Some Small Hopes - 2026

 

Earlier I made my usual end of year post, where I made some bite-size guidelines for how I want to be in 2026, and it applies across all of the facets of not just my hobbying, but my career and my personal life, since it turns out I said something wise for a change.

To recap, here's the short version:

1. I want to set myself up for success
2. I want to create on my own terms
3. I want to include others
4. I want to be proud of what I've done. 

Its succinct, but true, and flexible if need be. To keep the clip, here are the physical hobby projects I've got hopes for this year. They've all been pared down in scale, so that if I want to overachieve I can, but I'm not beholden to some great, sprawling thing.

• OWAC IX: Skellibobs - This being my third year participating in the Old World Army Challenge, I am proud to say that I'm doing Gnomes again, but this time they're dead! I've chosen to do a modest force of Undead/Vampire Counts for Warhammer Fantasy Battles 5th/6th edition, with plenty of fun off-list surprises if I wind up feeling aspirational. While I have started to wonder what exactly I'll be doing for next year (when I'll have run out of Gnomes... Gulp!) I'm very much excited in this moment, as I'm remixing the palette from last year's Chaos Gnomes to evoke David Gallagher's iconic cover for 4th Edition's Undead army book.
• BADAB 3E: Minotaurs Vs. Lamentors - I've already made a post about my silly little project, but my hope this year is to make at least a pair of armies with which to enjoy 3rd Edition Warhammer 40k, and having one of them eventually become a big enough force to play a whole Badab Campaign with. My plan is to start off by making 500 point forces of Minotaurs and Lamenters since they're classic enemies from this conflict, and to see how I feel from there.
• CARNEVALE - The new starter set just dropped, but I'm still two full forces behind the times! I'm currently halfway through painting my Rashaar and Guild/Pulcinella warbands, having switched gears entirely into using paint markers and the occasional contrast/shade. Recently I resurfaced my 2x2 board to have a side that was just a lake of blood, which I though would be perfect for the edgiest version of this edgy Italian-themed skirmish game, and so I'll likely make terrain to match.
• QUAR - Nicolai makes it look fun, and I have spent over a year shuffling around my three little squads around my room in an old shirtbox. Enough! I need to know why these little gummy anteaters make him so happy! Also, I just think they're neat.
• LOBSTERPOT -It’s been about three years since I got in the pot, but I’d genuinely like to explore the setting some more/again. I wrote a 1.5 version of the game that never saw the light of day, as the game had been a labor of love in a time where I had more disposable hours to dedicate to my community. I have a vision of doing small campaigns and blogging about them here, and now that I’ve finally unpacked my Lobsterpot minis, I think it might be a good candidate for that kind of adventure/content. 
• WARRIORS OF ATHENA - I really liked the original ashcan rules, and never shook the desire to play among the ruins of mythic Greece. This year the polished version of McCullough's original warriors comes out, and while I can't say with certainty that it is still the game I want to play, I am determined to explore that world, or some world like it.
• CAULDRON/HAG28/OTHERS - Dellon’s little skirmish game about goblinoids beating the snot out of one another is quite a treat, being ultra rules light and small in scope. I’m interested in putting together a little collection of Goblins and Dwarfs and Witches and such that can monster mash together in Cauldron, and possibly other skirmish indies like HAG28, Forbidden Psalm, ArcWorlde, or Brutalquest. I’ll likely do these minis in
• AOS SPEARHEAD - small scale Age of Sigmar sounds very appealing to me, as in this scale the rules are greatly smoothed. It feels as though I could make more bespoke forces, since they're usually under 30 minis a side, a much more reasonable number of conversions than say a whole 2k army. 

Ultimately though, no hard feelings if they don't all get done. Real life takes precedence, and my creative time is as always split between a half a dozen starving dogs. We'll feed what we can when we can, and it will be enough because it has to be.

Anyhow, this is my stop. Until next time <3