I got some stuff done. I got about 100 hexes done. This was quite a lot of work as every thing was either hand built or designed and cut by me. These is still a plan for yet more but I could call the green and ruined set done (ish, maybe). I had planned to move on to some trench type hexes. With Sludge and Quar being the obvious beneficiaries. Whilst I have plenty of blanks ready the main issue for a lack of progress has been storage.

So next year the plan is to turn the 120 ish deep hexes into something interesting. There are plenty of other hexes to do. I am still thinking about alien tunnels, some deep urban ruins, desert or even an alien surface set. I could move into a winter sector a more fantasy city set.

I did manage to get some scatter terrain painted. I wanted to get something bigger done but it wasn't on the cards.

The big thing for me was the time I have spent gaming with others. Not going to name names but if you read this, thanks for the fun. It's been a long time since I enjoyed tabletop gaming this much. 

I got the laser working this year. It's seen some use but I am not up to business at the moment. There was an opportunity to learn a little too. There are some projects I would like to do too.

3d printing was supposed to be a thing this year. It wasn't. I just haven't had the head space. I almost got a Bambu Labs printer.  There is a good bet I. Will get one in 2026.

Happy Post Christmas Apocalypse

Now with bonus gingerbread men.

I like Christmas. I like it more as a parent. Then there is also a birthday to sort out. So two lots of presents. And two lots of joy. Now after four days of fun I am trying to do all the stuff I wanted to do before Christmas and need to do now.

Time for a sit down and a brew. The spirit of Christmas continues but is slightly abated. I need the tea. Plus the tablets. So as I haven't got to the posting for a couple of weeks it was probably time I did.

I got swept up in the Fallout sale. I was after the core set since it came out. Somehow I never got round to it. Until there was a fifty percent off sale. The main box wasn't on sale. I did find it somewhere with a massive discount. I'm still waiting to hear from Zatu about it. It's definitely a Royal Mail thing. 

I should be thinking about my end of the year post.  But a new toilet seat, replacing a vacuum filter and a desire to be able to get to sleep in my bed (my bedroom is the dumping area of choice). So I am hoping to get to the table in the next few days.

End Of The Week - Brush In Hand

It's been a while since I finished anything. This week was not a week that this was going to change. I have managed to pick up a brush and spray can though. Somewhere over the last couple of weeks I've acquired a number of freebies that have managed to make it onto the table. Then there are some Fallout minis that arrived this week (with more to come) all at Black Friday or better prices. At some point I got talked into Carnevale that are now in the queue. A few months before all this I got some more post-apocalypse terrain I wanted to finish a set.

Perhaps I can say I am hopeful about the near future. I have cleaned the workbench. This is often a prelude to getting stuff done. As Christmas is Coming I suspect progress will be made but I am not expecting leaps and bounds. Right now there is too much blood in my caffeine stream so it's time to go.

Christmas Is Coming

If you have watched or read A Game Of Thrones I am sure you will be familiar with the phrase "winter is coming". Dark times are ahead which will end in a battle for survival. This is why I use the phrase "Christmas is coming". This week seems to be the start of the Christmas season. Everything is late this year. Decorations seem to be up two weeks later than usual and I am seeing far fewer lights. I am not hearing good things about Black Friday. Dark days indeed.

With all the stuff going on with me at the moment, I am just about ready to wave the white flag, until January at least. There is no way I am going to hit the 1000 goal. It was a bit of a reach. It's still going to be my most productive year ever. 

I've acquired a load more free stuff this week. Some of which has already made it onto the bench. There were some terrible ideas about painting in the 1980s. Hopefully I can turn them around.

I got some more loose sprues coming. This should be enough to finish my first Quar army. There is also a plan for a load of Fallout Factions stuff that should arrive soon. A project for the New Year. I am thinking about Nuka Land. A family friendly resort just outside the sprawl of New Vegas. It will be fun.

Blackest Friday

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I quietly have a thing about zombies. Yes there are multiple zombie plans. I also like Christmas. I mean more than is normal for most blokes. Then there is playing video games. Now imagine something that combined all three.

Dead Rising 4 came along at a very difficult time for me. My dad had recently died and my mum was dying. I badly needed a distraction. Dead Rising 4 was the perfect fit. I think I have played it all.the way through every Christmas season ever since. Despite what some will tell you it's an amazing game. If it has a fault it's that it's not long enough. The zompocolypse starts on Black Friday. A time of year that was until recently hell on Earth for me. The hard mode in the game is called Blackest Friday. 

According to the kill counter I have ended a third of a million zombies already. It's only taken nine years. 

The plan for the week was to paint some Carnevale minis. I may even have multiple opponents and opportunities to play. This week seems to have drowned me. The first time I picked up a brush this week was Black Friday and that was to paint my little banner. So I guess I am another week behind. My target for the 1000 minis in a year is looking a little unlikely now.

This was supposed to be an easy week. I've put rather too much effort into the bases. I need to plan my time better. They also took more time to put together than I was expecting. I couldn't find the right sized drill bit. This cost me a day. More than at any time I can think of, it has felt like filling in time until I can see my daughter again.

End Of The Week (Well Fortnight) (26)

I have managed to cram seven days of work and cram it into fourteen days. This does not make me proud. Part of me accepts this. A bigger part of me is screaming that this is the first year I have painted more plastic minis than metal ones and have done so to a lower standard and I still habit my target. I've spent some quality time with my daughter so it's all good.

Coftyran Quar has been the biggest part of my week. There are a lot of uniform details which takes up time.

Some Progress

I still haven't found my mojo this week. Today I have found some time to paint. Not as much time as I probably would have liked. But, you it, distractions. That said, I am getting close to finishing the first coat. Things may go my way and with a bit of luck I will get last week's work done by the end of the week.