2024 in Review: Miniature Wargaming

I picked up Midgard: Heroic Battles today, after doing some shopping at CanCon. I now have ideas for about a dozen more projects...

stay focused: this is the current work-in-progress

Every hobbyist struggles with distraction, but the past year has seen the pressure ramp up even more than usual. Two sets of temporary promotions, personal issues - oh, right and my beautiful son, whose eyes glow in the daylight.

bad selfie from last week

Still, let's try to get more thoroughly back into the hobby that I, y'know, love. Let's review 2024.

January 2024

Through December 2023, I spent a lot of effort into adding transfers and finishing touches to my Mantis Warriors Space Marines. I didn't post any of the work here, as I intend to do a big project reveal when they're finished (six vehicles planned...), but it was actually surprisingly productive!

I also shifted my entire hobby room in preparation for Mr Wriggles (see below), but I did manage to get a small command squad for my Squats done:

Warmaster Gorun, Mjǫllnir Brotherhood, Fourth Grand Clan Army, accompanied by his húskarlar.

Oldhammer fans may recognise the inspiration behind the Warmaster. 

Warmaster Gorun, Squat Commander
(c) Games Workshop

I slightly edited the scheme to match my own, but made sure to keep his big orange fist the same. This was intended for The Ashes of Armageddon collaborative project, although I think the project has lost a little steam.

February 2024

Let's see. February saw more Mantis Warriors upgrades and a few new models. These included a veteran who (until recently) was the winner of the most-liked post on Instagram, a lieutenant, and a vehicle that had been on my painting table and carried around in a little box for something like four years.

Command Squad veteran

Lieutenant

Land Speeder (Storm variant)

March 2024

Not a productive month. I painted one civilian. I also had a great game of 6th edition Warhammer fantasy, allying my wood elves with LM's new Empire project against a mutual friend. As LM's humans weren't yet painted, I didn't do an after action report, but it was a fun game. Have some photos.

falconers in the forest

Chaos lurks

Skaw duels a Champion of Tzeentch

Wardancers

THE FINGER OF CHAOS

It was so good to play a rank-and-flank again. Like breathing clean air after a long time in a city. Also a game without re-rolls! Luck actually meant something! It was great fun.

Sadly, it was intended to be the opening clash in a campaign, but I straight-up couldn't commit to another local game for months after this. ):

Just before the month closed, I happened to visit Sydney, where I helped a friend of mine playtest a post-Event miniatures game he'd been working on. The day wasn't a complete success, but we were able to give him some useful feedback - and C. is a real gem to spend time with.

the terrain was a lot of fun

hovering cityscape!

somethin' bad happened here

farmhouse looks quiet, don't it

intrepid adventurers

flooded farmland

boars

river-eye-view

April 2024

I turned 40! But before then, I finished all the catch-up I had planned on the Mantis Warriors by finishing the very last unit - converted scout bikers I'd had planned (and the kits for) for years. I even finished a Rhino transport!  

Mantis Warriors, Tenth Company

Mantis Warriors, Third Company, Second Squad + Rhino

And apparently posted hours before my son's birth, I finished a second dreadnought for the Mantis:

Revered Ancient Kamacuras, interred in a Furibundus-class dreadnaught.

On 30 April, 2024, I started a 1:1 scale miniature project: Arthur Peregrine.

he was too little for the cot!

now he's huge!

May 2024

While my partner was convalescing, I bought and started working on a Predator kit. There's not a lot to do when you're waiting for the baby to wake between feeds and your partner is also resting, and I wanted something to keep me occupied.

Predator Annihilator نمشة (Nimcha), attached to the 3rd Company, Mantis Warriors

And then I actually build and painted the Middlehammer Whirlwind I'd had sitting around for like three years.

Whirlwind Tất Thắng, attached to the 3rd Company, Mantis Warriors

I also finished a bunch of gnomes, but I'll go into that in June...

June-July 2024

The end of May and start of June saw me nearly finish my old gnome project. I simply ran out of gnomes! The weather also turned decidedly crispy, so I focused my attention on sculpting some horrible things for the Death Guard. I wouldn't finish them for months, though.

At the end of July, I did find this in my terrain pile and so painted it up. It was acquired from a friend, so it was not built the way I'd have built it but I managed to crust it up in a fairly satisfying manner:

whatever that tank stores sucks

August 2024

I got the last of those gnomes painted! And had that game of Battletech!

Confrontation at Crescent City

Guild of Shoemakers, Curriers, and Tanners

I also kitbashed and painted a full unit of seven Blightlord Terminators, led by Aspiring Champion-Sergeant Sānchóng. The post about these guys marked the return to blogging!

Squad Sānchóng

September 2024

..which I then immediately failed to do in September, when I finished my #turnip28 regiment. Stalled for something like three years because of an inability to print the damn banners and then I don't even post about it. Shame.

Триста Тридцать Третий Репки Родины
[trans. 333rd Turnips of the Motherland]

I also finished off the first of the new Death Guard vehicles, the stock Hellbrute:

he's actually very friendly if you get to know him

October - December 2024

Mars-pattern Rhino transports

Walkers

That's pretty much the year. October through December you already know; I finished five more nightmarish machines and then went on holidays to the United States. Arthur's first plane rides (he did very well).

I don't really want to go into details here about the trip, but have some fun photos of corrosion I took for reference:

And this amazing saddle at the Met, with #blanchitsu checkmark detailing.

dang it, i forgot to photograph the caption

Come to think of it, 2024 might have been pretty productive after all.

For 2025, I am trying to stay focused. As you can probably tell, early in 2024 I decided to pivot to staying as project-focused as possible. While I have lots of ideas for armies or skirmish forces or Blood Bowl teams or entire re-enactment scenarios or campaigns or --- ahem --- if I stay focused, I can not only get more done, but I can knock some things away. Which is very satisfying.

Death Guard soon. Then a distraction project. (I'm only mortal!) Then hopefully finishing another big project. The irony, of course, is that the 40k Death Guard were themselves originally a minor distraction project - "I'd like to paint those old plastics," I said to myself...

Okay, fine. Enough. Time to work on that Plagueburst Crawler.... ooh, what's this over here...