Farewell 2013 and thanks for all the Pulp!

So, it's that time already to do the annual review of the year and a look ahead at the New Year! And what a great year of gaming I've had, mostly being dominated by the awesomeness that is Pulp Alley. But before I begin properly, here's the list of games from my 2012 Hogmanay post that I intended to play:

• Dystopian Legions - This never took off and I actually sold all my stuff! Oops! :)

• Malifaux - I managed to play this a couple of times, but it lost steam at the club while the second edition was upcoming. Now it's appeared there's a resurgence. Despite only playing a couple of games, this still remains one of the better systems I have.

• Infinity - Managed to paint some figures and play some games. I shall play again!

• Force on Force - Again, played a few games and still really enjoy it.

• Maurice - I managed to paint a few bases, but that is it. Not sure if I'll ever get to play this!

• Super Heroes - I picked up some Pulp City figures, but I never got anywhere with this project. 

• Zombies - Another non-starter. Mainly due to the number of figures needed and the terrain.

So, as we can see, I managed to fulfill less than 50% of my planned games! However, there was definitely a theme that developed over 2013 - Pulp! It started about May, when I started painting the Brotherhood of the LOST after a rather inspiring game of 7TV, but really blossomed in August with the explosion of Pulp Alley onto the scene. From that point on it's been almost all Pulp Alley, which says volumes about how much I like that game. Nothing has dominated my tabletop like it since my early days of playing Warhammer and I was mulling over exactly why?

I think the answer to the question is the fact that Pulp Alley is an open system. The first aspect of that is that you can very easily adapt or craft rules around it to support what you want to have in your game. Take the lasso and parachute rules that have appeared on this blog. There's nothing for them in the books, so with a bit of thought it was very easy to come up with something that works. The second aspect is the character creation. Unlike Malifaux or Infinity, where the stats are given to you and anyone can field the same character, Pulp Alley pretty much makes you create your own league. There are some sample ones in the book, but not many. The real magic in Pulp Alley is taking any figures you have or desire and crafting a concept around them. The end result is a completely unique force that you can be sure that noone else has. Pretty powerful stuff! The fact that they progress over games is another great thing that the others can't provide. So, all in all, Pulp Alley is a winner and will see lots more table time in 2014. 

So without further ado, let's look at the plan for 2014. I'm going to do 2 lists, though. The first is the big players; the games I think I want to concentrate on, paint more figures and play more that just a couple of times. The second is the other games that I intend to try and fit in around the more popular ones.

The Best

• Pulp Alley - 'Nuff said! This will be played! :)
• Malifaux - With 2E out, I think I will be able to slot this in a bit more.
• Warhammer 40K - I have picked up some stuff for this on eBay. Just need to decide on a paint scheme!
• Zombies - Yes, the perennial project rears it's festering, rotten head! I think that ATZ will bear the same fruits as Pulp Alley, so I intend to knuckle down and do this!

The rest

• In Her Majesty's Name - This was played once I think, but we both really enjoyed it and I have another company nearly complete. I definitely think it will be played again, but in what volume remains to be seen.
• Chain of Command - Not played it yet, but the rules look excellent. This is really a contender for The Best list, but I don't know if I'll manage it. Hope so!
• Force on Force - No doubt we'll advance the Murdistan campaign a  bit this year.
• Eden - Played once and really enjoyed it. Will definitely play it again.
• Infinity - I have the stuff, so it will be pretty easy to break it out for more games.
• Flames of War/Fireball Forward - Got plenty of this and I actually played in a FoW Infantry Aces campaign this year, so I hope to get it played a bit.

No doubt there's other things that will appear or reappear over the year, but that's how I see things panning out just now. But if 2013 is anything to go by, then who knows what 2014 holds! :)

And as a final farewell to 2013, here's some pictures from a second play of the dino wrangling game that I hosted for my annual festive period game with mt friend James: