Well, as I type, I am having my morning coffee and awaiting the arrival today of the Skaven army I purchased at the weekend. The main thing of note with the modern Skaven armies is the large bodies of troops for each clan, which I approve of, but which if you are so much of a fanboy that you need all those special super powers and rules, then you might be unhappy. Fortunately, I am not... What I will be doing is sifting out all of the troop types which feature in the earliest Skaven lists (2nd edition) and then looking at stuff such as warp lightning cannons which has no place in an army list and removing them entirely, trading or selling them to fund other suitable bits. Then, what I should be left with several large units of troops for each of the clans. At that point, all of those troops simply become bog standard Clanrats, sent to the front by their clans, each forming it's own brigade. Simple! I will be buying a classic Vermin Lord, but as you will know, no doubt...

Now, I know I rail against modern models a lot, but even a grizzled old moaner like I, has to admit that very few Skaven armies, of a decent size and fully painted, ever crop up. So, today I am pleased to have bagged an albeit modern army at £1.31per piece equivalent - probably less actually. It's a whopping force: Ikit Claw (metal) Death master Snikch (metal) Plague Priest on Giant Pox Rat (metal) Warlock Engineer (metal) Chieftain (metal) 2 X Assassin's (metal) 2 X 20 units Clanrats (plastic) 1 X warpfire thrower team (metal) 1 X ratling gun team (metal) 28 X Storm Vermin (metal) 2 X 20 Skavenslave units (plastic) 1 X 40 Skavenslave unit (plastic) 4 X 20 Night Runner units (plastic) 12 X Giant rats (plastic) (no packmasters) 3 X Rat swarms (metal) 16 X Gutter Runners (metal/plastic) 4 X Rat Ogres (plastic)(no packmasters) 2 X 20 Plague Monk units (plastic) 1 X 30 Plague Monk unit (plastic) 2 X 5 Plague Censor Bearers (plastic) 1 X 5 Warplock Jezzails (metal) 1 X 8 Poiso...

Like many of my age group who cut their teeth in the very early days, reading White Dwarf when it was a young and vibrant magazine, much like ourselves, I was drawn to the adverts for Otherworld Artefacts and their wonderful scenery kits in 25mm, sculpted by Chris Bulis and cast in durable dental plaster. They were exactly the type of structures and features I imagined in my fantasy worlds. tall towers, brooding Mansions and forests of giant fungi. The limits of the real world were thrown aside whilst attention was paid to how buildings are constructed. Alas, on £3 per week spending money, and with a rather serious 'Orc habit' to feed which allowed me to buy 10 figures per week, my chances of getting any O.A stuff were close to zero. A couple of years ago now, and quite by chance after I posted here, I was able to make contact with Mr Bulis in one of those fanboy moments which always make my blood rush, even at nearly 52 years old, and so began a series of irregula...

Hi All, Well, it's been a hell of a busy week in my studio after the Christmas break, but it's also been an interesting one. Firstly I'd like to mark the passing of Neil Peart, lyricist and drummer with RUSH, the Canadian prog rock trio, to whom many a young gamer were almost gods, with their power riffs, thought provoking lyrics and exquisite mastery of their art. I know that for me, they were a defining part of my gaming life, and to this day, I often have RUSH playing as I work. Rest in peace, Mr Peart. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/01/10/entertainment/neil-peart-rush-drummer-death-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1g6HHwQDeSV8X0oofSVvjM7yK0AUG9RCOibhIYLazqqfQCqLbRBsFjoCE Now, I often sit an mull things over as  work, or as I lay abed, watching the night pass, and the other day I was reflecting on the idea of commissioning personal wargames miniatures, a la Bill Gaskin. I recall that a very small number of people over the years managed to get hold of a...

Well, it's another year of musing, ranting and sharing my gaming related stuff with you. I bought a couple of magazines over Christmas, and was amazed to see in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy a two page - I say, two page article on the etiquette of dice rolling. Do we really need to be told how to roll dice now? Much of what I read, could be summed up thus: Use the brains that your parent's having a good fuck, gave you. If you have any doubts, ask for clarification from those you are at the table with. You'd have to be pretty retarded of just a cheat to use loaded dice (I did see this once at the Nationals in the 80s, but it came to nought) Likewise, it's pretty obvious that if a dice lands crookedly, you should roll it again or indeed demand that the thrower, rolls it again. A few throws on the average gaming terrain will teach you that a tray is a great idea. If someone insists you change dice, agree and swap with them directly. This is particularly g...