Thursday, January 1, 2015

2014 End of the Year Report...







It's that time of the year again, in fact, it's the end of the year!  Just like last year, I'll be reflecting on my "geeky accomplishments", only this time I kept better record keeping.  I'll be looking at things such as top 5 most played games of 2014, total numbers of models painted, and total books read.  I don't really do the whole "new years resolution" THING, but instead I'll reflect upon how 2014 went, and how I hope things in 2015 will go.  It feels like I didn't really do a whole lot in the geek department, but take a look at my numbers, and see what you think..

Up first, Top 5 games played of 2014...



The one that surprised me on the list was actually the LoTR LCG...


Top 5 Games of 2014:

Pathfinder ACG - 31 plays
Dragon Ball Z TCG - 27 Plays
Pokemon TCG - 22 Plays
Star Wars LCG - 14 Plays
Lord of the Rings TCG - 10 plays




 
A grand total of 156 games were played in 2014.
Considering that the above list is 104 of the 156 games for the year, and the fact that I only begain playing the DBZ and Pokemon TCGs in around Oct/Nov, it's kind of a sad little figure.  Something else I noticed, outside of a few games of Battletech. and some Wings of Glory/X-Wing/Star Trek AW, I really did not get in any miniatures games in.  That really bums me out a bit.  But, back to the above 5 list.  I'm not that shocked by the Pathfinder numbers, honestly for awhile all I did was play solo games of the Pathfinder ACG.  The DBZ numbers surprised me a bit, simply because as I mentioned above, the game is fairly new.  That said, I'm always a bit leery of over spending on the TCG model (which I may have done) and thus, I wanted to make sure I got my money's worth by squeezing in every game possible.  I'm not too surprised by the Pokemon TCG results either.  Outside of a handful of games with my Nephew and Brother In-Law over Christams vacation, I've primarily been playing it with my daughter, and she LOVES it!  It would not be uncommon to end up playing 3 or 4 games in a row with her, which added up quickly.  I'm not shocked that the Star Wars LCG was next in line, simply because I was really trying to get caught up on missed packs and to warrant that purchase by getting in more games.  Sadly, it was pretty much just one other guy and myself playing, there really never seemed to be much of a consistent group going for any of the LCGs.  Finally, the Lord of the Rings LCG actually did surprise me a bit, as I had no idea that the numbers were so high.  (not that 10 is high)  I only played it solo, and for awhile, I did play it a bit heavily.  Honestly, the 10 plays were probably all in the span of a week or two.  From there, the numbers drop pretty consistently from 9,7,6,5, then lots of 2's, and even more 1's...


Total Models Painted for 2014:

FoW - 3x Stug
I do really like how they turned out...
FoW - 12x Panzer IV's (3 platoons)
FoW - 2x Sd.kfz 231 8-rad
Fow - Sdkz 9 (18T)
FoW - Tiger 1 E
FoW - US Paratrooper Platoon
MYTH - 4x Heroes
MYTH - 6x Ranged Crawler
MYTH - The Terror with a 1000 legs
MYTH - 2x Stalkers
WM/H - Cipher Heavy Warjack
WM/H - Syntherion
WM/H - Galvanizer Light warjack
WM/H - Mitigator Light Wajack
WM/H - Corollary
WM/H - Optifex Directive
40k - Red Corsairs Rhino
40k - 5x Terminators
40k - 3x Bikers
40k - 35x Cultists

Basically, my paint log boils down to a 2,000+ point LW German list for Flames of War, under 1/2 the contents of the MYTH base game, a Convergence Battle Box (plus a few extras) for Warmachine, and well under 1/2 of my Red Corsairs that I was building out of a Dark Vengeance box for 40k.  Honestly, with the exception of the FoW stuff, it feels like my overall progress was down by a lot.  That said, I did not factor in the repaints I did for X-Wing.  I think there were a few factors for my lower number of painted models: first being my job as a TKD instructor, as working late into the evening at a physical job makes it so all I want to do is crash at night.  The second factor I think is the lack of miniature gaming overall created a lack of motivation.  In the past, I'd start up a new army and get really motivated to get in painted and on the table for a future game, but without having any games lined up, the motivation has not been there to paint.  To put it in perspective, I have afully painted 2,000+ FoW army that I have never played, I've not expanded my Convergence army because I have yet to use my 15 points worth in a game, and I've been dragging my feet with my 40k stuff because like everything else... I have yet to play.  That said, I have noticed a trend that in general gaming seems to be down overall at the LGS closest to me for various reasons, so I don't think it is just me...

And Finally...


Total Books Read in 2014:
Nightbringer - Graham McNeill
Blood Reaver - Aaron Dembski-Bowden
The Gildar Rift - Sarah Cawkwell
The Jedi Path
Skull Harvest - Graham McNeill
Chains of Command - Graham McNeill
Pathfinder: Queen of Thorns - Dave Gross
Wild West Exodus: Honor Among Outlaws - Craig Gallant
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein
Pathfinder: Master of Devils - Dave Gross

The list is in reverse order.  The list feels small compared to others, but I admit, I am a slow reader and I don't get to read as much as I would like....




So in light of how the 2014 numbers look, what are my hopes for 2015?  Well obviously I'd like to get in more miniatures games overall!  I started up the JoCo Historical Wargamers FB Group in the hopes of finding more players interested in Historical Gaming in my area, but thus far I'm having no luck getting anyone to engage on there.  I'm still holding out hope, as I really want to push myself more into being a full time Historical Wargamer as out of all the Sci-Fi/Steampunk/Fantasy minaitures games out there, I find myself only truly excited by Historicals anymore.  I do think more games will help motivate me to buy/build/paint more.  My next step is to get a gaming table together in my "Nerd Lair" (i.e. Man Cave) soon, with the hopes that even I cannot find anyone else to play I can always play solo games down there just recreating battles and scenarios.  That said, a gaming table will also require me to build/buy terrain.  Based on the Poll I posted up, it looks like Bolt Action will be the next game, and I plan to start making a few purchases now and just "shelve" my Red Corsairs project for the time being.  I'll probably mix in some of the prepaint stuff like Sails/Wings of Glory somewhere within my Bolt Action project.  Following that, I guess I do need to work out getting a FoW Ranger force onto the table, again for solo FoW battle recreation more than likely, with 2 forces for SAGA C&C and/or a little Jugula to round things out.  That already sounds like it should keep me busy for the next year even though I still would like to do more!

On the Card Game side, I plan to stick to playing DBZ as much as I can, for as long as I can keep interested.  I bought several boxes worth of cards, so I want to get my money's worth out of the investment.  That said, getting a player base built will be key in keeping me interested, as already the environment is getting a bit stale due to the small player base and the fact that I seem to miss more events than I can attend.  I still plan to play the Pokemon TCG for as long as my daughter is interested as she is my only opponent.

Book wise, I'll probably still be a slow reader.  I'm planning to take a bit of break soon from all the 40k/Fantasy stuff and read more of the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor, of which I am a big fan of.  I would also like to read An Army at Dawn, as well as the rest of the Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson.  So, while it looks like my reading may take more of a historical stint as well, there are a few Pathfinder novels that are on my "to read" list as well...



... AND there you have it folks!  Time to reset my Gaming/Painting logs, and to try and start remembering to write "2015" on anything I date.  I've outlined a few of my initial plans as I move
towards the next year, and as always I'll try and document things along the way!  Here's to hoping everyone has a great year!

... and always remember my new gaming motto:
"Play it COOL.  Enjoy the GAME."

- WuhSawBe -

No comments:

Post a Comment