Random: 2024 is Upon Us! What is to Be Done!

 

And with the blink of an eye; 2023 is done.  2024 is now upon us!  What are we to do?  

Normally this time of year I spend some time putting goals down on paper for 2024.  These act as guidelines for the year and keeps me from going "off-the-rails".  There are a lot of different things going on in the Miniature Gaming space and it is easy to flit around between projects and end the year with nothing accomplished.  

Normally, I like to break my goals down into the following categories: 

• Purchases
• Painting and Modelling
• Playing Games
• Rules Writing
• Miscellaneous

Purchases

Of course, I can not start off this section without giving YOU my loyal customers a big shout out.  Every time you purchase one of my games from Osprey, Wargames Vault, Drive Thru RPG, follow me on Patreon or support me in other ways you help make this all possible.  It is your support that allows me to buy the minis, paints, artwork, web domains, and other supplies needed to keep Blood and Spectacles Publishing operational.  Therefore, I try to keep all the money earned in these endeavors going back into the business of Wargaming. Thank you!  

With that said, it is always hard to determine what purchases I might be making in the coming year.  Do I purchase things for new projects, expand on existing rulesets with further support, or do something completely different?  So, here are some thoughts for where I am right now: 

• Stay caught up with the Osprey Wargaming Series
• Purchase one new set of Wargaming rules that are not Osprey
• A Games Workshop Kill Team from my FLGS
• A new force from Victrix/Gripping Beast, Tumbling Dice or Wargames Atlantic (Either Ancients, Late Roman, New World, Korean Air War or Viking Age) 
• A new set of RPG rules

I still have a large 6mm Hittite force to complete painting and I have a Heroquest set to finish painting as well.  Therefore, I can't get too crazy.

Maybe something Naval this year? Nimitz, Victory at Sea, etc. 

Painting and Modelling

So that transitions nicely into what I need to paint for 2024.  I am going into this year with two big projects to finish.  

1. The Heroquest box of miniatures
2. 6mm Hittite army
3. A new Kill Team
4. Any new miniatures I have picked up from my purchase pile
5. I am trying to get some 15mm Cold War Gone Hot painted for Force-on-Force

That is a tall order.  However, I have worked out a pretty good system for painting 6mm models, speed paints for my Sci-fi/Fantasy stuff, and base+washes for my historical stuff.  I feel pretty confident I can paint a lot of stuff this year.  

I still have a lot of Hittites

Gaming

Last year I had the most gaming I have had in a long time thanks to the True Crit Gaming Guild.  Of course, the most popular game there is Kill Team.  Therefore, I played a lot of that.  However, I also got to indulge in some other games as well.  

So this year, I plan on taking it to the next level by hosting a Kill Team narrative campaign for the club this year.  Plus, I want to playtest my Battle of Kadesh game before I start taking it around to the local libraries and the like.  

I am hoping to get 18 games in this year with a mix of Kill Team, Historicals, Blood and Spectacles games, and non-Blood and Spectacles games.  We will see how it goes.

• 6+ games of Kill Team
• 1-3 Ancients games
• 1-3 Historical game of some type
• 1-3 Operation: Hemlock games with my Skumgrod
• 1-3 games from a non-Blood and Spectacles rule set
• RPG 3 times a month

I will also continue to play 3 RPG session a month (or about a weekly cadence).  I don't think I can expand it any further than that.  I imagine I will get a shot at GMing again at least once this year.  Therefore, I will need to figure out what to run.  I am leaning towards something G.I. Joe, Princes of the Universe, or my own Space Mecha game depending on my groups tolerance for other systems at the time.  

Rules Writing

My big goal this year is to finish off and get In Strife and Conflict up and over to the Wargame Vault this year.  That would get me ever closer to my goal of having 50 or so games and publications out for sale.  I think I am somewhere around 25 but I am losing some steam lately.   

I also would like to finish 1 more Module for Flashlight: Tales of Terror for my RPG lite horror system and maybe a module for a 3rd party system as well.  There is no money to be made from 3rd party systems that do not have an open license, but I do them because I want to not because I will make money.  The best reason to do anything really! 

On Drive Thru RPG

I have also made a ton of progress on my Late Roman rule set Barbarians at the Gate, BUT I doubt I will get the post-production done in time.  The same thing is also holding up my Space Mecha RPG as well.  Sad trombone.  I am not hopefully I will get out a second wargaming book this year.  

Finally, I really need to get off my duff and start shopping more rules systems around.  Maybe an article for a magazine or a mini-game?  Most likely I will do nothing though.  I am pretty happy with my Wargame Vault page at the moment. 

Miscellaneous Stuff   

A lot of this stays the same from year to year, and is added here just to keep me on track. 

1. Update my Played and Painted Trackers for 2024! 

2. Set-up some demo games for Battle of Kadesh as a "Learning Experience"

3. Post 1 Wargame Design post a month

4. Bi-weekly updates on my Patreon

5. Update my Website with my newer products

Honestly, pretty standard stuff.  

Final Thoughts

The goals for the year are getting pretty routine around here.  Nothing earth shattering and they are pretty much a follow-on or continuation from 2023.  The biggest change from 2023 is that I actually have a pretty dedicated Gaming Guild now for miniatures and not just RPGs.  Therefore, I expect some of my energy to go into that.  

Hopefully, I can end the year even stronger than I have started the year!  Let me know if you have any comments, thoughts, ideas, or feelings in the comments, the message board, or on the various Blood and Spectacles related platforms. 

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