2013 Year in Review

It's that time of the year again, the special holiday year in review episode!  This makes the FIFTH year in review for Mik's Minis!  Let's look back at some of the past reviews:

2012 at Mik's Minis
2011 at Mik's Minis
2010 at Mik's Minis
2009 at Mik's Minis

Wow, looking back it occurs to me that I used to actually paint miniatures, haha!  The pendulum has been swinging, wildly I might add, back at forth here at Mik's Minis.  The past year has been filled with hanging out with friends at the gaming table, of which I am most thankful for; good friends and good games.

Looking back at those older year-in-review posts got me thinking, man this blog's been around for some time.  Sheesh, almost seven years!  In 2008 I didn't think of a year-in-review post, but I did have this post about some really cool 40K objective markers.  Going back just a wee bit more, the end of 2007 saw a "Warhammer work night" post where, inexplicably, it looked as if we were gearing up for some serious fantasy minis!  Alas, it wouldn't be the first time a promising project never got off the launch pad.  All right, let's get on with the reviewing.

Games Played:  84
So the first of my confessions seep through the text you read before you.  I lost track a couple of months ago.  The games were still going, but I stopped using my Boardgamegeek app to track what I was playing, and with the HUD being deleted, I obviously wasn't tallying them up there.  Up to that point though I did track them and solidly in first place is Smash-Up with a whopping fourteen plays.  A great card game for lots of players and lots of replay-ability, it belongs on everyone's shelf either as a filler game or all night smash-uppery.

Next up is City of Remnants at six plays.  I cannot say enough good things about this gem by Plaid Hat Games.  It's got all of the things I'm looking for in a game, it's no filler mind you, its got plenty of depth and is a worthy addition to your collection.

There's a three-way tie for third place at five plays each, three excellent games that all offer something solid, and since I'm saying 'buy this' and 'buy that', you may as well think about adding these to your respective collections as well.  Up first is 7 Wonders, which is fast becoming a classic.  Don't overlook this one, it's a keeper.  Core Worlds is up next, a galactic deckbuilder that is sometimes lost in the shuffle (see what I did there) with both Race for the Galaxy and Eminent Domain.  I dunno, if you were only going to own one space deckbuilder, I'm swayed to say make it Core Worlds over RftG.  I love this game, but get the expansion Galactic Orders as well because it makes a great game even better.  I've mentioned Qwirkle before, and here I am again saying how great this one is.  It's great for non-playing spouses, gamer-oblivious relatives, little kids, and seasoned hardcore gamers alike.  My suggestion is to get the travel version, it's cheaper and, umm, travels more easily.

Miniatures Painted:  10
So it has been another year of gaming, but not a lot of it (almost none of it) has been with painted minis going 'pew pew' on the tabletop unfortunately.  If you're not miniature gaming, you're just not painting miniatures, end of story.  So I have left the minis-posts up to the stalwart Rucht and his postings, even our part-time lurker, Chris has contributed more than I in the minis department.  So I painted up ten figs, yup, ten.  My moral victory is that I painted any at all, made better that I made it into double digits, err, barely.  Terrain making; also in the nada department.

Miniatures Bought:  None!
Last year I bought almost four hundred figs, which I thought would mean this year would see half that, a fourth that? painted.  Nope, I haven't spent a dime on figs, but haven't missed buying them either.  I have made some purchases in the gaming department mind you, boardgames and RPG books and the like, just no minis.  Now, trying to outsmart myself, I have also made some boardgame purchases that also include great minis as well, so if nothing else, I could paint those up and get a little bit of both worlds out of them.

So, I will avoid the usual parting shot and not make any resolutions to 2014 like 'paint more minis' or 'play more minis' games or the like.  I do hope Rucht continues to post his gaming exploits, as his contributions have helped keep this blog afloat during the doldrums.  I'd also like to see Chris post more, though I know his real life has his hands full to the brim.  He brings a whole new angle to our hobby and his stuff has serious fu to it.

Speaking of real life, I've taken a new teaching position that's been almost a year now and that's been great.  I've also ramped up a non-gaming hobby that I do by about 200%, so that has kept me incredibly busy.  On top of all that, over the summer I decided to get my health back on track and really put forth an effort to lose some weight.  Just using the age old, tried and true means of 'diet and exercise' I've seen some real progress, but am learning it's far more of a mental exercise than exercise of the body.  In the end I'm hopeful both mind and body will be the better for it.  So here's to tomorrow, to looking forward to another year of gaming and everything else that 2014 may bring!