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.
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.