2022 was one hell of a busy year. Every year I try to recapture just what the hell I got done hobby-wise – both for miniatures/wargames and golf-wise. Then I try to assess (for my own purposes) what I set out to do at the year’s start and how well I achieved – or failed – to meet those goals. As another year has rolled by, it’s time to take that look in the old mirror. This blog, “Life, Golf, Miniatures & Other Distractions” covers my activities – and I do like to use the blog as an outlet to likeminded folks. So let’s take a retrospective look at 2022 AND a forward look into 2023.

Doing this is an old habit from when I actually worked full-time before retirement. Back then in “the dreaded private sector”, I had sales goals to hit every period – be it yearly, quarterly, thrice annually, or whatever. Of course, there was the inevitable review period where every manager would ask you what “stretch goals” you would “commit to” doing. This was a farce as the sales quotas you were given from corporate were never layups anyways. Plus, you needed to account for the previous year’s performance in any case.

Still, I’ve always set personal goals and found that it’s always good to have a plan and try your best. I also want to be honest with myself and be accountable to my own plans. How well did I do – let’s see…

I set out some goals for myself back last December for 2022. Some were around gaming, some around hobby production, some were around golf, and more.

How did I do versus my 2022 goals?

Paint 150 figures or more.

I did break this one with a strong push in November and December – (see pic below). I managed to finish 202 figures!

Complete the remaining conquistador figures for Civilizations Collide.

I definitely did this! I have a page in my blog that catalogs all things Aztec/Conquistador/Maya/Tlaxcalan here.

Complete the remaining terrain for Civilizations Collide, to include the brigantines.

It was a big effort, but check!

Complete the remaining Maya figures for Civilizations Collide.

I managed to get these done by November – and they will be on the tabletop soon. This capped 300 figures done for the period since I began.

Complete the scenario booklet for Civilizations Collide.

Not quite done – though I have completed fleshing out and writing 9 scenarios, plus I have 3 mostly completed, and 4 in concept mode. All have or will be used at conventions.

Complete my figures for Wars of Ozz, ok at least 40 of them.

Better late than never! This is now the project that I am into quite deeply. I managed to paint up 93 figures for Wars of Ozz in November and December alone. There is now a page in my blog that catalogs these here.

Paint up a platoon from Wargames Supply Dump for Combat Patrol™ .

Never got to this – but will try again in 2023 (sorry Roger).

Try to get my Nomonhan WaT project off the ground.

I did want to get to this, but not enough time.

Attend and run games at conventions or club nights or both, if possible. This would include TotalCon34, HMGS South Recon, HAVOC, HUZZAH!, Historicon, and BARRAGE .

I will give myself a good grade here. I did not go to BARRAGE due to a golfing tournament conflict, but otherwise I did all of these conventions PLUS HMGS Fall In! in November. Plus I won some awards at three conventions – HUZZAH, HAVOC, and at Fall In. My gaming club, the Mass Pikemen, met a few times – and hopefully will do more in 2023. For 2023, I am going to track my gaming progress as well as my hobby production progress.

Get the Mass Pikemen more active once the pandemic diminishes.

Could have been better – will work on in 2023.

Celebrate my wife’s retirement (and mine belatedly) with a nice trip.

Nailed this as I wrote here!

Finish the garage+ and launch that baby successfully.

Well, it’s finished and we do enjoy it – just have not managed to play a wargame in it yet. Otherwise, yes indeed, it’s done!

Post on the blog 48 times or more – and in good quality.

As for the quality – the readers are the judge. However, I fell off a bit and only did 42 posts.

Be a good blog follower.

I hope I was this – but certainly not a measurable statistic!

Have multiple Zoom chats with fellow hobbyists.

Success here – if we got together you know who you are and thanks – great conversations and wonderful camaraderie. I’m always open to more!

Go to a golf school and get my golf handicap down below 18.

Mixed bag here – we did go to a golf school during our Florida trip. My handicap started the year at 20.7, peaked in July at 22.6, and I was able to improve to 18.9 by season’s end.

Play golf (in season) at least twice a week.

I played close to 80 rounds this year – and usually played 3-4 time a week in season – so hell yeah!

Win my flight in the Club Championship.

My biggest miss as I got hurt AND played horribly – coming in dead last.

Be a competitive golfer.

Despite the previous miss in the Club Championship, I did manage a few good showings in other tournaments. I’d say in general I was competitive.

Personal Highs in 2022

1. The Florida trip and golfing with my wife (she’s getting better)!
2. Getting the garage DONE.
3. Getting together with family especially my daughter Ellen and my granddaughter Tabitha.
4. Finishing all of the figures and terrain for Civilizations Collide!
5. Continuing to serve my Town (East Brookfield, MA) as the elected Board of Health Chairman during the pandemic.
6. Participating in multiple gaming conventions and winning awards at: HAVOC (the “Al Award” for the game with the most stunning visual appeal); two awards at HUZZAH (2 best in time slots), and a “Pour Encourager Les Autres” at Fall In.
7. Getting going on my Wars of Ozz figures!
8. Getting together with Dave Wood, Buck Surdu, Greg Priebe, Chris Palmer, and Duncan Adams, Eric Schlegel, and all of the other HAWKS in person.
9. Being on the Committees for the Tour of the Brookfields tournaments and the New England Service Academy golf tournaments,
10. Having fun Zoom chats.
11. And again, being with my wife Lynn, every day (seriously, and she won’t likely read this).

Personal Lows for 2021

1. Losing Caesar. Still hurts but that’s life.
2. Sinus surgery – though that’s a long-term plus (I hope).

My goals for 2023

Well, its time to set my goals for 2023.

1. Paint 250 figures or more.
2. Complete a brigade of Winkies for Wars of Ozz.
3. Complete a brigade of Land of Harvest creatures for Wars of Ozz.
4. Run and play more games – track them too.
5. Attend and run games at conventions or club nights or both, if possible. This would include TotalCon37, HAVOC, HMGS Cold Wars, HUZZAH!, BARRAGE (possibly if golf allows), and Fall In.
6. Complete the scenario booklet for Civilizations Collide.
7. Complete my terrain for Wars of Ozz, games.
8. Paint up a platoon from Wargames Supply Dump for Combat Patrol™ .
9. Try to get my Nomonhan WaT project off the ground. Note I said “try”.
10. Get the Mass Pikemen more active.
11. Have another nice trip to Florida.
12. Post on the blog 48 times or more – make them of good quality.
13. Be a good blog follower – still a goal but one that I cannot measure!
14. Have multiple Zoom chats with fellow hobbyists.
15. Go to a golf school and get my golf handicap down below 18. This time.
16. Update my golf tournament progress on my blog – either as posts or a page or both.
17. Play golf (in season) at least twice a week.
18. Win my flight in the Championship.
19. Be a competitive golfer.

As far as my figure total for Wars of Ozz, here is my progress so far on that:

Again, thanks to all who make the time to read this blog and comment on my madness – Happy 2023 and what do you think?