This year was not bad, but man I had a struggle hobby-wise from what my plan was to what the reality ended up being. I started off the year really wanting to play Warcry and do a campaign, so I painted a lot, made some plans for some intro games for new players who also got warbands and painted them, I painted terrain, etc. and was ready to go. We had a session last January (almost exactly a year ago) and there was passion for the project. February is rough for miniature gaming due to snowboarding as much as possible (it’s the month with consistent snow more than any other here) but in March I was determined to get Warcry rolling– even getting my brother the Blacktalons set which I promised to paint for him, and that’s when it all went to shit! I am a slow painter and I told the guys that I wanted to make sure I had his stuff painted before we started playing a campaign… and guess what is still sitting on my painting table: the last two Blacktalons miniatures. Why you ask? I got the Epic 40K bug. I was looking at some of my old gaming books and came upon my Warmaster core book. Reading through it I was thinking: man it would be cool to play this someday and looked around if I had some stuff. I do not but during that search I found my old Epic 40K and Space Marine 2 miniatures and rules and that became an absolute obsession. I immediately started painting up the Mentor Legion (at a good pace too) and convinced folks to play a game in July. I happened upon a massive Tyranid army (painted) and bought that with $$ from my second job. This tossed Warcry (and painting them) to the side.
So this year of our lord 2025, was ALL about Epic 40K for me, which I had a feeling in 2013 was the best Epic ruleset and now after two HUGE games last year, I am 100% convinced that the 1997 rules for Epic are not only the best for 6-10mm gaming in the 40K universe, but one of the best rulesets that GW has come up with. I again wish I had played this when it came out…
Board Games
We have played far less board games this past year than normal, but we still got a lot in. My favorite for this year is unexpectedly TOWNSFOLK TUSSLE. I saw a post on twitter of the “Bort’s Face” card and needed to find out what that was from. I fell in love with the rubberhose artwork and completely dastardly take on a boss battler. I even pimped out my set and got the miniatures painted which you MUST do if you own this game. They are really easy and fast to paint (though I had other projects at the time– see above).
Other than Tussle, I got in some games of Fantasy Flight’s Warrior Knights, which is a fun romp and way better than I originally thought.
Last but not least, we played a LOT of Arcs Blighted Reach. Instant classic and while with the departure of Cole Wherle from Leder games the future of the game is in doubt for expansions (likely won’t be any if I was a betting man), Blighted Reach is an undeniable insta-classic 4X space game and really doesn’t need anything else. This is WITH the expansion, not just the base Arcs game, which isn’t worth bothering with even as a tutorial for the real game.
RPG’s!
This year I ONLY ran Dungeon Crawl Classics, and my kids game (not little kids any more!) is going strong about once per month and I ran a game on the ski trip as well. I’ve got a lot of RPG books and games and looking at what I have and what I actually play, I really need to do a massive culling.
That said, this year I’m looking to start a WFRP campaign but using Mythras (none of the WFRP rulesets are all that great, including 2nd edition compared to Mythras). We’ll see if that kicks off.
Video Games
Arc Raiders for me came out of nowhere and snagged my game of the year 100%, but many months of last year were spent finishing Jagged Alliance 3 and another sleeper hit with me was E-Sports Godfather, a MOBA management game that should not be missed. As soon as I can get off Arc Raiders, AND if I can stay away from Crusader Kings 3, I will be getting back on that one.
Music
I listed to a LOT of Snow Strippers this year and I think they are fantastic. Everything is so glitchy and insane and yet (not that I dance or anything) danceable. BUT about as far from electronica as you can get, my favorite track for the year is this:
What I’m looking forward to…
First off is the Invincible RPG which looks like an updated version of FASERIP. I think I may get my kids group to try this out for a session or two. I’m seeing a lot of Arc Raiders in my future as that game continues to deliver.
Hottest chick on the Planet
I really don’t know, really haven’t been paying attention BUT I did notice that Bagnol, the hottest chick on the planet many years running, had a kid, so for 2025, we’ll give her a rest and hand it to Nicola Cavanis.
