Looking forward to 2012

We don't actually follow the Maya Calendar here on Dropship Horizon so it won't surprise you to learn that we're looking forward to 2012! Inspired by this post on the TMP 15mm sci fi board, below you'll read what some of us are looking forward to and what we hope to achieve over the year.

Matt (The Closet Gamer)

1. Paint More. Like lots of gamers I always find it hard to find painting time to paint my purchases. I don't think I can paint any faster, and I don't want to reduce the quality of what I paint, so I'd like to have more painting time in 2012 and still have a happy wife and a good job!
2. Play More. I also don't seem to be able to find a lot of time to actually game so I'd like to do more actual gaming in 2012 - If you're in central Scotland and you're looking for a 15mm sci fi skirmish let me know.
3. Space Knights! I'm looking forward to Blue Moon's Space Knights. I'm currently obsessed with Blasters and Bulkheads type games so they're my number 1 purchase of 2012.
4. Pulp Sci fi! Almost every manufacturer seems to have a near-future sci fi force. There are almost too many! So what I'd like to see in 2012 is some more pulp 15mm sci fi forces. How's about some palace guards with blasters? Maybe the release of the film version of John Carter of Mars in 2012 will encourage a manufacturer to produce something...
5. Growth of the hobby. The fifth thing I'd like to see in 2012 is for the 15mm sci fi hobby to continue to grow steadily with more gamers discovering the this branch of the hobby. If new manufacturers do enter the market, I'd like to see them coming up with new, interesting, ideas for figure ranges rather than simply another near future human force equipped with body armour, personal and more or less conventional infantry support weapons.

Chris (Basement Gaming Bunker)

1. Linked games and campaigns.  My Blasters & Bulkheads series taught me that I enjoy my games far more when they develop an ongoing story, instead of representing one-off fights.  Hopefully the Christmas War will prove that this can work with full battles as well as skirmishes, and that both types of games can be blended into the same overall conflict.
2. Universe development.  Running these campaigns, narrative skirmishes, and linked battles should help me to develop my existing gaming worlds, and possibly create a few new ones.  This is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby for me - I think it flexes my creative muscles even more than painting figures or creating terrain.  Speaking of...
3. Terrain, terrain, terrain.  I'm going to try to diversify the pieces I have my three current boards (desert, snow, red planet), and start a fourth board (urban ruins) this year.  The latter leads me to my next goal...
4. Mecha battles.  We've seen so many good mecha released in the last two years, and it doesn't seem that pace will slow down in 2012.  While I'm going to keep using some of my Mecha as support vehicles for traditional armies, I would like to try a few 15mm mecha-only games this year.  Something like five Rebel Minis HAMR Suits (or similar) fighting against two or three Ravenstar Thunderfoots or Critical Mass Gruntz Imperators in a ruined city.
5. Figure conversions.  My experience so far has more or less been limited to swapping heads or kitbashing Matchbox vehicles.  2012 is going to be the year that I learn the basics of sculpting putty!

Kobold (Waystar High Port)

1. Paint more. Like Matt I'd like more time to paint and complete figures.
2. Play More. I'd also like more time to actually play games. Both of these can be solved with better time management, so I must set goals and strive to achieve them.
3. Campaigns. I'm finding that the solo and narrative campaign style of game, such as 5150: New Beginnings, is really inspiring me and is something I can actually see myself getting a chance to play. I like how I get fit it mechanisms over my existing Traveller campaign and experience the best of both worlds. These sort of games may be the niche to aim for in 2012 for games designers and rules writers.
4. Character miniatures. Characters and civilian figures, both human and alien. I would like to see new releases that catered for the skirmish gamer. I realise that this might be a bit of a pipe dream as the economics are stacked against it, but it might be worth pursuing through pre-sales or figure clubs.
5. More greens! I would like to see more sculptors trying out their greens through blogs. This seems like a great way of getting input from the public - testing the water - as well as giving manufacturers a pointer as to where public interest is heading.

Spartan 117(STARBASE-SPARTAN)

1. More aliens! - You can never go wrong with more aliens! More Crusties! More Felids! More Harook! More new alien races too!
2. More terrain! - Human terrain, alien terrain, and "natural" terrain.
3. More Space Opera! - Near Future forces are cool, but we need more "Star Wars-esque" minis in 15mm.
4. More rules sets for Solo-gaming! - A large portion of wargamers(myself included) that work crazy schedules don't always have time to get together with their peers and enjoy a game. I'd like to see more rules sets, like THW's 5150: New Beginnings, that are geared to solo play.
5. Khurasan Miniatures Cormorant Dropship! - This one is long overdue! 15mm needs a decent dropship miniature, and from what has been hinted about KM's Cormorant Dropship, this will finally provide gamers with a good-sized heavy duty combat dropship.

Eli (I See Lead People)

1. Sculpting. I really want to pour it on and start cracking some of the mysteries of this art. I've got some work in "the biz" now, but I feel I need to keep expanding and growing still.
2. More Aliens. I really want to see some new and interesting aliens coming out. Whether they are just improvements in the basic "rubber suit" concept or something more bizarre or different, I think there is still plenty of room for growth here.
3. Getting Things Done. Really stepping up my painting and building to get things going to a playable level. I've got a lot of projects languishing on their way to playable.
4. Playing Stuff! I don't play nearly enough games these days.
5. Convert New Players. There just aren't enough 15mm sci fi players in the area. I plan to fix this buy getting some forces squared away and finding a few solid rules sets.

So readers, what would you like to see or achieve in 2012?