The Tally of 2023

The year is at its end, so let's see how we did.

For those who don't know, this is the idea behind "Project: Micawber"...

"Annual leadpile twenty Avengers, annual painting nineteen Avengers, nineteen X-Men and a Hydra Goon, result: stagnation.

Annual leadpile twenty Avengers, annual painting twenty Avengers, nought and a Hydra Goon, result: progress."

Project: Micawber

The premise is simple: paint more models than I acquire, add them up at the end of the year and bring down that leadpile!

I had loosened my tight restriction on purchasing miniatures from previous years, and with no ambition to add more armies, I had hopes of doing rather well with the leadpile.

That was before I discovered a whole new games system.

Bought

It's been a relatively low amount of models bought this year, and with only a handful of squads among them. 

However, with Marvel Crisis Protocol capturing my attention, I have painted and acquired a lot of individual models (and quite a few of them actually saw paint). Even the Warhammer miniatures (mostly painted for Hobbypocalypse 3) were solo models or some xenos side-projects.

Acquisition total: 105 models.

Painted

• 1 x Mephitic Blight-hauler 
• 3 x Deathshroud Terminators 
• 12 x Black Orc Blood Bowl 
• 1 x Trained Troll 
• 10 x Marvel Crisis Protocol set 
• 1 x She-Hulk 
• 1 x Daemon Prince 
• 5 x Chosen 
• 1 x Exalted Champion 
• 16 x Genestealers 
• 1 x Broodlord 
• 2 x T'au Crisis Battlesuits 
• 1 x Kroot Tracker 
• 1 x The Lizard 
• 1 x The Wasp
• 1 x Okoye
• 1 x Green Goblin
• 1 x Roboute Gulliman (gift)
• 1 x Plague Marine 
• 1 x Death Guard Chaos Lord 
• 1 x Roboute Gulliman II (gift)
• 1 x Venom
• 1 x Moon Knight
• 1 x Kingpin
• 1 x Mysterio
• 1 x Ghost-Spider
• 1 x Rhino
• 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King 
• 1 x Dwarf King  
• 1 x Abomination
• 1 x Miles Morales
• 1 x Captain Mar-Vell
• 1 x Hydra-Stomper (gift)
• 1 x Captain Carter (gift)
• 1 x Hulk 
• 1 x Abaddon the Despoiler 
• 1 x Black Cat 
• 1 x Viper
• 1 x Ant-Man
• 1 x Sin
• 1 x Kraven the Hunter
• 1 x Hawkeye
• 1 x Thor
• 5 x Bladeguard Veterans  
• 1 x Judiciar  
• 5 x Chaos Terminators
• 5 x Havocs
• 1 x Chaos Rhino
• 1 x Maulerfiend 
• 1 x Chaos Vindicator
• 1 x Chaos Predator
• 1 x Space Foxes Lieutenant with Combi-weapon 
• 3 x Space Foxes Suppressors  
• 7 x Purge Marines
• 1 x Foul Blightspawn
• 1 x Biologus Putrifier
• 5 x Bloodreavers
• 5 x Jump Pack Intercessors
• Spoilpox Scrivenor
• 7 x Plaguebearers
• 1 x Bullseye
• 1 x Mortarion
• 2 x Penitent Engines
• 5 x Seraphim
• 1 x Grotmas Gitz (gift)

Painted total: 146 models

So 41 models in credit is nothing to be sniffed at. Although it is one of my lowest painting tallies for years (I've been prioritising other things this year - like getting enough sleep).

One reason for the low output is that 40k hasn't really been gripping me for most of this year (and the release of 10th Edition did nothing to shift the needle). My enthusiasm returned with our latest Skypehammer campaign, which really got me excited about painting new units (although, come to think of it, spending three months of Wednesday painting sessions hosting Skype battles probably cut into my productivity too).

The real story is that 2023 has been the year of individual miniatures - some proper centrepiece units for my 40k armies, and a host of superheroes as I discovered Marvel Crisis Protocol. That was a game I really got into this year, both playing and painting, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Other notables of 2023

• 
  
  Favourite unit:
  Surprisingly thin ground here for a change. I only completed a handful of squads, and have no massive preference. I guess I'd choose the Chaos Terminators, for being a solid unit that I enjoyed painting.
  
  
• Favourite model:
  
  
  By contrast, this is a massively crowded field. I really enjoyed painting Mortarion and the Spoilpox Scrivenor. The Maulerfiend was a fantastic conversion project, and any one of the Marvel heroes was a great experience in trying out new techniques. I think Abaddon might just win the ribbon for being a model that brought out my best effort to do justice.
  
  
• Favourite battle: 
  I would choose the entire campaign of The Sweetwater Egress, although I didn't play in most of them.
  I've also had some fantastic games of Marvel Crisis Protocol (losing most of them), but I haven't recorded many - I find they don't lend themselves to written reports.
  The games I really enjoyed were the loose narrative ones - Creations of Bile vs Tyranids, Scourged vs Imperial Guard or the epic 5 Primarch Fight - rather than the 'official' 10th Edition versions.


• Battles played: 
  Only about 20 battles of 40k played, and about the same number again of Marvel Crisis Protocol. I did manage to get in games of both Necromunda and Gorechosen, which was great fun. I failed to play Fantasy Battle, which was an ambition, and Bloodbowl, which is a perennial ambition that thwarts me 
  
  
• Blog posts: 
  I've mentioned it already: the whole narrative sweep of The Sweetwater Egress campaign. It was a full-quarter of my hobby year and time thoroughly well spent.

Goals from 2023

I'll be honest: I forgot I even made these...

• Only one hobby purchase per month
  At the start if the year, it was a struggle to get excited about even one purchase. Clearly, I'd found my stride by the end and gone way over.
  
• Paint a model from a different faction each month
  I definitely managed this for the first half of the year, and managed a decent spread overall.
• Play some small-board games
  Marvel Crisis Protocol, Necromunda, Gorechosen - that's a yes!

Goals for 2024

• Warhammer: The Old World
  It's coming back, I'm coming back. Let's do this.
  
• Keep on with Marvel Crisis Protocol
  I've loving the miniatures and the games, so I want to hang onto it.
• Play some small-board games
  And for the love of Nuffle, please make one of them Bloodbowl.

Have a great 2024, leadfellows! Let's battle like it's 2014!