Farewell to 2021 - Not As Strange As The Year Before...

But still not the way it was the year before that; that is before the lockdowns of the previous year. That all said, I was able to get in enough games at small gatherings, as well as at our annual big event, Enfilade, to be satisfied. Granted the convention only had about a third in attendance from 2019 (2020 being cancelled altogether) and pushed back from May to September, but it was still a lot of fun. As far as painting in 2021, besides a brief diversion into large scale McFarlane 40K Space Marines figures and a Sisters of Battle army, I only painted a few dedicated gaming figures. The reason for this was I had already painted a fairly large quantity of figures the year before (during the peak of the lockdown), and they had yet to see any action on the gaming table. I made it a goal to game these untested figures before the end of this year. I was almost able to accomplish this feat, but still have a few that didn't make it. These are mostly the English Civil War and a few Bolt Action figures, which I intend to not only get on the table next year, but am currently working on some additions to give players more units - namely the Pike and Shotte figures.

Here's a quick rundown of the games I played in or hosted in 2021.

Imjin War Naval Battle - At the Height of Battle

The first few games I played and hosted this year were several Imjin War naval games using models by MT Miniatures and rules by David Manley. Both products are quite excellent for their intended purposes. The nicely sculpted ships being in 1/1200th scale paint up fairly easily. I now have fleets for both the Japanese and the Koreans. It's a quick game to set up and simple to run. My buddy and I hosted this at a game day at our local Veterans Museum in July, and also at Enfilade in September.

Franco Prussian War Skirmish - Bolt Action

Around the middle of the year, I hosted a refresher Bolt Action Franco Prussian War game. I ran it again at Enfilade in September.

Battle of Hue - Arc of Fire

Speaking of Enfilade, I also played in a Battle of Hue game and a Lion Rampant "A Viking in the Sun" game. 

A Viking in the Sun - Lion Rampant

As already mentioned, attendance was about a third from the last one in 2019.

Battle of Abensberg, 20 April 1809 - Black Powder hosted by my buddy James with his figures and terrain.

October saw a return to Black Powder. First, an Austrian vs. Bavarian game hosted by my buddy at his place with his collection and terrain. 

Battle for the Farm House - Black Powder

This was followed by a "Battle for the Farm House" game finally getting to use the La Haye Sainte terrain painted up in 2020.

Battle of Gorodetschna - Black Powder

I also ran a Battle of Gorodetschna game at the end of October, using the Russian and Austrian troops  painted up earlier in the year.

EIR vs. Celts - Hail Caesar

In the last month of 2021, I was able to get in two Hail Caesar games - the first an EIR vs. British Celts and then a Successor vs. Successor game. Almost all of the figures for both games were painted last year and used for the first time.

Antigonid Successor vs. Pyrrhic Successor - Hail Caesar

I kept painting projects for actual gaming down as I felt the need to get the ones already painted on the table first. However, I did paint a few in 2021 - not the least of which was a Russian army deal from Perry at the beginning of the year. Here are of some of the my painting projects for 2021 - this will also serve to remind me of the figures that still haven't been on the gaming table yet.

Most of the Perry Russian army deal; completed in January and seeing action for the first time in October.

Warlord Games' Mk IV Beutepanzer and Renault FT-17; both painted in January also - and still needing to see action. I'm actually still waiting on an order of Wargames Atlantic French for some Bolt Action gaming.

These Perry Russian artillery batteries, along with commanders and jaegers, were painted in February.

Perry Russian High Command - they got to see action in the Gorodetschna game (even though Kutusov wasn't actually there) later in the year. These figures along with the below Celt chariots and Victrix Hoplites below were all painted in March.

 The chariots were picked up last year at the Panzer Depots' closing sale.

The chariots and hoplites were used in the recent Hail Caesar games in December.

In April and May, painted some Blitzkrieg 1/48th scale resin tanks (Panzer II & III, M3 Grant) and also a Hobby Boss 1/48th scale KV-1 Beutepanzer. Added some Perry TC's to crew those tanks and riders for a Corgi half-track. 

The Artizan Spartans above were painted in April, and along with the tanks await action in Bolt Action and Hail Caesar games, respectively. The Artizan figures were also picked up last year from the Panzer Depot sale.

In May, I received a copy of the Imjin War naval rules and ships for "At The Height Of Battle". A pack of Warlord Games Fallshirmjager in tropical kit and a 120mm resin ECW pikeman were painted for this month - mainly to keep busy. I think by this time, the urge to game was getting stronger. Up to this point in time, I hadn't gamed since January 2020!

The 1/1200th scale ships from the Imjin War starter set painted and based in June. They were gamed several times soon after. Also painted up in the same month was a small unit of Perry FFL for the Western Desert Campaign to oppose the Fallshirmjager.

A few units of Victrix and Perry Austrians were painted in June and July. They were all successfully gamed in October using Black Powder.

Wrapping up completed painting projects are these McFarlane poseable 40K Space Marines and Sisters of Battle, as well as a 40K Sisters of Battle army. I have no intention or desire to get into 40K, but I did enjoy painting these figures.

Thus ends the report of the painting projects and games I played or hosted in 2021. I shall finish this post by publicly declaring what I intend to accomplish in 2022 (hobby-wise). I hope to finally get a few Pike and Shotte games in with the figures painted over a year ago, and the ones I'm working on right now. Managed to base two regiments of pike and shotte, and a unit of pike with the bases I had onhand. Still awaiting an order from Litko to finish the rest of the figure. I also went ahead and put together two boxes of plastic cavalry and two boxes of dragoons - the latter with 12 each mounted and dismounted troopers in metal.

I also plan to get in some WW1 and WW2 Western Desert Campaign Bolt Action games using some additions to these projects. Not the least of which will be the long-awaited (by me) Wargames Atlantic French. The order is awaiting shipment once the WW2 Italians, which I added to the order, are available. Finally I wish you all an awesome 2022!