New Year Message

As 2012 draws to a close I shall once again briefly review 2012 and look forward to 2013. 

My 54mm Field Surgeon, Dr. Doosweet B.A. prepares to down his New Year tipple.

You may wish to look back at the appropriate post from this time last year.  The blog continues to feature prominently in my wargaming life, and I was pleased to see that I managed 299 posts in 2012 (nine more than in 2011!).  I shall continue to aim for about four a week.

A load of angry Russians near Kharkov.  20mm toys.

Megablitz: I wanted to run at least one large game in 2012.  This took the form of the very successful 20-player Krisis at Kharkov game played at Shrivenham in June.  As well as a number of veterans I was pleased to see some 'new' players at this event.  Some of whom are still speaking to me.  Not many new toys have joined the collection in 2012, though as I type this the varnish is drying on a small batch of Soviet vehicles.
I intend to run a game in Sheffield in 2013, with more possibly to follow.  As usual, any announcements will be made here and on the Megablitz Yahoo group.

Pakistani M48 and M47 tanks.  1/285 scale toys.

NATO Brigade Commander:  A quiet year in the NBC front, although we did re-run the Khafji and Assal Uttar scenarios and Martin put together the WW2 game now known to history as 'Von Gow's Express'.   A few new (mostly WW2) toys have been added and I do have a couple of scenarios planned for the WW2 and postwar periods.

Naval gunners man a classic Britains 4.7inch gun.  54mm toys.

Funny Little Wars: Last year I had largely completed the Forbodian Army and was planning to make progress on either a French style force or a Naval Brigade.  The Naval Brigade is mostly complete - and even includes a pair of gunboats, while the other project underway is the Tratvian (think Russian) Army.  In addition to a number of FLW games at the Sheffield Club I was most fortunate to play a game with FLW author PW in his garden during one of the few days of the British 'Summer'.  In March.  The heady blend of sunshine, cake, gaudy toy soldiers and splendid company made this one of the highlights of the year for me.
In 2013 I intend finishing the Tratvians and the other outstanding odds and ends for the other two forces, and possibly to start on yet another army.  I know I shouldn't but.......
The popularity of FLW at the Sheffield club (where four of us have armies) suggests the possibility of more local games - though (as the rain bounces off my windows) I suspect they'll be mostly indoors!

A damn handsome chap wearing a fez

Op14: I was about to type "Relatively quiet on the Western Front and not much noisier in the East."  Loooking back at my posts, however, indicates that we played six Op14 games during 2012!  Our most recent outing was to Gaza (giving me the opportunity to 'Fez up') and we have a few more such games planned.

Command & Colours (Napoleonics): We played a few games of this with my 15mm toys.  One more scenarios are available (or I can be bothered to write some...) the pace might pick up a bit.

Classical Warfare (CCA): My 25mm chaps had several outings and increased greatly in number during the year.  Hell, I even painted some.  I expect many more such games during the coming year.

A French (Vichy) cruiser having a bad day.  1/1200 scale model.

Fletcher Pratt Naval Wargame: A rather tentative experiment when unleashed on the members of the Sheffield Club in late 2011, this now has a modest following and there are usually plenty of volunteers for a game.  The 'Harbour Raid' game in October went particularly well, and the year has seen ships of four navies in action on the parquet floor.  A huge expansion of my fleet was reported in April, and since then a modest number of other vessels have been 'commisioned'.  Expect more nautical nonsense during 2013.

Wargame Events: Along with other members of Wargame Developments, I attended Triples and The Other Partizan with our popular Rollbahn Ost game.  It was particularly nice to meet a couple of my blog commentators at shows. Other notable events include the Memphis Mangler game at Shivenham.
In 2013 I'll be involved in running WD's Ten Rounds Rapid game at Triples and both Partizans.  A special event this year will be the Little Wars Centenary.  This will include great deal of toy soldiering and more besides.  Information via the FLW Yahoo Group.

As always, I hope to meet many you during the coming year.

It remains only for me to hope that 2013 is all you wish it to be.