Here we are dropping the curtain on 2024. It's been a year.... another year. Each day is a slow, painful grind but since each day is almost the same in retrospect they all went by really fast. 2024 is a bit of a blur, one that was dominated in my psyche by the US elections. That kind of sucked all the air out of the room for me. So much so, that by the mid-year I was feeling down right anti-social and not interested in dealing with anyone I didn't have to for work. Not the best feeling and not the best way to live your life..... but that is what happened!
In addition to that huge shadow over the year, life on the home front was kind of challenging this year as well. Lot's of stuff going on that needed my attention, resources, and time. That also cut into my energy for wargaming and design the second half of the year.
Probably why I got so much painting done this year!
Purchases
None of this section would be possible without the generous financial support of readers like you!
Every time you purchase one of my books from Osprey, my Wargame Vault page, my Drive-Thru RPG page, and follow my Patreon you are helping to fund the continued existence of Blood and Spectacles Publishing. The money I earn from these areas I put back into content on the blog, content on Social Media, and new products for you! Any money I earn goes back into the business of wargaming and role-playing. Thank you! I could not do it without you!
With that said, it is always hard to decide how I intend to use these investments into purchases for the year. Going into this year, I had a few goals lined out for what I should purchase to help generate content. Looking at my goals, I have been following my intentions pretty closely.
- I have stayed caught up with the Osprey Wargaming Series and posted reviews. Those titles were With Hot Lead and Cold Steel and When Nightmares Come. There was some delay due to local availability, but I think that is sorted for now.
- I have purchased at least one new set of rules that were not Osprey and posted a review. In this case, I picked up Modiphius' 5 Parsecs from Home which is a Sci-fi, model-vs-model, solo-game.
- I picked up a couple of Kill Teams. They were the Hand of the Archon, Sisters of Battle, and a Blooded Chaos Guard team. Two of them were from my local FLGS.
- I also picked up a force of Anglo-Saxons from Victrix for use with my Fury of the Northman rules. I wanted to expand my forces for some of my own games for Batreps and demo games. When Victrix sent me a 20% code, I couldn't resist. Expect to see my journey with these little soldiers on the blog.
- I also picked up the Kill Team starter set.
- I also picked up three Heroquest expansion and provided a review for it; Against the Ogre Hordes, Kellar's Keep, and Return of the Witchlord. I also managed to snag the Mage in the Mirror supplement at the end of the year. Now, you can look forward to a closer look at that in 2025!
- At the close of the year, I got Chaosiums Pendragon 6th Edition as a gift that I will be reviewing in early 2025. My wife also got My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as a gift earlier in the year, but that is hers and not mine so I might not get a review together for it.
- I also received One-Hour Wargames: Ancient and Medieval rules. Again, look for a review early in 2025.
Painting and Modelling
Well, I was at a pretty killer pace prior to the mid-point, with about ~175 models painted up. Nothing to sneeze at! However, the second half of the year I did not let up on the pace. I think painting was my biggest focus in 2024, and I even engaged in social painting events. In the second half of the year, those were my most common social hobby interaction.
I ended the year with this:
- Hand of the Archon - 10 Models
- 6mm Hittites- 20 bases
- Sisters of Battle - 10 Models
- Scatter Terrain - 9
- Kill Team Board and Walls- 3
- 6mm Vehicles - 6
- 6mm - Kadesh
- Assorted 28mm - 12
- Vet Guardsman - 10 models
- Ork Kommandos - 12 Models
- Kill Team Terrain - 9
- Corrupted Guard - 15 models
- Heroquest - 126
- Persian Chariots - 15 Models
- 28mm Gladiators - 10
- Nativity - 11 Models
Most of my painting was on Heroquest supplements, but I also painted up some historical miniatures and a few one-offs here and there for various projects. That gives me a grand total of around 265 miniatures painted in 2024. A good year of painting!
Gaming
This definitely took a bit of a nose dive! However, I did manage to play a few test games of In Strife and Conflict and to prepare for a Battle of Kadesh demo game that I still have not committed too. I also finished off a slow-burn Hostile Space campaign and did some solo games of Under the Martian Yoke. In these parts, gaming slows down in the summer as everyone heads outside, but I never really came back to it when the weather changed. In addition, an edition change in Kill Team reminded me why I got off the GW carousel.
- Kill Team - 6
- Fury of the Northman - 1
- In Strife and Conflict - 4
- Hostile Space - 3
- Shadows of Brimstone - 3
- Under the Martian Yoke - 3
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| Hostile Space |
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| In Strife and Conflict |
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| In Strife and Conflict - Battle of Kadesh |
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| Under the Martian Yoke |
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| Under the Martian Yoke |
The big highlight this year was that my RPG group pretty consistently met every Tuesday night! That was a big help for me.
Rules Writing
Yeah, nothing really of note in this space. I have several games in the works, but nothing was completed before the end of the year. There is some stuck in post-production, some more have basic mechanics and are stuck in the "fleshing out phase", and some are just stuck in limbo as I decide if I want to keep them going or not. The beginning of the year was productive, but the second half not so much.
Why you might ask? So many reasons....... but ultimately I just didn't focus on one long enough to actually get it across the finish line all the way. Oh well, maybe a new year will help me kick start some writing juice, instead of the writing grind I have been working on. Most of my writing energy have gone to the blog, Patreon and Social Media. Once I get those done for the week, there is not a lot of time left for the other stuff which is CRAZY!
Miscellaneous Stuff
Yeah, no real progress on this front. The things that were started kept ticking over. However, I think I really did improve my Social Media game this year, with some really cool posts. The adoption of Canva helped me increase the production value there, and import some more into my design work. However, that has also increased the level of effort. However, it is what consumers expect now-a-days and if you can't deliver it you are not selling in the market.
There has been a lot of talk from my gamer buddies about next year BUT I am skeptical. Some of the things floating around in the ether right now include:
- Battle of Kadesh Demo Game
- Kill Team League
- Live Streaming of our RPG game
- Local Con
Well, I will keep you all up-to-date through the usual channels. Until next time!
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