Well, I sat down to look at figures this morning. Then I picked up two unpainted Afghan officers on my desk. A quick 6 hour job, bare metal to finished, to use of my last day of holiday profitably.   These represent two staff officers for my Afghan regular brigade.   Foundry officer (the one with all the 'scrambled eggs' on his coat) on Studio Miniatures horse, and a complete Perry pairing of horse and rider for the chap in the beehive hat. Of those 6 hours, 30 minutes was the basing. I am now 4 tribal chiefs away from having completed the Afghans, so I'm pleased with the progress.

 Hmmmmm 24 hours of the holiday left, so I am in two minds about painting some more Afghan commanders or sitting in a chair with 'English Journey' by J.B Priestley to whom I am distantly related on my maternal side. The gaming room has all the terrain in there now, along with the first of my figures. We also added 4 nice new chairs for the oldies to sit and catch their breath inbetween games, and installed the security cameras covering the compound and games room, which our five dogs have been testing for the last 48 hours. I swear that one of them knows that he triggers several claxons if he moves in a certain way - Little git! As I type, I am up in my studio listening to Radio 4 and looking at figures. I am being drawn to Wars Of The Roses and French Indian War, but nothing's certain. I'm just looking for inspiration.  Common sense - and Roger - tells me that really I should go with Muskets & Tomahawks for FIW, but I am drawn like a moth to a flame to large battle...

 Well, I am at the end of my holiday, bar the shouting. It's been a fast 27 days, that's for sure. It's odd how being over half a century old, not feeling at all well, and listening to Marillion, can focus the mind on the 'endgame'. So, as I sat at my desk today, finishing the first staff group for my 28mm 2nd Anglo-Afghan War, Afghans, I started mulling on what exactly I want to do next. I have three projects on the go, with the 2AAW almost complete, another project in the hands of the painter, and the third at the acquisition stage. So, I reckon I will commission one more 'large' set up and then call it a day, and maybe just indulge myself in collecting old 'pocket series' games, and possibly indulge myself in a few smaller projects.  I just can't decode what it should be, and have a varied selection to choose from, when it comes to periods which are floating my boat: 1. French Indian War 2. American War of 1812 3. Wars of The Roses 4. The Baro...

 Fear not my dear reader, this is not quite what the title suggests, but rather a few lines on the subject of models, viable wars to recreate and the dangers of being tempted into doing so. We are all aware of the main periods such as Ancients, Medieval, ACW and that little 'ole skirmish in the first decades of the 19th century in Europe, called the Napoleonic Wars, all of which have been visited and revisited time and time again in the last 50 years, and that's a good thing of course. But every now and again, something comes along which has colour, derring do and a figure designer who has a yearning to 'do' that period. Said designer goes ahead and either loses steam, resulting in a partial range, or his mates in the magazine machine, take some pics, write a couple of hundred words and then we have a minor outbreak of madness as everyone picks up this new 'period', only to drop it a few months later. Historically, I've been pretty immune to the 'sicknes...

 Hi Hoh, On Wednesday I awoke and celebrated another year survived on this mudball. Hussah! Gifts included the Call Of Cthulhu Kickstarter and wargaming tokens (cash if you prefer) from family, and from Roger and his charming lady a rather nice bottle of Taittinger and a round of Langres cheese. To serve, you bring the cheese to a comfortable room temprature and pour an amount of the champagne into the dimple, which is moulded into the cheese. Tip: prick the cheese with a fork, a couple of minutes before opening the champagne. Served with a little freshly baked baguette and saucisson sec, it was a wonderful gastronomic gift. The difference between champagne with and without the cheese was marked. Wednesday itself was a washout - as is normal on my birthday - with nothing going right, on the annual celebratory outing and lunch, despite my attempt to pull a bait and switch on the Gods. However, my builder finished my wargames room the day before, and also built me some beautiful tabl...

 HOOOOO-ZAAAAR!   At last, my gaming den - AKA 'The Rumpus Room' is ready to go. The joind=er wlked in this morning with a van load of timber and some rather evil looking tools. I plied him with breakfast and tea - as is my wont - and 8 hours later he had built me the most stunning pair of tables. espite not specifying them, he was so intent on making them the best he could, he rounded the corners. added a bevelled ede and fitted 6 inch casualty/drink shelves under the lips of the tables, having asked about wargaming and how the tables were used. Well, I was so happy that I added a £50 tip to the rather face-reddening bill of just £300 (he actually quoted me less, but I have pride, you understand). So now the room is ready for the addition of coffee machine, armchair and window blind as well as security cameras. Then I start and fill it to make it a temple of gaming goodness, in the heart of the Steel City. I'd considered club gaming again, but to be perfectly honest I don...

 What a busy week it's been... The first 8 days of my holiday seem to have shot by, with only a couple of poutings for the purposes of cultural fulfilment. Of particular note was the trip over to Bradford, which is not perhaps where you may expect to find culture, but in act at Cartwright Hall art gallery there's the Hockney gallery and some of the best of Black British art (the very best being in Manchester) as well as a cheeky little Warhol and some rather nice landscapes and portraiture. At present, there's also a nice little exhibition on the fashions and music of 70s and 80s Bradford, which was the home base of more acts than you might think.  You then take a light lunch in the rather excellent little cafe there and skip 2.2 miles over to Saltaire and Salt's Mill, wherein you will find many, many works by David Hockney, a rather splendid craft jewellery shop, a bloody massive art and art book store and an equally massive bookshop up on the 2nd floor.   Wear comfort...