2026 Hobby Goals

I bit off way more than I could chew this year. Although I assumed I would have less time, the end of last year going into early '25 seemed very promising. I've been doing a ton of soul searching to try and pick some reasonable goals this year. So first last years goals repeated below the break

Paint 2 factions for Crisis Protocol and play at least 2 games

Paint 2 cabinet pieces

Paint 2 complete forces for Shatterpoint and play at least 2 games

Finish a second army for Full Spectrum Dominance and try the game

Play 3 games of Trench crusade with painted models

Create a 4 x 4 Modular trench board (if we like the game)

Play 372 board games

Complete a Board game 10 x 10

Get the list of unplayed games down to 20% or less

Board Game Alphabet Challenge

Finish 1k of Word Bearers

Try Horus Heresy

Play Lord of the Rings with a newly painted list

End the year with a sub 200 golf score

Try spectre, arsenal, breacher or another "modern" game

Finish the TF2 Project

Paint the Halo Flashpoint box

Paint my spinespur collection

Try Blkout with painted models

Play a fantasy skirmish game

Play Mad Maximilian. 

Finish the Hivestorm Box and play Kill Team

Play a Historical Game

Finish Reading 5 books

As I broke down a few months ago, I mostly missed on these goals. There was a lot going on this year with adjusting to life with a newborn. I also just haven't been doing as much gaming as I used to do, wargaming wise. I still want to but it's just how it went. Crisis Protocol and Shatterpoint were chosen as the Wife plays those too but it's wayyyyy more difficult to play a wargame with a baby than a board game. 

I still want to push towards using what I have and continue to thin the collections and such. I think I've picked goals for 2026 that help with that. 

Here's what I'm eyeing for this year. 

Negative Shame Golf Score

Play 365 Games

Board Game Alphabet Challenge

Board Game 5 x 5

Word Bearers to 2k

Dwarves to 2k

Second Fantasy army to 2k

Play a Historical Game

Play a big battle fantasy game

Play 3 new fantasy games

Unplayed board games below 20%

Start LoTR Fellowship Campaign

Play Muskets and Tomahawks and SAGA

Boarding Actions Terrain

Dungeon Terrain

Run a test game of Dungeon Crawl Rules for friends

Get 3 blog projects up over 10 entries each. 

Pick a collection, Finish it

Paint 1 Boardgame

Two More Cabinet Pieces

So most of these are fairly obvious. I do want to clarify a couple for the hell of it. 

Negative Shame Golf. 

Though I didn't make my goal for '25 I think I can actually pull this one off. My score in '24 was a 4 digit number and I got it down to 400 ish this year. I think it's time to move some stuff on and admit I won't get to it. 

Board Game Goals

These are straight forward, dropping from a 10 x 10 to a 5 x 5 is for my own sanity. I have a few games already picked out. This goal and the unplayed pile are diametrically opposed so this should be a good way to help with that. 

Dwarves and Word Bearers

I want to play 30k, in a full scale game. I also think having a larger dwarf army will help with the various fantasy gaming goals and projects we've discussed.

Muskets and Tomahawks and SAGA

These projects were started in '25 and will be finished in '26. If I can get these done, were going to move back to all of the "Modern" stuff I had on the list last year but I'd like these to hit the table first. 

The terrain projects are ones I've started but haven't finished yet. I'd like those done for a multitude of reasons. 

I would also like to focus a little longer on each project before moving to the next. I start a lot but getting things finished is its own beast. Hence the "blog over 10" portion. My aim is to get those projects turned more into long term interests that I keep expanding on. 

I'd also like to take a collection, whatever it may be, and finish it. I have, in no particular order, rather large collections of the following; Darkest Africa, Aztecs, Old West, Pirates, Gladiators, Crooked Dice Miniatures, Spinespur Miniatures, Crisis Protocol, Star Wars, Retro Raygun, Bushido, Moonstone, Arena Rex. 

Even though I don't necessarily want to play some of those games, it's time to either paint them up and put them in a case or play with them, or get rid of them. 

It's not that I'm abandoning some of the projects from last year at the moment, for now I'm simply shifting to something that's grabbed me more in the hopes that I'll get more done this way but as usual we'll see.