2022 is over and a new one has begun! Traditionally, at this point, I’d break out the stats and graphs, show you the diagrams, and then talk about the plans I have for the year. Then we’d laugh at all the stuff I promised I’d do last year and then didn’t get around to, slap me on the back, and look forward to doing it all again next year.
Well, this year is a touch different. You may have noticed that I’m in the process of moving (Yep, even I’m getting bored of talking about it) so pretty much all my hobby gear is either packed away or waiting to be put into a box. Combined with this, I’m actually going away for a week with my family in the middle (which I’ve coincided with some work I need to do on the new house anyway) so my timetable is a little compressed, to put it mildly.
Putting it all together, this means that the blog will take a little break until the middle of next month. Ideally, I’ll be done sooner (and with a nice big desk to work on) so I can finally change that top update image to something more interesting and less “boring desk”. When I come back though, I have some plans.
Goal 1 – Paint more Minis
Ooo how original. He wants to paint more minis, really pushing the boat out there huh? Real Original.
Funny, but listen. One thing you get when packing is an appreciation of just how much stuff you have. I’ve been going through, packing stuff away, and realising how many figures I have currently unpainted that I’m really excited to actually paint. Things like the Greater Demon or the Morathi in giant snake form are challenges I haven’t attempted yet while ranges like the White Dragon British are big gaps waiting to be painted. My database of figures was paused updating but I’m currently sitting at around 47% painted. I want to make a significant dent in this, and seeing as figure buying money is going to be limited going forward (again, the house has its needs) now seems a good time to focus on Painting rather than Purchasing.
Goal 2 – Organise my Collection
The figure count however is only one part of my collection woes. The other parts are named “Tracking”, “Bases” and “Storage”.
Tracking is something I’ve been keen on doing since I first did a figure census back in January 2018. Previously I’ve managed to keep on top of it all, updating the database whenever I’d do anything with my figures in a good routine. That was, up until late last year where SUDDENLY my brain had other things to be worried about and I lost track of it all. Because of this, getting back on the tracking horse is important.
One thing my tracking has brought up is I currently have four different base types in my collection (GW, Necromunda, MDF disks and Warlord slim bases). There used to be another type (Renadra plastic) but they were replaced with GW-style bases on my fantasy figures. Frankly, as I’ve moved into 3D printing, it makes more sense to standardise on one base style (well technically two but Necromunda is just fancy GW bases). Another reason for this standardisation is that GW bases are cheap, easily delivered and have enough space to attach magnets.
Both of these points tie into the final part, Storage. At the moment, most of my figures live in KR Case Foam, stored in various outer boxes – which was fine when I moved as I was able to pack them all up in one go. However, a key word here was “most” – since 2020 I’ve bought quite a few models including some at a size that does not fit in any of the cases I have. So basically, I’m going to have to do some taxi runs to move a large amount of my collection around.
Another issue with storage is that frankly, I have no idea where half my figures are. The KR Case Foam is good for transport but a pain in the ass for pulling out models for a game due to the whole “being opaque foam” thing. This means that hunting down figures involves tearing my way through the transport case, pulling out the interior cardboard containers and then going through the individual layers.
The plan for storage is to move over to the sensible wargamer approach of Really Useful boxes, fillers and magnet sheets. By moving to lots of smaller boxes, figure locations can then be added to the database and tracked, making assembling forces far simpler while still making them easy to move around. And then I have a load of KR Cases to sell (so talk to me if you have a need for good transport cases).
Is this a lot? Yes. Will it be useful and stop me from wondering where the hell models are? Probably.
Goal 3 – Improve ChargeBlog
One thing I realised going through the transfer of this blog is just how much of a mess ChargeBlog itself is. In part due to the fact the blog is almost 10 years old and almost 600 posts (591 including this one) deep, things are starting to creak slightly. I think what is worse is the fact that the site is very much stitched together from things I found on the internet, leading to a look that could be best summed up as “a mess”.
This goes double for my attempts at YouTube. I’m very interested in moving forward with the weekly update vlogs once I’m settled in, as well as trying to push harder on the longer videos. I’ve already got some great audio recordings for a more documentary-style video covering Black Powder Red Earth’s background, but it’s a project I just want to do right. On top of that, having more space means I should be able to get a little more creative with the video, especially if SOMEONE gets around to doing Goal 5 down there.
The overall plan? Do a proper maintenance pass on the blog’s installation, then another pass on the posts to make sure all of them are in a fit state to be read (targeting missing categories or broken images). Then work on assembling a common set of assets and visuals for the blog and the YouTube channel to get it all looking professional and synced.
Goal 4 – Get Moving On My Creative Projects
This should technically be multiple goals but I’m going to shove them together. I have a few creative projects on the go and this year I’d like to see some more movement on them
Ultramodern Chain of Command
I mentioned this first of all this time last year and even got a few good battles in with it. However, the events of last February definitely kicked my motivation to model modern-day near-peer conflicts to the kerb. However, my inspiration has returned and my last few games of Chain of Command have definitely had me more interested in getting back to it. There are so many tools in that ruleset to model the various different forces available, as well as providing a size of game that there isn’t really a ruleset on the market that does.
Write a Ruleset
I’ve been bouncing around a few ruleset ideas, as every wargamer does. However, rather than trying to aim for “THE MOST REALISTIC ULTRAMODERN” set (which let’s be fair, there are several very good options for that I could pick off the shelf right now if I wanted a game of that), I’m going to lean more towards making a Cinematic Game. Building your force from combinations of groups of Extras, Minor and Major characters, throwing in cards to affect the battlefield and throw curveballs for players to react to and then (hopefully) ending up with you discussing the heroic moments after the game ends, looking forward to how it affects the next episode/scene I MEAN battle. Honestly, it’s mostly just an exercise for my own benefit and it probably won’t see any form of properly published release.
Unless, of course, it’s used as a test bed for my final project…
ChargeReal
The big endgame is more work on the ChargeReal. More nations, more history, more details. Bazistan is well on its way as the basic setup, but there is a whole world that needs building. It’s like building a tapestry – I have one section that’s well on its way but there are all sorts of dangling threads (the Albion Civil War, the pirate nation of Libertalia and it’s PMC groups) that I really want to weave together. It’s taking inspiration from the events of recent history but providing another setting to use it.
I need to stress this – the ChargeReal is the long game. Like “haha wouldn’t it be funny if my retirement is just me writing non-fiction books about a fictional world” levels of long game. This is going to be a big project, a chance to play with all the tools and toys I like and get them into a new world. There are all sorts of cool ideas bouncing around my head that I’d like to play around with.
For example, one day I’d love to make some ChargeReal figures – what started off as a way to use whatever figures I wanted in my games has evolved into wanting to use a lot of late 1990s/early 2000s aesthetics, including a lot of prototypes that never saw the light of day as the Cold War ended (I blame someone specifically for putting these ideas in my head (he knows who he is)). There are also some setups or kits I already have in mind – one of the units I’m coming up with is the various Albion Civil War Militias, which would be a chance for a rag-tag group using Albion state arms (L85s, FALs, AR and maybe even some weirder kit) combined with semi-professional sets of fatigues and web gear. I like the AR15/Fast Helmet/Plate Carrier look as much as anyone but there are so many figures filling that niche which are just the same with one or two minor tweaks, which to be fair is accurate to how modern units are looking – a look and gear set has evolved for the modern day. So, if by some miracle I do decide to make figures myself (looking at the list of lessons you can learn from how other people have released their figures), it might be something completely weird.
One thing I appreciate about ChargeReal is that I am taking step by step away from pure Ultramodern gaming and further into the alternative reality. It may not be to everyone’s taste but it’s something that I’m finding enjoyable to work on and hopefully will be entertaining for others.
Goal 5 – Paint my MDF Buildings
It’s become a meme among my group of wargaming friends about my unpainted housing collection. I need to get all the MDF I’ve been dragging around painted up and ready for the table. My main problem was one of space to actually work on them, seeing as my hobby desk was the same as my computer desk. The other issue was finding all the right greebles needed to turn the MDF cubes into actual MENA buildings.
Well in the new place, I’ve got both a big separate desk for hobbying on and two 3d printers ready to print off junction boxes, water tanks and more. It also helps my DMZ habit has had me staring at MENA-style buildings and not just adobe huts) for several hours a day – it’s a great tool for showing how to detail relatively simple spaces into more. The time using the BPRE templates is also illuminating just how much MDF buildings need interiors. Combining these together, I’ve got some motivation to finish off my terrain.
These are some pretty wide-ranging goals but they are also quite open-ended – I don’t expect to finish them all this year. But, it is a list of things to focus on, and hopefully they should be goals to strive for while also keeping the excitement for the hobby up.