Looking Back at 2014

A year ago tonight I was here ...

Alright, rants over, let's talk about the good stuff.

RPG Stuff

• I ran 19 sessions of Pathfinder this year in our Wrath of the Righteous campaign. Things slowed down in December as they always seem to do. This is going pretty well though as they are past the halfway point of Adventure #2. 
• I played in 9 of the 11 sessions of my friend Steve's Kingmaker (also Pathfinder) campaign. That's the first sustained campaign I've played in for quite some time. It's a once a month game that started in February so consistency has been achieved and we're all having a good time. 
• I ran 2 sessions of our 4th Edition D&D game and it just fell apart after that. We had a break for several months at the end of 2013, picked it up for 2 sessions early in 2014, and then never could put it back together again. Schedule conflicts, varying interest levels, and what seemed like declining interest among part of the group has put this one on long-term hold for now. I'd really like to finish it, and I had definite plans for Paragon and some sketched out ideas for Epic, but now I don't know if we will ever get to those. 
• I ran a couple of sessions of Deadlands, our only Savage Worlds action this year. We need to do more.
• I ran one and played one session of 5th edition D&D. It's just not pushing the buttons and I am very happy with Pathfinder for my fantasy fix. 
• I picked up a fair number of older games, Pathfinder stuff, and some Savage Worlds stuff, but here at the end of the year I managed to finally get a hard copy of FATE Core and FATE Accelerated and I'm actually reading through them front to back. Nothing refreshes like a whole new system.

Miniatures & Boardgames

• We got into Star Trek Attack Wing and we're still playing it every once in a while. Blaster got a Scimitar for Xmas so I'm sure my Federation fleet is in for a pounding once he gets to throw that on the table.
• We played a few games of Memoir 44 - I still like it a lot, it's just a question of time and priorities.
• Continuing the WW2 theme, we also got into Bolt Action. Knowing it will always be the #2 game at best I'm keeping it on a limited budget by using 1/72 plastic kits found in every hobby shop rather than 28mm official stuff. So far it hasn't been a problem. We have nice German and American forces  and I suspect they will be joined by the Russians fairly soon.
• Munchkin is still played at least a few times a year and is still fun.
• The boys are still into Magic though not quite as much as a year ago. They quickly realized what a grind the "new year = new card set" cycle can be and now mostly play the rules that allow a lot of older cards. 
• End of the year surprise #1: I finally managed to pick up a copy of Space Hulk! I loved the first edition of the game and can't wait to play the newer version with the crew  
• End of the year surprise #2: Apprentice Red is home for winter break and asks me "So, I'm thinking about getting a Wood Elf army - you used to play Warhammer, right?' I felt like Ben Kenobi being asked about the Clone Wars - "Oh that was a long time ago, before you were born" etc. In the last week he's managed to acquire the army book and 1500+ points of the things (dirt cheap too) and it looks like I'm going to have to dust off the old chaos army and re-learn some rules.
• 40K started out quiet, ramped up with 7th edition's release, then quieted down again, but it's been picking up lately. Then today, this arrived, setting the tone for the new army of 2015:

TV etc:

• Over:
• True Blood ended - that was the first thing Lady Blacksteel and I watched together regularly, so it was a thing. It was probably time for it to wrap but it's goign to be a little weird without it to watch next summer.
• Boardwalk Empire ended - a better show than I thought it would be when it started
• Ongoing:
• The Walking Dead continues to be really good
• Game of Thrones continues to be pretty good
• Mad Men is almost done - it was a pretty good run
• New:
• Penny Dreadful was pretty cool
• Black Sails was better than I expected
• The Flash is way better than anyone expected and has me looking forward to the rest of the season
• Movies - not a ton to say here but at least a) the new Godzilla was decent and b) we're done with the Hobbit remakes, both of which make me very happy.

Other Stuff

• Our Year-End outing was actually last night with a concert at Billy Bob's Texas - yes it's a real place and yes I wore boots.
• Because of that and incoming possibly maybe icy weather we're staying in tonight - no kids, no other obligations. That's a rare thing for us and I intend to get right back to it after I finish this post.
• As of this morning Apprentice Twilight is a Licensed Driver. Another of life's little milestones passed. 
• 2013 ended and 2014 began with my first trip to Disney World in 25 years and the rest of the family's first trip ever. Now 2014 ends and 2015 begins with a quiet night at home. Next year I suspect it will be neither of those and that's just kind of how we do things here.

Wrapping Up: 

Happy New Year to all! May it be the best year yet for you and yours! May you rediscover something old and familiar and may you discover something completely new as well!