Wednesday 31 December 2014

Reflections on 2014



As the year draws to a close and Auld Lang Syne gets dusted off for another round, I thought I’d make one final post for the year.

It has been a busy year, with a new job and far too much travelling. Much of my hobby time was take up with the production, testing and release of the second edition of Irregular Wars: Conflict at the World’s End. This was a task made so much smoother thanks to the tireless efforts of the playtesters, especially Ian and Richard down in Kent, without whom it would be a far poorer set of rules.

Not content to sit on my laurels (spikey leaves you know), I also started development – or rather, re-ignited development – of my naval rules, now renamed Galleys & Galleons. These have been in the wings for some time and thanks to the encouragement of Messrs Hodgson and Bryant are now firmly back on the agenda.

The call out for G&G playtesters elicited a response so large that I had to turn quite a number of people away and the initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and constructive. It is still relatively early days, but it is my intention to release the rules on September 19th 2015 – coincidentally, that day happens to be International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Also in the pipeline is a little tongue-in-cheek chariot racing game which I am playing around with called Bread and Circuses. If you have ever wanted a fast and furious gaming aperitif or filler game, or fancied a night of whipping your mates till they lose all control, this might just be the game for you.

… and sure, don’t most of us have a burning need to buy more chariots?

On the painting front, I started off strong this year, spending quite a bit of underemployed time between contracts ‘finishing’ my Hail Caesar Seleukids and then painting up some Hellenistic Spartans for gaming amigo Conor. This I got a longer term contract and time sort of dried up with only little bursts here and there including a bunch of 10mm Romano-Brits and Irish for Dux Bellorum and my ‘…but I need these for playtesting…’ fleets for G&G. It really has been a year for the little chaps – I can’t think of any 15mm or larger figures that I painted this year.

Painting tally:
28mm              0
15mm              0
10mm              74
6mm                1325
1/450 ships      10 (+6 wreck markers)

As some of you will know, the war in Syria is a subject very close to my heart for both academic and personal reasons. When Song of Shadows and Dust came out in 2013, I decided that half of my royalties from sales through Ganesha Games (still just SSD for now, soon to be joined by G&G) would be donated to UNHCR, the United Nations body responsible for the care and protection of people fleeing war and persecution. Your support this year has enabled me to send another £70 to the Syria crisis appeal. To put that in perspective, £30 can provide thermal blankets to help keep a family warm throughout the winter, or £80 can provide field kitchens for eight families.

So before I run out of time, let me wish everyone a great 2015. May your real lives be filled with happiness and may your table-top armies use their conquered enemy’s tables as footstools.

3 comments:

  1. Happy New Year and good luck with the new rules.

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  2. Thanks for the mention. We like Irregular Wars so much that we had a vested interest in teasing out a few issues!

    Best wishes for 2015.

    Richard

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