Year in Review: Figures Painted

I really did not set out a goal for the number of figures I wanted to get painted at the beginning of 2025.  What I did make as a recurring goal was to paint more figures than purchased.  Even without a goal on the number of figures painted, 879 figures crossed over from unpainted to painting in 2025.  Not bad.  On the painting more than I buy front, I still came out with a reduction in The Lead Pile of 481 figures.  Not as substantial as the 2024 result of -945 figures but respectable.  Had I not succumbed to some late year purchases, totals would have been more in line with 2024.  I plan to keep up the effort of reducing The Lead Pile in 2026.  Wish me luck.

Looking back through the Painting Log over the last 32 years, the last two years have shown a gradual decrease from the 1,000 figures or more painting output.  Still, a good variety of projects saw some activity to explore a bit later.  For figures painted, one foot, one gun, and one cavalry figure each count as one.  No increased counts for horse and rider.   

Let's examine the 2025 figure counts in more detail.

Monthly Totals
As the chart below shows, much of 2025 averaged a monthly output of about 60 figures.  Not helped out by the big drops in May and October.  As is typical of my seasonal painting output, production began to pick up as the year closed out.  January and September saw big spikes up in production.  As seen in the September/October bars, a big increase in one month is often followed by a drop in the next.  A big push in one month is likely followed by exhaustion, I suppose.  

Totals by Era and Scale
Switching from the monthly bar chart to a pie chart, the total effort given to the SYW project continued into 2025.  Nearly 30% (259) of all figures painted were in this period.  While the FPW project popped into second place in 2024, 2025 saw FPW take top honors with 288 figures painted.  Biblicals rounded out the top 3 with 119 figures painted.  After several games featuring the Reconquista project hitting the table in 2025, 49 additional figures were added into the collection as my motivation was high to push out just a few more units.  I managed to almost deplete The Lead Pile of these figures.  Well, not quite as successful as first thought.  I recently uncovered about a dozen packs of Artizan and Crusader figures for the Reconquista.

Translating actual figure counts to Painting Points, the 25/28mm projects see some gains in their capture of the overall percentages.  Good to see the Great Italian Wars project climb out of obscurity from the "Other" category.

When the counts are broken out by figure size (scale), it is no surprise that the emphasis on painting 15/18mm SYW and FPW figures pushed the weight to that figure size.  As in 2024, more than 60% of all production was in the 15/18mm figures sizes.  The chart below illustrates that nearly 64% of all figures painted fall into the 15/18mm classification.

When these actual figure counts are translated to Painting Points, 25/28mm figures shift the emphasis and effort to their side of the painting ledger.  Now, almost 57% of effort is concentrated into the 25/28mm projects.

In summary, 2025 was a solid year at the painting desk.  2025 saw a slight reduction in figures painted from 2024 but not much change, really, especially since 2025 saw more 25/28mm figures painted than in 2024.  What about goals for 2025?  Well, that is something to ponder another time.

Year in Review: Games Played

 

The number of games played in 2025 nearly reached the 100-game mark.  Close but not quite.  Gaming in 2025 saw an increase to 97 games played compared to the 76 games played in 2024.  Why the increase in games played?  Well, Commands & Colors saw a huge increase in the number of games played and that in a F2F setting.  With the large number of Commands & Colors games, the mix between remote and F2F saw a significant shift too with F2F enjoying a resurgence in frequency.

I ended up hosting 40 out of the 97 games played.  This seems a lower proportion than years past, but that may not be true.  My impression is that I hosted fewer games, though.  As mentioned in last year's review, games remotely hosted by others dropped off in 2024.  Records show that I participated in 17 hosted remote games in 2025.  Without going back to confirm, that is likely an increase over 2024 totals. Remote games hosted by me totaled 23.  That is a pleasant and reasonable mix in hosting vs playing in remote games.  Nice having the workload spread around, isn't it? 

Let's get on with the games played review!  In a gaming retrospective, these 97 games were distributed over a variety of rules and periods.  I take a look at each area individually. 

Rules

2024 saw 14 different rulesets in use. The number of rulesets to hit the gaming table jumped to 17 different rulesets.  In the graphic below, note that ten of these rules are first time playing for me.  That is quite a lot of new rules to encounter.  The core rules that I use for remote games continue as in previous years with Basic Impetvs and Fields of Honor seeing repeated action.  Although seeing repeated action at the gaming table, these two rulesets witnessed a marked drop off in play throughout 2025.  Perhaps these rules will see more action in 2026?  As mentioned above, Commands & Colors (including CC Hoth) saw heavy rotation.  Sliding into second place is my Work in Progress WotR rules, Blood 'n Roses.  Expect to see more activity here in 2026 as more battles are brought to the table for testing.  The table below shows Counts of Games Played by Ruleset in 2025 for details.

Wargaming Period

What if these total games played are broken out by wargaming period?  What were the popular periods in 2025?

While the graphic above shows that 17 different periods saw action, Ancients was far and away the most popular period to see action on the table.  Star Wars (both in CC Hoth and Squad Hammer) and Wars of the Roses round out the Top 3 gaming periods.  Quite a diverse mix of periods.  Who could have predicted that Sci-Fi floats up to near the top of the chart in 2025?  Not me! 

Memorable Moments

2025 continued the trend of my hosted games refighting a particular historical battle multiple times.  Below is a listing of some of those memorable games.  I expect this trend to continue into 2026.  I wonder which battle will be first out of the gates in 2026?

Battle of Agnadello: Great Italian Wars - 2 games.

Battle of Solden Hill: Wars of the Roses - 3 games.

Battle of Mortimer's Cross: Wars of the Roses - 4 games.

Battle of Quistello: War of Polish Succession - 3 games.

Battle of Zallaqah: Spanish Reconquista - 4 games.

Adobe Wells: Western Gunfight - 4 games.

Of course, every game has memorable moments but with repeated playings, one gains a deeper understanding of the battle, its likely direction, crucial decision points, and possible outcomes.  I always learn a lot from these repeated outings with respect to rules, scenario design, and scenario development.  Thanks to all who played in one of these games.  I always enjoy your willingness to join into a game.

If you participated in any of these battles or simply read some of the battle reports, which game or games stand out to you?

The next time I return to the yearly review, I dive into the Painting Log and see what 2025 held.

Year In Review: Figures Painted

When 2024 began, I laid out two goals on the painting front.  For the first goal, I planned to cut back on the number of figures painted from 2023's total of 1,015.  The New Year's goal was reduced down to a more leisurely pace of 750.  I missed that goal but in a good way by painting 959 figures.

For the second goal, I challenged myself to paint more figures than purchased. On reducing The Lead Pile goal, I actually surpassed my expectations.  I managed to paint 945 more figures than purchased in 2024.  While The Lead Pile still looms large and I hardly notice even a little dent in its size, good progress was accomplished.  Setting this goal really helped in curbing my impulse buys.  In 2024, I only bought about 100 figures.  Now, that is progress!

Looking back over the last 31 years that painting records have been tracked, the last three years suggest my painting has fallen into a predictable pattern.  That is, roughly 1,000 figures have been painted and Seven Years War has dominated work at the painting desk.  2024 saw a few more figure counts in other periods, however, broadening my scope.  Those details are examined later on.  For figures painted, one foot, one gun, and one cavalry figure each count as one.  No increased counts for horse and rider.   

Let's examine the 2024 figure counts in more detail.

Monthly Totals
As the chart below shows, much of 2024 averaged a monthly output of about 60 figures.  Without the two big spikes in productivity in June and August, I may have hit the 2024 goal of 750 noted above.  Production began to look up as the year closed out with 100+ figures painted in each of November and December.  January 2025 maintained this trend.  December saw only SYW figures mustering out from the painting desk.

Totals by Era and Scale
Switching from the monthly bar chart to a pie chart, the total effort given to the SYW project continued into 2024.  Nearly 36% (350) of all figures painted were in this period.  The FPW project fired up in 2024 with 212 figures painted.  Even Biblicals saw a renewed interest in 2024 with 169 figures painted!  All three of these projects were goals set up for 2024.

When the counts are broken out by figure size (scale), it is no surprise that the emphasis on painting 15/18mm SYW and FPW figures pushed the weight to that figure size.  The chart below illustrates that nearly 63% of all figures painted fall into the 15/18mm classification.  25/28mm was a distant second with 239 figures painted.

15/18mm SYW/WAS Project Still On Top

As noted in the 2024 goals, expanding the SYW/WAS collection was a top priority.  That priority was in mind throughout the year and it paid off.

The graphic below shows that six countries saw units mustering out from the painting desk.  Not only did the main objective of fielding more Spanish and British/Hanoverians pan out but Bavaria, France, and Genoa all added units to the project.  Spain saw the largest influx of new recruits at 139 figures.  Hanover came in second with 70 figures added.

The graphic below illustrates the composition of each of the slices in the pie chart shown above.  Notice that Genoa and Bavaria only saw infantry painted while France and Britain saw only cavalry painted.  Hanover and Spain saw both infantry and cavalry painted.  Curiously, no country saw any artillery fielded in 2024.

    

In summary, 2024 was a solid year at the painting desk.  I hope to build on these successes in 2025.  

Year in Review: Games Played

Gaming in 2024 saw a shift in both frequency and emphasis.  While 2023 rang up 103 games played, 2024 managed to count 76 games played.  I may have actually shorted myself a game or two in the process by forgetting to make a record on the Scheduled Games page. I got most of the games counted, though.  Despite the drop in games played, still, gaming frequency averaged about three games every two weeks.  Not too shabby but not at the levels seen over the past three years.

On emphasis, I wound up hosting a lot more in 2024 than in prior years.  For a variety of circumstances, remote hosting by others dropped off.  While previous years may have seen me participating in more remote games than hosting, 2024 saw me pick up the hosting mantle and host 47 of the 76 games played.  That total comes close to averaging about one game per week.  This sum is not too shabby either!  Whatever the cause of decreased gaming and increased hosting, the balance seems about right and sustainable.  

Let's get on with the games played review!  In a gaming retrospective, these 76 games were distributed over a variety of rules and periods.  I take a look at each area individually. 

Rules

In 2023, the 103 games saw 23 different rulesets hitting the table.  How about in 2024?  Well, the number of rules in use dropped dramatically from 23 to 14.  Of course, given that my participation in games of others dropped, this is not surprising.  I tend to host games using rules (often my own variant) that I can confidently umpire and direct.  The table below shows Counts of Games Played by Rules Choice in 2024 for details.

As in previous years, the Top 3 rules used were my variations on Basic Impetvs (BI) and Fields of Honor (FoH), and Commands & Colors Ancients (CCA).  Most of the CCA battles were fought using Scott's armies in 28mm.  More than 76% of all games were contained to these three rulesets.  Note that all of the Top 3 rules are hex-based.  

Basic Impetvs was definitely the favorite ruleset out on the gaming table in 2024.  Over 40% of all games played utilized the BI game engine.  BI remains popular since I have a number of 28mm armies from different periods that all are designed and based for these rules.  Both the last game of 2024 and the first game of 2025 use BI.  

Scanning down the list of rules, most rules in use are either self-published or commercial with customized variants.  Even Basic Impetvs aficionados might flinch at seeing my BI variant transported to a grid.  The gathered collection of gamers mostly leans toward the rules' tinkerers end of the spectrum.  

Wargaming Period

What if these total games played are broken out by wargaming period?  Were there popular periods in 2024 or were all games offered an equal opportunity for employment?

While the graphic above shows that 14 different periods saw action, the Top four periods were Ancients, Great Italian Wars, Feudal Japan, and War of Austrian Succession.  Unlike 2023, a couple of Napoleonic games actually made it onto the schedule.  Not my 28s, though.  I must try to bring that collection up for battle in 2025.  Given that participants never utter a negative word on either rules or period, I reckon I could get away with bringing just about anything to the table!  Maybe I will lay some Western Gunfights, FIW, or another test of jungle warfare in 1898 Cuba on the unsuspecting? 

Memorable Moments

Games played can make a memorable mark for any of a number of reasons.  This year, I focus on a general theme of battles fought repeatedly with a variety of participants.  Which games saw three or more outings in 2024?  This list includes:

Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo: War of Austrian Succession - 3 games.

Battle of Lake Trasimene: 2nd Punic War - 6 games. 

Battle of Sanguetta: Great Italian Wars - 5 games.

Battle of Fornovo: Great Italian Wars - 5 games.

Battle of Bassignana: War of Austrian Succession - 5 games.

Water Fight: Sumerian Wars - 4 games. 

Battle of Cheriton: English Civil War - 6 games.

Battle of Shiloh: American Civil War - 5 games.

Battle of Mikata Ga Hara: Samurai Battles - 4 games.

1st Battle of Azukizaka: Samurai Battles - 4 games.

Of course, every game has memorable moments but with repeated playings, one gets a deep understanding of the battle, its likely direction, and possible outcome. 2024 was a very good year at the gaming table.

If you participated in any of these battles or simply read the battle reports, which game stands out to you?

The next time I return to the yearly review, I dig into the Painting Log and see what 2024 held.  Did I make my goal of 750 painted figures?

Year in Review: Figures Painted

When I look back to the beginning of 2023 (see 2022 Year in Review: Figures Painted), my main painting goals were,

• Continue expansion of the 18mm SYW/WAS project to include more armies. In addition to Spanish and Piedmontese, field a British/Hanoverian army.
• Build a 15mm Prussian Army to allow expansion of the Franco-Austrian War collection to the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars.
• Continue work to expand the 25mm Biblical armies including Sumerians, Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians.

I did not specify a particular target figure count to attain but my goal is often to shoot for 1,000 in a year.  It is a nice round number and a good goal.

As you will see, the expansion of the SYW/WAS project sped ahead on track.  Unfortunately, the 15mm FPW Prussian Army never left the starting blocks and Biblicals only saw a few additions.  I mentioned the possibility of beginning a Trojan War project in 2023.  That, likewise, never made it out of the starting gate.

So, what did I manage to accomplish on the painting front in 2023?

Well, I managed (but just barely!) to cross the 1,000 figure threshold in 2023.  As they say, it was a near-run thing.  Final tally showed 1,015 figures painted.

Monthly Totals

As the chart below shows, 2023 started off with a bang with more than 100 figures painted in three of the first four months.  After that, productivity plunged.  I never regained the 100 figures/month mark again.  As seen from the red bars, the 15/18mm SYW project saw most of the action at the painting desk.

Figures painted by month

Totals by Era and Scale

Switching from the monthly bar chart to a pie chart, the total effort given to the SYW project is clear. Nearly 76% of all figures painted (767) were in this period.  Few other periods saw much attention besides the 136 ACW figures mustered out. 

Total figures painted by era - actual

When the number of figures is translated into painting points (where larger figures and different troop types are assigned more weight), the picture does not change much.  The exception is that the 25mm Biblicals show up as their own category from the "Other" grouping.  Still, even with this translation, SYW comprises about 75% of all painting effort.

Total figures painted by era - painting points

When the counts are broken out by figures size (scale), it is no surprise that the emphasis on painting 15/18mm SYW figures tips the scale to that figure size.  The chart below illustrates that 82% of all figures painted fall into this classification.

Total figures painted by scale- actual

As noted, one of the 2023 goals was to focus on fielding more armies for the SYW project.  The plan was to field armies for Piedmont, Spain, and Hanover.  

Did I stick to that plan?  Yes!

The graphic below shows that all three of the nations saw action at the painting desk.  Piedmont fielded 261 figures, Spain saw 204 figures added, and Hanover saw 262 figures march out.  A handful of figures for other nationalities marched out too. 

Total SYW figures painted by nation

So, on the first count of bringing more SYW/WAS figures to the table, I call this a success.  For the other goals, I missed the mark but there is always another year to make up lost ground.

Looking Ahead

What do I foresee for the painting desk in 2024?

While 2023 focused on mustering out troops for the SYW/WAS project, 2024 will likely see more of the same.  With a large stock of lead for this project remaining, I could easily carry on as in 2023 especially fielding more French, Hanoverians, Piedmontese, and Spanish.  Perhaps, British and Jacobite contingents will work their way into the painting queue in 2024?  I could foresee expanding this project to include yet another theater of operations.

2023 was clearly the year of painting SYW in 15/18mm.  2024 ought to show a little more diversification by returning to some work in 25/28mm.  There are lots of Biblicals to field including a possible start to a Trojan War project.  Besides, Trojans could give my Hittites someone else to fight.  What about the long delayed FPW Prussians?  Perhaps this is the year for them?  

The path forward requires some more thought.

Dialing back the painting effort seems reasonable for 2024.  I set the target at 750 painted figures.

Lastly, the graphic below shows that 2024 marks the 30th year that I have been tracking my painting production.  While I began tracking in 1994, 1995 was the first full year of results.  I have been at this for a very long time!        

What are your painting plans for 2024?

Year in Review: Games Played

Gaming in 2023 continued at a pace that defies prediction.  In last year's annual review, I figured the number of games played would need to be trimmed back a bit.  From a total of 97 games played in 2021 to 89 games played in 2022, I speculated that the number of games played would be cut back to more manageable levels.

Were the number of games played reduced in 2023?  No!  I actually increased the number of games played topping out at 103.  103 games!  Unbelievable, really.  The last three years demonstrate what is possible, for me, on the gaming front.  Many of these games I hosted also required time for scenario development and design.  For those following along for any length of time, readers recognize this level of gaming activity would not be possible without the introduction of remote gaming via either Zoom or Google Meet.  Yet, none of these totals include solo gaming.  Again, beyond a few playtest sessions and scenario calibrations, solo gaming was once again near nil.  There is simply no time.

Back to the review.  In a gaming retrospective, were these 103 games spread over a wide swath of periods, figures sizes, and rulesets or concentrated in only a few, well-exercised corners? 

Rules

In 2022, 89 games were played over 24 rulesets.  Does 2023 follow a similar trend or present a contrasting perspective in the number of different ruleset played?    This year, the 103 games were played using 23 different rules.  Results show a consistent number of rules to the 2022 counts.  See Table 1, Counts of Games Played in 2023 for details.

Table 1

Like last year, two of the Top 3 rules used were my versions of Basic Impetvs (BI) and Fields of Honor (FoH).  Rounding out the Top 3 was Commands & Colors Ancients (CCA).  Unlike in 2022, CCA battles were mostly fought in 28mm with Scott's armies rather than my own 6mm armies.  These Top 3 rules made up about 62% of all games played.  Is this such a surprise?  Not based upon 2022 numbers where the Top 3 remained as in 2023.  

What did the Top 3 rules have in common?  They are all played on a hex grid and all can be played from a two-sided, 5"x7" QRS.  Even the QRS is only a crutch since the modifiers can be kept in mind once an activation or two is under the belt.  Add to these attributes my ability to play and umpire any of these three with little hesitation or doubt makes it obvious why these rules are favored when I host a game.          

Graphically, Figure 1 illustrates the distribution of games played by ruleset.  Clearly, Basic Impetvs was my favorite but CCA and FoH were not far behind in popularity.  Do I see this trend continuing into 2024?  I suspect so.  Games of FoH are already on the New Year calendar.  

Figure 1

Like the listing in 2022 demonstrated, the 2023 listing contains a preponderance of self-published or homegrown rules.  Very few rules seeing action are commercially available with widespread audiences.  Even Basic Impetvs has been migrated onto a hex grid system and heavily modified to suit my own needs and playing style.  We continue forging ahead as rules' tinkerers.  

Figure Size

What about figure size or scale? Was there breadth in that respect too? Yes, breadth was present in the 2023 slate of games but 25/28mm gaming dominated.  See Figure 2.

Figure 2

While 25/28mm may have dominated games played, the other scales saw action too.  Most of the 25/28mm gaming is attributed to BI and CCA games.   10mm saw a healthy boost from a series of ACW battles fought repeatedly across two historical battlefields.  2023 even saw a naval action in 1/1200.  Hopefully, age of sail games will see a return in the New Year.

Wargaming Period

What if these total games played are broken out by wargaming period?  Were there popular periods in 2023 or did we see a shotgun approach to gaming across all periods as in 2022?

Figure 3

Looking at Figure 3, 20 different wargaming periods saw action on the various hosts' gaming tables in 2023.  Quite a lot of variety in anyone's book.  Unlike in 2022 which saw many periods wrestling for top rung in games played, 2023 saw two clear winners in Ancients and ACW.  The total number of unique periods played remains very similar to the number of rulesets played.  That is diversity.  No one ever complains about either the period or rules played.  That is tolerance.

Which of my collections saw action on the gaming table in 2023?  The list includes:

• American Civil War
• American war of Independence
• Ancient Sumeria
• Ancients (Punic Wars)
• Biblicals
• English Civil War
• Feudal Japan
• Franco-Austrian War
• Reconquista
• Spanish-American War
• War of Austrian Succession (SYW)

Eleven of my collections reached the table in 2023.  Superb!  Still, there were a few collections that did not make it to the gaming table.  One notable absence is Napoleonics.  With my Napoleonic collections covering three periods in two scales, I can do better to make sure at least one collection sees the table in a year.  Perhaps I can focus on getting some of those collections left out of 2023 rotation into the 2024 gaming rotation?

Memorable Moments

As in any year, games stand out for any number of reasons.  A few of my favorites from the year just past include:

Sumerian Water Wars

Sumerian Wars in which I lost four straight games to Steve, Matt, Peter, and Mark in rapid succession.

First Manassas

First Manassas fought a total of five times with an assortment of players.  Every game was great fun and most were hotly contested.

Hammerin' Sickles

Hammerin' Sickles reproduced Hood's attack at Gettysburg.  This battle was fought a total of six times with honors just about even.  All of these battles were great fun but one stands out in particular.  In one game, defeat fell on the last die roll of the last activation of the last turn.  Tension was high as that last die roll was made.

Chariot Wars

For pure excitement, few games can match the freewheeling chariot battles that were a regular fixture on the gaming table in 2023.

Ilipa

Finally, few games can see a turn around like the Ilipa game in which DB sent his legion forward and proceeded to cut through and then destroy the Carthaginian Right and Center.  Epic stuff! 

Of course, there were memorable moments in every game.  2023 was a very good year at the gaming table.

What was yours?

The next time I return to the yearly review, I dig into the Painting Log and see what 2023 held.  Did I make my goal of 1,000 painted figures?

Happy New Year!