With 2023 come and gone, we asked our local gaming community to share their hobby highlights and gaming glories from the past year. We also take a stab at what we can expect in 2024!
What were your gaming highlights from 2023? Was there a particularly great event or game you played?
Ian: My bachelor party was definitely the highlight for 40k (which you can read about here). Attending my first Bar Bash was also really cool, and made me want to try narrative Age of Sigmar more. Also trying Warcry 2.0 was really cool.
Jeff: The bachelor party was a dope one. The other highlight for me was the Hogtowner 30k event – namely the first mission which was a massive 12-person Zone Mortalis game, with every player having their own custom objective.
Erik: For me it’s gotta be Hogtowner 30k; like Jeff; I found that 12-person Zone Mortalis clusterf*ck to be one of the highlights of the event, another being my games against Jeff’s Night Lords, and Jon’s unbelievably gorgeous Emperor’s Children.
Chris: Bar Bash is always a great AoS experience, and it got me to think about that game for the first time in a while. I’ve also had some great Crusade games in 40k (as you will probably see when my lazy ass finally writes the articles!) There were also some great 30k events at Guild House that saw my army thrashed (but in a fun way).
Mathias: Running a Deckhammer event in the late spring, using the Boarding Action rules. Getting that final touch of 9th ed 40k before the new edition came out. Going to the NOVAOpen to play 11 games of Warhammer over four days and flying too close to the sun to only come crashing down.
Noah: I played a four-day apocalypse game with my friend Kyle. It was a crazy fight over a bridge to an Ork-infested Necron tomb. In the end, his Chaos alliance won out against my Orks.
Mike: LVO was one of my best Warhammer experiences. I had 30+ friends all arrive at the event and everywhere I would look or if I spent any time walking around the casino I would run into friends.
What about your hobby highlights? Favourite miniature you painted or something you converted?
Ian: Abaddon was a big project for me, I spent a lot of time making sure he looked good. I’m also very proud of my Master of Executions: that was the first time I tried enamel or oil paints on a character and it turned out really well.
Erik: My favourite single mini that I worked on this past year is definitely the Abaddon I painted for, and won, the Black Library Painting Contest at my local GW. Also really proud of having gotten both my Chaos Knights and Heresy Dark Angels Battle-Ready.
Chris: Compared to 2022, I didn’t have any massive army projects that I got finished this year, but I definitely made strides. Getting all of my Drop Pods and Fliers ready for my 30k Raven Guard was probably the most progress towards a single army, but I also did some conversions for other armies that I’m very proud of. Among those are my Aelf Dragon-Riders for my Lumineth, along with a Light of Eltharion meant to resemble my old High Elf Prince! But I’d be remiss not to mention the newest iteration of Captain Branwen that I converted up from the new Primaris jump captain. Really excited to get that painted.
Mike: My Chaos Chosen. I went all out with my Slaves to Darkness army sculpting furs out of greenstuff and 3D printing capes for all of my Chosen and Varanguard to match the Chaos Warrior aesthetic.
What big releases do you think will come out next year (for any game system, GW or otherwise)?
Chris: We know that Warhammer: the Old World is right around the corner, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how that game shapes out. I also expect we’ll also see plastic Solar Auxilia for 30k before long as well. 40k-wise… I’m not entirely sure? I suspect though that we’re going to be seeing an expansion to the Krieg range quite soon, though.
Mathias: Feel like it’s been a while since they’ve done a Warhammer Quest style game. After the debacle of Cursed City, will they keep with the AoS theme or go back to Blackstone Fortress? It’s a fun way for them to introduce the wacky things of 40k without diving deep into full armies.
Mike: AoS 4th Edition. Looking forward to a bit of a refresher but I’m also very happy with current state of AoS3 so it will be an interesting year in 2024 for me.
Ian: Asdrubael Vect – he hasn’t been around since 5th edition, and Drukhari could really use some more special characters.
Chris: Triumphant return of Kruellagh the Vile?
In all seriousness, I have to drop my far-fetched goal of GW finally biting the bullet and doing female Space Marines. We’re 75% of the way there with Stormcast heads being the right scale, why not an upgrade sprue?
Zach: Does hypothetical Vect still come on the Party Bus? (That would be a cool Drukhari centrepiece)
Ian: Party bus and on foot is my pipe dream!
Jeff: Raven Guard or Salamander Praetors for 30k (for you, Ian & Chris!).
Erik: I’d love to see more legion-specific characters for 30k, especially glow-ups for those released during HH 1.0 so that new scale line troops don’t tower over them.
Mathias: Glow-up my old-man on a chair! Inquisitor Karamazov needs a refresh and especially with those “diorama” style models (eg. Triumph of St. Kat) could really make him cool (or just make him have his own party sentinel, he’ll catch up to Vect eventually!). For AoS, it’s gotta be either the Malerion Aelves or Tyrion Aelves. Could even do a shock/twist of having Malerion Aelves be “Destruction faction”.
Other than miniature releases, what direction do you think 40k will go in? And/or which direction do you hope GW will take the game?
Ian: I’m hoping that 10th will stay (relatively) stable rules-wise and we don’t see more changes to the core rules. Focus on the competitive scene will probably continue, but I’d love to see more campaign books again.
Zach: I’m interested to see what the next “Leviathan Deck” for 40K will be like, and how drastically different will it be from the current one.
Jeff: Ohhh I forgot they had mentioned they would rehash that deck every now and then…. I think mine still hasn’t been opened yet…
Zach: That happened to me in AoS this edition with the Generals Handbook. I bought the first two then stopped.
Jeff: Defs hope for more narrative content overall. Maybe add a few random units into the crusade books for armies that are a little bit further our codex wise.
Mathias: Do what they did previously, slap a ‘Narrative only’ sticker on the dataslate, and then those units are all good. They can be wacky & wonderful!
Chris: Very excited for more Crusade books to drop for 40k. We know a Pariah Nexus one is on the horizon, but it’d be great to cover even more theatres of war and get even more of that good good Narrative content. Really hoping that the Codex Creep doesn’t hit too hard either.
What’s something you’d like GW to avoid or move away from next year?
Ian: I’d like GW to stop legending stuff, or at the very least provide more clarity and keep the points updated. The confusion over whether legends units are appropriate for various types of play can become a headache, and players of a certain vintage are hit much harder. It also disproportionately affects marine players, whose models seem to be replaced rather than upgraded (i.e. Assault Marines being replaced by Assault Intercessors, as opposed to Aeldari Guardians that got a new kit with the same rules).
Zach: I would like GW to stop messing with their paint range and changing the formulations of things (like the washes in 2022).
Mathias: 100%, I have no idea how Agrax is supposed to work anymore… it was liquid talent, now I actually have to learn how to paint!?!
Jeff: Please GW. Stop removing options from units/only giving options for stuff that’s in the box. Also please bring back individual model points… instead of continuing down the “totally not power level, we swear!” route.
Mathias: Locking the core rules of a dataslate behind the codex code paywall. I do have Warhammer+ and it should at least let me see the bare bones of the dataslate for all units. The basic weapons, toughness etc.
Noah: Locked wargear and unit options are pretty frustrating. I understand why it’s being done but it still saddens me.
What would you like to see from game systems besides 40k (GW or otherwise) in 2024?
Ian: I’m hoping they rerelease the Horus Heresy Black Books for 2nd edition. Those missions and campaigns always seemed cool and it’s something I missed the boat on.
Zach: I hope AoS 4th Edition lets us add characters into units (a la 40k), I would also like to see some of the bloat culled from AoS. It’s a really strong system but sometimes I forget all the Heroic Actions, Command Abilities, and Monstrous Actions I can do.
Jeff: For Heresy, I’d love to see another FAQ – with some more points changes/weapon balance updates. The one we just got was good – and unexpected – but I had hoped they would cover more.
For AoS…. I dunno. A reason for me to actually really want to play the game? The models are gorgeous and lovely, but I have a real hard time having any actual desire to (try and) play it.
Chris: I’m hopeful that Heresy gets some much-needed updates, specifically concerning Reactions to tone them down a bit – also to give Tanks a bit of love to go with all the amazing vehicle kits they’ve been putting out.
For AoS, very much agree with Zach in that I’d love to see some of the developments we’ve seen in 40k implemented there. It’s definitely feeling a bit less streamlined at this point, which is starting to hurt the accessibility. Also REALLY hoping for a rework on Path to Glory to help give narrative AoS some help in the relentlessly competitive environment it’s currently in.
Mathias: Please, please some better Path-to-Glory rules!
My body is ready for the return of the old world. I truly hope that GW allows it to get its legs, and that we can see the return of some fun models. But at the same time, hopeful that they can refresh the last of the finecast out of all the ranges.
What should the next Warhammer scented candle be? What other Warhammer merch would you like to see?
Ian: Candle: Scorched Recaff. It’d be cool to see more themed gaming aides, like dice trays or measuring tapes.
Zach: Candle: Balefire Brazier. For a gaming aid I think they NEED to rerelease the movement tray kit for old-world. (Note: Zach wrote his suggestions before the TOW pre-orders were announced)
Jeff: Bring back the servo skull measuring tape. And maybe put a laser pointer in the eye for line of sight! (I’m only half serious about this..)
Candle….. Skaven Blight. It can smell like a wet dog or animal aha.
Chris: Dice trays are a shoe-in for a great piece of merch/gaming accessory. Also let’s see some more Raven Guard merch – stop giving the Big Four Chapters all the love!
For a candle… How about Khainite Temple. For those who want their gaming space to smell like iron and blood.
Mike: Dark Elf Dumpster fire (:p).
What are some of your hobby or gaming goals for 2024
Ian: Building my 30k Salamanders is a big one (whether or not I get to painting them, we’ll see). I’m also hoping to paint my Zone Mortalis table, plus some other terrain, but I keep getting distracted with other projects.
Gaming wise, I’d really like to organise another 40k campaign weekender. The last one was in 2022 and I think there were a lot of good aspects to build on, plus I’d really like to incorporate Titanicus.
Chris: Hobby-wise I have a couple of projects, but I think it’s going to be an easygoing year largely. Maybe a couple of units here and there, but my main goals are to paint up some D&D minis from a recent campaign, and maybe do up another of the Warhammer Quest games. I do have Cursed City primed…
Gaming wise, I think I’d like to do something narrative-minded for Age of Sigmar or Horus Heresy, but those ideas are very formative as of right now. We’ll see what 2024 brings.
Jeff: Hobby wise – make a good dent in (or finish would be ace) painting up my 30k Night Lords. Also would like to get a bit more of my Death Korps painted up (especially if they get an actual 40k rules update next year). I plan to also finish up any Bolt Action Canadians. With plastic Solar Auxilia coming to 40k, I’ll more than likely be also starting them up…. Lastly, I want to utilize some of my old university CAD knowledge to try and dip my toes into designing (and then printing) some 3D printed bits – namely some trench themed base toppers for my Death Korps, and I have some random upgrade bit ideas for my planned Solar Aux regiment.
Gaming wise – running my first actual campaign. Should be starting up soooooonnnnnnn. (Stay tuned on here for highlights and stuff from it!)
Erik: I’m aiming to continue working on my 30k Dark Angels, playing as many games with them as possible. I’m also dragging my brothers into 30k.
Mathias: Mainly it’s prepping for Bar Bash 6. Heading into the jungle areas that have started to spring up with the return of Drako’sul. So I’ve got a lot of that terrain to start thinking about, along with getting my Seraphon out of storage and finally painted. Meanwhile on the 40k side, would love to just get in some more games and start building the lore up of my different armies in the new edition.
Noah: 2024 might be the year I finalize my Ork collection. I’ve been collecting and painting Orks for 10 years now and I’ve almost got every datasheet I’m interested in large enough quantities to be viable in Apocalypse. Who knows though: maybe I’ll never stop.
I’ve been working on a joint map for myself and Kyle to fight over. We play so many strategy games against each other we thought it would be interesting to have an overarching narrative to fight over using the many tabletop, board and card games we play. The different planets or sectors or whatever would all give out small silly bonuses to the player that controlled them, like force your opponent to take a shot once a game or bring snacks to the next gaming night etc. I plan to build a physical map to hang on the wall that will evolve over the years of us playing games together.
Mike: Gaming – 2023 for me was a very busy year. I attended 30+ events over the year – almost every other weekend – and I’m a bit burnt out. That being said, I have a feeling by February of 2024 I might not know how to stop and have a repeat of 2023 lol. But one of my goals is to travel for Warhammer more in 2024 and go to places I haven’t yet been. I already have plans to go to Europe for Warhammer and would like to go and visit my buddy in Sparwood, BC. I’ve made more friends in the past two years because of Warhammer than I have ever in my life because of travelling to events. Warhammer events for me are about meeting new people and making new friends. It’s also a third place in my life which I have found is harder and harder to find in day to day life these days. But events are that place for me where I can meet new like minded people and spend 2+ hours becoming friends with my opponent.
Outside of events I would like to play more narrative 40k. The current standard matched play doesn’t do it for me. Narrative I find solves many of these issues because the missions feel less jenk with how objectives work. I’d also like to do an AoS narrative with everyone with the launch of 4th.
Hobby – I plan on finishing up many of the armies I already have and doing more printing projects. I also built a Cities of Sigmar all Darkling Coven army that I really want to lean into an Anvil Guard rebel force with, and would love to have it all painted up and themed in 2024. A few years back I printed and painted up an Ork army I ended up giving to Noah and I had a ton of fun converting and painting up the army, (Slapshop and Shake ‘n Bake make for oddly good and quick results). Speed painting has always been my jam and printing up alternative cool armies is really fun. Another thing I want to do is work on some display boards and terrain in 2024. I got a hot wire foam cutter last year and made a cool cliff face for my Karadron Overlords army and it really got me excited to do more terrain hobby. There is something therapeutic about drybrushing and terrain painting. Also if rumours are true with 4th taking place in Aqshy some really cool fire/jungle tables would be really fun to make.
I have big hobby plans for 2024, I just hope my eyes aren’t bigger than my stomach lol.