Another Gaming Year Begins

 Happy New Year to you all,

Well, as I hit the 22nd day of my Christmas break, and with two days left, I've hit the ground running with regards to my gaming for 2022.

Grand Manner announced a few days ago that they were having a limited 'raw resin' sale, whereby you can buy unpainted terrain at what are eye watering yet reasonable prices.

I blew over £700, but got some really nice and very useful models:

My wife is rather excited about painting it all, as she did all of the GM terrain that was used for the early 2000s Discovery show,  'Model Town' and is a real fan of Grand Manner.

The Norman fort was just too much resist, despite the fact that I atually don't own any suitable models since the 1999 'Byzantine Incident' of which I shall never speak.

So, the plan for the year ahead is to commission Normans and something different to the usual Anglo Saxon army. I am looking at 700 pieces or so, as that will allow two nicely sized armies to be fielded. I saw this very morning, that Victrix plan to release their Norman Cavalry this month, which could be dangerous.

I'm also looking at possibly buying some 20 or 28mm WW2 Eastern Front and if I can find two suitably large forces, some Epic 40K.

Show-wise, I am not holding my breath, and it may be that I simply ignore shows for the foreseeable future.

I'm starting to reach something of a 'critical mass' with my 'wants'. I've mulled and schemed over other periods, but as Roger said the other day, we have plenty of periods between us, and in the majority of case, we have large forces. I'm not too bothered about Ancients, and later Medieval is something I've done to death, but apart from those, I think that we have everything covered.

I finally got around to opening a large box of 28mm Covenanter cavalry and artillery which has been sat in the Rumpus Room since they arrived back here from the painter at the end of November. As I type, they are all stuck down to bases and are cluttering one of my work benches until I can get around to adding the scenics.

2021 was a real challenge for me, as, for over ten months (and after the death of my Father in November 2020), I was dealing with excruciating pain in my shoulders, neck and left hand/wrist. My left hand was actually deforming and I was losing use of it. I was sleeping an average of 4-5 hours per night and at worst, was awake and ‘up’ every 18 minutes.

Throughout this, I did not lose a single day as a result, but did end up working an average of 1.5 hours extra each day, which had me at my breaking point, physically and mentally to some extent.

Thankfully, my own G.P recognised a few things that my rheumatology consultants had written off as part of my psoriatic arthritis and that the hand was not, as I had been firmly informed by a nurse, ‘just age’. He sent me to a hand surgeon who was affronted that a mere G.P should waste their time, but the resulting furore which I raised, had the ‘experts’ re-examining me, and a simple steroid shot in the backside, arrested the shoulder, wrist, hand and neck in late November, and allowed me to have my first undisturbed sleep since the end of January.

It will probably mean that it creeps back, but now, treatment should be more reliable and undertaken promptly. It should mean that I am more inclined to do bits of my own stuff over the coming 12 months, but only time will tell. I'm certainly more positive and focussed than I was.

I'll sign off now, but I really hope that your gaming is fantastic in 2022 and that you manage to get some lead, covered in paint!

TTFN