Hobby Resolutions for 2014 and 2015

With just over two months left in the year, I thought I would take a look back at my resolutions to begin the year as well as some likely resolutions for 2015, particularly those taking advantage of my excel model trackers. First, let's look at if I've accomplished my goals for this year.

1. Form Closer Friendships through the Hobby
I would like to think I've accomplished this to some degree. I have chatted and hung out with Kenny and Rob from Forge the Narrative a few times both at and outside events. I also got to meet and hang out with +Greg Hess a bit at NOVA, another great dude who has an awesome site contributing to the online community. Additionally, I feel like I know my local community a bit better both through attending events occasionally and helping put together a local tournament. I'm definitely leaving out people here, like some of the guys who play at Huzzah and Chip from Torrent of Fire.

2. Have Two Competitive and Tournament Ready (painted) Armies for 40k:
My goal was to have two armies painted up to a competitive level of 1,850+ points. I sort of did this, as I have a bit over 2,000 points of Necrons completed, though that is including the 800+ point C'Tan who is largely not allowed at tournaments. Technically, I achieved this goal, but not sure it completely counts. That said, with 7th Edition Ally rules, I can add in my painted Tyranids/Eldar and get the Necrons to 1,850, even if it makes little sense.

3. Try New Things:
In my resolution, I applied this to several things, both in hobbying and painting as well as play. In play, I think I am well on my way to achieving this goal. I have begun the journey to trying out Malifaux, and also picked up a little card game called Boss Monster, that we tried at SpikeyCon.

In terms of hobbying and painting I feel I might have fallen flat a little. I expanded my comfort level with airbrushing by painting my entire Necron army, but I'm not sure I did much to really push myself as an artist. So again, this goal might be a partial pass.

4. Grow and Improve the Blog: 
This is another hit and miss resolution. We have certainly gotten more views this year than last, but I can't say we've seen continuous growth in terms of views. We have expanded a bit in terms of our Semi-Regular podcast, as well as the recognition we get from having some well known guests on some of those podcasts. I mentioned in the resolution that we want to cater to an "everyman" gamer and I think we might have gotten away from that a little, and strayed from the hobby to try to just cover the cavalcade of rules releases for 40k.

5. Have Fun, Damnit!:
My last resolution for the year, and one I think I got away from at times. I think the lack of fun is part of why the blog has slowed down of late and I haven't painted anything in months. Some parts of the game and the blog became a chore, or disappointing in terms of returns. I got hung up on how I was doing at NOVA for example, and forgot to have as much fun as I should have.

So, with those out of the way, let's look at a couple early resolutions for 2015:

1. Have Fun, Damnit!:
This has to be a focus. Trying to keep up with the flavor of the week and the meta and so on, while interesting, is draining, both financially and emotionally. The two "true" games of 7th Edition I've played were lots of fun and completely focused on bringing units I like, putting pretty models on the board, and throwing dice with a good friend. Gaming weekends with Ron and Chandler died off a bit, and must be revived. These games shouldn't focus on tournament prep but just putting down something cool, taking pics, having fun, and rolling dice (or flipping cards - I'm pushing Malifaux and Boss Monster).

2. Get the Grey Tide Under Control:
This is a bit self explanatory, but this year, I will be able to use the model trackers I put together a couple months ago and set concrete goals.

I currently have 18% of my total models what I would consider "done." I would like to get above 25% for next year. This means completing about 70 models while not adding more to the Grey Tide. I also want to set a couple sub goals: have a second army 75% or more completed, and get my Tyranids 50% completed by points (at 38% now).

The Tyranid goal will likely shift a bit as I expect to be picking up potentially another 1,000 points in bugs, pushing my total to almost 9,000; however, if I paint the 5 bugs that make up that purchase (Hierodule, Toxicrene/Maleceptor, Dimachaeron, and another Malanthrope) I'm nearly there.

A tertiary goal to this would be using my Malifaux model tracker and ensuring all my factions are at least 50% completed. This goal is as much to keep myself in check as far as "Oooh, shiny" as anything else. As it is, I have 26 Malifaux models. Getting 13 or more painted should not be a problem. But if I start accumulating models, it will be tougher.

These two goals I think get back to what got me into this hobby and what is most exciting about it; play fun games with cool looking models that I am proud to show off. I'm not saying I'm abandoning competitive 40k or the idea of obsessive list building and trying to perform well. But I have to take into account that I don't get enough gaming time in to really make a run, and focusing on events only doesn't leave time for fun games.

So now I'll through it to you, loyal reader: Did you make any goals for this year, and if so, how have you done with them. Anything looking ahead you really want to make sure you accomplish?