2024; A year in review.

 2024, a year in review...

Each year towards the end of it, I sit down and look over the past year and reflect how it went. There's been good times and bad times with each year, and some have been worse than others, (2011 and 2020 were especially horrible years), and it gives me a time to pause, reflect, and think about what I experienced, shared, and learned over the last 12 months.

It also gives me a bit of a chance to see how my gaming stuff progressed.

I will admit that I did not get as much built or painted as I wanted to this year. I slacked off horribly in September from my "figures one month, scenics and terrain the next month", schedule which was working for me. I need to get back onto that. I do think though that what I lacked in quantity, I made up for in quality.

So let's take a bit of a look shall we?

(PIC INTENSIVE: Be patient while it loads, and click on the photos for a large version.)

Also, don't forget that FOOD is going to be involved... 😉

So January started with me looking at all of my 2023 Christmas loot....

(Holy cow! That's a lot of stuff!)

Many of these figures would see bases, the paintbrush, and sealer to be completed this year, but alas, not all of them. Some are still patiently waiting. My 15mm ACW figures that primed back in 1993 are yelling, "Take a number and git in line boys!"

And I took a good look at my paint room, and silently screamed.

It was time to do some cleaning.

(From this disaster area....)

(To this....)

I then decided to add a "wing" (side table) to my painting desk to give it more room for my paint racks.

I started out with a 4ft table but quickly changed it to a 6 ft one.

(It really helps with the paints...)

And with the table set up, and the room cleaned, it was time to get some figures painted...

Here's some of what I got painted from Jan - late March/Early April....

And the months rolled on....

I did get a chance during one of my VA visits to stop at a local place and get some of my "comfort food"...

 

I know it's weird, but LJ's is one of my comfort foods, and sometimes the inner racoon in me demands that I get it.

And during my painting in Jan-March, I found myself often getting sidetracked by TV...

Saturday morning adventure, and combat action!

As well as a classic I watch every March...

Yes many times, my paintbrush was stilled....

And I watched The SOTU address...

And drank....

But thankfully after that I was able to hook up with my buddy Frank and hang for an evening at Mr. B's Cigar Box, and have some drinks and get some smokes.

(Some nice sticks there....)

(Hanging with "The Frank"...)

And I bought a cheap plastic toy barn for a conversion and did some scratch-building....

(Not bad for 1.99 at Goodwill, and it will be a good conversion later on...)

(The start of one of two buildings...to be finished later....)

(Needed a couple of piers...)

(As well as a wharf...)

And a few of some of the figures I did get painted during the month....

And we ended March with my wife making flat iron ribeye's.

And then suddenly we were into April and the craziness began....

In April we had the eclipse.

My wife and I decided to have a nice Mexican dinner before it happened, just in case the world "DID" actually end, at least we would face oblivion well fed.

(Possible "End of the World" Feast...)

(A pic of the eclipse I took with an Iphone 8...)

(The Old Girl in the Eclipse shadowy light. Another pic in these lighting conditions won't happen for another approx. 225 years...  BTW, pay no attention to the "odd" figures in the windows...)

And I worked on some more figures....

And I finished one of the British Officer figures I got in my previous Christmas loot.

(From this...)

(To this...)

And then in April, suddenly I was at Little Wars.

  

 

  

("To absent friends...")

  

  

 

 

 

  

And it was a freaking blast.

I met with Jason Weiser, Michael Brown, and Kevin Cabai of HMGS for the 1st time. I met back up with Jim Purkey, (Der Alte Fritz), and I ate, gamed, and we drank. 

I spent money....

And I came home with good toys, good memories, and the honor of good friends...

(This is what it's all about...)

And I made out like a bandit on the "Stuff"....

(Great Googly Moogly....)

And speaking of "making out like a bandit...."

I was taking JW to the airport and we made a little side trip to "go see a guy"....

(Six feet away from Al Capone....)

And I finally got home....

When May rolled around, I finally got around to arranging my hard liquor setup.

(This isn't all of it....)

And I worked on some figures and scenic items, (the food is from Tabletop World while the animals are from TAG miniatures...)

And here I replaced the 4 ft side table in my paint room with the 6 footer....

And I got the desk cleared off again....

(Clean tables, clean work table, organized sides?!?!...Egad! What IS going on here?!?!?)

And I did some scene photograph with figures, in this case 18th Century.

(18th Century Society Social Shenanigans...)

June came around and in the bright days of summer, I worked on the barn conversion, started work on the other barn I bought at LW, and worked on some ground bases for trees.

I absolutely love the look of 28mm buildings and terrain over the other sizes, (even my beloved 15mm stuff), but the downside is that it takes up sooooooo much space. I've decided that if we ever moved, I am going to need either a second house in the sale to make into a game house, (and thus store all of this), or I am going to have to find a house that has either a warehouse, or an aircraft hangar on the property.

And I finished some more figures....

 

  

Duelists, field hands, and townsfolk, oh my!

And I kept my blood sugar down....

And while June was here, my wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), and I took a trip and ended up down in Attica, and I found a pinball arcade.

Yes...an arcade.

Sweet mercy.

The sounds and lights and machines brought back so many memories. 

All I needed was a 700 degree personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, a pitcher of Coke with Ice, and "80's music" jamming on the jukebox, and I was back in the 80's, (best damn decade there ever was)....

(CLICK ON THE PICS FOR A LARGER PIC OF THE SWEET MACHINES!!!)

 

 

  

And then suddenly there it was....

Calling to me....

Challenging me....

Just like "Back in the day"....

(And here...we...go....)

With a pocket-full of quarters, I went to war....

In my zone, guns a blazing, music a blaring, my mind buzzing with days long gone. 

Of  Aladdin's Castle in Baybrook Mall, or "The Gold Mine" at Almeda Mall.

The food courts. The theaters at Baybrook where I was young, stupid, not paying attention, and insulted James Doohan. The bookstores, (B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks), and the Toy Stores where I got my first Avalon Hill Bookcase Games, and D&D Stuff. 

Any moment now, a part of me was expecting my gf at the time to come in, (her long brown hair swinging in the breeze, and her telling me that we needed to get to the theater in time for the Midnight Movie; "Highlander".....

Sigh.... 

Have you any dreams you want to sell?

But I had a duty to the galaxy to do.

And do it I did.

HI-SCORE!!!!!!!

And as June slowly blazed away into history, I finished both the barn I got at LW, and the toy conversion.

(From this....)

(To this...)

(And this....)

(To this....)

And I finished some more figures. These are some of them....

The farm animals are all items I got a LW in April, and are from TAG, (The Assault Group), while the foodstuffs was part of my Christmas loot from Tabletop World, and the gibbets was from WizKids.

And July rolled in and I got my sign for downstairs warning "All the normal people..."

(I've played with "Toy Soldiers' for as long as I can remember, and for as long as I will live...)

(It looks quite nice on the wall, don't you think?)

And I celebrated the 4th with some good bourbon, and a good stick....

And I found a new tasty drink....

And I got to try Jiffy Pop popcorn for the first time in my life.....

(Nope. Never had it as a kid....)

(This stuff ain't half bad...)

And I finished up some figures....

And then suddenly it was August, blazing away in it's hot, sweaty, glory....

And I cleaned off my painting table, to get it ready for the next batch....

(There's something dreadfully wrong here....)

But then I quickly got back to work....

And I took inventory and condition of my ships for my pirate games....

Yikes! I had a bigger fleet than I thought!

Work on my pirate game for 2025 Little Wars began. I started with getting the terrain boards.  Each panel is 2 X 2 ft square and 1 inch thick.

(British soldiers to scale....)

And August was filled with drinks, and cigars, and of course, food...

  

 

And of course, back to painting and finishing figures and some terrain scenic pieces also.

Indeed it was kind of a busy month....

September rolled around, and my wife and I made a decision.

We decided to cut down on our cars. We traded in Buford and Miss Priscilla, and got Josette.

It had gotten to the point where the repairs and upkeep were more than the value of the vehicle, so it was time, plus it cut down on our insurance, and gave us a newer more reliable vehicle with better handling, safety, and comfort; as my wife found out she loves warming seats.

And I kept painting figures and doing stuff....

And somehow or another we have a cat that looks like Hitler, (a "Kitler") in our neighborhood. He seems to like our house and seems to always be "Watching"....

(Not sure what is going on here but it can't be good....)

And some more sticks and drinks....

I'll be honest, the S84 just didn't do it for me. It's a decent stick, but nothing I'll write home about.

And as September rolled on and the seasons changed, I pulled out my D&D cookbook and started doing some of the recipes. First up would be the Travelers Stew, (later on would be Orc Bacon).

(I wonder what the "roll to hit" to eat is in this book?...)

(A D&D version of Dinty Moore. Not too hard to make....)

(And I'm on it!)

(Not bad looking....)

(Granted this bowl was a little bit heavy on the parsley...)

(Served up with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and washed down with a Warsteiner....)

And then suddenly, BAM!, it was October!!!!

And I answered the bugles call.

For the first time in over a year, I went to an ACW reenactment. Last year I went to Billy Creek, and this year, I went to Hartford City. Site of our wedding. It was the first time I had walked those grounds since we said our vows in 2012. 

(Candlelight dinner 1860's ANV style....)

(Early morning camp....)

(Got the fire and coffee going....)

(Waiting for the command....)

(And on the field of green...past a Yankee that has been sent to his just reward....)

And then the event was over.

I took a moment after most folks were gone to sit on the hillside and look down at the old wooden fence where 12 years earlier I had said my vows to my wife, and then marched into battle. I thought that both my best man and my wife's maid of honor were now gone ahead of us. They were with Jackson.

(Gods, I do miss these two people that are now "With Jackson".)

I lost two gaming friends in 2024 and one in 2023, and here I shall call their names:

1: David Pinnick, (DWW on TMP).

2: Tom Reed. (Fellow HMGS-MW member).

3: Ron Woodrum. (Fellow gamer and TMP'er).

(To absent friends and family....)

Allow me for a moment to slip off of this and reflect.

As of this writing I am now 61 years old. 

I'll be filing for Social Security in 3 1/2 years.

Each year, I see more funerals and less birthdays.

Each year I come closer to being "alone".

That's why my gaming hobby means so much. Because of the people. Not just the rules and the toy soldiers, but the people. Those memories I make. The stories we tell when we sit around the table around food and drink and laugh at and with each other, and tell of "How back in '86 Steve invited Strahd into the house..." or "How the pirate game in 2000 turned into a literal Gilbert and Sullivan show..."

That to me is what it is all about.

Enjoy your days and your friendships my fellow readers. Treasure and cherish them.

And I came home to a pleasant surprise!

(Yay! it finally arrived!)

Now here is where I get people angry at me.

Reaper Bones VI KS, I feel, was underwhelming. 

Bones V kicked ass with the stuff, and the ships, and all...

This one was kind of like an "Oh yeah. This didn't make it out in time and we could use the extra money, so...." kind of project.

Unless something "WOW" comes along, I don't see myself backing any more Bones KS projects.

And October kept rolling....

And my wife fixed food....

(mmmm....mmmmm!)

And as Halloween/Samhain approached, I made Jack O' Lanterns...

(Trick or Treat!)

(Qapla'!!!  IYKYK....)

(Not too shabby...)

And then suddenly in the blink of an eye, it was November....

And it was Election Day....

(Indeed....)

As part of the recipes from the D&D cookbook, I was able to try out the "Elven Green Spears wrapped in bacon", and "Orc Bacon", as well as a new deviled egg recipe.

 

(Ain't gonna lie. These went away FAST....)

(This was really good...)

(This looks interesting....and it's bacon!)

(Recipe looks easy enough....)

(Ahhhh...success! "He who never sleeps" would be pleased. Served up in my SCA mug from decades past...)

And before I could shake a stick at it, December was here.

I realized that the year was rolling to a close. I looked over the figures I had painted, and how I had dropped off. Truly I had not picked up a brush since mid September, but that would soon change.

For December I looked at some of the many figures I had painted and was grateful that I had been and continue to be blessed with the chance to do this. The time I spend painting, building, creating scenarios for my little worlds, and adventures for my little toy soldiers and such, are a thing of love and a big part of my life. As someone once told me, "Don't ever stop being a kid Murph..."

During the month of December I took advantage of a sale and got some additional plexiglass shelves for Display Case #1.  I do still need more.  I took the old LED light set from my destroyed IKEA Detolf Cases and inserted them into DC #1, and imagine my surprise that it all worked!

(Lights and shelves in place....)

(Looking good so far....and I could use a couple of more of these shelves....)

(Time to start adding the population....)

(Getting populated quite quickly it seems!)

And I started working on my Pirate Game Setup and layout.

(General town layout size and plan. I keep forgetting just "how big" 28mm can become....oh dear....)

(Some mini setup action along the wharves of the town. The near building is from MBA while background buildings are from Old Glory.)

(The "Evil Snow White" Water Fountain sits in the town square...)

And I started laying out my scratch-built fort. Plans were drawn and household items were acquired.

(This should be an interesting project....)

And Christmas Season was upon us....

("He tasks me....and I shall have him....")

(The warm, steaming glow of electric sex....)

(The Old Girl in her winter finery...)

(And me in mine...with the leopard skin Santa Hat....)

We hosted a Christmas dinner at our house for some friends....

With mini eclairs for dessert!

And the tree and house was decked out in her finery....

And I was able to hit the Carmel Christkindlmarkt and get some cool stuff for my wife.

(Yours truly out and about....)

(The entrance to the market. It's a beautiful place...)

(A little something to help take off the December chill....)

And getting back, I found out that my wife's favorite European chocolates had arrived from European Deli...

(These are REALLY good....)

And Christmas Day got here....

(And Mr. Bear is ready!)

("Mr. Bear" waits patiently for the unwrapping to begin....)

(My wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), made out like a bandit as usual.... This is her overstuffed stocking!)

(Yours truly with his blue ribbon. Truly I am a first prize catch!....)

(After the unwrapping... Mr. Bear looks like he is passed out from drinking too much eggnog!)

After presents and dinner, Mr. Bear, the rest of the stuffies, and myself settled down to watch the Houston Texans play (and lose) to the Baltimore Ravens...

Sigh....

(First quarter and it isn't looking good....)

I got a lot of Christmas swag, (I've posted on it earlier), but I think I want to show what I think is the best material present I got this year.

A few years back my wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), made me a pipe pouch for my pipe and tobacco. I've loved it and treasured it. 

This year, she made me a holder to wear around my neck for my iPhone. I have a habit of breaking clips almost as fast as I put them on, and my iPhone has a horrible habit of sliding out of my pockets, etc.,  so this year she sat down and made me an accompanying pouch.

She lined the inside of it with one of my old ACW reenacting cloth shirt fabric pieces.

She put on a beautiful Celtic style button to keep the security flap closed.

I absolutely treasure this thing. It's beyond what I could have wanted or imagined.

I will admit that The Lord has blessed my life with her, and she is way too good for me.

I truly do not deserve her.

Oh and before I forget, the basement gaming room ALSO got a Christmas tree...

If you can call it that....

(I'm not sure...does it really say...."Christmas"???....)

And that brings us towards the end.
Christmas was over, and New Years Eve was coming.

And I always reflect and remember, as we all should.

(Remember and give thanks....)

And I took one last pic of the painting room on Dec 31, 2024....

For tomorrow is a new day, a new year, and a new start to new adventures.

(All is quiet at the table....for now....)

And I made one last set of my (in)famous "Banana Boats"....

("Come Mr. Tally Man! Tally me ba-na-naaaaa.....")

And I toasted in the new year with my wife. (Gawd bless her!).

("Should auld acquaintance be forgot.....")

And that was it. 

2024 was done and 2025 and the unknow was ahead of us.

For those of you that have stuck with me all these years on this blog and other sites, (as well as in person), I thank you and wish that best for you in the New Year. 

More is coming. 

Stayed tuned!