2017 A gaming year in review

It's been a productive year and looking back I've realised how much I've managed to complete in the last 12 months.  I started off the year with many good intentions and satisfyingly most came close to completion.  This has been the year of Chain of Command, which has dominated my gaming time.  No surprise then that my painting and modelling time has also been consumed in supplying the figures and pieces we've needed to play.

When I look down the list I realised just quite how big the output has been, which makes it all the more disappointing that the project that started the year was one of the few not to reach completion.  The Great War has always been an interest of mine and I have the Too Fat Lardies rules The Mud and Blood and I've wanted to try out the CoC version of these.  I love the figures available in 28mm, so this was a project I had hoped to start, if not complete in 2017.  The first of these were my Great War Miniatures British infantry platoon, the first miniatures to see a paintbrush this year.

The year started with all the best intentions

All was not completely lost as a few figures did reach completion.

Not all was lost....

Highlights in terms of gaming were undoubtedly introducing a long-time gaming opponent Dave to the delights of Chain of Command and playing pint sized campaigns through to completion - Kampfgruppe Von Luck and Storming the Citadel.  Dave has always been a first class opponent no matter what game he plays and this has given us some very enjoyable games this year.  While I can claim the honours of campaign victories, Dave gave me some serious scenario beatings along the way and I shall avoid gloating, as I suspect honours will be evened up in due course.

My Paras resolutely stood their ground in Von Luck

The Flammpanzer applies the Coup de Grace in Storming the Citadel

The big project for the year was the Australian/Japanese Pacific project and I now have the basic infantry platoons and supports finished off and ready for the table.  A new theatre meant a lot of new terrain and 2017 was the year of the palm tree.

Some Pacific action

Both of the CoC pint sized campaigns called for additional scenery and many of the smaller projects were filling in the gaps.

So in a year where we went from the jungles of the Pacific to the steppes of the Ukraine, it only made sense I should make a French chateau.

While that was going on I was realising how much I'd like to redo or replace some of my earlier figures and so in many small ways I bought, painted and replaced figures like leaders, specialist teams and gun crews.  The release by AB Figures of a range of Russian figures was a real highlight and it wasn't long before these made their way into the collection as well as several extra Germans.

Russian SMG squads

New Russian junior and senior leaders

New German squads

New German senior leaders

German FOO team, painted and waiting for the base to be finished.

There were always additional vehicles and guns, and one of the joys of playing in 20mm is the abundance in this scale (not to mention how much cheaper they are and how much easier to store).  I was particularly pleased with the ambush camouflage schemes on the Hetzer and Jadgpanzer IV.

A work trip to France left enough time to fit in a visit to the very impressive tank museum at Saumur, where I was fortunate to see both of these types in the flesh.

I added a Tiger I in time for the Storming the Citadel campaign.

And for those of you who followed the campaign I don't need to remind you how it came to a rather swift and inglorious end in the third scenario.

The Tigers are burning....

The year has ended with the start of the US army project, which has picked up some momentum, and with a good selection of pint sized campaigns on offer I'm hoping these might see the table at some stage in 2018.

The first US squad waits for their bases to be flocked

Some senior leaders

So, here's what I think I've managed to start, if not complete during 2017:

Miniatures 

28mm Modern British (Empress)
20mm Waffen SS platoon (AB)

20mm British Airborne platoon (AB)
20mm Entrenched British Airborne section; British Army section and German Heer squad (AB)

20mm Russian Assault Engineer section (SHQ)
20mm Australian Pacific theatre platoon (Eureka)
20mm IJA platoon (Eureka)

20mm German Volkssturm section and panzerfaust teams (Wartime Miniatures)

20mm Russian infantry senior and junior leaders (AB)
20mm Soviet scout squad (AB)
20mm German Heer squads (x2 AB)
20mm Russian SMG squads (x2 AB)
20mm French Resistance squad and sabotage team (Foundry)

20mm German Forward observation team (AB)
20mm US army squad and leaders (AB) - the start of the whole platoon


Vehicles and Guns

Made, but not painted:

US M4, M4A3, M5A1, M36, 57mm AT gun, M5 half track, M8 scout car
Churchill AVRE
Japanese Type 89 (x2)


Made and painted:

Hetzer
Jadgpanzer IV
Sdkfz 10/5
Tiger I
PzKfwIV F2
PzKfwIII Flammpanzer
M3 Lee (Burma)
Matilda II CS (s-model)
M3A1 Stuart (Australian)
Lanchester Armoured car
2pdr AT Gun (Australian)
IJA 75mm Regimental Gun
IJA 37mm AT gun
Soviet BA64
Soviet 76.2 regimental infantry gun
SU-122
Wooden horse drawn wagons (x3)
Goliath (x2)


Terrain
Large trees
Entrenchments
Palm Trees

Jungle
Airfix Jungle Outposts (x2)
Sarissa Russian Church
Sarissa Russian houses (3)
Sarissa Russian Barns (2)
Sarissa French Chateau
Blotz pigsty
Sarissa La Belle Alliance country inn
Wooden fences
Kunai Grass
4' jungle stream
Minefields

Gaming accessories
CoC platoon boards
German, British, Panzer Grenadiers, British Airborne, Soviet Guards, Japanese

20mm Wounded leader figures

Chain of Command Games
Von Luck campaign
Storming the Citadel
Two games featuring US Airborne
One Pacific game featuring Australians and Japanese
A handful of Normandy games featuring British and German

Blog
Started this very blog back in March