The Masterplan

I've been mulling things over for a while and I've now got a masterplan for my gaming future.

I began thinking about this because of my Warhammer Fantasy Chaos army. I massively underestimated how long it would take me to build and paint this force. My original idea was to start at 500 points and then escalate our battles by 250 points per week until we had 2000 point armies. Gary managed this quite easily, his approach to get as many models constructed and painted as possible in one run, then not do anything for weeks after. I kept holding him back, my painting much slower and more methodical. My time for painting was severely curtailed by work, this blog and many other commitments.

So the first part of my plan is to be realistic about what I can achieve. Here's what I think I can do comfortably.

• Paint one 40k 1500 point army per year.
• I can also paint a few 'fun' models to complete a second army or for a secondary game system (e.g. a team for Blood Bowl, a gang for Necromunda, more models for my Fantasy Chaos army).
• I can finish one terrain project.
• I can complete one or two sections of my website (e.g. a sub-sector of the Skolarii Sector, update the Blood Bowl section).
• Update my blog every one or two days.
  

That gives me a wide range of projects which I can dip in and out of over the whole year. The official Games Workshop tournament season runs from 1st August to 31st July, so it makes sense to fit my year around this timetable. I plan to attend the 40k Grand Tournament every year, and this will allow me to go with a different force each time.

The 1500 point army per year also fits in with my long term aims for 40k. There are 11 main forces and factions in 40k. I want each faction represented as models in the Skolarii Sector. Of course, some armies are more relevant to the sector than others. The main protagonists are:

• Imperial Guard (Cadian 271st and many other regiments)
  
• Orks (common right across the sector)
  
• Chaos (Exigators and The Hooded renegades)
  
• Space Marines (Blood Angels)
  
• Daemonhunters (fighting the Chaos invasions)
  

Secondary armies are:

• Tau (Third Sphere expansionists)
  
• Tyranids (splinter fleet has devoured Dyram)
  
• Witch Hunters (small commandery)
  
• Eldar (small craftworld, Harlequins fighting Chaos)
  

And tertiary armies are:

• Dark Eldar (scattered pirate raids)
  
• Necrons (single tomb world)

I'll work through the list from top to bottom until I have a 1500 point army of each faction.

Aside from 40k, there are other games I'd like to play. Some will inform the Skolarii Sector too, such as Battlefleet Gothic which would allow me to simulate space battles, especially the first and second Chaos invasions. Aeronautica Imperialis looks excellent, and though I don't have the rulebook or any models, I'd love to fight out some dogfights between Imperial Navy Wings and Chaos Hellblades. I have some Inquisitor figures and they will allow me to uncover some intrigue in the sector, especially amongst the Inquisitorial factions. Epic would let me play some larger scale battles and would be great to depict large Imperial Guard armies fighting the Ork hordes. Finally, I could get into Necromunda to simulate the gang wars in a Hive somewhere in the sector.

Outside of 40k, there are several other systems I enjoy. I've been getting into WHFB with my Chaos Horde, so I could always add more models to that army, or I could collect another. I have a massive bunch of old Wood Elf miniatures which could easily be used as the basis for my second army. Warmaster appeals to me because of the scale; it's how I imagine these semi-historical battles should look. The models are relatively cheap and quick to paint, so I could finish a force or two quite rapidly. Last, but not least, is Blood Bowl. This is one of my favourite ever games, and I have played numerous leagues over the years. Gary and I played through one a while back and will use the same teams when we return to it. I do like the look of those pro elves, though.

Phew! That's quite a list of stuff I see in my gaming future. Some of it years off. And of course, I have no idea what Games Workshop will do in the coming time. They might release new games, armies and expansions which could make me re-evaluate my plans. In the meantime, at least I have a direction.

So, that's the long-term, what about the short-term?

Here's what I plan to achieve over the next tournament season.

• I will build and paint 1500 points of Forgeworld Renegade Imperial Guard.
• I will add some models to my Blood Angels Space Marines to bring them up to 1500 points, and they will be my main tournament army for the year.
• I will finish my trench gaming board (which is currently half built).
• I will complete subsector 1 (the Salazar systems) for the Skolarii Sector.
• I will get all my battle reports up on my website (around 150 of them!).

Wish me luck!