Choosing your 2023 project?

[Elbows]

I don't pick a "project" for any given year, but I will assign myself a few simple goals.

I always aim for 10 minis painted per month (minimum).  So, I want to knock out 120 minis a year, regardless of any other considerations.

For 2023...I decided my goal is to publish two more games.  I've got four games that are essentially done, but the painful/annoying process of putting it all into a sellable format and doing all the technical editing, etc. is my kryptonite.  I end up just playing my own games with locals, friends, conventions...and never publishing the damn things despite them being 98% done!

So...publish some friggin' games.

[Easy E]

I feel you! 

I can write rules faster than I can play them!  It is the post-production that always slows me done with publishing rules.

[tikitang]

For 2023 I'm aiming to get at least two fantasy warbands painted up for potential Song of Blades & Heroes games.

In addition to this, I have cooked up another couple of mad fantasy themed ideas for 2023 which I am excited to get started on in the new year.

2022 didn't prove to be a good year for me in terms of the hobby. There was a lot of upheaval due to an epic house-move and some unforeseen family issues, but I am feeling really positive for 2023 just now. I have some ideas to look forward to executiing, and while I am not certain they will work, sometimes the real thrill of a project (for me) is in the ideas stage.

[mikedemana]

My goals for 2023 are to run more regular games from my Post-Apocalyptic project. Much of last year was spent furiously painting scenery and gangs for this period. I even ran one game for the Sunday night crew, which they pronounced enjoying and willing to do more. So, 2023 should see more games and probably the occasional piece of terrain. Here's the link on my blog for a rundown of the project:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/search/label/Post-Apocalyptic

I started a new project at the end of the year - Sci-Fi skirmish with Space Station Zero rules. I created battle boards, am in the midst of doing terrain, and hopefully will see the first game within a month. I plan to test it out the rules in "cooperative mode" with my girlfriend on those weekend evenings we can't be bothered to go out. You can see what I've done so far here:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/search/label/Space%20Station%20Zero

For Saga, I have collected the lead for a medieval Spanish army. I haven't begun painting it, but I plan to paint it as either the Knights of Santiago or Calatrava. That way, I can use it for three different factions in Saga Age of Crusades (Medieval Spanish, Crusader, and Milites Christi). I'm holding off getting started on that front because painting Saga armies has been my main focus that last couple years. I'm enjoying the variety and freedom of being about to work on whatever strikes my fancy. I tend to be very goal-driven once I begin a project.

What else? I have an idea for a supplement to my Song of Drums and Tomahawk rules. It would be a horror/fantasy spinoff delving into the world of Native American mythology. The historical grounding will be that when Tecumseh's younger brother, the Shawnee Prophet came back from the dead, he broke the barrier to the Indian spirit world. The forces of Native American myth will be helping Tecumseh and his brother drive settlement from Ohio (which also happens to be where I live).

Other rules sets for First Command Wargames that I will be working on will be a scenario book for the same Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules. It will compile scenarios we've run at various conventions for the last half decade or so, including our 4-plalyer Raid on Deerfield. Here's an example post of when we ran that scenario:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2017/02/raid-on-deerfield-convention-game.html

I'm sure the "ooh shiney" bug will hit me at some point in 2023, as well. I hope everyone else has a great year ahead, whatever projects they choose!

Mike Demana

[Mr. White]

The past year or two I'm trying to come to grips with my minis hobby and what is worth the time sink vs what isn't. I play a lot of Blood Bowl universe games. Attend local tournaments, but also travel. I played in several league seasons this year and during the off-season, I play Dungeon Bowl and Blitz Bowl. So, obviously, any work on BB models is time well spent.

However, I also want to paint up two Lion Rampant sides, two Ronin sides, two En Garde sides, a Dracula's America Posse, Post apocalyptic XR sides, another Gaslands gang, and am eyeing the Battletech Alpha Strike box.

The clear problem is not in painting these...but playing these. I don't doubt I couldn't find a player amongst my circle to come over and humor me so long as I had the minis, but even after over 30 years of playing BB (you'd think I'd be good at it by now), I still prefer to play it over most titles. So, it seems like a bunch of waste of time to sink into these other projects only to then reach for a Dungeon Bowl box or something when I have a free, unscheduled weekend.

Still, I have these other rulebooks. The minis. And I really appreciate thinking about them as hobby projects and playing them (especially LR and Ronin as the main two), but it seems like if they're only gonna get a small fraction of the play time, they should only get a small fraction of the hobby time. I mean, heck, I might be better off painting up frivolous thinkgs like DungeonBowl doorways than a warband for some other game.

I guess it's the problem of living in a BB rich area.

The other complication settling with me is that my son is only with us for about two and a half more years before he ships off to college. I kinda feel like hobby time away needs to be meaningful. Something that'll get used if I'm gonna spend that time apart. I dunno...

[Sgt_T]

The Too Fat Lardies Chain of Command Far East handbook is announced to be released in 2023, so I will be building and painting 28mm Japanese and Australians in the upcoming year.

Other miniatures in the painting queue are:
28mm Samurai,
28mm Cowboys,
28mm Mantic GCPS.

I hope to play more games in 2023. I read a post where the poster calculated the amount of games he would probably be able to play in his remaining years and concluded that he wouldn't be able to get all miniatures from his collection to show up in at least one game.
I fear I might be facing the same problem...

T.

[Mr. White]

I hope to play more games in 2023. I read a post where the poster calculated the amount of games he would probably be able to play in his remaining years and concluded that he wouldn't be able to get all miniatures from his collection to show up in at least one game.
I fear I might be facing the same problem...

This isn't quite a problem for me yet, but I'm very cognizant of it. I turn 48 in two days, and I want to be able to put my brushes into semi-retirement when I hit 50. Oh, I'll occasionally do up the odd couple of minis or small group here and there, but no more large projects or bulks of minis. From 50 on, I want to focus on actually playing games and shift that time I currently spend hobbying to taking care of my health and developing some other skills I haven't so far (such as playing a music instrument and being proficient in more languages).

So, 2023 and 2024 are going to be a bit of a hobby sprint for me.

With that, I've settled on my 2023 plan being lots of loose odds and ends:
* 2 Ronin Buntais
* Ronin terrain
* Dracula’s America Posse
* 2 En Garde warbands
* Battletech Alpha Strike Box (13 mechs)
* Another lance or star of BT
* 4 Blitz Bowl teams
* BzB terrain
* Finish out two DungeonBowl teams
* DungoenBowl terrain
* 1 Gaslands gang of 3 vehicles
* about 30-40 1/72 post apoc minis

2024 is gonna be two Lion Rampant warbands (English v Welsh) with auxiliary fantasy units for games of Dragon Rampant.

[CapnJim]

I don't set goals.  I have too many periods for which I have stuff to paint.   I choose a dozen or so minis, or a vehicle, or some terrain, to paint based on my whim of the day.  When they're done, I choose something else based on my whim of that day.  So we'll just have to see what I end up doing in 2023...

[mikedemana]

I choose a dozen or so minis, or a vehicle, or some terrain, to paint based on my whim of the day.  When they're done, I choose something else based on my whim of that day.

So, we should call you CapnWhim, not Jim?? 

Mike Demana

[CapnJim]

So, we should call you CapnWhim, not Jim?? 

You so funny...

[Vanvlak]

I plan about as much as a 2nd edition 40K ork.
I seem to have finally come to the realisation that real life will get in the way of anything more ambitious than planning to paint a couple of small foot troops or very small scale vehicles at any one time, I will leave planning for when I retire from work 

[The Voivod]

I have a new years resolutions of sorts...
Quantity over quality.
I'm going to get the vallejo xpress paint set and experiment with it and gets some bulk done.
I have several projects laying about waiting for the perfect paintjob, that is realistically never gonna happen and I decided I like "good enough" well enough.

So once I get the paint set I am going to paint my Zombicide and Dungeon Saga.
I might get into my Myth boardgame mini's should they arrive, but the main goal is painting a lot of stuff and not mind the tiny details. I still want them to look good, but I'm going to save my best for a selct couple of models.
Marvel Crisis Protocol and Masters of the Universe Battle ground at the moment.

I'm also focussing on finally getting some finished scenery sets.
I've grown a lot as a modeller/painter, but this means I've started to ask more an more of myself and this decreased my output tremendously.

So the theme for next year is going to be:"it doesn't have to be perfect."

[3Fingers2]

So far I have thought about selling everything and jacking in the hobby?

Projects I have thought about

40K Logan’s world
A GW confrontation type either hive or post apoc style?
A post apoc /neo Japan gang warfare maybe with Japanese folklore monsters thrown in .
Weird war Vietnam /Death in dark continent crossover idea .
Reliving my youth and doing Gw Dark future again .

[Khusru2]

Armchair general's first comment sums it up.
Other than that, expand your current armies or enemies thereof & terrain for those periods.
Game more than last year while thinking about 2024

[Robosmith]

I'm really bad at sticking with projects so I think big picture rather than small. This year I want to improve my photography, get an article published (not just the guest pages) and I want to work towards self publishing a painting guide.

That big picture lets me cheat on the little picture because any project can fit within the bigger picture so I can skip around and not feel like I did.