I finally fell for a Black Friday deal, and purchased the entire 'Tails Of Equestria' RPG set in the My Little Pony world, and produced by River Horse Games. I have no excuse, other than the idea of playing a simple RPG wherein I can play a powder blue pony with big eyes and a golden sparkly mane, appeals to me... Not to mention the sparkly four leaf clover on my butt. I also picked up a couple of other bargains today: At £21.50 - It would be churlish not to. Siege and Dogs of War will go in the bin of course. I have absolutely no use for modern tat... And then for £100, I got this lovely little lot of Citadel 'Paranoia' figures from the 80s. Now imagine if you will, the 80s series 'V', but in which the Visitors are simply paranoid and inept in equal measure... Well, they will be invading my city in a series entitled 'Y?' And I think I have spent enough for the week, now, when you add into that the £60 refund for a set ...

Wow, what a busy weekend so far. Friday was a hell of a day, as well as painting from 8AM to 4PM, I then had to spend  two hours racing around the city in anticipation of the arrival today of a new baby at Fackham Hall. Last minute dashes for food, bedding and training pads were exhausting. Then, it was back to the Dark Tower atop the hall, and more painting until 10PM , with tea being served at 11PM and bed at midnight, with the alarm clock set for 6:30 AM. Then, at 8:30 AM this morning I was riding shotgun with the memsahib up the M18 to Hull to collect the new addition, a 7lb Scottie (or Aberdeen Terrier to be more correct) for a top-end 3 figure sum, thence back to Sheffield, for 13:10 to attend our veterinary surgery on the far side of the city. He was vaccinated and microchipped, then taken home to meet the rest of the pack, who have been pretty good with him. Rex McHubbard to give him his full name, has a serious appetite. Despite being a mere 3.5KG and just 9 and ...

About the time I was first becoming aware of gaming in 1980 was about the time my parents were trusting me to go into Sheffield city centre on my own. Indeed it occurred shortly after my first encounter with a display of Citadel and Ral Partha miniatures in Hopkinson's toy shop on The Gallery, a series of first floor shops connected with walkways inn the Hay Market area of the city, an area at that time frequented by Punks at one end and Skinheads at the other, and a serious no-go area in the daytime for young Rockers like your correspondent and his at the time best mate 'Stanny' Staniforth. Today's youth I don't think, can appreciate what the late 70s and early 80s were like. They were frankly, bloody lethal. You either had to be a good fighter, a fast runner or know where to run to locate some older and better fighters. It was also at this time that I became vaguely aware of politics, left wing liberal arts (odd for someone who is certainly not much of a suppo...

The first couple of days this week were spent painting the display models for the new modern Swedish range from Heroics & Ros. As is the case with all of the new era H&R models, the detail is great and a joy to paint, if demanding at times, due to the meticulous detail and skill of the sculptor. The models even have the goggles on the helmet rims, as equipped to Swedish troops. They are a little odd to paint as the Swedes commonly have green painted weaponry, so that as a painter you feel a little bit 'lost' when comparing the process to most other armies where black and brown, act to break up the green and camouflage somewhat. All in all, these are stunning models and a welcome addition to the equally stunning range of Swedish vehicles already produced by H&R. You should be able to see them this weekend at the Warfare show in Reading, as I fast tracked the completed models down the H&R HQ on Thursday. TTFN

Look, I just couldn't be arsed to come up with a title, OK? Don't judge me... To be honest, it's been one of those weeks where I have been working flat out, to the extent that my internal monologue has been turned off, and I've not done my usual 40 hours of mulling things over as I work, formulating opinions, posts and vitriol. I'm sorry. BUT, the city is taking shape. My regular gaming opponent Dave had taken the MDF mountain home with him last Saturday, and immediately - or so it seemed - he was into it like a beaver in a wood shed. He dropped me a few pornographic images, mid week of the TT Combat 'Star Store' model, and I'm really pleased with what he's doing, because as you know I've been quite vociferous in the past about my homicidal feelings towards MDF. Dave convinced me that if I had the money and stomach to buy it, he could build the models. As I understand it, the fittings are not being 'fitted' to ease painti...

Well, the last week has been a very expensive one, but a very rewarding one in hobby terms. My buildings arrived from TT Combat and Warbases. It's worth pointing out that the Warbases order had an incorrect model in the shipment, but to their eternal credit they rectified that straight away and asked me if I'd keep the incorrect model as an apology. Absolutely sterling service, which, will see them getting a lot more custom in the future. The models have now gone to my mate Dave, who really enjoys building things, and as he's recently found a taste for MDF, he staggered from Fackham Hall last night with a heavy box of buildings and a bottle of wood glue. My old school Chaos collection is getting somewhat ridiculous as I happened on several lots this week, which have conspired to begar me for a little while: This is on top of the tidal wave of purchases arriving daily here at the Dark Tower atop Fackham Hall. Such is the flow, that I fear I will need to get t...