Plans for 2014, Australia

So I am currently on an aeroplane over Iraq, wending my way at several thousand feet towards Dubai. After a short stop H and I will head off across the Indian Ocean to Brisbane, Australia and our new life. Packing was hard. Ten years of living in the UK has meant a natural accrual of goods, the detritus of life, being a magpie gamer my quantity of "stuff" is next-level. So a hard decision lay ahead, I had one suitcase, and only 30kg to pack my life into, and of course some of my allowance was shanghaied by Lady Tottington for her various items for beautifaction. In the end I came away with two small, flat boxes of around 20cm by 15cm. Inside these little boxes is a precious cargo...

The pictures above are the lot. I chose to take the Dark Angels portion of the Dark Vengeance boxed set, with a snazzy limited edition Chaplain and four terminators from the Assault on Black Reach boxed set. I have made a start on painting some of them already, the figures are really pleasing and there is the making of something greater amongst the elements I already have. In addition I also packed my Forgeworld things for the Dark Pact. There are two unfinished Mk. III Tactical Marines, and the parts for another three. Amongst the bits are two more Mk. V Marines, and my resin bits, the command upgrade, Iron Hands bionics, Deathwatch Kill Team upgrade kit, and the Mk. IV character upgrade set.

I also thought I would take something totally wild, so I packed my Corporation Dreadball team which remains unpainted. The central idea being that living nomadically leads towards skirmish games/board games. I did toy with the idea of bringing a Deadzone faction, but frankly assembling the figures nearly gave me an aneurysm, so I thought better of it. Instead, I might look into starting Malifaux. I've been listening to the Malifools podcast for months, ostensibly for the bants. Mike Marshall et al are always entertaining, sometimes insightful and always a delight. I especially enjoyed the Malinoobs segment and their guest stars over the last few months. Anyway, I suppose that ultimately it boils down to what community exists in the area we are in, but certainly the proliferation of plastic boxed sets makes Malifaux a good choice being both small and lightweight. Furthermore, with the higher cost of gaming in Australia something with a lower model buy in (a boxed set is enough to get started) is very much appealing. 

So these are my thoughts as we begin our descent into Dubai. It is 0800 local time, the sun is already baking the land below us, and we have another day's flying ahead of us. I'll be listening to more Malifools, some Independent Characters and generally be mulling over what 2014 could hold in store for me on the tabletop front.

Carry on Citizens.