First ramble of the year!

So while I was sitting on my ass last night painting my new flashy Skaven Warp Lightening Cannon...I was thinking to myself. What does 2011 bring for me and my intense interest in gaming? 2010 has been the most ridiculous year of my life I think. I co-opened a new gaming store, I am now a father. I start the fifth year of owning a house (that I desperately want to sell!), and my last year in my twenties. It was odd, actually thinking about my life up to that exact point. Here I am sitting in my great room, watching Farscape, slapping Scorched Brown on a piece of the Warp Lightening Cannon, and listening to Phaedra sing to Drake, and it all sorta just made sense. The end of my third decade of life quickly draws to a close, and think back to my goals and dreams and what not. Sure, I still haven't made the million dollars I said I would by age 30. And I didn't make it to Italy and Greece, but all it all, it's been a good run so far.

So naturally, my mind wondered to 2011, and what is going down in terms of gaming. First and foremost, I decided gaming is as much a part of who I am as it ever has been. One thing that Drake has caused is the lack of actual hobby time. I'm not talking the gaming aspect, but the actual hobby part. You know, building models, priming, painting, reading fluff, writing fiction about my characters.  The goal is to spend an hour a night doing something that falls into the hobby aspect. Back in the day when I worked at another local game store, I was able to do all that sort of stuff while on the clock. But man, Art of War is totally different. Totally! My Saturdays up there are just crazy all the time, I'm so freaking busy most times I don't even feel like I have a Saturday. I unlock the doors at noon, and before I know it, it's one am. Sure I play plenty of games, but I don't get a lot of time for the hobby. So my first goal of 2011 is to spend 5 hours a week working on the hobby part of gaming.

Still on thoughts of the year to come, my second major motivation is getting into a single new game. I'm not talking about buying an army and playing one game and leaving it in a box to be discovered and slammed up on Bartertown in three years. I'm talking about really getting into a game. Like I got into Confrontation (minus the standing on the chair screaming my longs out about how shitty the game is!)  I am not sure what that game is going to be, but I think it needs to happen. 2010 was a sort of a boring year for new games. Sure you can call my return to 8th edition "getting into a new game" but to me, that's different. My return to Warhammer Fantasy is more along the lines of the prodigal son returning home, not a new game. I need something different, unique, and challenging. Hopefully a new game will offer that. As of this exact moment, I am looking at MERCS, Flames of War, and Hell Dorado. I already own Hell Dorado minis, so that's always a plus, but I've also played that game quiet a bit back in the day, so I am not sure if that one counts or not. Anyway, major goal number two is to get into a new game. Get an army/faction/whatever and get it painted.

Wow. Still more to say. Third major goal for 2011. Become a better Warhammer Fantasy player. Something that I've always wanted to do, but have always made up excuses and what not is to play more Warhammer fantasy events. I finally decided that if I am going to talk trash like I'm a great Warhammer player, I need to get my ass in gear and start actually doing it. Playing more games and experiencing the game more than just against the same six people I see and play all the time. Sure I won the local 'Ard Boys and all that jazz, but it's not exactly the same as getting a chance to compete in massive events, such as the Buckeye Battles and the Marauder Mayhem, as well as some other semi-local events. There are rules for this goal though. First, I will not take an army that is not 100% finished. That might mean I am running Skaven and nothing else, but I will not play an army in a tournament unless it is painted. Second: I cannot lose sight of the sportsmanship and enjoyment I get by playing Warhammer Fantasy. Seems silly I know, but it happened with my obsession with confrontation, where I took the game way too seriously. It's a problem of mine that I am always aware of, and always striving to avoid. I play the game for fun and enjoyment and strive for that in every game.

And finally, focus my gaming efforts more. Instead of starting a project and getting half way through it (looking at you Space Wolves!) I am going to focus on armies, and finish what I started. No more half ass-ed armies that never get finished. I am going to start selling off the armies I am never going to get around to finishing (like the daemons) and get some projects completed. First on that list is my Skaven. I have the content of the Island of Blood starter, plus the new stuff from GW and then I am all caughtNecrons will have a new codex and I will be playing them again. So instead of the stereotypical "Gamer ADD" I am instead going to buckle down and get focused.

I know by now, you're thinking to yourself. "Holy shit! Sure he's talking game now, but Phaedra is never going to allow any of this!" Which of course I say PLUH! I've already talked to her about all this and she is on board. I'm very lucky to have a wife that supports my addiction to table top gaming. All this and I plan to spend time with my family and be supportive and all that jazz.

Alright, enough rambling. I end this blog post with a quote I picked up along the way...(via twitter)

“Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.” -Thomas Otway