Now, where was I? Ah, yes... Well, to continue where I so rudely left off:  The following week Alan and I went back to Beatties. Lo and behold, the role-playing section had been moved to the front of the shop and was displayed in the open on shelves, instead of the glass display case. We were somewhat dismayed to see that the games also shared their hallowed ground with a demonstration model of the Atari 2600 game console running a continuous loop of the ‘Pitfall’ game. Of course computer games like this were never going to catch on, were they?    Unfortunately on this day we had managed to miss our usual bus after school and, had tarried a while longer than was wise at Hopkinsons’. Consequently, by the time that we reached our newest temple of all things fantastic, we were pushing our luck for getting home on time. In the same way that Scotland always fails to get to a World Cup final, fickle fate was to lay  us  low that day. As w...

In early 1981 Alan, my then best mate, and I were allowed to start going by bus into Sheffield city centre on our own at weekends and during the summer months after school on the provision that were all home and at the tea table for 5:30PM sharp.   School finished at 3:30PM and so we would make a manic dash of about quarter of a mile to the bus stop to catch a 3:40PM bus into the city. As may be expected, given his athletic prowess Harvey managed to leave Alan and I in the dust, often managing to grab a Mars bar, chat up a passing girl or two and still get to the stop before us.   We had to be back at the return stop for 5:00PM to be certain of getting home by the appointed time, no mean feat at rush hour I can tell you. In those days a bus ride anywhere in Sheffield cost 2p if you were under the age of sixteen.    On average we were given £1.00 per day as dinner money. We quickly worked out that if we ate as many bowls of cereal and slices of toast ...

Despite being stuck somewhere in the mid 80s, I do sometimes find myself buying other things from other decades. Up until last week, I was something of a 'system snob' believing that only Runquest 2nd Ed would do. Peter, a mate of mine going back 3 decades or so, has recently convinced me to take a look at RQ3, the version which came after Avalon Hill got the rights in the late 80s. I swore an oath that I'd never even own a copy, but Pete's convinced me otherwise. And so I have managed to grab a few items and got change from £50, so far... Runequest Advanced Runequest Vikings Monsters Griffin Island Gods Of Glorantha True, there are still a few sets to go, but I am really enjoying tracking them down. Next up was a 1970s Elastolin fort. One of these appeared in a large Warhammer game, put on by Joe Dever in the 80s on the convention circuit and they fetch a pretty penny generally. Imagine my joy to get one for £18.50 including postage... ...

Well, the internet is ablaze with argument and counter-argument following the recent Games Workshop releases and the death of the Warhammer game as enjoyed by my generation. Rarely have I seen such vitriol from gamers, but something has been unleashed in those 30-somethings who form the subset of 'my generation'. These are the guys who came in at the end of the Golden Age and whom I think are somewhat peeved that they missed the best bits. They don't remember when Games Workshop was exactly that and variety was the name of the game. And so, they have only really known a single flavour when visiting their local store - vanilla, in my opinion. And so, I think that they have a mono-loyalty in that they find it hard to accept that WHFB is no more (for the moment) and yet at the same time they are so indoctrinated into the gaming equivalent of a crack habit, so invested into a never ending war, that they cannot bear to hear the Old Guard rip the piss (mock) out of their...

Sometimes, I look around me and I think that my friends have it better than me. I know, I know... It's that old 'keeping up with Mr & Mrs Jones' thing. I see friends who appear to be earning more than I do, posting selfies of themselves swanking off ( I said SWANKING) and I sometimes wonder whether I should have stayed on the staid and solid path of a 9-5 in a government department and been a quiet conformist. And then I look at what I do have... 1. I have my own studio built into my home. 2. I paint toy soldiers and write for a living. And that's full time, mind you. It's my JOB.  3. Because of '1.' I can have a house filled with Scotties and a decidedly dubious Westie, and they are rarely left alone. 4. I get to create literally thousands of miniature works of art and things of beauty every year. Each one of those is, in the big picture, a little reminder of my time on this planet. 5. I can select the time I live in. I choose ...