A longer post today – this is when I’d typically want to do a reflection on the first quarter of the year (it’s gone that fast already??!?) but due to my taking a break from painting and blogging for a couple of months between November and January and then really only getting back into the swing of things in February, I thought I’d do the 2023 reflection when we got to the end of March instead of in mid-Feb. How well did even that work out?

Given that the date this one goes live is in the final stretch of April, It’s really going to be more of a 1/3 of the year reflection than the quarterly reflection planned originally. Yeah, the combination of work and working out regularly is pretty exhausting these days.

Regardless, March’s models went pretty well. A very CMON-heavy month once again with all but one of these miniatures (the Endless Spell) being from them.

We’ve got a trio of models for Marvel United, as well as a selection of regular Zombicide Survivors and Zombvivors – with some proxy work in there.

More Toxic Zombies with the Runners finally completed as well as a nice batch of 15 Zombie Crowz.

A decent selction of Marvel Zombies bystanders – which have been getting a lot of use in our games of late…

The final set of Investigators from Cthulhu: Death May Die’s Season 1 and 2.

This comes to a total of 48 models for March – and sure, there’s some batch paint bulk in there with the Crowz, but even without them it’s a decent lot done. Add those to the 42 painted in Jan-Feb and we have 90 models done at the end of March – which was the 91st day of the year this (leap) year – so I’d “caught up” more or less with my basic target of 365 models per year.

And now, I guess it’s time to look and see how I did by the end of 2023 on last year’s goals:

• Paint all of the remaining Models from Zombicide 1st Edition – all expansions, all add-ons. This one is a big call, so I’m going to break it up into smaller sub-goals that are more achievable.
• Finish painting all of the alreadly-opened Survivors from Zombicide. (I know which ones I mean!) – I’ll reset this one to the primed ones in the tub right now.
• Partial. Let’s be real. I got a lot of survivors painted last year, but there’s a lot of these models!

• Finish painting all the Zombie Dogz from Zombicide. Setting this for January and (spoiler alert) I got it done.
• COMPLETED. (holy shit was that over a year ago now?!)

• Paint all of the Toxic Zombies from Zombicide Toxic City Mall. 
• FAIL. I only got a few of the Runners painted in 2023. This is one for 2024.

• Paint all of the Skinner Zombies from Zombicide Rue Morgue. 
• Nope. They come after the Toxics.

• Paint all of the Seeker Zombies from Zombicide Angry Neighbours. 
• Nope. They also come after the Toxics.

• Paint all of the remaining Guest Artist Boxes from Zombicide Seasons 1-3
• Nope. Gotta finish the opened, primed ones first.

• Finish painting all of my Last Night On Earth Models. At this point, it’s just a bunch of hero models. If I want to “stretch goal” this, I can move onto the stuff from LNoE’s sister game – Invasion from Outer Space. Carried over from 2022.
• Nope. Haven’t played this game in a long time, and didn’t get any more done in 2023

• Try and paint all of the remaining monster models from the Dungeons & Dragons Legend of Drizzt boardgame. (Adventurers or Proxy Adventurers optional) Carried over from 2021-22.
• COMPLETED – Was working on “Stretch Goals” for this in the form of improved models for some of the heroes. No thanks to GF9.

• Paint an entire boardgame that’s not specifically mentioned here.
• COMPLETED (sorta) – I got those two Marvel games painted for the school group in August, but they’re not for me, so they only sort-of count. I never got those last few D&D models done for whichever game that one was.

• Paint some boardgame expansions that are not specifcically mentioned here – big ones, small ones, doesn’t matter – and the more the merrier!
• COMPLETED. Well, technically at least. I got the final models from the Mythic Battles: Pantheon – Echidna’s Children Boxed Set completed, so that counts. Didn’t get any beyond that.

• Keep plugging away at my Marine and Chaos Marine “Combat Patrols” of 2 squads + hero, vehicle and Dreadnought – as well as adding to the forces that are past that point. I’m going to specificlaly name and sub-goal some. Maybe the specific accountability will remind/prompt/motivate me for that sweet dopamine rush of completion a few times? – These were mostly fails, but I did at least make some headway on the Orky models in there!
• Finish the Squad of Primaris Minotaurs – Nope.
• Paint the Minotaurs Shield-Captain – Nope.
• Finish the Squad of 2nd-3rd Edition Iron Warrior Berserkers – Nope.
• Finish the Squad of RT-Era Ultramarines – Nope.
• Finish the Mob of RT-Era Orks – partial. I got a couple of those done by the end of the year.
• Finish the Mob of Plastic Boyz – COMPLETED
• Finish the Mob of AoBR Nobz – COMPLETED
• Finish the Mob of Killa Kanz – Nope.
• Finish the Minotaurs Redemptor Dreanought – Nope.
• Finish my Orc and Khemri Blood Bowl Teams that have been WIP/Semi-complete since the 1990’s/2000’s. Then I can either move onto more of the classic models, or delve into some of the “new” teams. (from 2016+) – Nope.

• Sort out a couple of cars finally for Gaslands. Recycled again from 2021.
• Nope.

• I’d like to get at least one of my much larger terrain pieces or projects done (tile sets, castles, etc) by year’s end, even if it crosses over the next summer break into 2024.
• Partial. I completed a bunch of tiles, but still have a bunch more that I never finished.

• Paint 2-4 Warhammer Underworlds warbands, so I can finally start playing the game. I’ll keep this one wholesale from 2021-2.
• Nope.

• Do something with/for War Cry. I’ll keep this one wholesale from 2021-22.
• Nope.

• Actually PLAY some Blood Bowl and/or Blitz Bowl, small-scale 40k, Kings of War, War Cry, Combat Patrol, Middle-Earth SBG, Kill-Team, Gaslands, Tanks!, Flames of War, Team Yankee. I have lots of small-scale and skirmish games. It’d be nice to play some of them. Yep, Play More Miniatures Games and Board Games. I’ll keep this one again from 2021-22
• Nope.

• Finish my 15mm DAK force for Flames of War. Sadly, I didn’t quite get this one one, but it’s something achievable for 2023.
• Nope. The infantry should only take a weekend or so, but like so many things on this list, I need to choose these on a weekend instead of one of the many other things on this same list…

• Finish my 15mm British 8th Army force for Flames of War. There’s a lot more work in this one than finishing the DAK. Also a big difference betwene properly playable and finished.
• Nope. Want to finish the Germans first.

• Start (or hopefully finish) one of the four other Mid-War forces for Flames of War that I’m wanting to get done. This will be tricky, I already have a lot on this list, but it would be nice to finish an additional force.
• Nope. After the 8th Army.

• Review all of the 15mm scenery I’ve picked up. This is good “filler” content for when I’m keen to get blog posts up but not in a painting mood. Obviously it’s going to play second fiddle to painting as much as possible, so we’ll see how this one goes.
• Nope. It requires more mental energy than I seem to have available.

• Weather/repaint all of the 15mm scenery I’ve picked up. Again, it makes great content for when I’m not getting all that much painted, but it still requires time to concentrate on typing blog posts.
• Nope. These can be chipped away at with the above goal.

• Try to review some more of the other hobby-adjacent stuff I have – Art books, Helmets, Video Games. I’ll keep this one. It’s enjoyable to do something different, but time is as always the issue.
• Nope. Low priority for my available time.

• Complete those winged models (I know which ones I mean!) I may even be able to get this one done in 2023…
• Nope. Low priority, really.

• Start and finish those Dwarves with the chains and the hammerheads (I know which ones I mean) I still can’t find them, which really sucks.
• Nope. Could not find them – I found them in March 2024, so maybe next year?

• Finish those three bits of scenery still sitting in The Tray. They’re for two different games, but they need to be focused on and finished.
• Partial. The Crisis Protocol Taxis were two of those. One left to go!

• Paint some more Beastmen…
• DONE. There’s always more to do, but I got a fair few of them done in 2023, and I’m happy about that.
  …and some Chaos Dwarves… – Nope.
  …and a few more regular Dwarves, including Slayers. – Nope.

• Get enough Marvel Crisis Protocol models done to actually have a game.
• COMPLETE. I have completed enough models, but I want to finish those Road tiles…
  …and actually have a game. – Nope.

• Finish painting the entirety of the Marvel Crisis Protocol Starter Box.
• COMPLETE. (group pics coming when I have time).

• Get as many of my part-painted models completed as I can. This really ties in strongly with so much of what’s already written above. I’ll keep this one from previous years since it’s really about contnuing to reduce a very specific set of models that are sitting around without adding too many more to their number.
• Somewhat. Always slowly chipping away at this via the above goals.
• In non-gaming goals, Relearn my exercise and Gym habits.
• Nope. yeah, I did need (and have) knee surgery, so this one rolled in to 2024.

Now this is awkward.. I mean.. I guess I’ll just roll over almost all of the above goals for 2024, so feel free to skip this as the main reason I do these things is to keep my own focus and hobby accountability in mind

2024 Hobby Goals AND 1st Quarter Check-in on those same goals

• Paint all of the remaining Models from Zombicide 1st Edition – all expansions, all add-ons. This one is a big call, so I’m going to break it up into smaller sub-goals that are more achievable.
• Finish painting all of the alreadly-opened Survivors from Zombicide.
• Started.. There’s still 15 more to go, plus their zombie counterparts, plus several more unopened Artists’ boxes and the Ultimate Survivors. So basically, making progress and very achievable if I can keep focus.

• Finish painting all of the Standard Walkers from Zombicide 1e. There’s actually a shitload more of these in 4 additional sculpts that I just kinda …forgot.
• Nope. I’ll get the Toxics done first to open up that gameplay, then likely start on these.

• Finish painting all of the Toxic Zombies from Zombicide Toxic City Mall. 
• Started. I’ve now finished the runners and two sculpts of walkers. Now on to the other walker sculpts!

• Paint all the Zombie Crowz from Zombicide (and Black Plague). This was a new one I decided on this year, and we’re looking good on this one being completed very soon.
• Started.  We’re looking good on this one being completed very soon.

• Paint all the Zombie Wolfz from Zombicide Black Plague. Another new one I decided to add in this year.
• Nope. They come after the Crowz.

• Paint all of the Skinner Zombies from Zombicide Rue Morgue. 
• Nope. They come after the Toxics.

• Paint all of the Seeker Zombies from Zombicide Angry Neighbours. 
• Nope. They also come after the Skinners.

• Paint all of the remaining Guest Artist Boxes from Zombicide Seasons 1-3 and the Ultimate Survivors
• Nope. Gotta finish the opened, primed ones first.

• Paint all the Zombie Wolfz from my 2 copies of Zombicide Black Plague Wulfsberg. Another new one I decided to add in this year.
• Nope. They come after the Crowz.

• Finish painting “Dead Stock” from Zombicide Undead or Alive . Another new one I decided to add in this year.
• Nope.

• Finish painting “Abominape vs. Crocosaur” from Zombicide Undead or Alive . Another new one I decided to add in this year.
• Nope.

• Finish painting “Long Dead Walkers” from Zombicide Undead or Alive . Another new one I decided to add in this year.
• Nope.

• Finish painting all of my Last Night On Earth Models. At this point, it’s just a bunch of hero models. If I want to “stretch goal” this, I can move onto the stuff from LNoE’s sister game – Invasion from Outer Space.
• Started.  Got a couple of them done, I imagine I can get the others done if I make myself just paint the damned things.

• Try and paint all of the remaining models from the Dungeons & Dragons Tomb of Annihilation boardgame. (Proxy Adventurers optional) 
• Nope. Haven’t started on these D&D ones yet.

• Paint all of the models from 1 or 2 starter forces for that unnamed mystery miniatures game that Marouda bought us. (extra units optional)
• Nope. Haven’t started on these D&D ones yet.

• Try and paint all of the remaining models from the Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon of the Mad Mage boardgame. (Proxy Adventurers optional) 
• Nope. Haven’t started on these D&D ones yet.

• Try and paint all of the remaining models from the Dungeons & Dragons Tomb of Annihilation boardgame. (Proxy Adventurers optional) 
• Nope. Haven’t started on these D&D ones yet.

• Try and paint all of the remaining models from the Cthulhu: Death May Die Season One core box.
• Started. The Adventurers are done.

• Try and paint all of the remaining models from the Cthulhu: Death May Die Season Two core box.
• Started. The Adventurers are done.

• Paint an entire boardgame that’s not specifically mentioned here.
• Nope. This one will happen when it happens.

• Paint some boardgame expansions that are not specifcically mentioned here – big ones, small ones, doesn’t matter – and the more the merrier!
• Started. I guess the problem with the CMON games – and a lot of Kickstarter stuff in general is all of the small expansion boxes that might contain 5-15 figures or so that swap in and out of your games.

• Keep plugging away at my Marine and Chaos Marine “Combat Patrols” of 2 squads + hero, vehicle and Dreadnought – as well as adding to the forces that are past that point. I’m going to keep those sub-goal I named last time.
• Finish the Squad of Primaris Minotaurs – Nope.
• Paint the Minotaurs Shield-Captain – Nope.
• Finish the Squad of 2nd-3rd Edition Iron Warrior Berserkers – Nope.
• Finish the Squad of RT-Era Ultramarines – Nope.
• Finish the Mob of RT-Era Orks – Nope.
• Finish the Mob of Killa Kanz – Nope.
• Finish the Minotaurs Redemptor Dreanought – Nope.
• Finish my Orc and Khemri Blood Bowl Teams that have been WIP/Semi-complete since the 1990’s/2000’s. Then I can either move onto more of the classic models, or delve into some of the “new” teams. (from 2016+) – Nope.

• Sort out a couple of cars finally for Gaslands. Recycled again from 2021. (hahah)
• Nope.

• I’d like to get at least one of my much larger terrain pieces or projects done (tile sets, castles, etc) by year’s end, even if it crosses over the next summer break into 2024.
• Nope. I hoped to over summer, but that never eventuated.

• Paint 2-4 Warhammer Underworlds warbands, so I can finally start playing the game.
• Nope. We did play a demo game the other week. It was …a little underwhelming actually.

• Do something with/for War Cry.
• Nope.

• Actually PLAY some Blood Bowl and/or Blitz Bowl, small-scale 40k, Kings of War, War Cry, Combat Patrol, Middle-Earth SBG, Kill-Team, Gaslands, Tanks!, Flames of War, Team Yankee. I have lots of small-scale and skirmish games. It’d be nice to play some of them. Yep, Play More Miniatures Games and Board Games. I’ll keep this one again from 2021-3
• Nope.

• Finish my 15mm DAK force for Flames of War. Sadly, I didn’t quite get this one one, but it’s something achievable for 2023. There’s a bunch of infantry stands to finish painting, and then a bunch of halftracks that need assembly then painting (and also I need to remember the force breakdown)
• Nope. I should make completing the infantry a weekend project (like so many other things I should make weekend projects!)

• Finish my 15mm British 8th Army force for Flames of War. There’s a lot more work in this one than finishing the DAK. Also a big difference between properly playable and finished.
• Nope. Want to finish the Germans first.

• Start (or hopefully finish) one of the four other Mid-War forces for Flames of War that I’m wanting to get done. This will be tricky, I already have a lot on this list, but it would be nice to finish an additional force.
• Nope.

• Review all of the 15mm scenery I’ve picked up. This is good “filler” content for when I’m keen to get blog posts up but not in a painting mood. Obviously it’s going to play second fiddle to painting as much as possible, so we’ll see how this one goes.
• Nope.

• Weather/repaint all of the 15mm scenery I’ve picked up. Again, it makes great content for when I’m not getting all that much painted, but it still requires time to concentrate on typing blog posts.
• Nope. These can be chipped away at with the above goal.

• Try to review some more of the other hobby-adjacent stuff I have – Art books, Helmets, Video Games. I’ll keep this one. It’s enjoyable to do something different, but time is as always the issue.
• Nope. Low priority for my available time.

• Complete those winged models (I know which ones I mean!) I may even be able to get this one done in 2023…
• Nope. Low priority, really.

• Start and finish those Dwarves with the chains and the hammerheads (I know which ones I mean)
• Nope. Found them recently, though!

• Finish the last of those three bits of scenery still sitting in The Tray.
• Nope. Need to just force myself to finish this last one!

• Paint some more Beastmen…
• Nope, as of the end of March. buuuut….
  …and some Chaos Dwarves… – Nope.
  …and a few more regular Dwarves, including Slayers. – Nope.

• Get at least 10 more models painted from Marvel Crisis Protocol
• Nope, as of the end of March. buuuut….
  …and actually have a game. – Nope.

• Get as many of my part-painted models completed as I can. This really ties in strongly with so much of what’s already written above. I’ll keep this one from previous years since it’s really about contnuing to reduce a very specific set of models that are sitting around without adding too many more to their number.
• Somewhat. Always slowly chipping away at this via the above goals

 

• In non-gaming goals, Relearn my exercise and Gym habits.
• Started – after my surgery, I got back to the gym as soon as I was allowed, and i’ve been working out multiple times weekly since then.