As 2024 begins (or more accurately continues, as I am still writing this in late January Mid-February) I start to wonder what kind of projects await for me in the new year. After some thought I am going to take Evan’s lead here and throw my goals into a few broad categories. This will give me some direction (something for Evan to point a finger at when I inevitably veer off course) but allow me a bit of freedom to work on a range of topics. I definitely suffer from hobby butterfly syndrome.

Having thought about hobby goals and how I felt about them over the past few years leads me to wanting to do something different this year. I alway have eyes bigger than my hobby time budget allows. I typically think having big grandiose plans will inspire me to light a fire and get a bunch of stuff done in a ferver of hobby lust. It turns out I need more than hopes and dreams to knock out projects. With that in mind I have scaled my goals back to more achievable and attainable ones.

Hobby Every Day

This one is simple. Do something hobby related every day whether it’s 15 minutes or a 3 hour marathon. The hope is I will get stuck in and get some stuff done. Writing here, organizing my hobby space, or actual painting etc will count.

Hobby Room Optimization

New year new hobby room? Well not quite, but my space is getting some love. I intended to blast through the construction and installation of the new lights and desk organizer but it has been more of a marathon. I am extremely happy with the Hobby Zone organizers I was gifted for Christmas and I am working on a little build and review of them in the hope that it may give someone else some insight into the product line. I am also building some new storage to organize my mountain of opportunity. I saw a post from Spectre Miniatures or Black Site Studios and I wanted to emulate their storage solution. I bought the bins and just need to build out the frame work.

I try to be an organized person but sometimes my hobby area starts to reflect my hobby ADD. Well that and I find an Elsa doll and plastic necklaces hanging from my painting lights. But I don’t mind that. I just want to have a space that is conductive to calm and relaxing hobby.

The bins I hope to have soon!

Adepticon Stalingrad

Drew, Evan, and I have decided to jump into the deep end and host four events this year at Adepticon 2024. Iron Dice is coming out hot out the gate!

Evan has taken the lead on the two Bag the Hun games as he is our resident Sommelier des Avions. He is tackling the miniatures portion of the event preparation. I will be helping him with play testing and then as an assistant demo leader. I think I lucked out on that one as I get the easy assignment. To be honest though Evan does a phenomenal job on his tiny planes and it’s easy to see he has a passion for painting them. I will ride his coattails any day.

In turn Drew and I are tackling the two Stalingrad ground events. Using Drew’s amazing Grain Elevator as our starting point we decided to demo both Bolt Action and Chain of Command narrative games based around the action around the concrete beast. We settled on a 8’ x 5’ game board. Again, luckily Drew is a terrain savant and he does quality work pretty dang quick. So I will be helping with the terrain and if we need a more units for the forces painted up I will be working on those.

We are very excited to be a part of the Lard America area at the convention. I am looking forward to chatting with all the other Lard lovers and Bolt Action fans.

Tiny Planes

Last year I received one of the most thoughtful birthday gifts I have ever gotten. Evan used the United States Postal Service to shuttle two small 1/300 air fleets and all the accoutrements to play Bag the Hun. I am pretty certain he was also intending to tank my position in the backlog challenge we were a part of (haha). In any case I found myself now well equipped to spin up some Barbarossa Bag the Hun. I have been pouring over historical accounts, painting guides, and battle reports in preparation for this project.

I have Soviet, German, Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian planes awaiting paint. I have the first batch primed (February Update – first squadron painted! Weathering next…) and I have German and Soviet decals from Flight Deck Decals. Now it’s time to paint. Two flights of fighters and a flight of bombers per side seems like an adequate starting point and enough of a teaser to get me to paint more (it has, I am in love with planes now).

– 2 flights of soviet fighters – eight aircraft

– 1 flight of soviet bombers – four aircraft

– 2 flights of german fighters – eight aircraft

– 1 flight of german bombers – four aircraft

28mm

28mm World War II is still my main squeeze. As such I still aim to push ahead and move unpainted kits onto my hobby desk and then into my finished boxes. I have some German and Soviet forces primed and ready for a lick of paint. The brunt of my effort will probably be spent on fleshing out the Eastern Front forces though I have been dabbling with my Battle of the Bulge Americans. If I am not getting anything done it isn’t for lack of projects to choose from. For ease of tracking I will score myself using Chain of Command support choices as a bench mark. Each support choice will count as one unit of measurement towards my total while a completed squad will give me a credit as well.

I am also super keen to work on my KNIL when they hopefully arrive midyear. Along with that I can see myself refeahing my Japaese and Chindits while working on my USMC too.

As you can see I am maintaining my wishy-washy 28mm desires. I decided to keep my goals loose to fit my whims.

In addition to minis I want to knock out some terrain. I have been gathering information and working out how I am going to paint some of my newer unpainted rural Soviet buildings. Sometimes my thoroughness works against my productivity. Last year I wanted to knock out some of my Charlie Foxtrot Eastern Front MDF kits but I kept wanting to add detailing to them. I was also struggling to find a way to paint the wood. The Eastern Front has a very specific vibe to it that I would like to stay true to on the table top.

I really enjoyed how Richard Clarke of the Two Fat Lardies dolled up his wooden and concrete stuctures. They are featured in one of my favorite battle reports, The Dust Up at Collective Farm 452. This year I will push through (more than likely Evan will shove me through) my hesitation and get some beautiful buildings onto the table.

– 5 support choices for Chain of Command

– 5 pieces of terrain

– Work towards refreshing existing forces like the Chindits and IJA

15mm

Iron Dice has been gripped by the 15mm affliction. I have accumulated a lot of new tiny toys in the past few months. Early on Teddy, Anthony, and I had decided to jump into Early North Africa as our first theater for the Battle Group rules by Iron Fist Publishing. Africa is ideal for starting out as you can play with armor only formations which means you can start throwing dice faster. Drew has been busy painting up Germans and British for the ETO. We will be able to cover a smorgasbord of theaters quite adequately.

That said as of writing this I have collected Italians, Germans, and British for the desert. And… Americans, Germans, Soviets, and British Paratroopers for the ETO and Ost Front. Oh and some little nicknacks for a British Expeditionary Force. The library has expanded from the Tobruk book to include Torch, Barbarossa, Kursk, Watch Am Rhine, Spring Awakening, and Fall of the Reich. I don’t have a problem I swear.

In order to start playing I will be building out an Italian armored platoon and trucked Fucilari platoon for some early desert action. Evan has been nice enough to flesh out a lot options for me with 3D prints. My printer is currently down and I decided to save some money and upgrade to a newer model so he and Anthony have been my print ponies mules.

Hobby ADD kicking in here but I really would like to play some Kursk Battle Group. Longshot Wargaming on YouTube put out a beautiful Kursk Battle Report and it has been pulling on my heart strings. So that will happen sooner rather than later as well (February update- turns out sooner, I started prepping Soviets and Germans). Good thing Drew will play Eastern Front with me.

That being said, low hanging fruit first:

– 1 Armored Platoon Painted

– 1 Infantry Platoon Painted

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2024 will be a busy year for me but with my goals laid out maybe I will accomplish them. Maybe…