One thing which has started to become apparent from my reading is that whilst Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson get a lot of press for 'their' rules, much of the stuff they did was actually derivative of Tony Bath, and provably so.  Whilst it's a common thing for rules writers to borrow, I do think that Gygax 'borrowed' from Tony Bath, but when someone borrowed from him it was 'theft'.  Anyway, I enjoy the work of both, so I've not got a dog in the fight as it were, but it's a real pleasure to read gritty and detailed accounts of how the hobby evolved. What does get my goat up, is when someone, 50 years down that line decides that someone who wrote something great or designed a fantastic world was 'racist' or 'misogynistic' and therefore the sum of that work is zero - Really? Go screw yourselves with a rolled up copy of whatever manifesto you read that in. In fact do it twice, and reflect on your idiocy. I'm sure that M.A...

 I am very much interested in how we imbue or indeed draw upon energies. This goes for wargaming items too. Psychometry, is something I have had a passing interest in for decades, based on what I found to be some compelling instances down the years. How many people have 'lucky' or 'unlucky dice'? I know of one respected wargamer, who, in the 80s lost in a major competition and then affixed the general figure to the front of his Volvo as he drove home and then exiled him to the garden shed to reflect upon his failure. You will note it weas the fault of a supposedly inanimate lead figure and not the lack of prowess of the human manipulator. Could that first die roll we make for 'troop or leadership quality' imprint upon that tiny tin dictator or regiment an actual 'personality'. One of my personal beliefs is that a figure is not 'alive' until the face is done, in particular the eyes. They are after all the windows to the soul. Probably bunkum, alth...

 My home is currently covered with figures on every surface.  I spent the weekend packing and booking collection of, the latest Satanic Panic Miniatures Kickstarter, as well as a large quantity of painted 1/285 micro armour which is bound for the U.S and a debut on the show circuit. And then yesterday, 20 kilos of 28,mm plastic Ancients arrived and so, after work yesterday, I was wading through it all to get it arranged in a way the painter can make sense of, along with 1900 decals... That said, it means my Punic Wars era project is now well in hand and will comprise:  386 Carthaginians (no allies other than Numidians, as I have plenty I can choose from in the other armies) 750 Celts 504 Republican Romans 400 Spanish  500 Hellenistic Greeks I'm rather excited about this as it will make for some beautiful and varied games, with lots of  colourful and tactically different troops - and elephants, LOTS of elephants. My wife is, as always, being very understanding ab...

 So, here I am once more, as the large Scotsman in motley and a Sutton Hoo helmet once sang... We left this story on a cliffhanger ending last time, and I bet like me, you've been unable to sleep ever since with the anticipation of another tale of teenage hijinkes, japery and tomfoolery in the greatest era of gaming. So, we had found that the model kits we were going mad about, had stats and dimensions on the boxes, and this information was not wasted. We also had Pete (My friends don't call me Stretch) Armstrong, AKA 'Greblord' and his unquestionably unchallengable knowledge of these models. I can't remember who it was who had the idea, it was probably one of those organic, osmotic decisions, to try and write some rules for using these on the table.  Now, you need to remember before we start that these models were generally 1/100 or 1/72 and contained either a human in the head or a bloody enormous alien who wore it like armour, one being developed to counter the o...

In 1983, Sheffield discovered mecha combat... The late Pete Armstrong was a consumate figure painter and model maker, and he had found some new (to the UK) model kits by companies like Bandai and Nitto depicting giant robots piloted by humans - and aliens it would turn out - and, being Pete, had built and painted a few and stuck them in the Games Workshop cabinets and Window, because, like the best of us, he was a showman, who whilst modest, knew he was a fucking figure painting fighter ace. We worshipped him, and I am not in any way ashamed to admit it. So many of those who 'came up' in what was arguably one of the most active gaming communities in the UK, owe a lot to Pete, that cannot be over stated. You bought a figure in GW - you'd seen the model in the cabinet, painted by Pete, first. You painted your Orcs an ochre shade, it was down to Pete. You learned to get that green that was so bright it hurt the eyes - it wasn't available in a pot, you learned it from Pete,...

 OK, OK, so I posted pics of my newly minted Romans yyesterdy, but I got the urge to deploy the first of the legions plus the support on the 15 foot table this morning and I thought some of you may like to see some good old 'gaming porn'  So, without further ado, let's get straight to the money shots...