The Football season properly got underway this weekend (although the hard workers were already on their second weekend) after the summer break and it kind of gels with my view of the wargaming calendar year.
My off season is spring and summer. Well yes I know there are lots of wargamers who are of the 24/7 variety and make up the engine room of this fine hobby.
I am much more the peripheral player – wargaming fits in with lots of other activities. In summer I like to get out in the daylight and enjoy the warm rays of sunshine – not too warm though!
So it occurred to me the other day that it was odd that I might post a plan for the year at the turn of the year. Yes thats when many other things get planned and reflected upon – makes sense to do the wargame planning stuff at the same time in those dark months.
The reality is that my transfer season (= all those painting plans or rules/gaming period changes) and this disruption really happens between May and August. And thats because as my painting tails of in Spring my mind starts wandering.
Looking back I have noticed Summer has been quite fruitful for projects going awry and new ideas popping up.
I mentioned earlier those 24/7 wargamers. Well even if I dont paint much in Spring and Summer I do tend to read and that is the devil in my wargaming. Or rather it is the seed point for another idea or ideas.
What has seeded this summer?
Back in early spring I was on a roll (no pun intended!) painting, well inspired by the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV.
My main project – Schleswig Holstein Wars were well served yet also some new material like a kit airplane – first in decades, retro citadel fantasy figures, gameshow freebies and even a magazine WW2 freebie figure Sci Fi carve up.
And then the finale posting by Karl at AHPCXIV featured a trojan horse. How apt, as it drove the Bronze Age front and square into my wargames thinking.
Soon I had the books out, which rules, which figures to paint, heck which scale? I am the sad possessor of 15mm and 1/72 chariot armies none of which are complete – in the case of 15mm not even started……
In the end I managed a strip or two of Assyrians undercoated and then opted for my version of 2mm armies. A successful campaign with DBA using a previous mapped world followed and then nothing.
Back to reading again. Suddenly William the chivalrous knight sprung upon me – I got all medieval and then it passed: And so did the book.
The same happened to my wild west thoughts.
The season of scenery challenge popped up. and I briefly made progress on a long overdue Italian hilltop town.
And then the Pike and Shot 16th century erupted with books on history, rules and uniforms spilling out of cupboards. A whole set of stockpiled figures got cleaned, reading progressed and rules were contemplated. Taking a lead from my Bronze Age moment I created some 0mm, yes 0mm armies for the Italian Wars – France versus Spain. I had intended them for testing rules including Pike and Shot by Warlord but bailed out using Neil Thomas Wargaming an Introduction instead – Pike and Shot Rules. These are easy and simple to use.
One wargame later and dust started to gather on the abandoned field – no second game.
So you see spring and summer has been properly, my fragmented wargames season. Its not an “off season” or indeed a “low season” but its definitely a season of sorts.
And its still going on………….pretty much what you would expect from a wargaming erratic I guess.
The Wargaming Erratic 
5 replies on “Off Season? or what?”
One of the other bloggers calls it being a hobby butterfly, flitting one project to another as the mood takes, but as you started with a wonderful picture of a Dragonfly, maybe you are a hobby Dragonfly ! LOL At the end of the day, as long as you are enjoying your hobby pursuits, I really don’t think it matters what you end up on !
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I think Dave’s right! You have at least been putting a lot of thought into the hobby! My seasons tends to be driven by “is it too wet or too windy outside to varnish?” and at the moment it’s both! However, I’ve changed the way I approach stuff and accept that whether I’m musing, planning, prepping or painting it’s all still progress in one form or another!
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Thanks John. You made me laugh John – plenty of planning is available to the erratic except this spring and summer it’s been more like whim here whim there so I guess I have spent some of the time wondering which theme will get a run this autumn – if any. Fortunately I don’t paint spray so my painting progression is not weather dependent-I think I would find that very frustrating. You must be very patient! Anyhow I have enjoyed this period of randomness even if I keep getting glares from the 1848/59 lot 🤣
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You could always have a fallback position, like “paint an 1848 unit” while you plan! I’m trying to force myself to add units that go towards finishing armies, even if I jump about a bit (too many armies no doubt)! At least I only varnish outside, so can’t use the weather as an excuse for not painting (have to fall back on other excuses)!
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Your right about certain excuses John, not all my paint brushes legged it on holiday 😱 even so I have not sat at the paint table since early spring- the assyrians got primed while I stood up 🤣
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