1. Favorite LD you did
Tough one. I’m going with Sorceress since I really love how she brought the MotU all together (too much so initially). Honorable mentions to Brainiac Skull Ship (Con one done with LV and T and just an easy breezy one that felt fresh and new), the Batmobile (feels like a redemption for the 1.0 mess), Booster Gold (I really like how he plays), and Godzilla (a big slog, but proud of the accomplishment and grateful for the group buy-in!)
2. Favorite design you didn’t LD
I almost put Brainiac Skull Ship here because it felt as much like an Lord Venoc LD to me as anything, but since that’s not technically the full truth, I scoured the rest of the list for last year. So many great ones!
Here’s my short list of contenders:
Bruce (Jaws)
Stormtroopers
Ultron
Rogue
Hellslinger
Robin (Tim Drake)
Doom Slayer (and weapons)
AT-ST
Fighting Chance
Alien Facehugger
Casey Jones
Linda Park
Gorilla Gross (Gorilla City)
Buffy Summers
Nick Batman
Rubber
Mandarin
Lara Croft
Morph (AoA)
Grand Moff Tarkin
The Batman Who Laughs
Deadman
Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
Beetlejuice
Chameleon
Green Lantern (Kilowog)
John Constantine (JLD)
Roboto
Mindless One
I really considered Nick Batman (definitely my favorite *sculpt* of the year) but given how much of a pain that one was to actually get On Deck … I’m going with Deadman. I just love how that design turned out. Difficult character to translate and I feel like the design just nails him.
3. Favorite moment
I’ve mentioned this one before, but definitely has to be the “crap on a map” game where I felt new levels of geekiness unlocked: throwing down at Con on Kame House with Battle for Grayskull versus Danny the Street with Nobody was peak geekiness and I loved every second.
Honorable mention to getting Nick Batman in the mail!
4. Favorite faction
Justice League Dark, Hulk Family, and Galactic Empire all got consideration here for feeling unique and interesting and having really fun mechanics. Snake Mountain was also on my short-list just due to personal investment, but ultimately I’m most happy with how Gotham Knights grew and developed this year.
5. Biggest challenge
Having to do extensive reevaluations for both MotU and Snake Mountain was a huge challenge. Feeling stuck in the mud for a long time post-Con, especially with Godzilla, was a huge challenge as well. I really want to do more with the Villain system, but it feels pretty daunting to work on.
Probably the biggest challenge of all though was the site migration. I feel like our enthusiasm and morale really took a hit there while we adapted to the new sight and that took a big chunk out of what we could’ve accomplished for the year. I hope that some of the long-time members who dropped off a bit during that time aren’t gone for good
6. Biggest lesson learned
Three here: One is that when it’s an IP that everyone is invested on, slow and steady is a good way to go. I think having one LD at a time with a different LD each time was really fruitful for the Empire stuff.
Second one is to watch power stacking carefully. If I were paying more attention to the raw numbers on the efficiency for the MotU Story Card, I could’ve saved myself a lot of trouble. If I were paying more attention to how resurrection and Magical Defense stack powerfully in Snake Mountain, I could’ve saved myself a lot of trouble.
Third is that it’s more fun when we have two or three people invested in a faction and working on it together. I’m not sure that’s always easy to achieve, though.
7. Resolutions for 2025
I got my 50 LDs in 2024! I’m aiming for a slightly more reasonable 40 in 2025 (though probably with fewer conversions? 12 new unit designs wasn’t much in 2024 – I expect a larger number in that category in 2025)
I want to keep building the Villain system (and hopefully see Villain write ups and maybe even LDs from others!). I owe SW a Gundam design in the early days. I want to do 10 MotU things. I want to do another map competition. I want to keep the Star Wars IP going.
I want to see C3G continue to thrive and continue to be fun. I believe we can and will outproduce, out-quality, and outlast Renegadescape (I know I’m biased).
Obviously can’t wait to have another awesome Con.
8. LD list for 2024
Destructible Objects: War Banner, Ladder, Training Dummy, Weapons Rack, Laser Turret
Hazards: Tornado
Items: Tome of Ancient Secrets, Havoc Staff, Shaping Staff
Maps: End Times, Astral Plane, Castle Grayskull, Last Days of Krypton, Central City Expressway
Story Cards: Masters of the Universe, HYDRA Covert Operations, Battle for Castle Grayskull, Long Halloween, Superman Flyover
Unit Conversions: Zatara, Crazy Quilt, Beast Man, Robin (Dick Grayson), Watcher, Psyche, Psychic Projection, Skeletor, Batman (Occult), Yellow Lantern (Mongul), Robin (Damian), Guardian, Batman (Utility), Alfred, Nightwing (GK), Amahl Farouk, Shadow King, Bat-Hound, Riddler
Units (New): Fire, Ice, Mer-Man, Doctor Light (Kimiyo), Shadow Beasts, Evil-Lyn, Sorceress, Imperial Pilot, Booster Gold, Trap Jaw, Batmobile, Godzilla (villain)