2026: Let's Go!

Wow, another year done and dusted already. I know it's a cliche, but it's amazing how time just seems to keep accelerating the older I get. This year was just... a lot, in many different ways, but I'm happy that I managed to keep working on projects I love and find some new ones to get excited about.

At 239 minis for 2025, we see that I am remaining productive and painted 102 more minis than in 2024! In retrospect that is surprising because I don't really feel like I advanced my projects in the ways I had been hoping. More on that later.

So in the traditional after action report format, let's start with three things I think I did well last year.

1) I played in my first Infinity tournament!

Granted, I went 0-2-1, but that means I didn't lose every game, so I'm counting that as a moral victory. It was really nice to go to a little three-round local tournament and both catch up with the local folks I hadn't seen in a while, and to see the strong showing from the Finnish community.

2) I painted a lot of models!

Not everyone is as neurotic ... detail-oriented as I am about tracking the number of models they paint over the year, but an unscientific vibes check of both the local and online community leads me to believe that the quantity of models I paint is above average.

3) I tried new games!

New to me this year were Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone, the Ulaya Chronicles, Guild Ball, Rumbleslam, Pillage and Triumph. Again, I'm not able to quantify the number of new games I tried this year compared to other people in the local community, but I'm happy to at least tried all of them even if only a few will be sticking around.

And now the less fun half on an AAR, the three areas for improvement.

1) I purchased too many random things.

Stuff was purchased for Warmachine, Chain of Command (in 15mm, 20mm and 28mm), Kings of War: Armada, Dead Man's Hand, and Cyberpunk Red Combat Zone, and yet I played no games with them. I'm not swearing off new games, but I need to institute a more deliberate process between the Good Idea Fairy and actually spending money.

2) I burned myself out on Infinity.

Early in the year there were big plans to play at both the Talvisota and CyberBaltic Satellites in 2025, but between trying to tweak my lists and finish the models I needed I sabotaged any enthusiasm I felt for the game. I didn't play a single game between March and November, and only made incremental progress on the JSA army I started with the release of the Sandtrap box.

For 2026 I think I need to focus on painting my Yu Jing collection (since I have the models to plausibly run all three sectorials) and try and average one game per month. A small, three-round event somewhere during the year would be perfect as well.

3) I was unfocused.

There were a lot of really fun and enjoyable things that I did over the past year. Researching about and then painting some WW2 Finnish armor was eminently enjoyable.

There were entire forces of Americans and Germans painted in 15mm for Chain of Command.

I painted an entire box of Gunslingers for Dead Man's Hand.

The common thread here is that none of this time and effort paid off with table time, which is kind of the end goal when you think about it. Part of it is the huge logistical hurdles I face in getting a game (2+ hours of travel, each way), and the other part is just a lack of focus.

Like most of us, I suspect that my brain spends significantly more time imagining all the fun I will have once I just buy and paint these next couple minis. And though I do enjoy painting, I'm finding myself under a considerable backlog of plastic, and playing fewer games than ever.

So, to get all Hegelian, let's bring it back to how I am going to utilize these reflections for the new year.

1) I am going to be significantly more focused.

No more buying models willy-nilly, or purchasing games for which these is no community. I haven plenty of models and games that I currently own and haven't painted or played; they deserve love too.

2) Play more!

There are a hundred reasons for me not to take a day and go play games with my buddies, but I'm going to consider them less this year. I deserve to play more games and have more fun.

3) Do what I want.

Often I will not do the thing that I would really like to out of a desire to help the whole group. For example, a couple years ago when Horus Heresy was picking up steam locally I chose to play Word Bearers instead of my preferred Iron Warriors because it was a faction without a local player, and I felt like I could do it more cheaply.

I'm not interested in doing that anymore, I'm going to play the factions I want to play in the games I like just because. Seems crazy, but our hobby specifically, and games generally are supposed to be fun! Who knew?!

I hope you all had a wonderful 2025, and have an even better 2026 in store. How do you feel about the hobby you got done last year? What do you want to accomplish in 2026?