Another year has come and gone in what feels like a blink of the eye. My year was dominated by the hobby, so it makes sense to take a breather and look back on my hobby progress when looking at 2022.
Painting
Warhammer 40K
While the release of the 9th edition Genestealer Cult codex in January didn’t introduce many new units, several units which never saw the table previously were suddenly viable and useful – most notably Genestealers and Goliath trucks.
I quickly painted these up and started having fun with 40K again, attending some local club events and getting some games under my belt.
Adeptus Titanicus
While AT is my favourite game and accounted for the most events I went to this year, I didn’t add many units to my Ignatum Battlegroup.
Early in the year I painted up a Warlord per the cover of Burden of Loyalty, which has the Imperator striding slowly behind it at Ullanor – so it was only natural when we reviewed the Battlebling Warbreaker Titan *cough*Imperator*cough* that I tried to recreate it.
It was my first time painting something this large and I must admit I fully burnt out on it. Welp. Maybe next year I’ll finally get around to painting up the Psi-Titan.
Dropfleet Commander
I picked up DFC on a whim after Condit suggested I pick it up to fill out my NoVA schedule. It was great to palate cleanser and has some very neat mechanics but sadly my local group has failed to keep the momentum going in favour of other things.
Horus Heresy
Speaking of other things, Horus Heresy came out this year. I wasn’t initially too fussed about it, having no experience or nostalgia for earlier editions of 30K/40K. What I did need though, was a new hobby project to whet my appetite.
I figured the Age of Darkness boxset would allow me to dabble with the system and paint something different. White is normally the last colour I would paint, but the Cult of Paint’s starter box sold me on at least giving it a try.
I opted to use a variation on bond’s recipe from our earlier How to Paint Everything article and was happy with the results – painting loads of Titans with the airbrush paid off.
One thing led to another, and I’ve now got a decent sized Fifth Legion force that I want to keep adding to. I love how they look and more importantly love how easy they are to paint up!
Events
With things mostly returning to normal after two years of lockdowns, events were back with a vengeance. Events have always been the apex of the hobby for me – not so much for the competitive side but for the sense of community/camaraderie and getting to see everyone’s sweet toy soldiers.
I was fortunate enough to attend a variety of events across the year and the UK. From these I have a few highlights:
- Attending the UK Golden Demon, where I was able to interview and speak to a wide variety of incredibly skilled artists and hobby legends. I’d strongly suggest checking out our interviews where they shared their insights.
- Attending the NoVA Open. Much like the last NoVA in 2019, attending one of the US events is a special treat for me – as I get to hang out with people that I’ve been shitposting with online with for years.
- This year I also hit the milestone of getting a best painted award at an event, not once but twice!– This is something I’ve never even approached before. While I still have loads of room to go, I’m happy to see that people like my White Scars as much as I do.
- Somehow getting the Wooden Spoon* and the prize for tabling/crushing my enemies the most (go figure!) at Warfare 2022’s AT campaign.
*Getting the Wooden Spoon means I’m an award winning player right? ?
I’ve already got three events booked in for next year already – including No Retreat in Gibraltar and my first Warhammer Fest. I’m likely going to ease up on the number of events next year as I did feel a bit overloaded at times!
Goonhammer Open
This year saw the second and third Goonhammer Opens in the UK, which we expanded to include Adeptus Titanicus and Horus Heresy narrative campaigns. Despite these events taking a lot of time and energy to put on, I’m always overwhelmed by the efforts put in by our volunteers and the positive feedback we receive.
I have to give special thanks to Sockbert, who from the other side of the world tied together my scribble into a compelling narrative for both AT narrative campaigns.
Unfortunately our current venue is out of commission next year, but I look forward to sharing what we have planned soon and seeing everyone again.
Until next time
And that’s what I got up to this year. This year I managed to paint up 164 models across five different systems. Next year I’m looking forward to getting more games of Horus Heresy under my belt and adding more to my White Scars.
As always, events continue to be the thing I’m looking forward to most – hopefully I’ll see you there.
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