Leaving '25 Behind

And so we come to the point where it's time to emerge from the dark confines of '25 and venture into an unknown future, hoping that it doesn't end up being an irradiated wasteland full of bloodthirsty killer and giant bugs.

In other words, it's time for my review of the year!

I only set three targets for 2025 and there's been a mixed bag of success:

1. Decrease The Lead Mountain - Success

Oh boy have I decreased that pile!

There were 640 miniatures in my backlog at the start of the year and only 240 as of today. It also not as if I haven't been buying and printing new things, it's more than I have offloaded quite a chunk and I've painted a whopping 532 miniatures.

At this rate I might even...whisper it...clear the whole backlog in 2026...dun-dun-durrrrr!

2. Get Out More - Fail

Although I started off the year well by attending a Badab War Combat Patrol event at Warhammer World, I wasn't able to attend any of the other events in the campaign due to scheduling conflicts and the fact that they were held in London.

Additionally, I only managed to get to one wargaming show this year too and the UK Games Expo fell on my 20th wedding anniversary, and we had other plans.

I definitely want to return to this next year.

3. The Path of Damnation - Success

I've had a really good time painting up my old Chairs miniatures into a Nurgle themed army. 

Although I still have about half a dozen miniatures to go, I can field a 1500 point army in Warhammer: The Old World (although it's a bit short on core troops) and I'm really satisfied with how it's come out.

So a bit of a mixed bag, but, on reflection, it seems that I didn't get out more because I was sat at home painting, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

So this year's targets are likely to look eerily familiar:

1. Decrease The Lead Mountain

The endless endeavour continues.

However, the end is perhaps in sight, which is scary. Mind you, one of the first orders of business in 2026 is a recount as I'm pretty certain my numbers have got messed up over the past decade.

2. Get Out More

Although I failed last year, this was largely due to scheduling issues, so I think I need to be a bit more pro-active on planning ahead.

At the very least I want to get back to going to the amount of shoes I used to attend and maybe build up the courage to attend a few more events.

3. Tie Up Loose Ends

There are few dangling projects that I want to return to and wrap up. Some of these are painting projects that are close to completion and others are gaming campaigns that I started and lost focus on.

Painting Projects:

- Path of Damnation Nurgle Army

- Age of Sigmar Skaven

- War of 1812 British

- Carnevale Venice board 

Gaming Campaigns:

- Five Parsecs from Home - Fortune's Fools

- Five Leagues from the Borderlands - Hawk the Slayer

Doubtless I will distract myself with newer and shinier ideas, but the intention is there.

And do there we have it. I'm really not sure what new projects are likely to emerge this year, but that's actually quite exciting.

Happy New Year!