Resolutions 2024: December Roundup & End of Year

It’s one thing to set resolutions, and quite another to hold oneself to them.  I intend to review my progress monthly toward each of the resolutions.  Welcome, then, to our roundup for December 2024.  Let’s start with a reminder of the resolutions and where we got to in November: 

Resolutions Recap

Painting

• Paint at least 4 Warhammer armies of approx 2000 points (Nov status: 1/4)
• Paint an Underworlds Warband (Nov status: Complete! 1/1)
• Paint two Malifaux crews (Nov status: 0/2)
• Paint 2 starting forces each for 2 different games (Nov status: 3/4)
• Take part in at least 4 club painting contests (Nov status: Complete! 5/4)
• Paint 366 miniatures (Nov status: 288/366)
• Paint more than I purchase or print (Nov status: on track!)

Gaming

• Play at least 40 different games this year (Nov status: Complete! 44/40)
• Play 6 games that I already owned but had not yet played. (Nov status: Complete ! 6/6)
• Play at least 3 non-D&D RPGs (Nov status: Complete! 3/3)

Writing

• Publish a blog post per day (Nov status: on track!)
• Publish 6 items on DriveThruRPG (Nov status: 0/6)
• Write 18 reviews (including Game of the Month reviews) (Nov status: Complete! 50/18)

So, how did December go?

Painting

Nada. Nothing. Zip.

As I mentioned last month, the pain that was previously in other joints has spread to my hands. I’m hoping to get back on some sort of painting next month and get off to a better start for 2025.

Our totals for the month are, of course:

Bought: 0 minis
Printed: 0 minis
Painted: 0 minis

This means that my totals for the year so far are:

Purchased: 121 minis
Printed: 116 minis
Painted: 288 minis

I’m feeling really down about this. It’s not about the resolutions, but rather the disappointment of just feeling a bit… useless with it all. That said, let’s break down all of the resolutions:

• Paint at least 4 Warhammer armies of approx 2000 points (Dec status: 1/4) – Yeah, just nowhere near. I could have finished this in October through December, if I could actually hold a brush for a decent time. The Necrons are the closest to being done, with just two miniatures needing to be painted. Similarly, the bulk of the Skaven miniatures are done.
• Paint an Underworlds Warband (Dec status: Complete! 1/1) – This was completed very early in the year. I’m really happy with the minis.
• Paint two Malifaux crews (Dec status: 0/2) – These were meant to be done in November. I got almost all of one crew done, with just one mini unfinished. The second crew is primed with some blue flesh having also been put down.
• Paint 2 starting forces each for 2 different games (Dec status: 3/4) – Not really near. I never got around to building my second Stargrave crew.
• Take part in at least 4 club painting contests (Dec status: Complete! 5/4) – I feel bad that I bowed out of some later contests, but I did meet my target. I want to make sure I keep entering these contests to support our fantastic club.
• Paint 366 miniatures (Dec status: 288/366) – I’m happy with what I managed, but a little disappointed that I couldn’t meet this goal, which I did think was attainable.
• Paint more than I purchase or print (Dec status: succeeded!) – Success! If I hadn’t lost my momentum at the end of the yea,r it would have been a better victory, but a win’s a win.

Here are some of my favourite minis from this year:

Some good stuff in there!

Gaming

December has been a pretty quiet month, where I’ve mostly played Commander and Lorcana, with a little bit of River Valley Glassworks thrown in.

Here’s the list of games that I had played already this year, before the start of December:

1. Century: Golem Edition
2. Architects of the West Kingdom
3. Sushi Go!
4. Warhammer Underworlds
5. Age of Sigmar: Soulbound
6. Traveller
7. Dungeons & Dragons
8. Santorini
9. King of Tokyo
10. Ticket to Ride
11. Twilight Struggle
12. Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
13. Ark Nova
14. Arcane Academy
15. Robot Quest Arena
16. UNO
17. Root
18. Apiary
19. Dixit
20. In the Hall of the Mountain King
21. Quadropolis
22. 1960: The Making of the President
23. Everdell
24. Age of Fantasy
25. Call of Cthulhu
26. Raiders of the North Sea
27. Scout
28. Warhammer 40,000
29. Kluster
30. Rummy
31. Lorcana
32. Flotsam Fight
33. Twilight Struggle Red Sea: Conflict in the Horn of Africa
34. Magic: the Gathering (Commander)
35. Eclipse
36. Arcs
37. Nucleum
38. Villainous
39. Isle of Skye
40. Explorers of Navoria
41. Doomlings
42. Kingdom Builder
43. Love Letter
44. River Valley Glassworks

No new games were added in December.

I don’t really have a lot to throw in, except that I’ve been playing around with some new decks. One of them is a bit shameful.

My game of the month was River Valley Glassworks.

Let’s go ahead and break down those resolutions:

• Play at least 40 different games this year (Dec status: Complete! 44/40) – Success! There were some really good games in here this year, including some really great new ones. It’s been a fun year of gaming.
• Play 6 games that I already owned but had not yet played. (Dec status: Complete ! 6/6) – Yeah, another success. I really liked that I pulled some games off of the pile of shame. I could have done more, but 6 puts me in a decent place! The most successful game which came off that shelf this year was probably Everdell.
• Play at least 3 non-D&D RPGs (Dec status: Complete! 3/3) – I’ve had a lot of fun with RPGs this year, with Soulbound and call of cthulhu being the real highlights.

Writing

I’ve managed to maintain my goal of posting a blog post per day. I’m happy to be doing well on that front.  Reviews were a bit thinner on the ground this month, up until the very end, when I posted three in quick succession. Here are some highlights:

• A frog-themed Magic Monday
• Part 1 of this year’s top 50 games list
• A Magic Monday about protecting your commander
• Part 2 of this year’s top 50 games list
• A Magic Monday about how to lose friends
• Part 3 of this year’s top 50 games list
• A review of Jasper Fforde’s novel, Something Rotten
• Lookin’ at The Infamous Cruelclaw in Magic Monday
• Part 4 of this year’s top 50 games list
• A review of Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario
• December’s Game of the Month
• A Magic Monday about Sol Ring
• Part 5 of this year’s top 50 games list

No progress on the DTRPG stuff. That’s just not been a priority this year.

Let’s take a look at those resolutions:

• Publish a blog post per day (Dec status: complete!) – I’m feeling really good about this. That’s two years, now!
• Publish 6 items on DriveThruRPG (Dec status: 0/6) – I’ve just not been motivated towards this at all. I have ideas, but just don’t seem to be able to settle down and write them up.
• Write 18 reviews (including Game of the Month reviews) (Dec status: Complete! 53/18) – I rather smashed this one. Reviews were never a big part of this blog, but averaging one per week is making me feel good. The only slight regret is that due to pain, I have yet to do my review of some hobby supplies I was sent to review, but I’m hopeful that I can get this done in the new year.

December/End of Year Summary

Painting

• Paint at least 4 Warhammer armies of approx 2000 points (Dec status: 1/4)
• Paint an Underworlds Warband (Dec status: Complete! 1/1)
• Paint two Malifaux crews (Dec status: 0/2)
• Paint 2 starting forces each for 2 different games (Dec status: 3/4)
• Take part in at least 4 club painting contests (Dec status: Complete! 5/4)
• Paint 366 miniatures (Dec status: 288/366)
• Paint more than I purchase or print (Dec status: succeeded!)

Gaming

• Play at least 40 different games this year (Dec status: Complete! 44/40)
• Play 6 games that I already owned but had not yet played. (Dec status: Complete ! 6/6)
• Play at least 3 non-D&D RPGs (Dec status: Complete! 3/3)

Writing

• Publish a blog post per day (Dec status: complete!)
• Publish 6 items on DriveThruRPG (Dec status: 0/6)
• Write 18 reviews (including Game of the Month reviews) (Dec status: Complete! 53/18)

And that was December, and 2024. Catch you on Saturday to set some goals for 2025!