2024 in Review

I've done a few of these but this one feels different. This year we've lost 3 wargaming friends to the big tabletop in the sky, two mates recently survived heart attacks (one just this week) and two others have started cancer treatments. Makes one reflective and appreciative, and you'll see that I now post more pics of the people I am playing with, not just focusing on the tabletop.

AHPC 14 Wrap-Up with Reilly!

This year work has taken me far afield once again- from the High North of Norway and sailing in the Arctic Ocean, to looking across the Han River into North Korea, and deployments into the SW Pacific. My extended period in this Command role has now completed and it was an amazing experience. 

On the gaming front, one of my key highlights was Alan and I getting our Roman Civil War project onto the table after years of planning, thanks to AHPC pushing me I might say. We used the quick playing, To The Strongest to get lots of troops on the table while still getting a solid outcome in less than 3 hours. While initially I thought I wouldn't like either the gridded system or the cards, both work very well indeed.

The day that Alan's Legion's Eagle was lost - literally!

Pompey got the odd Ally in his cause too! :-)

Consul Marty was loyal to Ceasar's cause though!

This year also saw Reilly (aka 'The Lad') move out of home - flying the coop some 2,000 kms north. We packed a number of hobby items into his car and had ourselves a great Boys' roadtrip. I love his frequent calls giving me the play by plays of his Blood Bowl games up there (some of them get posted here also)

His farewell game was an epic 8 player Battle Royale set in the Trojan wars, ending in us both having a classic Hector vs Achilles duel! One for the ages :-) Check it out here: https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2024/03/achilles-rampant-farewell-to-lad.html

Separately, there was some great gladiator action with Frank and his Blood on the Sand rules - look to 2025 for the Kickstarter!

During my travels this year in London, I got to catch up with long time friends David Crook of "A Wargaming Odyssey" (https://awargamingodyssey.blogspot.com/), and the ever effervescent Ashley from "Paint it Pink" (https://panther6actual.blogspot.com/) and the fabulous Susan. Great times but somehow didn't get any pics - clearly too busy enjoying the company of these best of people.

Conventions wise, together Slowpainter John and I attended CANCON, BrisCon, ShireCon and MOAB - probably a record for me. Along the way I did my usual Annual Reading Challenge through Goodreads, helped considerably by Audible while painting. Thus was my 12th consecutive year.

And then we finished the year with the minor matter of moving to Hawaii for our next adventure.  Before I left, we enjoyed a big Space 1889 game with clubmate Gavin https://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2024/11/battle-for-trading-outpost-part-2.html

....and a fun, tropical themed game of Silver Bayonet with the gang: a wonderful sendoff! 

https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2024/12/quest-for-golden-pineapple.html

The Quest for the Golden Pineapple! Blessed to have such good gaming mates

As a natural outcome of moving, I've forgone participating in AHPC this year. I'm helping Curt out by being a Minion which will be fun, but I'm really missing the therapeutic brush time.

Mrs Man Cave and I are very excited about the opportunities to live in the US again and enjoy life on a tropical island too, but I've had to leave most of my hobby materials behind. Only a couple of boardgames, a few rules sets and some brushes came with me. I'm now looking around to see what the local wargaming scene might look like.

Hobby wise 2025 and the few years beyond, is rather tough to chart out or even guess at. I'm looking at a few low figure count skirmish games with RPG lite elements (including 5 Parsecs from Home, Devilry Afoot, and Silver Bayonet) and SAGA: Age of Chivalry interests me, but it depends on what I can find being played locally.  

Comrade James and I catching up on the road mid year for games!

It's highly likely that my hobby will be focused away from tabletop miniatures for awhile. I've brought a few boardgames with me and had had my eye on others for awhile. And definitely want to get to Historicon too. I'm also considering doing some design work for some new games and expansions, which I've enjoyed doing in the past - we'll see what comes of that but I'm chatting with some folks about some potential for collaborative projects.

May your 2025 bring good hobby and great times with your mates!