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Martha! Pass the ammunition and go fetch my micrometer from the den!

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 I have a reputation for being a heretical contrarian, something I can live with because, let's face it, three score years and ten of being predictable and catholic in ones tastes, actions and opinions is boring.  That said, I do have exactly the same breakfast every day that I partake of that meal, which I suppose could itself be seen as being contrarian, but I like it. I even eat it in the same order and, suffer  the same sense of shame which John Laycock experience when caught having a crafty wank upstairs in the stock room of his Saturday job, employers in about 1983, being fired and then being unable to cover it up so to speak, because half of our school seemed to work at the same shop on a Saturday. Of course, I didn't sully myself with going out to work at weekends, choosing rather to paint on a couple of evenings and earn more at the age of 14 than I did in my first couple of jobs, straight out of school. Wargamers are really funny about contrarian views or any pe...
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Some Monday Morning Musings

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 It's interesting I think, to see how the life that I and my peers lived as gamers, being commented on, by people who were not there, with a sense of authority which,, would suggest otherwise. I know that I and others who were there have had arguments both on line and in person, with those who weren't to the point that in the ednd we just said 'fuck it' and walked away. Remember that A.I and the internet knows more than the people who grew up and in the hobby (rolls eyes). Some of us were in the business as it were 'embedded' by the age of 14, which raises eyebrows, but the world was a different place. The current younger gamers (let's say under 40) sadly only know of a post Imperial Assault era Games Workshop, when the stormtroopers of the one true way, tried to take apart so many small companies, and of the padded, 300 page rulebooks, which drain the pocket and in my personal opinion (deal with it) something of the soul of the hobby.  Those who came up in ...
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I Love It When A Plan Comes Together...

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 Hi ho,  Well, you will recall that I recently cracked on and painted a load of 15mm sci-fi , for a planned spaceport battle, based on my memories of games 45 years ago, using the Laserburn rules? Well, nice though those GZG and Brigade models were, they were not quite hitting the spot. The 13 year-old me, was into a more Space Opera vibe back then, and Laserburn did hit the spot.  So, I decided to go back to the drawing board and use the original Laserburn models again, which are of course available in all their greatness, from Alternative Armies. I wanted spectacle at the man-to-man level, with less emphasis on AFVs. After all, Laserburn was the game which replaced the main battle tank with the fearsome Dreadnought armoured suit, well before that upstart 40K was a pound sign in Games Workshop's red and glowing eye.  I planned for a BIG game, wherein a spaceport on on Entebbe II, a planet at the fringes of human Imperial space, is overrun by those fanatical and vile...
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When The Boat Comes In

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 Sometimes I add something to my collection before sorting out long term storage. Today was one of those times, as I took delivery of an 8x4 foot harbour table made by TM Terrain It's got a lot of potential, but it's not so small. That tiny grey speck on the quayside, is a 28mm Redoubt miniature:   The most interesting is as a Hollywood action flick, where a novelist gets lost and has to make her way home with a rugged adventurer, or perhaps Miami street cops following a drug baron to his home town. Or as a waterfront thieve's den in a fantasy city Or European port Or two sides of an estuarine inlet with squadrons fighting across it. Or US clearing a backwater port in Grenada in the mid-80s Or a pirate raid Or  an attack on a buccaneer base  Spaniards and Dutch colonial forces clashing in the late 17th century possibly. Brave archaeologists versus Nazis perhaps?   You see where this could end up, and we haven't even mentioned the 17th century settlers versus Dee...
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Comments On Service!

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 Now, you may recall that a well known company in the Lead Belt failed me twice when it came to fulfilling large orders, leading to some pretty dradtic resolution action to get it sorted. And, I was given shit by one or two people in the audience for  daring  to say what I thought about said company, despite it being accurate reportage with a paper trail. Well, I am going to say something now about another well known company, so deal with it cupcakes...    Northstar Military Figures received an order which was for just shy of 1400 figures from their 1672 range over the last weekend. Not only did Nick (who in my opinion is one of the industry and hobby's nicest guys, having once survived two hours of being filled with military grade coffee at Dungeons & Starships in the 90s, when he was the sales rep' for Harlequin Miniatures) answer questions over the weekend period, but those figures arrived today with from what I can see, no omissions or issues. THAT , fri...
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Variety Was The Spice Of Gaming

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It is genuinely difficult to get across just what variety there was back in the early through mid-80s. We think we have a lot now, and we do, but it's a lot of the same.  But, what do I know? I know I only spent 46 years of my life gaming at the expense of everything  and several years running a bricks and mortar game store,  putting games even befoe my grandfather's funeral. So, I guess that makes me a fair weather gamer, but I'll put me neck on the line and say that categorically, there was not only more variety, but there was more being put out by gamers themselves, who, as Jon Peterson also repeatedly makes clear, if my opinion is inavlid to you , were pleased if somone played or used something they typed up and Xeroxed, doubly so if they made a little money to support their hobby. Now, the amateur press such as it is, is geared towards making the next big thing, and that's all that matters. The simple joy of sharing their enthusiasm is not enough.  I confess, I ...
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One Last Time With Meaning

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 Well, it's been a while since I posted, mainly due to a punishing mix of hot weather, long working days and the triple whammy effect of having an unexpected £3500 vet's bill for Canine Unit 7 who, has had to have a major op' to remove and repair a lackof thereafter a cruciate ligament, her second such opearation and one which is very demanding in terms of care and recovery - taking as it does 8-12 weeks od pretty draconian oversight, which when the dog in question is a Scottie, is made doubly difficult, given their stubborn and anti-establisment disposition (somewhat like your correspondent, some may say).  Just over two weeks in, and CU7 does seem to be doing well  So, gaming has been a bit of a back burner topic, although I have been busy in putting together the last great project, before I truly cease with the wargames acquisitions and just spend time gaming and money on other cheaper things such as narcotics and hookers. It's really an odd sensation to realise that...
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