Pondering Next Year

Since our big Gnome Wars battle in mid-November, I’ve done ZERO gaming, painting, or design. My hobby purchasing was limited to just one thing (Russian bear-riding gnomes). You can say that I’m smack dab in the midst of an unwelcomed Hobby Funk. It will pass.

Overall, 2023 has been a strange year for me hobby-wise. During the first half of the year, I threw myself into the design & playtesting of my miniature wargames that are closest to being completed. Warlords of Hexenstein has stabilized (nothing more I want to add or remove), and Sword of Severnia has been transformed into its best version yet (further playtesting in 2024 should hopefully finalize it). I also tweaked Dwarfnuckle, my card battler game, and embarked on the initial stages of an adventure/strategy board game design with my friend Wally. New ideas emerged for a sci-fi version of Hexenstein, a mythological based battle game fought on a 6″ square grid, and a revised Tournament of Brutes (my fantasy gladiator & betting game). It has been a truly productive year on the game design-front.

While we’ve certainly had better years, my board game group played a fair amount of games in 2023 despite what seemed like constant ebbs & flows of our planned gaming schedule. The last quarter hasn’t been great, and it seems like everyone except me has gotten sick at some point over the past 6-7 weeks. Oh well, nothing you can do about that.

Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press

The turning point in my year came in July when my half Maine Coon cat, Jinx, passed from this world. That tore out my heart and zapped my enthusiasm for any social activity for a bit. It also greatly contributed to the general malaise I had towards most things in the back half of 2023. In November, I unexpectedly lost an old friend who I would visit from time-to-time and play board/card games with at his house. He was 80 years old and no spring chicken, but I had just played games with him a month and half earlier, so the news of his passing was shocking to me. Both of these events provided a sobering perspective on the fragility of life and a reminder that nothing lasts forever. Not that I needed or wanted it, but c’est la vie.

While I usually like to set a few personal goals for the coming year, I’m frankly not so sure I want to do that right now. At least not with my hobby. Life has been much too unpredictable, not only for me, but for my circle of gaming friends. Trying to achieve goals that rely on others always seems to fall short of the mark. Plus, I have a tendency to overreach and shoot for too much. That failure is disheartening, and your hobby shouldn’t be something that causes you disappointment. If it’s not fun, it’s probably time to find a different hobby.

So while I want to play more games, finish off 2-3 of my game designs, and really really REALLY get some stuff painted this coming year, I’m not going to stress about it. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to focus on enjoying the ride.

Just a few more days left in 2023. I hope your holidays have been filled with joy and peace, and Happy New Year. Here’s to a better year in 2024!