Checking In - I'm Still Alive

Well, I definitely didn't stick to my "blog-a-month" goal. The first two weeks of 2014 saw me having mini freakouts because the clock would read 11:45 p.m. and my immediate thought was "Oh no, I haven't blogged today!" Once I got over that, however, I found myself not wanting to write much at all. I felt free from my obligation, but I was also incredibly burned out, and January was my first chance to actually have a bit of respite from blogging.

February came and went... that's really the only excuse I have there.

I started this post at the end of March, but I thought there would be a beautiful irony to posting an "I'm back!" post on April Fools Day. But here I am, finally coming back to say "hey" and get caught up with everybody. A handful of people have been asking if I was coming back, and I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement for me to keep writing. As I sit here staring at my Blogger page, I realize just how much I've missed you guys.

My 2014 gaming has been simultaneously boring and ever-changing. As far as video games go, I've barely touched Titanfall, the game that I was heralding as the be all, end all of shooters. I blame CoD Ghosts for killing shooters for me forever. Other than that, my Xbox One has served as a glorified Netflix host.

Tabletop gaming has likewise been a bit lackluster. We started our slow-grow league in my group, and my timing apparently couldn't have been more awful. While the first night had a good turnout, the remainder of the league has had a low amount of attendance. But hey, it's been a good opportunity for me to get my feet wet with running an event!

For the league, I've finally picked up my Skorne and tried to learn them. I've been holding off on painting them for several months, and it was super exciting to finally start my Assassin's Creed theme! Here are just a few of the more successful pieces I've done (and a couple other commission pieces that I really enjoyed!):

However, my success in painting is in no way connected to my success in playing them. After around 10 games, I only have 1 legitimate win. One win happened because I completely misread Anatomical Precision, and the other came when our Cryx player needed to roll a 3 on damage to kill pMorghoul, and he didn't boost because, really, what were the odds that he'd roll snake eyes? A lesson in not trusting statistics was learned that day! I don't know what it is about Skorne, but I've never understood how they work. I figured it would start making sense when I got past the theory stage, but after putting them on the table I'm still not figuring out how to make my beasts anything more than a rocket that gets counter-punched the next round. Maybe I need to apply more Molik Karn?

As for the bigger changes, our gaming group is going through a pretty big shift. For the first time in years, the group will be moving to a public gaming area instead of playing in a basement. If you're familiar with the Muse on Minis podcast, we'll be moving to their store (though playing on a different night). In addition, I think life has finally caught up to everyone and forced us to rethink our ability to game every single week. So we're trying out a bi-weekly Warmachine night. What does that mean for the off nights?

More games! Although I enjoy games like Warmachine and Malifaux, things like IKRPG and board games are much more enjoyable for me because they don't pull out my competitive side nearly as much. So on the nights we aren't doing Warmachine, I'll be able to start up the new IKRPG campaign my group has been asking for, learn High Kommand, teach people Netrunner, and basically get a wider exposure to all the games I hear people talk about. I'm hoping this will also get me more excited for Warmachine, because now I don't have to look forward to losing every single week.

As for painting, there hasn't been much going on. Real life has been keeping me fairly busy, so I haven't been getting much done. I've enjoyed doing what painting I can, but I'm definitely in a bit of a slump. I have been wanting to try out an exaggerated anime style on my Malifaux models, but there's a good deal of research I need to do before I'm ready to give that a shot. I'm excited to paint up my small Gator army that I got many months ago, but I think I should hold off until I paint or sell my Skorne first.

Other than that, I don't think 2014 has had much else for me. So what do I have planned for the future? I want to finally do the Warmachine 101 series I talked about last year. I was a bit too busy last year to devote much time to it, but without a set writing schedule it will be easier for me to get that all put together and posted on the site. I have a few topics that have been running through my head, and I think I'll do another "Warmachine Rules Mistakes" post, since that is hands-down my most popular post from last year. If anyone has a topic idea they'd like me to cover, let me know! I'm much more motivated to give you guys something you want to see than to just make stuff up and hope it's good.

So how has your 2014 been? Anything new in gaming, or is it just the same old stuff?