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 October 2026. Let’s start with a reminder of where we got to last month:
Resolutions Recap
Painting Resolutions
- Complete 2 army projects
- Complete 3 smaller/skirmish projects (Completed: 3/3)
- Complete 1 board of wargame/skirmish terrain
Take part in at least 6 club painting contests (progress: 2/6)- This is being removed because club challenges have dried up this year
- Paint 200 miniatures (progress:130/200)
- Paint more than I purchase (on track… just)
Gaming Resolutions
- Play at least 30 different games this year (Completed: 32/30)
- Play miniature games at least 12 times (progress: 7/12)
- Play at least 5 games that I already own but have not yet played (Completed: 5/5)
- Play at least 3 non-D&D RPGs (progress: 1/3)
Writing Resolutions
- Publish a blog post per day (on track)
- Write 52 reviews (Completed: 58/52)
Now, let’s take a look at what sort of progress was made in October.
October Roundup: Painting
I only finished a single miniature this month. Namely, it was this Chronomancer for my Necron army:
I’m really happy with how he turned out, but a bit disappointed that he’s my only mini for the month. I do have a fair few minis in progress for next month, though!
So, before the start of the month, our totals for the year were as follows:
- Purchased: 127
- Painted: 130
I had just resisted going back into deficit! And then I go and ruin it…
- Purchased: 13
- Painted: 1
Oh, well. That leaves our totals for the year at:
- Purchased: 140
- Painted: 131
I’ll soon be back in the positive, though. I’ve got mostly finished minis that will bring me back!
October Roundup: Gaming
The goal for this year, as with last year, is to play 30 different games. Here are the games played up to the start of this month:
- Magic: the Gathering (Commander)
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Viscounts of the West Kingdom
- Burrows & Badgers
- Apiary
- Age of Sigmar
- Sagrada
- Scout
- Escape the Dark Sector
- Isle of Skye
- Century: Golem Edition
- Escape from Tiddles Tower
- New York Zoo
- Endangered Orphans: House of Rath
- Arcane Academy
- Root
- Tiny Towns
- Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
- Black Ops: Tactical Espionage Wargaming
- Heat
- Quadropolis
- A Game of Thrones (2nd Ed.)
- Dixit
- Monster Eater
- Fire Nation Rising
- River Valley Glassworks
- Mutant: Year Zero
- Wyrmspan
- DC Comics Deckbuilding Game
- Warhammer 40,000
- Quoridor
- Cartographer Heroes
This month, I am adding a single game to the list:
For anyone following the blog through October, it should come as little surprise that the bulk of the month was spent on Warhammer 40,000. I’m back into the game, enjoying some battles, and paitning minis.
It’s fun to be back into it. I need to get a bunch more plays in to really grasp everything, though. If I’m going to play, I’d like to do it well, you know?
The other big thing this month was actually just from last week. I ran Call of Cthulhu for the first time. I’ve played it plenty, and I really love it, but I hadn’t run it. In the end, I put together an adventure based on the Threshold series by Peter Clines, with a particular focus on the events described in the second novel in the series, The Fold.
The game went really well. The group took it so seriously! That was really satisfying. They asked so many fantastic questions as part of their investigation. I love the book so much, and have re-read it so many times that I was pretty prepared for everything they asked; and was ready to be invasive in-character for any question I couldn’t address.
I’m really grateful to the group and had a great evening.
October Roundup: Writing
This month sees a trio of new reviews added to the tally:
- The novel, Our Friends at the Convenience Store by the Sea
- A Call of Cthulhu event at Stirling Castle
- The current edition of Warhammer 40,000
We did post a few other wordy posts:
- Looking at a Necron army list
- Planning our club’s latest Commander Event
- Speculation on Necromunda Roleplay
- Looking at Bloomburrow commanders
- Looking at a then-upcoming Call of Cthulhu event
- Some reflections on a game of 40K
- Looking at options for a Halloween RPG one-shot
- Debating on a deck to use for our Commander event
- Our Commander event deck lists
- Looking at a possible Genestealer Cults army list
- My Shroofus Sproutsire Commander deck
A decent month, I suppose.
October Summary
Painting Resolutions
- Complete 2 army projects
- Complete 3 smaller/skirmish projects (Completed: 3/3)
- Complete 1 board of wargame/skirmish terrain
Take part in at least 6 club painting contests (progress: 2/6)- This is being removed because club challenges have dried up this year
- Paint 200 miniatures (progress:131/200)
- Paint more than I purchase (in deficit)
Gaming Resolutions
- Play at least 30 different games this year (Completed: 33/30)
- Play miniature games at least 12 times (progress: 10/12)
- Play at least 5 games that I already own but have not yet played (Completed: 5/5)
- Play at least 3 non-D&D RPGs (progress: 2/3)
Writing Resolutions
- Publish a blog post per day (on track)
- Write 52 reviews (Completed: 61/52)
Catch you at the end of November!