To The Time Tunnel!

 Yes, yes... I do go on about the 80s (sometimes the late 70s), but it's more than just a looking back through rose tinted glasses. Believe me when I say that some of the very worst moments of my life happened in that same time frame, so the rose tinted glass certainly has a few cracks in it.

It's been a lifestyle choice and also an experiment for me. It goes back to a 'thing' I had in the 90s for trying to enhance my gaming experience through cultural immersion. I tend to work on armies as projects. When I have squeezed all I can fronm the project, it goes to a new home, with a few exceptions which have long term 'feels' for me.

For instance, when I was researching the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, I was reading a lot of diarised accounts, which included such things as food, times of day and music. So I tried to get into the vibe, a breakfast of naan, tomatoes, onions and tea for instance, whilst watching the sun rise, can be quite inspiring. Now if you happen to have a deactivated or airsoft AK47 , you can add another level. After 3 days of breakfasts like that and the indigestion, you will I assure you, fully understand why the Mujahideen are so bloody ferocious!

Think of it as 'method wargaming'. I would however suggest that you don't go so far as contracting dysentry or plague as that does curtail your gaming fun.

Now, if you will, apply that methodology to a time period which you have experienced in all it's sweet and bitter glory. I was a bit young and distracted to fully appreciate the adult view of Prime Minister Thatcher's decade, but I do live in the industrial North that was, so I know how grim it could be at times (not as bad as they'd have you believe).

So, taking first my own recolections, acquaintances and experiences, I had the cultural tapestry. Now it was time to also speak to contemporaries and peers, to see if memories matched up - and they did.

Next, it was a case of looking at what I bought and played, seeing what was still available - which was a surprisingly large volume of stuff - and condensing that down into what was the absolute aqua vitae of my hobby experience.

Then, it was all about getting hold of the stuff at sometimes, eye watering cost.

At this point you could just paint and base the models or read the rules, but I decided to drill down a little more. For instance, what music was I listening to when I painted that particular unit, or really 'getting' that set of rules?

Citadel (now Foundry) Samurai - Marillion and Hanoi Rocks

Gallia 15mm British Zulu Wars - Ultravox and Duran Duran for 23 hours solid (perhaps why I have not revisted that yet)

Reading the Ringworld RPG - Marillion's Fugazi album, whilst stretched out on my bed on a warm afternoon with the windows open to catch a light breeze.

I have found that this works still, in triggering a real sense of time and place, but I am I can assure you never going to lay on my back the floor listening to 'Original Masters' by Jethro Tull, painting the underside of the wings of the Great Spined Dragon, as it perches over my chest of drawers, I can assure you of that.

I also collect 80s films and music, much of which in my youth, being a stalwart fan of Prog' Rock I would not have listened to unless a girl was involved - Duran and 'Vox, for example. 

I also soak up history programmed, documentaries and books on the period, which is now 'modern history', despite sometimes choking when an authour born after the 80s states categorically that the world was this way or that and is 100% off the mark. I loathe revisionists of any stripe.

Food can be hard... I was brought up on good traditional fare - as many of my friends who set up camp at our house would agree - but I did still get the odd Crispy Pancake of Turkey Drummer, and although they are junk food, the faux curry of the pancake or spongy texture of the Drummer can assist in opening locked doors.

My wife. quite rightly manages to intervene most of the time, but sooner or later the dark and dread god, Findus will get me. Then it will be a Q.T War Of The Roses army for sure, with a deperate search for overpriced and out of date tubs of Pelikan 'Plakka' to get that authentic Lloyd Powell day-glo finish, which whilst awfully bright in daylight, looked superb in the yellow 80s light of the upstairs room of The Wellington.

I particularly like photographic books of the time, and more particulary those by local authors as they are snapshots. I love buildings which seemed iconic at the time or which I imagined as locations for a game scenario. I'd love to be able to get access to the Fountain Precinct in the heart of Sheffield, to go to the top of the glass and tile structure and look over the city. If anyone can help facilitate this, you'd be doing me a big favour. 

It was like a set from Blake's 7 or Logan's Run and to this day, whenever I walk by it, my heart skips at the possibilities as a Traveller RPG location:

 

Anyway, time is passing and I have a lot to do today, but please, consider approaching your gaming in a similar way. It does enhance the experience and in some cases, I have found that I was actually more inclined to crack on and get stuff done. It's not just about visiting battlefields, but also about the environment or company you inhabited when you got that first 'bug' for a new army or game. 

The Spartacus Slave Revolt will never happen for me... A Sunday laid in front of a coal fire, watching Spartacus, sounds like a great trigger, but add to that the most excruciating toothache and the taste of clove oil tincture, and you'll understand why it can never be...

TTFN