2012 and 2013 No Yearbooks

I have not made a yearbook post since the end of 2011. That is sad. The biggest reason is that I lost track of doing On The Table Now posts and Finished posts. Without those, I can't keep track of what I have done over the year. I am painting a lot more than I post about. I've just gotten lazy.

So, we're turning over a new leaf here at TMM Blog. I am not a big fan of New Year resolutions, but let's make some promises to ourselves and by the tears of Sanguinius let's keep them!

1. Take a picture of everything you finish and post it.


2. Play more expansions like Stronghold Assault, Escalation as well as older ones like Spearhead and Cityfight.

3. Finish what you already have and stay off eBay.

4. Continue to trade on Bartertown but be sure to always get a great deal and don't buy anything!

5. Make more editorial posts like commenting on the state of the hobby, news or books.

6. Make more conversion and step-by-step articles. Also, keep in mind to write them so that they are easily searchable.

7. Post more minis to Cool Mini or Not.



Now, let's take a look way way back to the last I set some goals and see if I managed to do any of those things in the 2 years that elapsed.


"1. Start a new army (Nids, Tau, Space Wolves, Sisters and Orks all in boxes) and paint it to a playable size (~1500 points)"

I gave up on Tyranids and am currently trying to sell off my few minis. I plan on doing Orks later and one horde army is more than enough. I have not started Orks but I have collected them. Perhaps a new codex would jazz me up. Speaking of new Codex,  I restarted my Tau army in the frenzy of their 6th Ed release.I also painted quite a few Space Wolves to just under 1,500 points. I am really proud of them. I started a color scheme for the Sisters army but it never went further than test models. I may sell them off too and wait for plastic Sisters which have to be on the way sometime, right? Right??!?!?

"2. Paint some vehicles! 2012 is the year of the vehicle! Need to paint the three Rhinos on the desk, a Vindicator and as many Drop Pods as I can get to."

I have painted some vehicles since the end of 2011. I painted one Rhino as well as bits to turn it into a Whirlwind and a Stalker. I also painted a Vindicator which I am really proud of. The mini looks good and it is one of the few vehicles I field regularly in 6th edition. I finished a Necron Ghost Ark and started an epic post about it before losing interest and giving up. I also finished a Necron Triarch Stalker and magnetized some of its weapons. While note precisely a vehicle, I did finish an aegis Defense Line and Quad-gun. Also in the category of not quite a vehicle, I finished a Grey Knight Dreadknight. Currently I have nothing else on the table that counts as a vehicle. there is that same Drop Pod that has been sitting on my desk half-painted since 2011. I also have a Tau bomber on the way that I am super-excited about.

"3. Get some transport for figs. Need to place first Battlefoam order and get some transports for my TMM."

I did get some Battlefoam! Unfortunately, I did it in a stupid way. I thought I would be sneaky and get a bunch of smaller transports that come together to form Voltron. Problem is, that is a really pricey way to do that and not very functional. What I really want is a PACK 720 in red and I'll fill it with custom foam as I finish things.

"4. Do something other than 40k. There is Warmachine, Fantasy, et al out there. I should maybe pick up a new game."

I did this for a little. I gave Fantasy a try and even bought the BRB. I really did not like it. I found it like racquetball and tennis in that playing one messes up your came in the other. I kept getting WFB and 40k rules confused. Eventually, I traded the BRB and the Vampires for some Tau. Got a shitty deal too.

"5. Learn to paint some new colors. Yellow and purple are high on the list. I also want to work more greens into my metals and learn to paint patina and rust better."

I am going to call this one a fail. I made an attempt at purple but am far from mastering it. I never really attempted yellow but I have a better understanding of it with using it a secondary color on the Space Wolves. I hope to use it more when I start Orks. As far as patina and rusts, I think the new technical paints will help with that.

"6. Get more gaming in. I've fallen out of playing and that's not cool. I played 4 games last year but enjoyed them all. It is just a function of going down to the gaming store with an army and rolling some dice."

Big win here. I've played a bunch with Keith but not many other people. the few times I did, I really did not enjoy them much. Once was with an aspy Ork player that knew neither his army nor the rules very well. The next time was a Dark Eldar player that seemed like a nice guy but was a little too WAAC for my tastes. It is hard to branch out with such negative reinforcement for an already unpleasant activity.

I do have a bead on a 40k group at Meetup.com. They seem like a nice group of folk and it would be nice to test my skills out against new people and armies. I am going to their next meeting.


All told, I call that a pretty successful year. Even if it did take me two years to get back on schedule. This next year is going to be full of changes as I am moving across the country again. We all saw how disruptive moving was to my blogging when I moved in with my girlfriend (and now fiance).

We'll just have to see.