300 and 5

I was just about to upload pictures of my latest project, when I noticed that the post count was 299. So this must be the 300th post. No, really.

I also realised that the blog has been running for a little over 5 years - I started writing back in June 2008. I feel like I should celebrate in some way, but I am fresh out of party poppers. Oh well, a picture of a couple of partying zombies will have to do, they look very merry.

Looking back, it's been a good five years for painting. Technically, I have improved by tiny amounts each year, I can see the difference in close-up. The biggest leap I have made is to continually try new techniques and methods. I think my best achievement has been to develop a system that allows me to paint to a consistently high standard in a reasonable time span.

In gaming terms, the past year has probably been the best of the lot. Again, this is mostly down to trying new things. Saga and Lord of the Rings strategy battle game have both breathed new life into my gaming habits, these are both skirmish games that I would highly recommend if you have yet to try them. I have even been inspired to start developing my own little system!

Looking ahead, I want to try some other new games. Hail Caesar is calling me, there are several bloggers around that are using the rules to play fantasy games and that has me intrigued. I am also hoping to try some sci-fi skirmish games, with Tomorrow's War being first on my to do list. Meanwhile, back on more familiar territory I am well on my way to 2000 points with the Vampire Counts army, while the Chaos Warrior army will be getting some really, really cool reinforcements in the near future. As if that's not enough to do, I have also started painting a unit for a new(ish) army.....

Expanding on all these little teasers will keep me busy for a few posts. Sometimes I feel like I flit from one thing to another, but it keeps me inspired. Over time, an odd month here, another month there, and the armies mount up. In five years I have expanded my chaos armies, my orc and goblin army and my dwarf army. I have started a wood elf army and (another) vampire counts army and got both of them to a playable size. I have built up a small collection of terrain. I have extended my interest into three or four new games and added a few forces to support them. Yet I still feel that's just the tip of the iceberg. On to the next 300!