Year in Review - 2017

How did 2017 go? Let's take a peek at some highlights:

I got off to a fast start with the Six by Six Challenge, quickly finishing Four Against Darkness and fantasy battles with my homebrew rules. Here is an example of a fantasy battle with 3mm troops.

I started experimenting with boxed portable wargames, where everything I need fits into an A4 sized plastic box.

I even applied the portable wargame concept to dungeon crawls.

I did manage to complete some 2mm fantasy armies - Presteria (green bases - inspired by the legendary Prester John) vs. the Swartherians (desert nomads)

Then I went on an air combat kick, eventually adopting Kaptain Kobold's Spandau and Lewis as my go-to set of rules.

In September, we endured the wrath of Hurricane Irma. We were without power for 5 days during the most blistering part of the Florida summer.

Around that time, I started experimenting with various board games. This is Manoeuvre by GMT Games.

In October, I made my own Dracula-themed board game. It is inspired by Fury of Dracula but plays much quicker.

Manoeuvre led me to creating my own block armies. I cut up a Pathfinder battle mat and used dry-erase markers to create a simple, variable battle board.

Then I went on a post-apocalyptic road wars kick, eventually adopting Machinas for my games. This inspired me to watch Mad Max Fury Road, which I had not seen. I tend to agree with this review, even if it is a bit gratuitous with bad language.

Finally, I started messing around with rules for sci-fi bomber runs.

How did I do with my 2017 prognostications?

• The Six by Six Challenge
• I completed Four Against Darkness, and 3 miniature games (although 2 were mid-year substitutes)
• I dropped DC Rivals instead of completing it. I came close but did not quite complete the replacement - Machinas.(I got 4 of 6 games in).
• I did not dither on deciding the sixth game; I choose Ticket to Ride fairly early. I also only completed 4 of 6.
• In all, I completed 4 games in the challenge and 32 out of 36 sessions.
• Portable Dungeon Crawl - As predicted, I have a basic boxed set completed by the end of the year. I am using wood tokens and meeples instead of minis, but the set is functional.
• A New Army - I did complete a new fantasy army (two in fact). They are my Presterians and Swartherians (mentioned above). It was 2mm instead of 3mm. I also created 2 air forces for battles in the skies of Aetheria (my 1930s-style imagi-nations)
• Board Game Purge (Not!) - This never came up. My wife is tiring of board games so we did not pick up many new ones this year therefore did not have to worry about storage.