Woohoo! Not just a new year, but a new forum thread! 2023 is looking good already!
Happy New Year to everyone – hope you all had a great Xmas and ready and raring to go for this year. Let’s paint some minis!

Have you made any hobby related pledges for 2023?

Yes. Just not out loud to anyone. But, to myself, yes.

If you have made pledges *and* you’re willing to share them with us: what did you pledge for?

Ok then, here goes: to get out more. During The Event Stay Indoors, it was easy just to click and have stuff delivered to the door. That mentality seems to have stuck; we’re all busy buying stuff for ourselves and beavering away in our basements/workshops/back-bedrooms – but, just like playing music, all the best fun comes when you hang out with others. Even if it’s just painting along with a few other nerds (it doesn’t have to be playing actual games). So that’s my pledge – hang out with others more. The one thing I told myself I definitely would do would be to meet up some “virtual friends” in real life. But I can’t promise that will happen. Getting out of the house and “doing hobby” with others, I can!

Will 2023 be a year for you where a) things get back more to normal or b) more “crash and burn” will happen?

c) things will be awesome.
I’m a bit fed up with “normal”. I’m already making changes to work and home life this year (we’re off to live in Sicily for a month in March, and again in Oct/Nov, and we’re planning on renting out somewhere for a while over summer, just for a break from “normal”). So more hobby, more meeting people, more going to new places…. neither normal nor “crash and burn” – I’m setting my sights much higher!

@templar007 – really looking forward to your videos. It sounds like you’re taking it quite seriously too!

@sundancer – that’s you in the video? How do you paint anything without holding it up a few inches (centimetres for our EU friends) from the end of your nose?! I’m both impressed and envious!

@pagan8th – hope it doesn’t get too rough for you this year – it sounds like you’re braced already, let’s hope it’s not too terrible…

In other news – I’m re-printing a lot of my Cyberforge and Unit9 minis at 110%. I painted a few Artisan Guild minis for a gift and really like the chunky heroic scale. They made my current collection of minis (the few I’ve actually finished painting) look a little weedy. I love the style of CyberForge and bulking them up a little bit makes them that little bit easier to paint too.

I’ve also given up on bases. Small, clear, acrylic discs are the order of the day now (I was inspired after seeing a GW article – it may have been in White Dwarf) showing off their new “kill-team-in-a-space-hulk-but-its-really-not-space-hulk” game. The minis were painted really nicely, but looked ridiculous with brown rims and grass tufts, onboard a grimy, dark space hulk.
I’ve tried basing. I’m rubbish at it and don’t enjoy it. So – in true New Year Resolution fashion – I’ve ditched them!