Targets acquired!

On reflection the setting of self-imposed targets for the year was all well and good, but they needed to have an achievable goal.   Mine, it would appear, have only served to confirm my love of all things shiny; a thinly veiled excuse that allows me to pick and choose from a wonderfully broad spectrum.  That said from a hobby viewpoint 2012 was an absolute blast!  My general standard of painting has improved and while there will always be room for improvement, I feel that I’ve reached a level of consistency with the brush that gives me a great deal of satisfaction.   Maintaining a credible level of posts throughout the course of the year was also important and this in turn has seen page views and followers increase.  

For myself, and many others, one of the most wonderful byproducts of this most wholesome of hobbies is the camaraderie that is shared amongst fellow hobbyists and bloggers.  This was highlighted when a group of complete strangers agreed to meet up at a wargaming convention; the sort of scenario, many would have instructed their offspring to avoid at all costs, but not us!  The 'event' was coordinated by those titans of the blogosphere, Fran (the Angry Lurker) and Ray (Don't throw a 1) and I'm jolly glad I took them up on their invitation to come and say, "hello!"  It is difficult to explain why this tickled me so much, perhaps it was simply putting faces to names that helped to make the hobby real, but whatever the reason I'm looking forward to repeating the experience and perhaps meeting up with a few more erstwhile gentlemen this year - I must, however avoid been led astray by Dave 'One man and his brushes' Docherty as I graze up and down the many aisles of lovely shiny things!  

August saw the 'Tale of 3 Painters’ lift off.  This was a charity painting event conceived and run by Mike ‘The Dark Templar’ Reynolds.  To have the opportunity to do something like this and work alongside the likes of Mike and the hugely talented Andy Walker from the 'Lair of the Breviks' was such an honour and a wonderful learning experience.  I can't sing Mike's praises enough as not only was this his brainchild, but his boundless enthusiasm for the project saw him pop round to ‘Awdry Towers' for a cup of tea before travelling half way round the country, all in the name of charity - a more charming chap you couldn't wish to meet.

Other highlights included having a piece of work nominated for the 'Santa Cruz Warhammer Honor Roll' (my goodness that got the page views up a bit!) and a name check in 'Wargames Illustrated'. (oh yes I did, check out issue 298, page 66 - blink and you miss it but it was there none the less!)  The Liebster awards were another tremendous opportunity for us all to give a virtual nod to some of our favourite blogs, the difficulty for me been deciding which ones to nominate.  I have to confess that there is little, more cherished than the praise of your peers and I was again truly humbled by the kind words and support shown by so many - thank you all that nominated '28mm Victorian Warfare' for an award.

More recently getting involved in the '3rd Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge' is a wonderful opportunity to be part of something much wider, reaffirming that we are all part of a much greater  community of like minded souls.  The colossal amount of work that Curt is undertaking as part of this is simply breathtaking, as indeed are many of the entries, all have my admiration!

To continue to have fun may have been pretty vague as targets go, but was a resounding success!  On a more practical level keeping all initial projects going but with some form of target setting put in place,  proved a tad ambitious.  Although all these  targets were met – just about –  towards the end, I did find myself painting miniatures just to reach a target and this didn’t seem to embrace the ethos that I had set out to foster.  The only negative this year would be the lack of actual gaming.  Certainly there was a willingness to embrace this and more rule sets were bought, briefly looked at then filed away for future reference as I decided to use the available time for more painting.  This is an area that needs to be nurtured and I have definite plans to meet expectations this year – honest!

So what about targets for 2013?  Initially, I hope to reach my par score (500 points) in the challenge, this will involve me been relatively focussed until March!  After that I have decided to have very few actual prescriptive targets other than the following:

1. Play some games!
2. Maintain a credible level of posts throughout the course of the year. 
3. Attend at least one convention/exhibition/expo this year.
4. Investigate the possibility of a dedicated hobby space, here at 'Awdry Towers'.
5. Setting up the 'Command Stand', a bespoke painting service, initially conceived by my good friend the 'Provost Marshal'.  I envisage this been very much for fun than any real financial gain, but more importantly it will give us an excuse to discuss ideas over a jar or two on fine ale.
6. 'Operation Otter', an off-shoot of the 'secret project' - more details to come!

and most importantly, continue to have fun!

All that remains is an unashamed reposting of some of my personal highlights from 2012, after all every post needs a picture or fifty!

An Unexpected Journey

A belated 'Happy New Year' to one and all!  I appreciate that we are all but half way through the month, but things have not gone quite according to plan here at 'Awdry Towers' and as a result we are somewhat a tad behind schedule.

Christmas came and went and it was wonderful to spend this most reflective of holidays catching up with family and friends.  I was once again spoilt rotten but the family decided to avoid further additions to the lead pile, but instead other distractions were found for yours truly one such being the marvellous, 'Lego, Lord of the Rings' game for the Wii.  Now, I have no qualms about admitting my apparent addiction to these childish adventure games as they are quite charming, but alas quite absorbing.  So absorbing that the week after Christmas, that I had tentatively planned to crack on with the painting challenge, duly disappeared as I hacked my way across Middle Earth!  

With the return to work, I am glad to report that I have also returned to the painting table and hope to have evidence of my endeavours for you before too long.  In the interim I took advantage of the 'North Star Military Figures' January sale and picked up a couple of half priced sets of rules ('Bog-a-ten' and 'Death  in a Dark Continent') and a mystery bag of miniatures - more on those at a later date.  

Finally it may not have escaped some that my presence, in the form of comments left on posts, has somewhat diminished of late.  I hope this to be a temporary aberration as I try to get back on track with the painting, but rest assured I am still spending time lurking around the many blogs that I so enjoy following.