Happy 2014 and New Year Resolutions

In a few hours, 2013 will be history in  Europe and I'd like to wish all my blog readers and wargaming pals a most prosperous and happy 2014. Time also to think about plans for the New Year, although I have little trust in these being any more sustainable that an ice cube in summer time ("plans do not survive contact with the enemy" as Molkte's adaggio goes) .

For this reason and in order to be realistic for once in life, I'll set myself limited targets to guide my  activity over the next 12 months, taking also into consideration potential events happening in the wargaming landscape.

My main objective this year will be to conclude successfully the Afrika CoC project that we launched a few (literally) days ago. Momentum was good due to coinciding with the Christmas period, as most of gorup's mates involved have invested in models and had time to paint during the holidays. I'll say that success is 99% guaranteed and will start playing in late January or early February.



Beyond Afrika CoC, it is difficult to make any solid forecast in terms of new wargaming projects to undertake. I have only a couple of guesses:

• Spanish Civil War, as the recent release of the rules adapting CoC to this period and the different army lists is attracting attention in my wargame circle. It will help the fact that my entry barriers are pretty low: I own close to 200 painted minis, vehicles and support weapons in 20mm covered in dust since 5 years ago when I decided to give up Command Decision following the release of the (too complex for me) 3rd edition
• First World War. The lure to re-enter the period  would probably be too strong to resist as we approach the magic dates in August. Even in Spain, where I WW is a lesser known conflict, I perceive the beginning of a publishing boom; and it is a theme increasingly covered by the general media (press, TV, etc) Again no significant barriers of entry for me, as anyone following this blog will know.

What else? Apart from pure wargaming projects, I have some hobby related activities and wishes that I'd like to fulfil next year, but will have a lower priority in my lists:

• Participate in a wargaming event: Salute unfortunately is ruled out this year due to financial constraints; but there are a few national gatherings of interest: for example, Hispania Wargames in Málaga in December. This will be my main target, with the idea of organising a participation game (CoC or Mud & Blood?). Thanks to my expanding presence in the social media (blog, Twitter and Google+) I have forged some good links with a very active wargaming community in the south of Spain and organisers of this event.

• Collaborate with some of the published wargaming magazines. I published my first-ever article in Breaking War and I'd like to repeat the experience. I'm not aiming to have any type of fixed section but to contribute from time to time with scenarios or analysis of new rule sets.

And the final one (...more a wish than a resolution): to visit the Normandy battlefields. I will assign a very low probability to this right now (due again to financial constraints) but I'd like nonetheless to  have it my horizon. TooFatLardies is currently working on a guided battlefield tour due next summer that of course I'd love to join; but I will consider other alternatives involving, for example, a holiday family to the region.

As I said at the beginning of the post, looking to be realistic ...but with an extra of ambition. Wish you all a most happy New Year and that your dreams may come true.

The year concludes... life, fortunately, continues. Happy 2014!!