Almost . . . there . . . .

 Hi all,

We are well into the post-Christmas fugue state, in which the passage of time blurs, days become unknowable, and only the slowly-dwindling pile of leftovers marks the looming presence of real life.  Sooner or later, I'll snap out of it, and realize how much work has piled up over the holidays, but for now, I'm enjoying denial.  

Most of the haul.  Missing are some tins of preserved fish, and new whisky glasses.

Christmas was low-key, but fun.  We had a delayed Christmas dinner, as the Cub didn't join us until Boxing Day, but we made the most of it once he was here.  The kids, as usual, ended up with a pile of stuff, the Beloved got a mess of books, a rather snuggly sweater, and some films, and I even got a bit of geek-related gear in the form of a couple of Perry 100YW boxes.

Burgeoning Scots.

As far as the year goes . . . it went.  We continue to be (knock on wood) ridiculously fortunate here in Monkeyland, as we've had work that was both safe and secure throughout, and no one has caught the plague (despite a couple of near misses).  I can't pretend that going on two years of working from home, and relative-but-real social isolation, haven't taken a toll, but compared to a range of entirely probably "might have beens", we're doing okay.  I can only hope that we'll keep doing as well in the coming year.

Bulked out the Horse to 12 figures.  Or 2x6 for Pikemans' Lament.

Hobby's been fairly productive this year.  I've been more or less sticking to my "do what you feel like doing, and don't push it when you don't" approach, and have gotten a fair amount done as a result.  As predicted, ECW and 40k took the lead in terms of both gaming and painting, with AoS and 6mm showing some production, but less than expected.  Flames of War mostly fell off the radar (a lack of gaming opportunity meant a loss of interest), and some of my historical projects ended up advancing less than expected (notably Carthaginians).

Dragoons join the fray.

That said, I ended up close to 40 28mm cavalry figs, almost 200 28mm foot, and a selection of other things (itty-bitty ships, 6mm units, terrain, etc).  For me, that's pretty good productivity.  I may even have whittled down the lead pile slightly, depending on how one rates "non-standard" painting, like large figures and 6mm units.

The "full" unit of P&S, with bulked out pike, and be-flagged shotte.

I imagine this coming year will be much the same.  Likely projects include:

1. ECW.  This remains a strong contender for both painting and games.  I seem to able to maintain sufficient running interest in these that I basically alternate between them and other projects.  The Scots have been the primary beneficiaries, now that I have enough Royalists for an opposing force, and I've been both adding units, and expanding the ones I have.  I'm within striking distance of a Pike and Shot multi-unit batallion, and will treat myself to a command stand when that milestone is achieved.  Pikeman's Lament continues to give fun games, and I've begun exploring options for larger scale gaming in the period.

More Dragoons, and another pike unit should finish the first batallion off.

 2. 40k/AoS remain games I'm likely to get to play, and continue to enjoy to paint.  In addition, if you believe the internets, this year might be my GW annus mirabilis, as a number of the factions I play are expected to see new rules and figures.  These include Beasts of Chaos, Ogors, and World Eaters / Khorne, with prospects of a dedicated faction book for the latter.  I've begun cloning my organs in preparation for the financial hit, so am hopeful that the rumors pan out.  Failing that, the Cub remains an ethusiastic opponent, and I'll get in games with him while I can.

Going to need some more command bases.

3.   28mm Medievals.  There's a couple of variations here, but grouped together they make the period a likely prospect.  I continue to pick away at my vikings, and there's some local guys interested in gaming early medievals, so the prospect of some summer raiding is good.  I'm looking forward to getting some of the just-aquired Perrys done up, but gaming with them might have to wait until I can also get some opposition painted. Depending on how the year goes, 100YW could feature largely, but it's hard to predict right now.

Royalists.  Didn't really grow past the "starting opposition" stage, but who knows?

Less likely, but still possible, include:

4. Bolt Action.  I've got more than 500 points of Soviets painted up, and have enough bods left over to expand to 1000 points.  Action here will likely depend on gaming opportunities.  There are some local players, but getting games in will be very much dependant on the plague receding.  As we are (locally), at what is hopefully the height of an Omicron-driven case spike, prospects for games seem a little gloomy right now, but fingers crossed this year goes smoother than last.

Royalist dragoons.  Same figs, twice the floppy hats.

5.  6mm.  Blucher saw a fair bit of productivity at the start of last year, and I'm only a few units away from a small, but complete and playable, force of Russians.  I've also been thinking about digging into my SYW stuff of late.  The 6mm bug seems to strike me randomly, but I wouldn't rule it out.

They probably deserve the "bulking out" treatment.  I mean, the feathers alone . . . .

Beyond that, who can say? As I think I noted around this time last year, I'm learning not to look too far ahead these days.  There's enough instability flying about that predictions seem less useful than a willingness to adapt to what may come.  In the meantime, here in Monkeyland, life is pretty good; my family are here, we're all well, and I still have the opportunity to not only indulge my hobby, but to natter on about it to the ether ;)

As I'm not likely to post again before the New Year, best wishes to you all.  May the New Year bring you health, joy, and prosperity.

FMB