2015 Retrospect
So my extended second "holiday" is now over, posting to this blog has been disrupted thanks to work, and I've been enjoying reading retrospects in other blogs. So how has 2015 been in gaming personally?
Miniature Games:
Warmachine/Hordes: *
This deserves a far larger post, but this was a really awful year for WM/H. All the factions I care about either didn't get anything or had a boat load of horrible releases. As an example, who thinks for one release cycle what Khador really needs is all jacks and half of them should be MAT 5?
Even then it was actually giving eZaal a fair shake was the straw that broke the camel's back. I shouldn't get annoyed playing a game I'm supposed to enjoy and WM has sadly reached that point. Currently I'm taking a break to see if that helps.
Malifaux: ***
I played a little Mk2 back in DFW but it never really caught on then as too many of the models weren't released. In SC I've now gotten about half a dozen games in and have learned some things.
One, Lucious and Neverborn aren't for me. Half my games were trying to make him work and it just wasn't. Maybe I'll revisit him in the future but I've enjoyed Outcasts significantly more.
What I've also noticed is that Mk2 Malifaux scenarios are more lifeless. Too often the game revolves around dropping nondescript 30mm tokens around different parts of the map for "reasons". Mk1 scenarios felt far more flavorful, even if the game as a whole has been improved.
SW: Armada: **
This started super strong and was something I was really enjoying for a while.
Sadly, FFGs release schedule killed it. It went from enjoying the game, to waiting for new stuff to not caring that new stuff came out because it took too long.
Attack Wing: **
The balance seemed to settle on a few incredibly powerful builds and I grew really tired of sorting ships/tokens/cards for the game. I used to enjoy the changing roller coaster of balance that Wizkids created but even before multiple Scimitar or Kang builds I was getting a little tired.
Guild Ball: */****
Before the balance patch Guild Ball was in a really rough spot. There are only so many games I want to play where my fisherman opponent can move my team more than I can.
After the balance spot my Union took a bit of a hit but the game has been far more fun. Outside of hating the Brewers still, I'm enjoying my Engineers and Union. The Season 2 models look great and I'm looking forward to seeing the new captains.
LCGs/CCGs:
Doomtown: *****
I've really enjoyed Doomtown this year. From doing well at Gencon to just enjoying the game itself Doomtown has been really good.
More recently the local playgroup has had issues finding a store. Isle of Gamer did some self inflicted damage, 8 Bit went through a really rough patch and were currently crammed into Game Kastle: SC. Its hurt the local community too.
What this has done is inverted the time I spend sorting cards, with how much play I actually see. Much like Attack Wing this has gotten annoying, though it isn't really a fault of the game. The local community has thankfully been picking up again so hopefully its past its rough spell.
Shadowfist: ****
Shadowfist has had some surprising legs. Nostalgia and always wanting to play a Commander like game has certainly helped. There is plenty of room left to explore here too.
Other games: Ehhh...
Ashes, Epic, and surely something else. Finding the time to organize and build for too much has been difficult. Especially when there just aren't communities for these games.
Board Gaming:
I've slowly been playing more board games throughout 2015, which I am starting to miss. CA seems far more on the American side, than DFW and Euro games. The games that did see the most play time this year were Manila, which is just consistently fun, and BIOS MegaFauna(a simulation on animals freezing to death after spending millions of years barely surviving).
2016!
What do I want to try to do differently this year?
Miniature Games:
Warmachine/Hordes: *
This deserves a far larger post, but this was a really awful year for WM/H. All the factions I care about either didn't get anything or had a boat load of horrible releases. As an example, who thinks for one release cycle what Khador really needs is all jacks and half of them should be MAT 5?
Even then it was actually giving eZaal a fair shake was the straw that broke the camel's back. I shouldn't get annoyed playing a game I'm supposed to enjoy and WM has sadly reached that point. Currently I'm taking a break to see if that helps.
Malifaux: ***
I played a little Mk2 back in DFW but it never really caught on then as too many of the models weren't released. In SC I've now gotten about half a dozen games in and have learned some things.
One, Lucious and Neverborn aren't for me. Half my games were trying to make him work and it just wasn't. Maybe I'll revisit him in the future but I've enjoyed Outcasts significantly more.
What I've also noticed is that Mk2 Malifaux scenarios are more lifeless. Too often the game revolves around dropping nondescript 30mm tokens around different parts of the map for "reasons". Mk1 scenarios felt far more flavorful, even if the game as a whole has been improved.
SW: Armada: **
This started super strong and was something I was really enjoying for a while.
Sadly, FFGs release schedule killed it. It went from enjoying the game, to waiting for new stuff to not caring that new stuff came out because it took too long.
Attack Wing: **
The balance seemed to settle on a few incredibly powerful builds and I grew really tired of sorting ships/tokens/cards for the game. I used to enjoy the changing roller coaster of balance that Wizkids created but even before multiple Scimitar or Kang builds I was getting a little tired.
Guild Ball: */****
Before the balance patch Guild Ball was in a really rough spot. There are only so many games I want to play where my fisherman opponent can move my team more than I can.
After the balance spot my Union took a bit of a hit but the game has been far more fun. Outside of hating the Brewers still, I'm enjoying my Engineers and Union. The Season 2 models look great and I'm looking forward to seeing the new captains.
LCGs/CCGs:
Doomtown: *****
I've really enjoyed Doomtown this year. From doing well at Gencon to just enjoying the game itself Doomtown has been really good.
More recently the local playgroup has had issues finding a store. Isle of Gamer did some self inflicted damage, 8 Bit went through a really rough patch and were currently crammed into Game Kastle: SC. Its hurt the local community too.
What this has done is inverted the time I spend sorting cards, with how much play I actually see. Much like Attack Wing this has gotten annoying, though it isn't really a fault of the game. The local community has thankfully been picking up again so hopefully its past its rough spell.
Shadowfist: ****
Shadowfist has had some surprising legs. Nostalgia and always wanting to play a Commander like game has certainly helped. There is plenty of room left to explore here too.
Other games: Ehhh...
Ashes, Epic, and surely something else. Finding the time to organize and build for too much has been difficult. Especially when there just aren't communities for these games.
Board Gaming:
I've slowly been playing more board games throughout 2015, which I am starting to miss. CA seems far more on the American side, than DFW and Euro games. The games that did see the most play time this year were Manila, which is just consistently fun, and BIOS MegaFauna(a simulation on animals freezing to death after spending millions of years barely surviving).
2016!
What do I want to try to do differently this year?
- Its far too easy for me to bite off more than I can chew. Trying to not go crazy with purchases I can't use or games I don't really need.(See Batman the miniature game, Epic, Ashes, Rebel Assault, etc).
- Infinity! My Infinity league has kicked off rather well in Jan and I've been enjoying the game. Its sci-fi, has a deep ruleset and doesn't really share WM DNA.
- More Hobby. I want to paint more and work on terrain more. When I do either I really enjoy it but only superficial stuff gets done.
- Mk2 Malifaux with Mk1 scenarios. Writing this blog post makes me want to try this out.
- More board gaming. I think I finally know the right people and there are plenty of games that really need to see the light of day.
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