Outside the Box – 2013 Retrospective
It’s the end of the year and time for retrospectives. I looked again at over 4200 posts to find my personal highlights of 2013 and share them with you. Enjoy!
January
2013 started with me giving Wyrd Miniatures money for a Malifaux RPG I am still waiting for a year later… The Kingdom Death Monster Kickstarter gave us a taste of things to come and Rivet Wars showed how cute war can be. Mantic Games announced Deadzone and Secret Weapon Miniatures flashed me with their new flexible sand bags. The first highlights of the year: Clockwork Goblin Miniatures’ 15mm Grizzly Walker, the new Guerilla for Pulp City and the X-Wing Millenium Falcon:
February
Kickstarter campaigns dominated this month: Warzone Resurrection and Wild West Exodus collect tremendous amounts of money, and Beyond the Gates of Antares failed and disappeared. Another announcement that lead nowhere so far were the WarHell rules by HiTech Miniatures. Alien Dungeon revealed All Quiet on the Martian Front and Gale Force Nine surprised us with the Firefly boardgame. New rules became available – Armored Clash from Spartan Games and Arkham City from Knight Models. My favorites for February: Statuesque Miniatures’ new Resistance Fighters, Heavy Orc Infantry by Kromlech and the very original Volatinero from Tercio Creativo.
March
GoblinAid showed the wargaming community at its finest after the Kev ‘the Goblinmaster’ Adams became victim of a brutal home invasion. I wrote the 10.000th post for the Fix and the Arena Rex Kickstarter gave me one of the most enjoyable crowdfunding experiences by letting us force a scorpion rider into the game. Helldorado returned with the Inferno Kickstarter and Zombicide Season 2 broke some records. On the Lamb Games announced a new faction for Brushfire and the release of the Kukulkani raised my interest in Dark Age significantly (but still not enough to pick it up). Best miniatures of the month for me were the Anvil Industry Exo-lords Suppression Team, Infamy Miniature’s Che-Che and Philip Hynes GoblinAid bust:
April
Wayland Games gets everybody excited about their new game studio which just silently went away again and GW leaves the Tabletop Fix after causing problems to some other blogs. Victoria Miniatures released the Beastmen Trench Raiders, MaxMini brings us Rocket Pigs and Puppetswar showed the first artwork of the Cruiser Mechs. My favorite miniatures of the month are the Male Survivors from Wargames Factory, Guild of Harmony’s steampunk Paranormal Investigator and the miniatures from the Kensei Fantasy Indiegogo campaign:
May
May was another good month for wargaming. The biggest news for me in this month was the announcement of Malifaux 2nd edition and the first artworks of the new crews. May also saw some more high-profile Kickstarter campaigns – RoboTech RPG Tactics, Deadzone, Tablescape and All Quiet on the Martian Front. Talking about the red planet, Mantic Games announced the Mars Attacks game. My highlights for May were the Ottoman Empire for Dystopian Wars, Hrudinn from Mierce Miniatures and the release of the Miniatures of the North Tox Troopers:
June
The Toughest Girls of the Galaxy invaded Kickstarter but I rather support Meridian Miniatures’ Steampunk army. To my surprise two systems I assumed to be dead were still twitching: Warlord Games released Hansa Nairoba for BtGoA and Studio 38 new Alkemy miniatures. And my favorites for June were the Puppetmaster from Taban Miniatures’ Escape Kickstarter, Riceball Miniatures’ Halfling on goat Samurai and Jetgirl by Studio McVey:
July
Summer always seems to slow things down a bit. Mantic Games released the “Kings and Legends” supplement for Kings of War, Warmachine crowdfunded its first computer game and Warlord Games became THE LAW!, I mean exclusive distributor of the Judge Dredd game. Wyrd Miniatures announced the first Encounter Set for Malifaux and Fantasy Flight Games gives Star Wars the RPG it deserves. My highlights: CP Model Miniatures Shaolin Monks, Knight Models movie version of the Joker and the Silvermoon Trade Syndicate for Bushido
August
GenCon failed to impress this year (maybe except M2E), but Hawk Wargames finally announced a two-player starter set for Dropzone Commander. Warploque Miniatures’ ArcWorlde Kickstarter offers Death Kiwis and Fantasy Flight Games showed that they mean business with the Tantive IV and Rebel Transport for X-Wing. Willy Miniatures announced an Amazon team I am still waiting for, and Warlord Games released the massive Pegasus Bridge set. Best new miniatures of the month in my mind: The Smart Max Atlantic Union Assault Bot, the new mounted Daimyos for Kensei and the Mishima range from Prodos Games!
September
Baker Company kickstarted my interest in the Winter War (and kept me from backing Wrath of Kings), Perry Miniatures finally released the Afrika Korps and Spartan Games showed the first pictures of the Covenant of Antarctica infantry for Dystopian Legions as well as the ground forces for Firestorm Invasion. Defiance Games is back with a new management and Mierce Miniatures kickstarts the first edition of the Darklands rules. The highlights of September for me are the Infinity Nomad Iguana, the Blackchapel Miniatures Wulfland range and the Sea Turtle Pirate from DarkSword Miniatures:
October
Another month dominated by Kickstarter campaigns: Bones II is the steamroller we expected it to be while the everchanging Mars Attacks annoyed me into cancelling my pledge. Harebrained Schemes’ Golem Arcana project wanted to bring wargames to the next level and Prodos Games started to drum up support for their upcoming AvP campaign. Knight Models released the first miniatures of their Watchmen and The Hobbit ranges and Spartan Games focussed on the relaunch of Firestorm Armada with a new two-player starter set. Best new miniatures of the month: The Mad Bomber by Antimatter Games, Kromlech’s Orc Pilot and the amazing new Otherworld Miniatures Adventurers:
November
Again a month full of incredible Kickstarter campaigns: Alien vs Predator Journey and Shadows of Brimstone, were highly successfull, as well as Anvil Industry’s Afterlife system which raised my hopes for a viable campaign driven skrimish system. Armies Army expands its range of wonderful 15mm near future vehicles and Angel Giraldez’ paintjob on the Infinity Dire Foes boxes blew my mind. My highlights are Zenit Miniatures’ Kensei Ronin Otokodate preview, the Helldorado Quetzalcoatl from Cipher Studios and Studio McVey’s Geisha Queen:
December
December was kind of a month of curiosities: Sword & Board Games cancelled their Kickstarter because it was too successful and Warlord Games offers a 1000 miniatures army deal. Spartan Games announced yet another game (Actung! Cthulhu) and protests from Germany lead to the addition of an alternative weapon to the new Nephilim box from Taban Miniatures. Onslaught Miniatures (6mm) and the War & Empire Kickstarter (15mm) prove how awesome small scale miniatures can look. Mantic Games released Deadzone, and the best new miniatures for me are LaserCutCard’s Ratel, the Destroyer from Crooked Dice and the Infinity Bounty Hunter:
The future
So what am I looking forward to in 2014? First, I will finally get my Arena Rex miniatures, and I am already scared of painting so much skin… As mentioned above, I have high hopes for Anvil Industry’s Afterlife game, the style is exactly rightg for my taste and the story-telling elements and ressource point system they want to include sound awesome. I am looking forward to Baker Company’s second WWII- Kickstarter campaigns dealing with the Balkans and last but not least there is talk about a new codex for the Imperial Guard next year.
So, what were your highlights of 2013?
