I have only been blogging since October but I wanted to make the year end post a regular thing so I figured I would start now. This will be one of my shorter posts if I can help myself where I'd like to just outline some off my accomplishments this year, and my hopes for next year.

Great Things About 2017

I'll only cover hobby items as certainly having my second child would dominate the list, but I am pretty proud of what hobby items I have accomplished over the past year for both Kings Of War and Frostgrave.

Starting out I got back into the scene here in Florida after a sort of hiatus after my daughter was born. I got to know a lot of good guys here in Central Florida and made a great group of friends. I remember the days when there was only 2 other people I knew who played Kings of War in first edition and now we have a whole regular tournament scene. All of the guys are awesome and hanging out with each of them is a treat, I've been able to attend lots of events with them and on and off the tabletop we have been having a blast. We have even formed our own club within the last month known as the Kings Of Warlando, and already have t-shirts designed and ready to go, so great things in 2018 are to come for us as we try to compete regionally. In fact we have already claimed Regional standing as one of our members Jamie W got Best Regional Sportsmanship and tied for Best Regional Paint. So lookout SEC Florida is coming.

Another awesome thing about 2017 is that I have gotten allot more organized about my hobby and dedicated to accomplishing my goals. I know there is allot of jokes out there about not buying more models before you finish the ones you have, but I really have been trying to hold myself to that. Since my wife is amazing and stays at home to take care of the kids I sometimes feel guilty buying miniatures as mine is the only income. So this being my main motivation to finish what I have, I think I have been doing pretty good as of late.

I have also had two chances to attend two Grand Tournaments, both Crucible GT and Jekyll Island GT which were my first events of that kind. I had heard allot about them on podcasts and thought they sounded like allot of fun, but with two little kids I didn't think I'd ever be able to attend one. But under the good graces of the wife in both October and December I got the chance to go to both events and now I have a fever to attend more. So barring any sort of calamity I have hopes of attending Discover GT and Crucible 7 GT in 2018!

Finally one thing I am very proud of starting and accomplishing this year is this blog. I have

really enjoyed writing since I was a kid, and I feel like through writing I am able to better myself in a way and motivate myself to accomplish other goals. So when I started this blog it has been a great push to keep my hobby roll going throughout the year and try and share

some of the ideas I felt others may be interested in hearing. I have loved the response I have gotten on social media and some of the discussions I have had with you all have been great. Soon I hope that this writing momentum drives me to write more narrative stories and I can put all of the great story ideas within the world of Mantica to paper.

Hobby and Gaming Accomplishments in 2017

It has been a busy year in the hobby for me, and certainly the later half of the year even more so. Once I got back on the scene of Kings of War and Frostgrave after my hiatus earlier in the year, it seemed like I went on a rampage of completing projects that even astonished myself as I began to roll through them. Once I started hitting the GT scene in October I really began to get motivated to finish a lot of projects to use for my armies and begin to set my sites on where I wanted to be competitively.

First off I was able to complete allot of terrain in the first part of the year for Frostgrave when my group was still active and we were having quite a few gaming sessions. I went crazy and made a few large terrain pieces to dominate the central portions of the board and fill up space.

Next I began to round off my Brotherhood army with a few new additions to the list, such as my Order of Redemption and Order of Forsaken from MOMminiatures models and a Siege Artillery piece I kitbashed from the back of a Warmachine Warjack and two Lego

wheels. The knights themselves I am very proud of because they took me the longest to paint out of any models I can remember, and they look absolutely stunning. My favorites being the Order of Forsaken which cost a pretty penny because I had to go buy Stormcast wings to fit to them for a premium.

Once I had these new additions I was ready for my first GT at Crucible 6.5 in Orlando. I was bringing my Brotherhood army which I was very excited about and had made a huge display board for. I didn’t have high hopes going into it for placing very high. But out of some miracle and lots of practice on Universal Battles 2, I was able to place 3rd Overall in a

field filled with lots of great players. It was an awesome event and I am already excited about next year and planning away at what army and list I want to bring to it.

After Crucible I felt I would go out on a high note and put my Brotherhood down for awhile to try and switch up playstyles and expand a bit as a gamer. I had already chosen what new army I wanted to do and had purchased the Orc Mega Army from Armada Games in Tampa. At this point I did not think I was going to be able to attend Jekyll Island GT in December but I was motivated to complete this Orc army before the first of the year to allow myself to get into a Forces of Nature Army sooner. So with a few opportunities on the horizon to have free time enough to do hobby, I assembled, primed, and finally painted a whole Mordor themed Orc Army with 2 months time. This was beyond the speed i thought I would be able to accomplish this, and I was super excited to get this done far ahead of my goal of the first of the year.

Part of the reason I blazed through my Orc Army is I got the ok from the Warboss (wife) to attend Jekyll Island GT in the beginning of December. This was an awesome opportunity to take my newest army to the table and I wasn’t going to pass it up. I didn’t end up placing

very high here, but it was a lot of fun and it was great getting to know a lot of SEC players.

Finally after my Orcs had been completed and the end of the year was in sight, I wanted to bring my Brotherhood army, which had largely been painted in my beginning years as a hobbyist, up to standard with my level of painting now. Now I know a lot of people said it was best to keep things from when you started out painting, but my Brotherhood army was my favorite and I wanted it to be my premier army. So with a few tubs of simple green I dunked what models I wanted to repaint and let the soaking begin. I also decided this would be a great opportunity to spruce up the bases, and in the last few days of the year I began to redo the rubble and static grass on them.

Looking Forward Into 2018

So as we round off a very successful hobby year I have my sights set on a few goals.

Firstly I want to finish the revamp of my Brotherhood army. Which includes the removal of old paint and the repaint of 3 regiments of Knights, a horde of bowmen, 2 hordes of Spearmen, and 2 regiments of Foot Knights.

Next I want to begin to sort through what extra models I have that have yet to see a paint or repaint and make decisions as to whether or not I intend to actually paint and use them. Perhaps other hobbyists in my area may have better use for the models so I would much rather see it in their hands.
After I have determined what models I do intend to paint I would like to begin to either determine what projects the models will be used for and perhaps begin to paint them.
I really would like to start rolling out a series of narrative story posts based in Mantica that I have an idea for in awhile. Everyone seemed to like my Narrative battle report so I’m hoping a full story would have the same. success.

Finally, if I can clear out some of the models I have laying around I’d love to begin collecting for and painting for a Forces of Nature army that I have had and idea for. This will also be a new playstyle for me so I hope to expand as a player by trying to master a few different playstyles.

So with a few goals set, I want to wish everyone a very happy new year and hope that you are able to meet and exceed your own hobby goals!

See you all in 2018!

-Fred On Fantasy