2018: A Year in Review. . .

The Grand Duchess and I are looking forward to a quiet evening at home tonight with a sparkling wine toast at midnight.

Well, here we are at the end of yet another Christmas season and year.  On a personal and family note, it has been reasonably good as far as years go.  The Grand Duchess and Young Master continue to go from strength to strength in their work and school activities, as does my sister with the former.  She relocated from Phoenix, Arizona back to Washington, D.C., after an absence of 20 years or so, in December 2017, which was followed in fairly short order by quite a promotion,  Good ol' Mom and Stepdad continue to tick along and have recently relocated back to the United States (Pinehurst, North Carolina), so they are a bit closer than in Merida, Yucatan State in Mexico, and my stepfather has begun his phased retirement, planning to conclude professing at The University of Pittsburgh in another couple of years. 

As for yours truly, things have been reasonably good during the last 12 months, although I wish there had been more time hobby pursuits.  A lament (frustration?) that is probably a familiar to many who dabble in miniature wargaming around the world.  Things were not quite moribund here in The Grand Duchy of Stollen however.  Close, but not quite.  As always, there was much hobby-related reading, rereading, daydreaming, and planning of future tabletop exploits.  

The year began with a bit more piecemeal work on painting up replacement infantry standards and some dabbling with a new light tent and hobby-related  photography.  I also managed to track down and purchase the first 24 issues of the now long gone Practical Wargaming late last winter via Ebay.  These continue to provide much food for thought, entertainment, and dovetail nicely with my first two dozen issues of Miniature Wargaming. 

During the late spring and summer months, I actually managed to find the time (the spring semester/term ended at the start of May) to do a number of things including finish pairs of Minden infantry standard bearers that replaced old single MiniFig 25mm figures.  I also painted the Eureka 'Ooh, You're So Awful' vignette, and began work on a 30-strong unit of RSM95 French Horse Grenadiers in bearskin bonnets, which I have recently almost finished except for a couple of coats of acrylic gloss.  All of that took me until the end of August, when the university machine cranked into action once more, and free time disappeared.  Again.

Those of us in academia have late spring and summers free, lengthy Christmas breaks and a week free in late winter, the fabled Spring Break, but it's rare to leave work at work when you hop in the car to head home, and you are never really 'off'.  The implication and expectation is that scholarship occupies all of one's time outside the classroom.  There is always stuff you are reading and thinking about, projects you get involved in, stuff to develop during the summers, whiny young adults who feel somehow mistreated when they have not earned top marks for middle-of-the-road to downright mediocre work, etc., etc.  Like any job, I suppose, you have your pluses, and your minuses. 

In any case, I managed to squeeze in a solo skirmish game before things got too busy during September and wrote up an article that appears in the 2019 Wargamers Annual.  That about sums up my hobby activities for the last year until picking up the paintbrush once more after classes ended in early December a few weeks ago.  Never did manage, though, to construct the planned the North German red brick church and a half-timbered warehouse mentioned in my hobby plans for summer back in May.

As is so often the case, day-to-day life here in the Grand Duchy tends to get in the way of free hobby time the last few years.  I have described it in a recent post as "the onslaught of daily life."  Work and family commitments mean that many evenings, I am just bushed by the time 8:30 or 9pm roll around, and all I want to do is crawl into bed for a couple of hours of reading, or mindless binging on whatever Netflix or Amazon series the Grand Duchess and I are enjoying at the moment.  Priorities, I guess.  

Now, lots of wargamers manage to use routine time at the painting table in the evenings to disconnect, wind down, and recharge, but I need a fairly clear head relatively free of work-life concerns even to contemplate sitting down at the painting table.  Hence my lack of grand hobby plans the last couple years.  The same will follow for 2019.  In short, until my work-life balance magically becomes less out of whack, whatever gets done will make me happy. 

For 2019, I'll keep plans and expectations very modest.  Besides a game or two, I'd like to complete another 30-figure cavalry  regiment (two squadrons and small staff) and maybe also get around to constructing that North German church and half-timber warehouse for my collection of tabletop buildings.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

But all of this sounds kind of dour at worst and noncommittal at best .  Let's end 2018 on a more optimistic note.  Whatever your hobby plans might include, I wish you prosperity, good fortune, and good health in your real life away from the painting and gaming tables.  Happy New Year Everyone!

-- Stokes

The last of this year's seasonal vintage greetings that seems to imply reasonably good fortune and prosperity.