Hobby goals for 2015

At the start of the year, we all make ambitious plans for multiple armies and to check out all the new hot games, but no plan survives contact with the enemy. Real life, work, family, stress, can’t be arsed, you name it, there’s always a hobby killer. So, without berating the crew for what they didn’t do in 2014, let’s see what plans we have.

Nate – After sinking all my hobby time into the Wolves (part 1, part 2 and part 3) this year my hobby goal, nay Blood Oath, for 2015 is to explore other games systems. The rumour of my beloved ABC Warriors being rendered as miniatures to participate in the Dredd expansion has whet my appetite for that game, and whilst the group boner for Infinity initially repulsed me, I’m slowly coming round. I picked up a Hordes starter early last year, and now that Chris is interested in having a crack at it, I am hoping to play a bit more of that too. Beyond the wargaming tabletop, I will be playing a lot more 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and am hoping to convince some of the crew to explore the new Shadowrun system with me. We will be putting together a CH games day at some point in the near future down in Nottingham, so keep an eye out for that.  Due to increasing work and University commitments, I will be scaling back my written contributions to the blog this year, and throwing all my spare energy into establishing the Corehammer podcast, which will launch in February. Also hoping to make it out to the States this year for a Con, or to visit our West Coast brethren for the Force Awakens opening.

Dieter – I’m hoping to get a decent level army together instead of just half painting some Flesh Tearers and then getting sidetracked. I want to finally play a game this year so I’m hoping to talk Max into learning with me. If they finally get released, then start a 30K Iron Warriors army. Outside of the tabletop, I might get into the backlog of 40K book I’ve got, and I’ll continue my Iron Warriors leg tattoo. However, this is all Uni permitting, and gonna have a long gap in the summer

Chris – My 2014 pledge was to get my Iron Warriors done to a tabletop standard, so mission accomplished there (part 1 and part 2). I did want to get a little Warriors of Chaos army for WHFB done, that never happened, but no oath was betrayed. It’s on the backburner though whilst I see what happens with 9th edition incoming. Moving forward into 2015, after watching people down the club play Warmachine/Hordes all year, I’ve finally picked up the Hordes rulebook and the Circle Orboros faction book, and aim to get down with that asap, so I hereby cross my palm with a rusty blade.

Kieron – After a slow hobby year for myself, I’m looking forward to re-doing my Skaven army and finishing my themed Lahmian Vampire Counts. The Skaven are my tournament army, and are in desperate need of some hobby love, after they were rushed painted to meet 3 colour minimum standards at events. The Lahmians will be my first “themed” army project since returning to the hobby, and have had tons of researching and planning time poured into them already, with most of the models already purchased and ready to roll. We are starting 2015 with a team tournament in January, followed by ILL BLOOD 2 in February, so it’s looking positive from the start, but lets just hope 9th edition doesn’t ruin it for everyone. IF it drops this year!

Owain – The second half of 2014 has seen an unexpected resurgence in my gaming, thanks to Boardy’s sadly temporary relocation to South Wales, seeing an evolution from just buying things, to actually playing Infinity and X-Wing on a weekly basis. My goal for 2015 therefore is to continue playing, rather than putting my collection away again, although finding new functional gamers to play with in my local area is a struggle on par with the endurance of Atlas. When the same mouth breathers who play X-Wing regularly also play Hentai board games (where the objective is to fill up schoolgirls with tentacle spunk), it’s hard to feel like it’s anything other than a lost cause, but as Jamey Jasta says “Remain steadfast, perseverance”. On top of that, once I move house in February, I should be able to set up a permanent painting area, and actually finishing any single project would be a real achievement against years of procrastination. Expect my goals of 2016 to include similar words, and even more incredulous excuses.

Kev – I don’t have any gaming goals really. I’d like to maybe have a few games of WHFB, but that’s about it. 2014 introduced me to a lot of new painting techniques, and I got to go on a lot of workshops with world class painters. My 2015 goal is to push myself to complete more projects, and to really apply the things I’ve picked up over the last year or so to the point where I close 2015 with 2-3 pieces I’m exceptionally proud of.

Diggan – Planning on getting my Infinity Nomads expanded and painted up, maybe start another faction because as they’re much lower model count, I can get them painted much quicker than other games.  Aiming to play lots of games at the clubs near me, I might even win one in 2015.  This year is the year of the airbrush for me, I’m a beginner so being able to basecoat my miniatures at the very least is a bonus.  I like the look of the Batman and Dredd miniature games, I want to get a couple of small factions and try these out at least too.

Joe – I managed to finish a lot of what I wanted to make paint and model with the High Elves, so goals for that army is to play them some more and get some more wins out of them. I want to go back to my Beastmen and get some movement trays done, and take the Gormower for a few more trips out. Finally, and mainly, I want to finish this Fimbulvetr Forest army, preferably without rushing, before the summer.

Matt – The last year or so for me involved painting yellow. Lots of yellow for my Iyanden force for 40K. It’s approximately 4500 points now, and that’s enough yellow for anyone for now. It’s not over by a long shot. I still have a Revenant Titan and a Wraithknight to paint, but for now the yellow is getting a break. So, what next? I’ve just painted up a Legion of Everblight starter set for Horders, and will be expanding that army this year. I’m doing a slow grow series of games with a mate, and we’re both growing our forces. It’s fair to say I’ve been an Infinity fan boy for a number of years now, it’s the only game I’ve pursued without a lot of backing from my mates. The aesthetic may not be to everybody’s liking, but if that doesn’t grab you, the rules will. A growing number of the crew are picking it up now with the advent of 3rd Edition, so I’ll be adding a new faction to my collection and even more scenery. Which leads me to airbrushing. This year, if nothing else, will be the year I get my airbrush shit together. I’ve had a few goes with mixed success, but having wasted hours watching YouTube videos, I think the time is right to go all out.

Adam – 2015 is gonna be a big year for me hobby-wise, my main focus is gonna be my 30k Space Wolves and I aim to have 3000+ point by the end of the year, with a lot of focus on big pieces, rather than rank and file. With the shift in WHFB next year, I’m hoping to paint up some Nurgle Blightkings, just to paint something different. Game-wise, I’m really caught up in Infinity, the style of the game play and the low model count has really inspired me to play more, so I expect to focus on that for that most of the year, dipping into tournaments perhaps later in the year. It’s really refreshing to experience something other than GW.

Ager – I didn’t really have any hobby goals for 2014, which is good, because I barely did a single thing in relation to painting or modelling. The most I did was play a few games against Nathan Bean, which ended mostly in defeat, due to my incredibly boring Crimson Fists army list. This year I was wanting to build up a Blood Angels army, but I haven’t liked a lot of the changes they’ve made to the new codex, and to be honest, I just don’t have the energy or will to paint anything. Being realistic this year, I won’t start a new army, I’ll probably sell my BA’s and buy a small Ariadna Infinity army so I can give that a go (I’ll be getting it commission painted) and play Diggan and Bubble Boi etc. Aside from that, I need to write up my thoughts of Fighting Fantasy as someone who had never ventured in to that world as a child. Me and Nate have plans to do a video project on 80’s and 90’s PC games which I’m really excited about, as a big fan of websites like a Giant Bomb, chatting shit about old video games is one of my favourite pastimes. Mostly, I want to try and spend more time just hanging out and eating with the CH guys, for me, that’s what it’s all about.

Stevie – So, it turns out that in 2014 I finally came to the conclusion that I just find painting frustrating and a barrier to the hobby. I don’t mind building stuff, I actually loved making Deadzone terrain, but actually painting models for hours on end brings me no joy. Also, being self employed, I either have loads or no time. I’ve found a solution, throw money at the problem. Yep, I’m now one of those guys who pays someone to paint their shit for them and I couldn’t be happier. So as far as goals for 2015, play more games! Firstly, I’ve bought and dispersed a whole heap of lead for Infinity. Already scattered across the country with my sellbrushes, true to their name, the Nomads will be gracing tables early 2015. Secondly, I’ve purchased a shit load of Mantic Goblins. I’ve got a little bored with my WHFB Ogres now, so thought I would try a new army out. With the End Times doing nothing for me, I forecast a rage quit around the time of 9th edition in the summer, so I’ll hopefully have a few good months of tournaments with these bastards before then. Thirdly, and directly related to my second point, I’ve jumped in to the Kings of War 2nd Edition Kickstarter, so by the time I’m rage quitting, I’ll have a new large battle fantasy game to jump into (or hopefully play along side 9th if I end up liking it). This year the Bolt Action has only made it to the table twice, so I’m hoping to get that on the table a little bit more if I get the chance.

John – I plan to get my finger out and make a decent dent on my pile of shame. Priorities are to make a start on painting my Mechanicum, finish off the Corsairs that are sat half done, and paint up the last bits of my current 1850 Dark Eldar list. Outside the realms of GW, my Malifaux crew is now primed, awaiting paint and should be getting its first outing in the 2.0 rules in January. At some point, I’m planing on starting a Combined Army Shasvastii Expeditionary force for Infinity, hoping to get hold of a copy of Angels book in January, and mess around more with the airbrush. All this of course assumes that I’ll get the house decorated and complete Project:Man-cave, to free what is currently a store room into a hobby haven.

Boardy – After good progress in 2014 (with help from CH’s own Paulo), I managed to get a good chunk of my 3000 odd point Tau painted. Not bad since they’ve been sitting around in undercoat for about 6 years. In 2015 I want to get better with the airbrush, and finish off the rest of my Tau; about 10 battlesuits and a couple of tanks. I will hopefully pick up my Infinity 300 point Haqquislam force over the next few days and get started on those. I also need to get some good scenery together to enhance that cinematic game play! I’ll be picking up the scum and villainy expansion for X-Wing too when that comes out. Maybe try some ship repaints and engine lighting. Maybe …

Paul – My goal for 2015 will be to make some serious inroads into my Word Bearers. With the release of Imperial Armour 13, I can use them in 40k too, so will get loads more mileage. I have a selection of troops and armour to go at in the pearlescent scheme from Forge World, so I might do a how to article on the process too using Rub n Buff. I just need to work out whether to do the vehicles and armour in the same scheme, or keep it to the troops alone for contrast.

Smart – The main goal for me in 2015, is to make some serious hobby time. Playing at Dark Throne made me remember how much I enjoy rolling dice with brothers, so I need to get some games in. I’d like to finish my Emperors Children force up to 3K, and get a chance to bring them over for a HH blast. Otherwise, I aim to improve my airbrushing, basing and weathering, make my miniatures look a little less flat.

 

Von – Basically, I want to spend less, play more, make money (if I can) and be honest. I’m doing a whole series about this over at the House of Paincakes, but that’s what it all boils down to really. I also want to get out more; do more weekenders, more gigs, and less sitting around playing WoW, and blogging with a taproot growing out of my arse.

Tony – 2015 is going to see me (hopefully) finishing off part-painted units of Death Guard and Word Bearers for 40k. Hopefully get a good chunk of progression on my planned renegade guard force. I also want to get my Inquisitorial warband done, and hopefully start another one. 2014 did see me make a good amount of progress on my Nurgle Daemons. I also want to look at doing some Tzeentch daemons too. Gaming wise, I want to try and play at least once a fortnight, and attend more CH events

Stu – After the ridiculous 2014 I’ve had, which has resulted in hardly any gaming or hobby time, my goals are to do a few things. Focus on my painting skills; I’m still practically a novice again, so really need to put the time and work in. Get my Space Hulk stuff painted and actually have a game. Get some games of Man O War going (just picked up a practically brand new box) and field a Dark Elf fleet, like I did when it first came out. 40K; start playing! Just picked up the DeathStorm boxed set, so itching to get stuck in.

Tim – My goal is to build a 1500 point Blood Angels successor chapter, and have it painted within the year, finish the last few models for my Ork speed freaks, learn to play Infinity and write my first article for the site