Rather embarrassingly, I have to go back to 2018 to find a column for me in the pledges spreadsheet, and I see I’ve made absolutely no progress on any of the goals identified then!

The last few years have been really tough for me hobby-wise, with very little time and even less organisational ability to get much done, but it’s not all been bad. Over the last couple of years I’ve introduced my partner to miniature painting (and found she’s really quite good at it), and she’s been getting firmer and firmer about not playing board games with unpainted miniatures. I managed to paint most of the Hellboy core box miniatures in 2020.

We’ve also just bought and moved into a new house, and while we still have an awful lot to do in it, we are gradually getting more organised, including setting up a games room / living room with good board games storage. Not sure how long it’ll be before I’ll have the chance to set up a proper painting area in my study, but I’ve got much more motivation now, along with the realisation that I’ve been really missing the community and the hobby side of the hobby.

So my pledges for 2022 include mix of organising, painting/modelling and gaming. Possibly too ambitious once again, but I really hope to be able to do some of these, even if it’s not realistic to think I’ll do all of them. A lot will depend on what else life throws at us too…

1. Move board games into new house. Sort & shelve them. (In progress, and quite motivating too!)

2. Move minis (the pile of shame) into new house. Sort & shelve. Identify some stuff to sell. Identify some stuff to keep out as projects. (Technically I’ve begun this, but there’s a lot of work to do, and I’m going to prioritise board games which are more self-contained.)

3. Sort & display gaming magazines, RPG books and wargames books. (In progress, and looking quite good so far.)

4. Buy desk & set up permanent hobby station.

5. Finish painting Hellboy core box minis (around 15 left).

6. Paint at least the Core Box minis for Resident Evil 2. (These should be fairly quick and easy…)

7. Paint at least the Core Box minis for Zombicide 2. (I think I can get my brothers to play this, so that’s motivating…)

8. Assemble & paint the minis for Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. (There aren’t too many of them and it seems like quite a nice project.)

9. Necromunda – Zone Mortalis tiles: complete several more single-level tiles; complete two/three story tiles; experiment with filler and oil washes. (I really enjoyed putting some of these together last year, and now the tiles seem to be coming back in to stock, I’m looking forward to making some more.)

10. Assemble, texture / dress & paint some MDF terrain for DropZone Commander.

11. Finish (last three months) of Pandemic Legacy: Season 2. (This really depends upon being able to get together with my brother this Christmas season.)

12. Play through another legacy / campaign style board game. (This might include one of the miniature board games listed above, but could also be something without minis.)

13. Run at least one ‘one-shot’ RPG for friends. (I’ve got friends keen to do this, and ideas I want to try out. But I want to do it well, so might be tricky to find the time to get properly prepared.)

14. Engage (or re-engage) with the Beasts of War / OnTableTop community, including by starting one or more projects and posting in the What Are You Painting Now? threads.

Good luck everyone!