2023 Hobby Bingo Review!

It's that time again to look back at the last year and see how I did on the MESBG Hobby Bingo card! I'll go through each section row by row and show my completed card at the end of the post.

FIRST ROW

START A NEW ARMY
Done! My first winner for the year is from May when I started my Isengard force with some Crebain from Dunland... but I definitely knocked this one out of the park. 

Because I also technically started Numenor, the Helm Hammerhand Legendary Legion, Lothlorien, The Misty Mountains, The Serpent Horde, and Assault on Lothlorien.

WATCH THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY

Done! Easy. Every year without fail.

ATTEND A MIDDLE-EARTH GAMING EVENT

Done! Several, but not half as many as I should've liked! The first that counts is the Escalation Series finale tournament where I did quite well with Rivendell. I'd love to try and attend one a month; but a more realistic goal is 8 for the year.

CREATE SCENIC BASES FOR ONE OF YOUR ARMIES OR BATTLE COMPANIES

This one is a bit subjective, but I am going to give it to myself for this Iron Hills Captain on goat where, to show he had a war spear, I sculpted it into a dead orc on the ground. Think that counts?

FINISH A GOOD ARMY OF AT LEAST 600 POINTS

This one is a little awkward as I tend to not build for a list, but rather build lots of (read- most of) the options for a faction if I can, though I do prioritize based on what I'd like to play. That being said, I started the year with a handful of heroes for Minas Tirith and now we can field just over 1300 points of them so... counting it.

Well, that's pretty good and earns me my first bingo with the entire first row completed!

SECOND ROW

PAINT A MONSTER OR A SIEGE ENGINE

Done. Several checks in this, but I'll go with the Iron Hills Ballista.

FINISH A MODEL THAT HAS BEEN IN YOUR TO-DO PILE FOR AT LEAST A YEAR

Andrew and I bought into the game in May '22 and I was pretty furiously painting as quickly as I can.... as far as I know, no MESBG model in our collection has sat for over a year. First fail!

PLAY A GAME AGAINST AN OPPONENT YOU HAVE NEVER PLAYED BEFORE

So many this year! That's such a joy and easily one of my favorite aspects of this hobby! I'm so proud to be a part of a fun little group of gamers who's company I thoroughly enjoy.

READ OR LISTEN TO THE HOBBIT OR ANY BOOK FROM THE LOTR TRILOGY

Done! I read the entire LOTR trilogy and also listened to the new audiobook for the Fellowship narrated by Andy Serkis. Bekah and I listened to that while driving all around New Zealand!

CREATE A DISPLAY BOARD

Nope. I've loved the idea of doing this, but I have nowhere to store them and really pretty little desire to spend the time I could be painting miniatures. One day, perhaps.

THIRD ROW

START A BATTLE COMPANY

Andrew and I did play a day of Battle Companies and really enjoyed it, but I have not specifically modeled or painted anything just for Battle Companies so I think I am gonna give myself a fail on this one as well.

FINISH AN EVIL ARMY OF AT LEAST 600 POINTS

This year, I built an army worthy of Mordor. Armies, even. Isengard was net new for the year and I can now run 987 points worth of painted Uruks.

ALL OF THE FINISHED MODELS IN YOUR ARMY ARE BASED

Yeah; I don't consider 'em done till they are.

PAINT A HERO OF VALOUR FOR BOTH GOOD AND EVIL
The first hero of Good to qualify is Denethor, the Steward of Gondor.

While the first evil model to count is a pair of named Nazgul for Mordor.

PLAY A NARRATIVE SCENARIO YOU HAVE NEVER PLAYED BEFORE

Nope. Didn't happen. I'd love to in '24 though!

FOURTH ROW

CONVERT A MODEL TO LOOK DIFFERENT

Sadly, I don't think I can score this one in good conscience as I will 3D print models to fill that niche. Fail!

ENTER A MODEL YOU HAVE PAINTED THIS YEAR INTO A PAINTING COMPETITION

I did enter Glorfindel into a painting competition at the Richmond Open; but I painted him in 2022 so... fail!

WATCH THE HOBBIT TRILOGY

Nope. Didn't happen.

PAINT A HERO OF FORTITUDE FOR BOTH GOOD AND EVIL

Definitely achieved! The first that qualifies for good is Ingold, Warden of the Rammas Echor.

The first for Mordor is Kardush the Firecaller, but as it's a 3D print I'll go with the first official model, which is a mess of Isengard Uruk captains.

APPLY A NEW PAINTING TECHNIQUE TO ONE OF YOUR MODELS

Yes! This year I leaned into Slapchop and used it quite a bit on my larger models. Now it's the only way I do contrast paints which otherwise I've mostly moved away from since my early MESBG speed painting days.

FIFTH ROW

PAINT ANY MEMBER OF THE FELLOWSHIP

Done! I did the three hunters. While these are 3D prints I own no less than three of the official models of these guys... I just liked these more! So, I'm counting it.

PAINT A MODEL WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING IT

Yes I did! I painted Razgush and Muzgur the moment they arrived and knocked them out very quickly.

BUILD AND PAINT A SCENERY KIT

You know what? I'm gonna be generous with myself here. I do have some of the new Gondor Terrain, but I 3d printed and painted a ton of stuff; including my favorite terrain which is from Jacob at Conquest Creations. His dwarf terrain is fantastic! More pictures of it to come!

PAINT A HERO OF LEGEND FOR BOTH GOOD AND EVIL

Done! For good I did Gwaihir the Windlord.

For evil I did Saruman the White.

And finally,

PAINT ANY MEMBER OF THORIN'S COMPANY
I did! Just at the very end of the year I decided to paint both Thorin and Dwalin.

SO here's my final result:

Which is 3 bingos! Not bad. I'll take it!

Thanks for reading, looking forward to 2024!