A Year End Wrap Up Post Type Thing

Before I dive into the look back/look ahead, I thought I'd at least give December a nod and note that there was a lot of figure gaming and shockingly even some painting. 

I finished three Battle Sisters and two Sisters Repentia. Thus completing the Battle Sisters box I acquired some time ago and starting in on the Combat Patrol sprue I picked up in 2025.

I also finished four Blood Raven Infernus in December

The two on the left are from the Space Marines Adventures board game and are slighter of build and height. To compensate, i glued a wooden disc to the base which seems to help at least from the height perspective.

Not pictured here, but included in pictures in the previous post, I finished a few orc Boar Boyz that were part of my Christmas haul (see below), and finished two ranger-type Reaper Bones figures (who I haven't bothered to photograph). Also not pictured, I have assembled four Battle Sisters from the aforementioned Combat Patrol sprue and painting was well underway when the year ticked over.

As I reported previously, I played Space Weirdos for the first time in December, but most of my December games were my One Hour Wargames in the 41st Millenium variant (if I ever get around to writing up my notes, I'll share them).

The Sherman is the Space Marine's AFV.

Finally, December also brought a Christmas haul - although most of it was given to me by myself! 

 

Job lot of old GW Orc Boyz

Old (mostly) metal Plague Marines. They are so short and slender compared to the current figures but these sculpts have so much character. Painted by previous owner. I may or may not repaint. I definitely will base them on a modern bass, and possibly do something to give them height.

New dice bag!(i have a LOT of dice) My son's mom made dice bags for everyone in our RPG group.

I'm about 2/3 through Faith & Fire. I have already purchased 2 figures because I was inspired by the story (one purchased in 2025, one in 2026, and a few more planned because I think it's perfect for Space Weirdos). This doesn't bode well!

Looking back on 2025 as a whole, without a doubt the highlight of my gaming was our family & friends Basic Fantasy RPG episodic campaign. 

As I hoped, it has provided a regular opportunity to game together on a semi-regular basis. Even when someone couldn't make it, the party has secondary characters which we didn't have to cancel sessions. And something I consider a huge benefit; the self-contained episodic approach has almost entirely eliminated the need to keep track of story details across long gaps between sessions. 

A most welcome and unexpected side-effect of regular gaming is that my son and his mom have been inspired to try their hand at GMing - which they did for 2025's Christmas game. I hope they will run additional one-shots or even campaigns in 2026!

Scene from the Christmas game - I supplied Lego figures and scenery

While I did some other painting earlier in 2025, most of the year was focused on playing games. That said, many of those are undocumented. This was intentional. I had been noticing for some time that documenting games for blog posts was interrupting my immersion and enjoyment of the game as a game. By focusing playing over documentation, I've enjoyed my games quite a bit more.

One effort I made during the year was to consider the rules I am using, in an effort to spend less time with my nose in a rule book when I play. A number of rule sets had an outing this year and most of them are fairly straightforward and I am quite familiar with them. 

• One Hour Wargames - Machine Age and Dark Ages primarily
• Morschauser Shock Period
• Morschauser Shock + Morschauser Horse & Musket for VSF 
• G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. 
• One Hour Skirmish Wargames
• The Portable Wargame : Ancients
• Grimdark Future Firefight
• Space Weirdos 

Perhaps the biggest impact on my figure gaming in 2025 was my decision to limit my collection dramatically. After much thinking on the matter and inspired by several bloggers, I've limited myself to three "periods" going forward (it's been this way for several months now). 

The collections/periods I'm sticking with are: 

• WWI Southern Front - Italy vs Austria in 54mm
• Fantasy 28mm-32mm - orcs and lizards, plus Blitz Bowl and figures for RPGs (which are also handy for 3-5 figure a side skirmish games) 
• Science Fiction 28mm - 40K figures primarily

Secondary collections I'm still keeping (for now):

• North Pole '42 (54mm/toys, i use this stuff as holiday decorations so it will stick around regardless)
• Brick France vs Italy WWII (because they are so darn cute and easy to store - just toss in any old box)
• Unpainted 54mm WWII (TSSD, Conte, Weston - inspired purely by nostalgia for playing with green plastic "army men" as a kid, I also just happen to like how they look as bare plastic. Also easy to store - toss in any old box)

Although some of my other figures are on display now - in part or as a whole - as objects d'art, such as my Deetail Medieval figures, there's a fair number of 54mm figures relegated to donation.

 

This undoubtedly seems odd for a blog that literally includes "54mm" in its name. I know.  Still, I have to do what makes sense for me, not burden myself because I named my blog something or other.  

 

So, that said, if you are in the US (sorry, postage costs and tariffs or whatever else make it not worth it to send these things elsewhere unless you really want something) and are interested in what I'm looking to part with, hit me up (the figures are free, but you'll have to pay for shipping).

 

I finished 2025 feeling that I'm pointing my hobby activities/collections in a direction that aligns with my personal beliefs and preferences.

 

For 2026, I have but one hobby related goal: Paint more figures than I purchase.

I could say I won't buy any more figures - but I'd be lying (I already bought one in 2026!). I could say I'm going to paint X number of figures but that too would be doubtful as my painting mojo comes and goes with wild irregularity. To avoid all that, I chose this phrasing as a way to acknowledge I'll probably buy a bunch of figures, but I also want to trim my unpainted pile of figures.

 

According to the phrasing of my goal, if I buy ten unpainted figures, I can paint all ten, and one from my existing pile, and claim to have met my goal. However, if I buy ten painted figures, I have to paint 11 figures from my existing pile of unpainted figures. 

I am hopeful this will bring an added level of consideration when I find myself contemplating spending more than I budgeted, because "it's such a good deal" for painted figures.

 

We'll see how that goes though - worst case, I may just donate a good chunk of the Reaper Bones figures I have waiting to be painted and call it even!