Well that was a bit of a damp squib in wargaming terms, although I did achieve some of the things I set out to do this time last year. On the plus side, I completed two 2mm armies for Strength and Honour – Parthians and Imperial Romans, two 1/700th scale modern FAC flotillas for an imaginations naval project using Bulldogs Away!, both the Argentinian and British air forces in 1/600th for Flames Above the Falklands, four 1/72nd scale Spad XIII scouts and four Fokker Dr1 triplanes for Knights of the Sky, a Chilean pre-dreadnought squadron in 1/2400th for Broadside and Salvo and last but not least an early war Italian naval task force in 1/3000th scale for Find, Fix and Strike. 

On the downside, I got within spitting distance of completing the RFC and German aircraft in 1/600th scale for both Algernon Pulls It Off and Duel of Aces, bit didn’t get round to adding the decals, so a job not done. I also dismally failed to get my Finest Hour campaign off the ground, again in 1/600th scale, despite preparing lots of 1/600th scale planes and doing all the background paperwork. The Argentinian pre-dreadnoughts and the American fleet are still in drydock or sitting on the workbench too. I also failed to do quite a lot of the other things on my ‚to do‘ list, getting side tracked off in different directions on several occasions.

In terms of games, it’s also been a bit of a non-starter, with hardly any trips to the local club and only a few solo games at home. I did play a solo game of AK47, several ironclad games with Dahlgren and Columbiad, Broadside and Ram or Dawn of Iron, one or two games of Wings at War MiG Alley and a small handful of club games including Cruel Seas and Knights of the Sky, but otherwise its been a bit of a poor show. I didn’t even use any of my newly painted forces, not even once! One thing I did do, however, is devise and play a series of really enjoyable counter-factual 1939 naval games between my Italian and French fleets over the summer holidays, which I really enjoyed. 

Perhaps one consolation for this non-event of a year has been setting up two pretty successful and popular Facebook groups, one for AK47 and the other for Wings at War. These have really taken off and I am now able to take a ‚hands off‘ approach to both groups, as they seem to run themselves after a few minor speed bumps. In some ways, I am reticent about Facebook as a focus for wargaming, as it seems to dominate everything these days, squeezing out blogs and websites to the detriment of the hobby, as far as I am concerned. It just can’t be ignored, however hard I’ve tried in the past to distance myself from it, so if you can’t beat them I guess you just have to join in?

So, its on to 2023! I hope it’s a more productive and enjoyable year?