A Gallimaufry Of Gaming

 Good morning all...

Well, that's been a fun week, in the Chinese curse sense, that is.

Our youngest pup has been front and foremost, as she went under the knife for the snapped crucis ligament. Two days away from home, and then a series of other visits and xrays for the next 3 months, with no guarantee that she will be the same again. It's been suggested from several corners, that I sue the groomeing parlour, but look at this way, if I do that and succeed, I get over £3000 back, but, I could also cost the jobs and livelihood of several people.

That's not good kama, and although I am as mad as hell about the state Maggie is in, cold blooded revenge which could hurt other innocent people is just not me, these days.

And look at it this way, it's less than I paid for my last gaming purchase... So split between the memsahib and I, it equates to half an army. Is that worth destroying someone? I think not...

The knock on effect was considerable, as I ended up working while late most nights to meet my obligations to my clients, which took it out of me somewhat, but needs must and all that. I suppose I could have closed for the week, but when you describe yourself as a professional, you have to step up and take this kind of thing in your stride.

I was briefly at York last weekend, and would have liked to have stayed longer but was required back in Sheffield early afternoon. The queue was massive, and there was much banter up and down the line with friends and associates in the hobby, which made the wait to get in more bearable. I'd arranged to meet a friend there, but his health is currently not good, so he'd called me on Saturday (very good of him) to let me know he'd not make it.

I was unable to get the Perry ECW I wanted, so ended up ordering them directly. The tabletop sale was far more spacious and lacked the 'police state' feel of previous years. I picked a couple of items up, and was tempted by a large collection of Standard Games cardboard Dark Age figures, which I resisted. I have a very nasty little 'thing' for those models. 

However, I can announce that the Vapnartak Spitting Championships 2023 were a great success:

I also had a quick catch-up with Ken AKA 'The Yarkshire Gamer' who was promoting his brand in the county seat. We had a good little chat which sadly I cannot recount here, lest I be hunted down and flogged.

Incidentally, if you have any of the Standard Games fantasy sets, get in touch with me if you want to sell them to a sad addict.

The memsahib was busy buying terrain related stuff, despite swaering there was nothing she was looking for. She did however, manage to repeatedly walk past Empress Miniatures with not even a whimper of desire. I swear, she must have been ill that day.

30 years ago, when my brother was still at school, we quite got into playing Games Workshops' Man O' War' fantasy naval game. It was great fun, full of the bluster and OTT aspects which made GW what it was back then.

It's been an itch which has needed scratching for a few years now, so I took the plunge and bought the rules and one of the two supplements at a reasonable price this week. I also then bagged three fleets and some sea monsters, totalling over 60 models, which I'll be painting myself because - and here, please sit down - I actually enjoy painting them.

The three fleets were Dwarf, Empire and Dark Elf, which will give fun games and will look great on the table.

I'm also going to buy me some of those there WoFun plexiglass figures. I have been threatening to for a while, but I think the time has come to spend some hard earned.

I've thrown several thousand models at my painter, and he is literally weighed under with lead (but happy, I might add), so I think that the sensible approach to gaming the periods that I am unlikely to go mad on, but still want to play before I die, is to go with plexiglass, and base them on traditionalnally terrained and finished bases.

I'm also going to look out for massive 15mm armies in matched pairs. The sheer volume of 15mm that you can fit on the table makes it a very appealing thing again. I used to play a lot of 15mm stuff and whilst I would agree about the beauty of 28mm, I do like the massed formation possibilities of 15mm. 

I think it's healthy to have a mix of scales.

I'm looking for 15mm Normans and opponents for the same. If you have any, reach out to me... HERE

I was discussing too, the possibilities of two Christmas games in 2023. The memsahib was consulted and stated clearly that she enjoys putting on buffets, which was a relief. We take the best part of a month off at Christmas, which means we have a fair amount of spare time (luckily the memsahib is a senior grade civil servant with a ludicrous holiday allowance and I just down brushes, so we have two big breaks each year and a week or so at Easter-ish) which we fill with days out in the sticks, mooching around galleries and generally taking in the Christmas vibes, whilst everybody scuttles around madly shopping for the holidays.

Feelers have been put out, polls taken and the results generally ignored, but it's the thought that counts after all, isn't it?

My painted armies are starting to take shape now, so as long as my painter (may the gods bless his brushes) holds up and there's not a sudden shortage of MDF bases (I need so many that I may cause a balance of trade crisis) in the world.

I also grabbed a copy of Warhammer Ancient Battle and Armies Of Antiquity this week. I love the two page army lists, and the rules work well for early Samurai battles .

The memsahib is down to just painting her officers for her ECW army now, and it's looking really nice. Here are some pics of the infantry and dragoons, there's a LOT of cavalry but I forgot to take photos:

And that's about it for this week, other than a quick plug for my current Kickstarter for Old School inspired 28mm Trolls: Show Me The Big Stuff

I've been at this since 8AM on an on and off basis, so I ought to go and do something else I guess.

TTFN

PS: the third 'Stranger Times' novel was released on audio this week, and it's a damn fine listen once again.