It’s a new year and so there’s the inevitable “2010 in review” posts on all blogs and news sites. I hate the bloody things, but that won’t stop me from doing one of my own!

2010 was a great year for me (in Real Life as well as in my Gaming Life): I feel that my painting and modelling skills have improved a great deal: in basing, in my use of washes, and in the techniques and tools I’ve learned to use. I have the great gaming blogosphere to thank for that: many of my favourite blogs are linked to in the links on the right.

I played a lot of Space Hulk in 2010: it’s great for time-starved veterans like me and my friends. You can have a great gaming experience in a couple of hours, with none of the preparatory work required for a game like Epic.

I also managed to get my 15mm SF soldiers into battle, albeit only once, using a gaming system of my own devising. It’s the first time I’ve ever written and used a set of gaming rules, and was a great experience. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some more games in during 2011, and refine the rules, perhaps even publish them!

The thing I’m most pleased with this year has been the creation of an Epic Necron army. This is mainly thanks to the brilliant chaps on the Tactical Command forums: creative geniuses who have, purely for fun, created very impressive proxies for many of the Necron units. It’s also due to the excellent miniatures produced by Steel Crown Productions for their Exodus Wars game: their Edenite miniatures are great quality and value, and are very good proxies.

The army isn’t finished: I have some Wraiths to assemble and paint, some Obelisks that have been troublesome (they’re resin and I didn’t wash them before undercoating, so the paint’s flaking off, grrh), and I need some more Monoliths, as I found out when I took the army out for a test game (the only game of Epic I managed this year). Playing against Squats, I was narrowly defeated because of the lack of fast close combat troops (ie Wraiths) and the need to keep the Monoliths in unit coherency. Having another group of them that is free to move around will give me more flexibility. I’ve also got another super-heavy monstrosity that still needs painting.

I’ve been meaning to take some photos of the complete army, and I finally managed to do it today. Here they are. I hope they inspire you!