TechRaptor Tabletop Resolutions 2020 January Update

Welcome to the January update for our Tabletop Resolutions 2020.

It's very easy in all genres of tabletop gaming to get side-tracked or overwhelmed with the sheer amount of content that's available out there. Player's can purchase hundreds of miniatures, board, and roleplaying games, only for them never to be played or even opened. These are known as piles of shame and include unplayed games and miniatures that sit around unpainted and unused. Tabletop gamers regularly make New Years Resolutions in order to make sure they control what they buy, or make time to paint and play the games they have.

In order to help inspire others, and to keep us true to our own goals, I've gathered a few tabletop influencers and friends to talk about their Tabletop Resolutions for 2020. We will follow this up each month in an article talking about how we've done, along with what we've played and purchased. Please follow along, and join us by posting in the comments, and then follow up each month by letting us know how you've done yourself, and share any progress pictures you have.

Adam Potts

This has actually been a very quiet month for me tabletop gaming wise. I was away for the first half of the month, so I only really picked anything up from mid-Jan. I’ve also been deep in writing our Warhammer Underworlds Online guide, trying to help any digital gamers get into the deeps of Shadespire. Also recently, Riot’s League of Legends card game, Legends of Runeterra released into open beta, and everyone knows how much I love a CCG.

Tabletop wise, playing WUO really piqued my interest in the tabletop version. I hadn’t been able to play much Beastgrave since release, so Kit and I played a few rounds, 3 games of my Flesh Eater Courts and Khorne Warriors against his Skaven. He took the first game, but I was able to take the next with the Grymwatch and the final game with Magore’s.

In preparation for our Core Space campaign starting next month, we played a demo session to refresh everyone on the rules and also made up the stats for our crews. I managed to keep my resolution and painted my crew ready for next month. I think it was a little optimistic of me to paint such detailed miniatures red and white after having not painted for so long, but it taught me some valuable lessons.

My only purchases this month have been my choice for New Year New Army, which is the Steel Phalanx for Infinity. I hear that they’re incredible to play, but I get so little chance to play Infinity that I’ll always stick with my JSA, I just think the Steel Phalanx characters are amazing and I want to put a small force together, and ultimately paint them. I picked up the Starter Set and Myrmidons (who are my reason for wanting to collect them) and a support pack that I managed to find extremely cheap online. I haven’t had the chance to put them together yet, but they’ll be my project after next month.

With the new WarCry releases, including new rules for several factions, that will be keeping me busy at the start of next month, but my aim is to paint my Raven Guard Kill Team. I might need to make a couple of purchases in order to be able to field at least 1 of every type. It’s where I should have started, as the GW Space Marines are great beginner pieces for learning to paint on. I’m also aiming to get a game of Guild Ball in, as Godtear and Guild Ball are picking up locally to me.

So I did well on my 3 planned resolutions this month, it’s a good sign of a productive year to come.

You can read Adam's tabletop coverage here on TechRaptor and also hear his random musings on Twitter.

Giaco Furino

This month has been incredibly busy for me, full of day job deadlines, off-site meetings, and a nasty case of the flu that ripped through our offices because people refuse to stay home while sick (note, dear readers: don't do this.). All that being said, I stood by my tabletop resolution to play new (to me) games and break out of my humdrum cycle of predictability. 

Standouts include Disney: Villainous, which was much more think-y than I expected, Root, which is gorgeous and tightly constructed, and I even got in a few "campaign mode" sessions of the Alien RPG, which lost some of the immediacies of their it's-okay-to-die-horribly "cinematic mode," but I'm excited to take my players through a winding campaign full of space jockeys and milky white neomorphs.

See ya next month!

You can read Giaco's tabletop coverage here on TechRaptor.

Kit Wright

Wow, blink and you miss it January. So I thought I’d set myself an easy target, however, between new games dropping and scenery projects, my time got eaten very quickly. I did manage to achieve the 1 game a week that was specifically for me. A couple of Warhammer Underworlds games, some Game of Thrones LCG, and a Godtear game. 

As for the 1 model for me a week, sadly I failed this. Yes I painted models and I finished models, but they were for the shop. So I’m now playing catch up this month. Feb’s models AND Jan models. I could say “Meh they are finished.” However, I know they aren’t, no basing no varnish no highlights. If I start letting myself off just now it’s a slippery slope for the rest of the year. So 1st of Feb, come at me bro!! I’m ready for you.

Kit co-owns ABZ Games in Aberdeen, you can visit their store page here. He is also a member of the TechRaptor On The Tabletop team and helps us review and preview products for the site.

Kyla Hislop

My resolutions for 2020 are off to an okay-ish start. Whilst the lid of my WarCry box has remained firmly on this month, at least Core Space and Dungeons & Dragons have had my attention.

Assemble and paint my crew for Core Space - I've ordered a box of the 'Galvanic Mysteries Posse' from Wild West Exodus to see if I can't use them in some way for my Core Space crew. Whether they lend their parts to model conversations, or I get to use them as-is, only time will tell. I’ve also ordered some smaller bases to make sure they fit the 1-inch (optional) grid of the game. Once they’ve arrived and I’ve sussed out how many of the models are usable, I can then go about assigning stats to each.

Have my Dungeons & Dragons players complete the current story arc of my campaign - Our latest session of D&D was a fun one, and potentially a pivotal one. First of all, there were 2 new updates in terms of our theatrics; the players and I dressed up as our characters (or rather, a generic NPC for me), and it was the debut of my new pico projector – a small wireless projector that allows me to display images and animation on a wall or portable projector screen. I like to leave a lot up to the players’ imaginations, but being able to bring up artwork for various locations really helps them get immersed in the world I create, and helps spark my own imagination during times I have to give improvised descriptions or roleplay off the cuff.

In regards to game-play, our Wizard character has just returned from visiting the local town’s library where he picked up some information that an NPC the group mindlessly killed 5 sessions ago was potentially the key to unraveling the mysterious quest they’ve been sent on, and that he might have held some crucial information. So, resurrection spell, anyone?

You can follow Kyla on her Instagram. She is also a member of the TechRaptor On The Tabletop team and helps us review and preview products for the site.

Alex Jordan

January has been fairly quiet on all sides of the hobby for me, I don't know why but the inspiration to paint hasn't been there, I've started 5 or 6 models across a range of game systems and haven't finished most of them. The only models I've finished this year are R2D2 and a couple of the new rebel troopers for Star Wars Legion (mainly because I was using them in a tournament). So after clearing my backlog at the end of last year, it's suddenly built up again. I swear it's a never-ending cycle. Plus with our Core Space campaign starting in a couple of weeks I have those minis to paint up as well.

On the actual playing side of things, it's been a bit busier, I managed to get down to Leeds and play in a fantastic Star Wars Legion tournament run by Leodis Games. We also kicked off our Scottish Legion championship with 12 players down at Common Ground Games. Along with the Core Space demo and a couple of board game nights, it's not been too bad.

Alex is the newest member of the TechRaptor On The Tabletop team and helps us review and preview products for the site.

Jon Webb

Good lord, where did January go? In all honesty, I spent the best part of the month wandering around a destroyed America with my BB buddy, throwing blood grenades at ghosts and decking thieving UPS delivery guys. Yup, Death Stranding got its claws into me and before I knew it, over 100 hours had passed and I was at the end of the game.

Despite all that, I did continue to work on my Warcry table. So far, I’ve ticked off 5 of the 6 fences (with the last needing a last highlight or two and it’s good to go) all 6 pieces of scatter, 2 of the buildings and the fallen statue of Sigmar’s Head (sadly not a pub terrain piece).

I’m pretty happy with how it's going, though I’m getting pretty burned out on painting all the skulls (on a GW kit, who knew). Still, 2 more buildings plus the bell tower and I think that’s me done. I honestly don’t know the last time I painted this much scenery.

My Golems continue to perform poorly on the table. Is it me? Is it the Squigs? (Editor’s note, it’s the Squigs). I did, however, paint one up as a test scheme, I thought it would be interesting to do them as Nurgle aligned,  the corrupted iron and gold felt like an ironic twist on their lore as weapon makers.

I’ll probably wrap up the full force, but I may well jump ship to another faction as time goes on, especially with all those cool new sets coming the week.

Hopefully, February will see me finish up the scenery and maybe even win a game or two.

Until next time.

You can follow Jon on Twitter.

Virginia Page

January has been a busy month for me, between work and writing I haven’t had the chance to play many tabletop games outside the ones I’ve been working on or playing on stream. Because of the aforementioned writing, I didn’t get around to getting to go through one of the many bought and unread RPGs on my shelf like I hoped I would. I also didn’t get the chance to get anyone together for some board games, but then January is that awkward busy month. I did, however, end up fulfilling one of my resolutions.

In my Follower Voted stream over on Twitch, a painting stream won the poll, so I got to enjoy 4 hours of solid painting while on stream. This resulted in a half-finished beholder miniature that my chat named ‘Dave the Brave’. Having not painted in over a year, it was amazing to pick up my brushes again and just relax. It was surprising how quickly I remembered all the little techniques and cheats I used, even if it did take me a little while to get things like paint consistency and brush control right again.

As for actually playing games, I ran and finished up a mini-campaign in the universe of Judge Dredd for a stream I was on. Its been one of my favorite games to GM and the finale was epic thanks to players who really got into character all the way through. I find I have less and less time to GM now, which means I prep even less, so the time I do have is spent playing, not writing out endless notes. I’ve enjoyed being able to lean into more and more improv on the spot with games this month, something I think will affect how I run and plan for them in the future.

Despite not achieving all my resolutions yet, just getting to paint for a few hours for the first time in a year was really a highlight. As for streaming more TTRPGs, I’ve begun the prep work for that even if I haven’t got anything ready to show just yet, but I’m going to say that counts too. Either way, it has been a good start to the year and I’m looking forward to hitting these goals each month.

You can follow Virginia on Twitter and watch her exploits on Twitch.

Ash Barker

Well, January has come and gone and I’ve managed to finish the first ‘wave’ of one of my lingering projects - Slaves to Darkness for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. I like to break projects into manageable chunks, so in this case, I took two ‘Start Collecting’ boxes for this faction, the new one released in December and the previous one incorporating the old Warhammer Fantasy Battle models and combined them into a 1000pt list. 

With that plan set, I worked up a color scheme (silvers, golds, and reds) and then broke it into a weekly goal of 4-5 models. Making painting manageable I find really helps fit it into regular life and make your progress something you can chart. So here’s my progress after the month of January - 23 models for Acheron the Warp Rider and his Slaves to Darkness.

You can follow Ash on his YouTube channel Guerrilla Miniatures Games and via his Facebook Page.

Chantel Marie

Well, this year is off to a flying start for me! In the first week of January, I started and completed my Great Unclean One and I’ve recently added another unit of Blightkings to my Nurgle army. One of my main resolutions was to learn more tactics and really get to grips with my army. I think I’ve finally nailed my 2000 point list. I’ve been playing more regularly at home on our full-sized realm of battle board and we have even streamed a live game too! I’ve been focusing more on the little things that I usually forget, like the cycle of corruption, contagion points and how my battalions work and I’ve found my games are getting better and better.

I’ve also taken quite the leap out of my comfort zone of playing at home and both myself and my partner Luke are attending our first all-day tournament on February 1st. I’m both excited and nervous. I’m not holding my breath that I’ll win but I’ll be proud of myself that I actually gave it a go and hopefully I’ll learn a thing or two.

In other news, I finally decided on my New Year New Army - Gloomspite Gitz. After reading up on their play style, their lore and browsing the miniature selection I can honestly say I am in love already. I’ve already painted my first miniature from the Gloomspite Gitz, the Cave-Shaman, Snazzgar Stinkmullet (what a name). I’m also entering him into the local Warhammer stores Brush Master competition, the first of the 3 competitions for New Year New Army.

I’ve not got around to learning any new games yet but I’ve got the whole year for that, not only am I interested in Blood Bowl but Warcry has my interest too now. I plan to keep playing, keep painting and keep enjoying this wonderful hobby. Overall a very successful and happy January for me.

You can follow Chantel on Instagram: @the_warhammer_lass.

Andy Roo

January has been a semi-productive month for me hobby-wise, having got a bit of painting done, so progress made on my board, a tournament attended, and my blog site updated. As is the way, of course, I didn’t get as much done on anything as I’d have liked, but progress is progress, I suppose.

Have a functional and good looking board for home - I’ve actually achieved far more progress on the board than I was expecting over the last month, have built and sculpted some trees for it, and assembled the Deathray Designs Walkways. It’s currently set up in my office space, ready for its first test run game tomorrow.

Paint up my Spiral Corps - I’ve been somewhat distracted from Spiral lately, as not only is the board taking some focus, but I’ve also got a new commission on, so they’ve not seen much love. Saying that I did buy, build, and prime, 3 more models for them (2 HVTs and a Kriigel agent SMG) all of which I need for the Nordic Masters in May. I’m still confident this will all get done.

Start a Combined Army force - Probably the easiest goal to achieve - buying more models. I’ve built a few lists, keeping them to Limited Insertion for now, and even found some people selling what I want. The first few minis should arrive in the next few days. I must really try to not get *too* distracted yet.

Attend as many tournaments as possible - So far, so good. I attended a tournament at Wayland Games on Jan 11th, and I even placed 1st. I have another tournament, St Alban’s Smackdown, planned for Feb 8th, plus some for March, and April, and then the Nordic Masters in May. All being well, I should easily maintain this goal.

Run some tournies - Still in the planning phase, though this should be changing over the next week or so.

Maintain my site - Ok, this was my main goal for the year, and I’ve somewhat stalled. Turns out, writing is not a strong suit of mine, but I am determined. There have been a number of updates, with another in draft, and more to come, so do please keep an eye on it, which you can do right here.

See you again next month for another update.

If you want to know more about Infinity in London, check out Infinite HATE, or get in touch with Andy through his blog.

John Rees

January has been a super busy month for me. I attended a few tournaments, namely the Warhammer World Grand Clash where I placed 4th out of 139 players and was best in faction on Saturday and Sunday for Lady Harrow's Mournflight. However, I still managed to meet and beat my painting goal. First I finished off my Grymwatch and then painted up my Lady Harrow's Mournflight in about a week.

The Grymwatch were painted from contrast paints and blended up with traditional layer paints. My Mournflight were all blended with airbrushing for an ethereal teal-green color. I also used nameplates from Versatile Terrain to help identify which fighter. With my goal done for January, for February I hope to get the Wurmspat done as well as finish off painting Skaeth's Wild Hunt if I have time too.

If you want to know more about Warhammer Underworlds, you can read John's blog on all things Underworlds, Can You Roll a Crit.

We'd love to hear your Tabletop Resolutions for 2020. Share yours in our Resolutions article here, and then keep us updated each month. Let us know in the comments below what you've been playing and painting this month.