It's common belief that every generation believes that the music and culture of it's own 'teen era' was the best. That may be the case but, in the case of the 1980s there genuinely was a surfeit of pop culture. I would say that if you are under 40 you probably didn't truly experience the decade and everything it had to offer. It was a time of contrasts, wherein politics, fashion and music alone could get you into a lot of trouble. This was a time when rock was starting to reemerge after the punk pogroms of the late 70s whilst punk itself was mutating into post-punk, new wave, and a plethora of other subdivisions including, new romantic, urban vagabond, goth. It was important that you belonged to a tribe, and identified with it. Moreover you had to be seen to be doing so. At the very least, wearing the wrong t-shirt in the wrong place could mean verbal abuse. In more extreme cases it could mean a serious kicking. When you try to get the youth of today to unde...

Sheffield Wargames Society has moved venue. As of April 27th the club meets on Wednesday nights at : Woodseats WMC The Dale Woodseats Sheffield S8 0PS I understand from the SWS web presence that following a committee meeting an EGM was held to discuss the future of the Triples show.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish them the very best for the future.

"A Message From Mike Noe, President of Iron Wind Metals With just over a week into our second Chaos Wars KickStarter, at 20K plus, and 20 days to go, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has joined in so far on Iron Wind metals ongoing quest to resurrect and revitalize Ral Partha’s Chaos Wars wargame rules and classic fantasy miniatures. This is a labor of love, and we couldn’t do it without your help and support. We’ve just unlocked the Dwarf berserkers Str etch Goal, but have a lot more ahead - Trog Cavalry, Undead Fairies, the rerelease of the Ral Partha Classic Witch’s Cauldron Game, just to name a few. We’ll going to need some help in getting there though, and that’s where you come in. If you like this project, please help to spread the word. Far too often we hear “I didn’t know you guys were still around”. Ral Partha classic mini’s have never gone away. Iron Wind Metals has kept the flame going for years, and with KickStarter and your help we can t...

I spend my working hours plugged into documentaries and podcasts covering all types of subject, and yesterday I was tuned into a paranormal podcast which was discussing the 'Satanic Panic' of the 80s. which I remember all too well. Now, as well as the worry that heavy rock music was tempting teens into worshipping Satan, some of you will recall that Dungeons & Dragons came clearly into the firing line of the Religious Right spearheaded by the wonderfully named Tipper Gore. Even here in Sheffield, UK, there was a flurry of anti-D&D sentiment with the local press echoing the worries of the Church Of England that sweet teens like me would be drawn into a life in which they became Satan's minions. Of course because I was into Iron Maiden et al, I was doubly doomed. Forget the fact that I was way more literate than my peers as a result of the time I spent with my nose in books, no, I was going to hell and had a first class ticket. Bu**er! Anyway, I...

Ok, OK, I know I have historically extolled the virtues of Warhammer, but I am going to say something which the Hipster gamers of the 21st century will consider heresy.... It's actually a poor game when you compare it to Chaos Wars by Ral Partha. I mean it... No, really... The mechanic s of WHFB mean that you have a shedload of rolls which culminate in seeing whether the wounds you already rolled for are stopped by armour. I had never considered it before, because I followed the game slavishly, but it's all a bit arse about face. Two of us sat down yesterday with the Chaos Wars rules from Ral Partha, and looked at the combat system. It's one roll and take the casualties off. It manages to include the combat effectiveness, environmental modifiers, toughness and armour of the opponent - And Bob's your Goblin, off come the toys in a frenzy of miniature, imaginary mortality. What's more, basing does not matter... What you want to design an arm...

Whoa! The Ral Partha Kickstarter has already become 200% funded in 23 hours and 29 minutes! And I was the first backer  :) :) :) See... (Yes, yes, I am an incurable fanboy, I know...) You can follow the Kickstarter and place your pledges here: Ral Partha's Chaos Wars Dwarf, Undead, Troglodyte Miniatures by Iron Wind Metals Company — Kickstarter Its great to see classic models given life again, and ay what you like, after almost 40years these still hold their own with the best. There's a great interview with Tom Meier, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg-GelHOZTY And more about Chaos Wars here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrlU5Otaq7I Now, yes, these are vids from last year, but they are great watching. TTFN PS: So saddened to hear that another 80s icon has passed. R.I.P Prince Rogers Nelson. 57 is no age to die.

Well, in just 8 hours the Ral Partha Kickstarter was funded, breaking it's success threshold and beginning the process of opening new options and free figures. I was in there like Flynn as you might expect, and was the first backer, pledging $650.00 to the cause. Now I have to make the terrible decision of Troglodytes (my favourite army of all time, you will recall) or the Undead, because frankly there are some real classics in the mix. it may come to pass that I do the 'terrible algebra' and increase the pledge to do both, but I really need to crunch some numbers. At the top end of the pledges are 3 very nice armies... Whilst the $5 pledge will get you a rather nice Vampire Queen in a numbered and signed blister... Well, here's all the best to the Ral Partha team for a very successful campaign and the return of some wonderful figures and the addition of new goodness. TTFN

It's no secret that I have what can only be described as feelings of lust for Ral Partha fantasy (and indeed historical) miniatures. It began for me in early 1981, when I saw my first RP miniatures in Hopkinsons, a rather wonderful and sorely missed toy and hobby shop in Sheffield. It was literally packed to bursting with products, amongst which were two racks of bagged fantasy and sci-fi miniatures. I'll not go into great details, but you can read all about it in my book 'Real Life's A Bu**er' an 80s gaming memoir packed with 80s nostalgia and youthful joie de vivre of the sort your mother would not approve of. Anyway, those of us who fancied ourselves as genteel connoisseurs of the fine miniature, were drawn to the Ral Partha figures, produced under a lend lease agreement between they and Citadel. They were crisper and superbly proportioned. True, Citadel had a ludicrous variety of models, but RP figures were almost meant for ranking up into units. The ...

If anyone is interested in pitching any offers, I am thinning down my original artwork as we begin to prepare to up sticks and leave the Steel City... TONY ACKLAND JOHN BLANCHE TONY HOUGH WAYNE ENGLAND RODNEY MATTHEWS If interested, drop me a line, and comment here that you have done so...

Well, it's taken me a week but I have managed to get a complete boxed set of Chaos Wars from 1987, including the promotional figure pack which came with it. £60 secured it, but £21 of that was shipping from Canada. Pretty... *stroke* *giggle*  *sigh* TTFN

Such has been my state of disarray looking all over the North for a new home this week, taking canal trips and cleaning my studio, that I forgot to show you all some pics of a few of the forthcoming Heroics & Ros Cold War models including massive ranges of Soviet and British. As I said, these are a mere smattering of what's to come, and the models shown here are appearing today at Salute as part of a display game set in the mid 80s. TTFN