Retrospective

2023 Hobby Year in Review

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This is the tenth time I’ve written one of these retrospectives. 2023 was less productive than recent years, though there’s good reason for that.

Overview

My family and I moved to a new city this year. Part of the process involved moving into temporary housing for several months. That meant closing down hobby at the end of January, not to resume until July. I had enough of a backlog posting models to keep the weekly schedule here.

I attended Adepticon during the limbo period. It was fun, as always, but felt strange, since anything I bought would go straight into storage. That didn’t stop me, though, as the backlog chart shows.

We set up my new hobby space in the new house. It’s a section of the finished basement walled off with rolling wire shelves. We even installed a vent for the airbrush hood. Now fully operational, most of the gaming and hobby has been towards Shatterpoint.

Shatterpoint has been at a local shop. My daughter, Ruth, comes along. It’s been a bit of an adjustment from years of garage games with a regular parter. The shop organizes pairings, which has been great. On the downside, that means I haven’t been able to scratch my indie game itch.

Another casualty of the move is the weekly RPG with the kids. The momentum was lost when we went to temporary housing, and we haven’t gotten it back.

Total: 152 models, a 27% decrease from last year, and tied for 2016.

  • 68 Shatterpoint
  • 14 Carnevale
  • 15 Relicblade
  • 6 Arena Rex
  • 19 Malifaux
  • 7 Bushido
  • 23 other

Shatterpoint

Shatterpoint has been my post-move gaming and hobby focus. I went to a demo with my daughter, Ruth, and since then we’ve been regulars at the weekly shop. I provide the models, though Ruth wanted to paint her widgets. It’s been a lot of fun to share gaming with her. Ruth’s schedule will shift in a few months, which will mean some kind of change for Thursday Shatterpoint.

Carnevale

I started playing Carnevale with my garage gaming buddy last year. We managed to get through the intro and Doctor’s campaign before I moved out of town. I haven’t yet found a new random-skirmish-game partner, so I’m not sure how much Carnevale is in my future.

Relicblade

Relicblade has some staying power. The most recent wave of Kickstarter releases came a bit too late to get painted up before I had to shut down hobby for the move, though I’ve since picked it back up. It’s a solo game mode, though I still haven’t actually played it.

  • Path of the Adversary Paragons
    • Lady Blackstone
    • Cricket
    • Illika
    • Hellebore of Thog
    • Griksek Kreskek
  • Aug-Suul faction set
    • Clan Chieftain
    • Clan Iron Worker
    • Clan Warriors
  • Aug-Suul others
    • Augaroth Gorgon
    • Clan Seer
    • Eyes of Augoroth
    • Lizard Hounds

Arena Rex

I’ve been steadily painting my way through the Arena Rex range. This year I finally got through it all (excluding the terrain sets and the 75mm Lupa). I’m eager for new releases.

Malifaux

Malifaux has been back burnered for a while. 2022 I didn’t paint a complete a single model. But for 2023, I did a few boxes.

Bushido

I’ve only played a few Bushido games, but I couldn’t help myself and bought some Descension at Adepticon this year.

Other

And there’s always more. Moonstone has been on my radar for many many years, and this year I finally got enough to play a game. I backed the latest Moonstone Kickstarter, so I’ll have a lot more in a few months. Crisis Protocol slowed down, but I did paint the massive Quinjet. It’s so massive I can’t take proper pictures of it in my light tent.

Looking to 2024

Depending on how the schedule sorts out, 2024 might still be focused on Shatterpoint. I’m definitely excited about some original trilogy models. But I’m hoping to keep gaming with Ruth, so maybe it’ll be something else.

I’ve been neglecting my home solo minis games. The new Don’t Look Back just arrived, with a big pile of minis to paint up. I should do more Rangers of Shadowdeep. There’s also Forbidden Psalm and Relicblade solo waiting for me.

In non-minis solo gaming, I’ve had a lot of fun with Final Girl and still have a lot of the Series 2 scenario book to work through. I’ve also recently psyched myself up about the Arkham Horror card game. I’m looking forward to playing some of the new campaigns I got cheap on black Friday.

I’d like to figure out some way to play random smaller games again. I’m sure I could find a partner if I put myself out there. But then again, I don’t really have time for all the other stuff I’ve listed, so maybe that won’t happen.

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