A busy year concludes... two and a quarter miiiiiillllliiiion times.

As 2014 draws to a close, it is hard to believe the degree of changes that have occurred in the painting realm for me!

It's not just how I paint... it's what I paint.  I never expected to be painting Wild West figures, nor did I think I would be building tiny hexagons of terrain for a historical WWII simulation game!

Painting historical themed miniatures is something that I had never done, for a variety of reasons.  That was probably the single biggest change.

My introduction to MDF terrain (specifically Burn in Designs) was also quite unexpected.  I am used to building my own terrain from scratch, using foam, cardboard, and whatever other junk is on hand.  Painting and building kits was certainly something out of the ordinary!!

I certainly did not expect to be playing the new games.  Quite by accident, I ended up playing Memoir '44, and you all know it became a favorite of mine.  After my rather unpleasant experiences with the standard GW games in recent years, I was a tad bit frustrated.

Putting in the massive amounts of time and effort into the armies seemed to be misplaced, as the games were no longer enjoyable to play, and the amount of change and chaos within those systems was just too much to deal with.

Memoir was the ideal game.  No list building, everyone knows what everyone has and does... and then you switch sides!

There's a lot more new stuff coming up for next year.  As 2015 is just hours away, there is even more change in store, both in miniature painting and game playing.

I will be adding Flames of War and Bolt Action to both categories.  This should be very interesting.

It leaves me with lots of optimism looking ahead, as there will be no stagnation in my painting life!  Painting model ships, and the new techniques that will have to be developed to do so, will be very fun.

Even with all the new miniature lines I have been painting of late, there are even more on the horizon.  I am also looking forward to a very new Adepticon, and my second Reapercon.  Gencon 2.0 should also be far more interesting for me!

And, once again, a huge thank you to all who come to this site on a regular basis to listen to my rantings!

That is always appreciated.  I hope that it does provide just a little boost to your day, and to your own hobby exploits.  You have done so 2.25 MILLION times!