2009 - A hobby year in review.

2009 was a busy/productive year for me and my hobby but also a trying year for me personally. Major life changes punctuated by a lot of hobby firsts makes a review of the year a fitting theme for this update:

Hobby

• "Completed" the painting of my first WHFB 2,250 force - my Beer Gut Tribe (Ogre Kingdoms). I still need to go back and touch up and finish the paint of a few models, but this was a big milestone for me (couldn't have done it without the help of my gnoblar painting champion Franki).
  
• Participated in my first WHFB tournament, including my first IGT event. In the local tournament scene I finished 11th or 12th, just shy of the top 10. Not bad for a newbie playing Ogre Kingdoms!
• Played about one game of WHFB a week on average, sometimes two or three. I would still like to play more but finding the time to do so is not always easy.
  
• Played in the first round of 'Ard Boyz and placed second. I wasn't able to participate in the second round but I passed my place off to a friend (Mike G) who took Beasts of Chaos and managed a second place finish in round two - a moral victory for me.
  
• Collected and built my second WHFB army, the Vampire Counts. Working on the painting now, but I plan on having these done soon so I can begin on my WoC and Beastmen forces next.
• "Built" a gaming table for my home. I still don't have any good terrain though, just a few pieces of painted foam with flock (something I need to remedy next year).
• Read a whole bunch of Black Library books, both Fantasy and 40k related. Maybe next year I will find the time to add reviews of them all to the site!
  

Blog/Community

• Joined many WHFB online communities, spent countless hours answering questions, collecting and sharing information, and discussing tactics and army lists. Probably spent too much time doing this but I did make some internet "friends" along the way so I can't complain too much.
  
• Greatly increased the post amount on this blog, and gained many new readers/followers along the way. Thanks for reading, and please don't be shy with the comments!
• Joined the BoLS blog community and discovered a lot of great (new to me) sites in the process.
  
• Began moderating the Ogre Kingdoms section of the BattleReporter forum. Not super busy there but the small community is very friendly and helpful. You should check it out!
• Pitched, planned, organized, and laid out the first issue of the Bellower - the first (and only) Ogre Kingdom webzine. First issue should be out in the next few weeks! Most exciting.
  
• Became a part of the Stronghold Guard - a moderator for the Ogre Stronghold. I can honestly say I wouldn't be half the player or hobbyist I am today without the support I have received from the kick-ass community there. Looking forward to a new year of Ogre greatness!
• Started brewing my own beer, something I have had to put on hold for the past few months but will take up again once I have moved and settled back in. Lots of beer reviews sitting around too, I should find the time to add them to the blog.
  

And there you have it, the short list of my accomplishments in this year of hobby. It seems less exciting when I see it listed in bullet points, but I have still come much farther than I thought I would. Here's to another year - new challenges, new armies, new location, new (old) friends, and a new gaming community. It should be interesting.

In other totally unrelated news - take a look at the new tattoo I got the other day (and my incredibly pasty white arm).

It is a raven done in a slightly modern Haida style. The raven is your classic "trickster" god/spirit, and now he sits on my shoulder looking me in the eye. You can never tell what he is going to want me to do ...