No, not 'chalk hearts melting on a playground wall.' Rather, those of a certain age will be able to remember just how bloody good the hobby was back in at the start of the 80s. True things were less polished, sometimes a bit risqué; but it did nobody any harm and there was a genuine love of the hobby amongst players and purveyors alike. I was listening to the Grognard Files interview with the legendary Tim Olsen the other day and he hit the nail right on the head and without hyperbole, when he stated the case for Games Workshop stores being like a family. they really were. OK, you had to run a gauntlet of abuse until you you got accepted in the Sheffield branch, but once you were accepted as a 13 or 14 year old the opportunities for social experiences and some damn good times were laid out for you in a banquet of geek indulgence, a bacchanalian feast of fantasy if you will. My wife, did not meet me until 1988, by which time I was a Grognard myself at that heady age of 1...

If anyone is going to Pudsey this Saturday for the RECON show, and has fully painted historical or fantasy armies for sale, please leave a message below... I am buying! RECON 2017 Pudsey Civic Hall Dawson's Corner Pudsey Leeds LS28 5TA

It was a pretty uneventful week... Until I did a deal with a friend for some figures and as a 'sweetener' he included a copy of Snapshot  by GDW, which was on my hit list, and which he knew I wanted and which I didn't know he had. It's a stand alone game which can be integrated with the Traveller RPG and which is getting harder and harder to find in complete condition. It's a pretty straightforward gunfight through the corridors of starships (or building complexes) and is a very pleasant evening's diversion. Needless to say, I am very happy: I returned this morning at 6AM from walking the pack of assorted Aberdeen and West Highland terriers which we employ for perimeter security here at Fackham Hall, absolutely exhausted after a mere 6 hours of sleep. Before I crawled back to bed for a bit of a lie in ahead of breakfast, I got the random urge to search eBay for any of the FASA starship plan sets for Traveller and found that the ch...

Busy though I am, I am still keeping an eye open for the odd 80s gem. I was listening to the 13th episode of The Grognard Files and was reminded of the classic Mercenaries Spies & Private Eyes, published to this day by Flying Buffalo. Given that I was an employee of Chris Harvey Games, and by extension FBUK, you'd have thought I'd have been on top of this one, but no sir, I just gave it a miss, being of the opinion that it was too low brow for my refined tastes. Yes, at times I can be a twat, and this was one of those times. In the 80s we poo-poo'd Tunnels & Trolls and the offshoot system MSPE as being 'silly' and over simplistic, but in reality these games were ahead of their time and actually stand up pretty well 35 years on. Anyway, you can find an excellent podcast on the game (and many more classics) here: episode-13-mercenaries-spies-and-private-eyes-with-jon-hancock So, after a really bad night last night caused by drinking a ...

I am writing this as I listen to the latest 'Grognard Files' podcast. If you don't already listen to it - DO SO! Last Sunday, I steeled myself and went to my desk ( yes the same desk I spend Monday to Friday painting for a living at ) and painted the horses for 16 Blue Moon Manufacturing ECW generals, which are exquisite. The plan being that I might sit there again this weekend and paint a few of the riders. Alas, that was not to be because frankly and honestly - I just could not be arsed. EDIT: As I typed the above, I looked with some guilt at the undercoated riders,stopped and spent half an hour wth some buff and brown paint on a couple of them. So much for refusal to bend to the call of the painting table. It's an odd thing that although I have I-Macs all over the house, I still retreat to my studio to write these posts. So getting back to the blogging; I instead spent my day cleaning a month's worth of palettes ( finding after scrubbing 18 of them in boili...

I am mulling over an idea which occurred to me a couple of years ago, when I'd been looking at the Copplestone and Tekumel Club figures. I'd had an idea to put together a collection of Amazonian tribal types, with the idea of a mini campaign involving two tribes knocking the shit out of each other with low tech weapons, poisons and magic (because those people BELIEVE in magic and so it has to be factored in). Then I considered an idea of adding a few pulp type Europeans after coming across the tales of Roosevelt in Brazil. Small bands with bearers etc, armed with superior weaponry and immune to magic unless a local bearer. About 20 years ( REALLY? EEEK!) ago had an idea for a race up an African river between three expeditions for a participation game, with the aim of reaching and discovering a temple. The twist being that the first group to reach it and sack it remove the wardings which release a Spawn of Cthulhu or similar - Then it becomes a race back to the boats,...

Well, I have an hour or so on my hands before my compulsory Sunday evening spent watching an 80s film of often questionable quality - It's my hobby - and so, I thought I might just vent some spleen about a situation which really, REALLY irks me. As a full time painter who makes his - admittedly comfortable - living painting figures 5 days per week, I get through a LOT of figures every year. Now, I probably do more trade with many companies and have a higher turnover on their products than some bricks and mortar establishments. But, because I am not a reseller in the traditional sense - whoops I feel a rant brewing - I do not get trade discounts with the majority of manufacturers. In fact I often go to a friendly bricks and mortar store or a trade show stockist and get a discount there, with said stockist being more than happy to take cold, hard cash from my hands. You will note, that I emphasise that I pay in advance for my stock, and don't ask or expect credit of any kin...

Greetings, As you may expect, I am as busy as ever with my 'day job' of painting figures, and I've been clocking up some long, long days in the last week or so. But, it pays the bills and for the decadent lifestyle which I demand in my middle years. I've been mostly working on new releases for Heroics & Ros who, under the leadership and vision of Andy Kirk are simply going to new heights and standards of production. In total I have 4 entirely new ranges on my work schedule this month alone. I can only reveal two of them to you here, but I know of several other ranges which are also under development, as I write. First of all, I can show you the smallest of the new ranges in the form of a range of WW1 British troops for the Middle East and Mediterranean theatres which I love: Then, there's a monster release of West German troops for the Cold War Era, which are something I have a particular penchant for: As you can see, thes...

The first large historical army I owned, was the New Model Army in 15mm which I loved, and picked the brains of the late, great Peter Armstrong for tips on painting it all up fast, plaguing him with early morning visits to Games Workshop on the quieter days, and learning from a man who was, at the time, the master of all things paint orientated and an ECW buff himself. It was a large undertaking in the early 80s on £3 per week, and the figures I chose were a mix of Mikes Models and Gallia. Darren Ashmore, Roger Smith, Mark Bamford, Keith Rhodes and Steve Smith all collected regiment upon regiment , and as many of us were reenactors, we took our ECW very seriously back then. We played some great games using the Gush rules for the Renaissance including sieges, marching our arMies on to the field before starting at an appointed time, all in the name of getting that sense of 'period feel'. I had 28mm armies in later years, but they never quite caught that same vibe as the ori...

Hello, hello, hello, Well, after a bloody awful night's sleep and waking to feel all 49 years pressing down upon me, I was really pleased and flattered to find a message in my inbox which read thus: "Mark, just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading 'Life's a Bu**er . . .". Brought back so many memories of 'back in the day'. Still gaming, mind. Cheers for the giggles and not-so-giggly insightful bits. In short, thanks for making my life a little bit richer. Cheers (Name redacted by your correspondent)" Now, I do get mails like this, but it never ceases to make me smile and get a warm and fuzzy feeling to know that in some small way I've had an effect on another person for the better. That someone manages to track me down and then takes the time to write to me is an honour. This lifted me from what has been something of a negatively introspective mood of late and into a retrospective mood, which is not at all negative. True, I ...

Greetings my dear and appreciated readers, Firstly I must apologise to you all for seemingly disappearing from the face of the earth of late. This is due to a couple of things: 1. I am exceedingly busy as Conflict In Colour goes from strength to strength and I have more clients than I have time. Thus, I am working stupidly long days, mindful that on December 15th I close for a well earned bout of R&R with pies, wine and turkey - Not to mention duck, venison, pork, beef and more pies. 2. There is a pretty serious mater related to the health of the memsahib which I will not go into here, but trust me, it's the first time in almost 30 years that I have really been scared. So, whilst I have a lot of thoughts and memories swirling around, the time I need to craft them into an interesting and possibly controversial post or two, just isn't there. And I care about giving you all a bit of distraction, even if it's just one of my polemics on this, that or the proverbial o...