Crikey, but this gaming lark is one long adventure... No sooner had I confidently stated that that I'm at the end of the fantasy journey, but I then realised that I could really use two more armies, albeit small ones, in the shape of Amazons and Slann to 'finish off' the fantasy project. Now, the Amazons are relatively easy. I have a good number and need about 50 or so more, to make a decent army in Warhammer terms. I'm not going to even try and build massive forces of these, but if I can get to 120-160 models per side, they'll fit nicely into my larger plans as allied contingents of 'neutral' allegiance. Thankfully, I am still solvent enough in the annual gaming allowance, to make a spirited attempt at getting the stuff, and I have a few leads to little treasure mounds which will hopefully yield Slann, as they were quite popular in these parts, back in the day, and at least two people bought the army deals on offer at the time, so my hopes are high. As the

 Well, I've been busy since 6AM this morning listing a massive slew of pre-slotta stuff on eBay having finally sorted out all my units for the Big Fantasy Project. Some 160 lots of photos and listing later and I am finally able to get to sit down. PHEW! Now the whole 'endgame' is starting to take shape. At 56 I'm looking down the barrel of eternal darkness, so I don't really want to be too long in getting my figures all painted and played with as much as possible. As I write I am back in 1981 with some Human League and I'm remembering all sorts of things, many of them game related, others not so. I've had a week of war with the neighbours as they object to now being unable to use my property as a parking lot, thanks to a fence to the side of my garden, which they have used as a turning circle since we moved in, in 2006, whilst simultaneously walling off their own property. Needless to say it's getting heated,  and as anyone who knows me will attest, I go

 It's been an odd few days as I've had to take on board and process the passing of another gaming colleague, arguably one of the most influetial on me at a personal level, and someone whose shoes I could never step into, which given my natural arrogance, is quite an admission. Although I wrote an obituary of Steve as a gamer, I barely touched upon his legacy, and was really pleased to see comments from other gamers across the U.K who knew him, which was most satisfying.  I decided this weekend to spend a bit of time in my games room, to kick myself up the arse and at the same time lose myself in thoughts a little less maudlin than I had in the last few weeks. To this end, I ignored the window which is inflicting itself upon me, by blocking the right hand walkway, and set up the table, using some tiered boards I had been threatening to make for a while but not been industrious enough to complete. The idea worked and I can now raise the ground level with more than just the odd hi

It is with genuine sadness and heavy heart that I must record the passing of Sheffield Wargames Society founder member and long time Chairman, Steve Roberts.    I was 13 when I first met Steve (some 43 years ago, now). It was a chance meeting. I'd been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about a year and had taken some Citadel FTZ Zombies back to my Junior school to show my headteacher there, who'd always encouraged the creative arts in pupils.    He was impressed (as you'd expect) and told me that a wargames club met at the school now, on Monday nights run by a chap called Steve Roberts.    Well, of course I was interested, and together with my friend Alan Staniforth, I attended the club, to find there was no D&D...   What there was however were historical games, played by local kids with 'Big Steve' the only adult. But he ran that club like a champion, providing all the models and simple rules, which was just what you needed to hook kids in.   Steve allowed us

 We have all done stupid things in pursuit of our hobby. As I sit typing this next to a bookcase filled with around 150 cookery books on it, I am reflecting on another gastronomic act of stupidity related to my own hobby journey, which nearly finished me off... You see, I was looking for a book in my studio yesterday, apropo of planning some colour schemes for my fantasy collection, when from between two Paper Tiger titles, an innocent looking laminated sheet slipped out.  Thinking this to be one of those QRS's you seem to accumulate over a lifetime, I glanced at it and recoiled in horror, a horror which a writer like Lovecraft saved for the last few paragraphs... You see, a few years ago, a group of us grognards from the Steel City, decided that a Sunday trip to Warhammer World - a place I don't really like, but am drawn to, in the same way that you are drawn to the aftermath of a serious road accident - and a pub lunch in Bugman's Bar. I think that the reason we went down

 Well, this morning's mail has been brilliant for the gaming project with 7 boxes of Regiments of Renown, a TA4 Orc War Machine, a Chaos Harpy and a couple of other bits from the 83-84 period. I've found a bit of lead fatigue of the war machine, but that can be dealt with, so I'm not too bothered by it. The RoR sets are 4 x Harboth's Black Mountain Boys and 3 Mudat's Mercenary Half Orcs, providing two more 'celebrity' units for the fantasy project. My wife added another box and a half of based models to my stack yesterday, in the form of Chronicle Wolf Riders, Grenadier chariot, Satanic Panic Dwarf cavalry, Essex Miniatures Gnomes and Chronicle Kobolds - and a few character types:     All in all, it's moving forward very nicely indeed.   TTFN