We’re two months into 2025, so I should probably talk about what I’ve been up to huh?

You may have seen my PAINT-REPs so far, covering two sets of figures from Spectre. I was hoping to have more than three figures painted so far but alas I’ve been suffering the malaise. Plenty of models on the desk but the excitement to actually apply brush to figure is lacking a little bit. I’m hoping that will be corrected soon, so I can get back to painting up everything I’m planning.

Okay, just going to very quickly sidestep away from the tiny mans to go over something else I’ve been doing.

I’ve really got into SP-Tarkov and Fika. Please allow me roughly 311 words to discuss this very definitely not a wargaming thing but has some links to the rest of my hobby.

Tarkov is something that I’ve owned since 2017 but absolutely hated playing online due to a variety of reasons – dodgy hit detection, the wipe system which doesn’t appeal due to my lack of time to play, the lack of an effective handle on the cheating populaiton and how aggressively sweaty much of the player base is. However, I think that it’s core is one of the best tactical shooter experiences, managing to be a much more complete game than other games such as Ground Branch or Ready or Not (or the 101 other Unreal Engine attempts people are making to fill the tactical space) It’s definitely got a learning wall that can cause people to bounce off it but for myself (and a few of those in my friendship group) we’ve really enjoyed getting into raids, sneaking around, getting into intense firefights and then frantically running to exfil covered in injuries and horribly dehyrdrated. In other words, it’s fun. It’s also just the right level of relaxing at the moment – it’s a chance to play with friends, while playing solo it’s bringing back the risk/reward play from another game that stole all of my hours…

So how does this link to Ultramodern gaming? Well, I think that the concept behind Tarkov is a fantastic way to get players interested in Ultramodern wargaming if you want to avoid larger conflicts without going too far into the STALKER/Zone style of games. Fighting through the post-EMP world of Tarkov, there are plenty of spaces for your highly trained operators sneaking around past local military and militia forces. It’s also the perfect setting for multiplayer games – two teams of operators, each figure’s equipment chosen for perfection and then the third player, pulling out individual figures from the figure case and going “huh that should work”. There is plenty to be playing around with.

Anyway, back to the real reason you guys are here, the tiny mans.

To start with, I had originally planned to go all in at the start of the year with the return to the moderns. However, it was only a few weeks in before someone started planning another big Old World event for our gaming group. This is a chance to get a big group of my friends (currently scattered all over the country) to come together in York to roll some dice and play some games. Old World is our current favourite game as a group, seemingly designed for a group of 30-year-olds who haven’t quite yet reached the Napoleonic era of wargaming but don’t want to get into Warhammer 40k. The plan is for three games in the day, with certain people not allowed to play each other to keep things exciting – for example, the Regular Opponents and myself have been practising with each other, so we’ll be trying to make sure we’re fighting different people.

I’ve written in the last few weeks about a whole selection of Combat Geometry posts. Now, originally I had planned ot have my entire force painted. The problem is I’ve had a real problem getting the motivation to sit down and paint – I’ve barely managed to do it during our Monday painting sessions (too busy writing news posts instead) and so it’s looking like I’ll be going into this event with only a partially painted force. Unless I magically get a load of stuff painted this week… Or I massively change my army composition..

However, once the Old World event is over, I’ll be returning to Ultramodern Wargaming Hard. The reason behind this is Project Elements, a ruleset that I’ve started working on during my ChargeReal writing. I’ve covered more details in a previously Patreon exclusive post (linked above and here) but basically it’s a quick to play platoon level game focused on encouraging realistic tactics and very customisable forces. The last point is specifically from it’s creation, giving me a ruleset to support the various forces I’ll be developing for ChargeReal.

And speaking of ChargeReal, I should probably talk about what I’ve been writing. Shyluz and its environs are still being worked on, but I must admit I can feel myself slowing on enthusiasm. A big part of this is because there is a lack of forces for it – I haven’t had a chance to sit down and set up both the Shyluz Recce Platoon and Dammed 44th figures. I’ll be initially kitbashing them, but there are a lot of specific items I’ll be needing to do a little work on before I’m truly happy with them.

While I work on the figures for Shyluz, I’m going to quickly get another region up and running to be home to all of my Project Elements games. With a wide selection of terrain and STLs suitable for a MENA style region, it’s highly likely we’ll be fighting in the Bazi Empire. I’ll be getting to work on that soon, as I’ve already written down a selection of platoon setup that might work for the region.

In addition to getting figures together, I’ve also started working on more terrain. Having sold off a chunk of my MDF, the next stage is replacing it with ready textured 3D prints. These pieces are from Urban Scatter Gaming and I’m pretty sure they are going to form the core of my new terrain collection. I haven’t had a chance to print more than just these test pieces., but I’m already very impressed with them – they fit together really well and come packed with plenty of details (both interior and exterior). The only downside is that I’m FDM printing them at a high level of detail, so each building takes a while, hence why I’m already starting printing even though I may not get to them for a month or two. The plan is for reasonable terrain density, with a mixture of buildings so I can do anything from close quarters engagements to more scattered compound arrangements. I’m really excited for the walls that USG has and I’m looking forward to getting them done on FDM. As much as I was excited for the greener Eastern European vibe, USG‘s work keeps pulling me back in… and we haven’t even talked about the hotels yet!

As an aside, I finally managed to actually play a tabletop wargame against my Dad. The last time we played miniatures gaming was back in the ancient times of 40k 3rd edition and our last game ended because I was being a horrible little cheater in the way only a child can. However, I’ve grown up since then and with the rise of various tabletop games, I decided it was time to try again. Turns out my Dad still has the skills and managed to absolutely trounce me in two games of Halo Flashpoint. I look forward to playing more, and maybe even get him into other games such as BPRE or my Project Elements when it’s a bit further on.

As you can see, my initial planning for the year went out the window within seconds of the year starting. However, the plan is to claw it back, as motivation has returned for my own projects. I’m hoping to have a few more games up on the page within the next two months, hopefully trying out my own rules and beginning that long process.

For now though, I have some painting to do…

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