No Coffee, Lots Of Pain & Lots More Gain

Well, it's been a bugger of a week, here at Fackham Hall. I have developed a sensitivity to caffeine it would seem, which is devadtating for a coffee lover, and then to top things off, I have damaged my pectoral muscle on the left hand side, which has resulted in a definite lack of sleep. I went to the excellent Joy Of Six yesterday and was like a zombie, and rather miserable. 

The quality of the games was as always, awesome. If you are at all snooty about 6mm, you are missing a treat. It is the only scale which gives a real sense of size and spectacle with a 'god's eye view'. If you haven't been to JO6, then you really must.

They say that gaming is an addiction. For me, it's the pike & shot era which is my drug of choice. The porn addict may crave that lifetime pass to the Raymond Revue Bar, for me, it's men with feathers and slashed pants - possibly not all that different, if I recall adverts I dimly recall seeing whilst browsing the newsagent's shelves - allegedly.

My plan has been to focus less on variety of periods, but to concentrate on larger collections.

I took delivery on Wednesday, of the first half of a 1200 piece Wars Of The Roses collection, and finally had the opportunity to open the first 5 units yesterday afternoon. Boy was I not disappointed. They are lovely, and when I get them all unpacked and based, I'll be posting pictures.

Yesterday evening I took delivery of a few 28mm Italian Wars figures:

The list is as follows:

61 assorted generals

54 Landsknecht shot

6 Landsknecht swordsmen

332 Landsknecht pike

11 guns

48 crew

124 Spanish pike

140 Spanish shot

108 Spanish sword & buckler

40 Spanish Ginettes

30 Albanian Stradiots

58 Light horse

86 Italian Gendarmes

64 French infantry

16 Italian arquebusiers

160 Italian infantry

54 French Gendarmes

216 Romagnol pike

224 Swiss pike

54 Swiss shot

The above pics are just the ones I was sent whilst agreeing a deal, but of course, I'll get them all out on my table and take some inspiring pics for you all.

I am not known for showing emotions, but I confess, that when I saw all the lovely colours and the fact that there are over 800 pikemen, I let out an audible giggle.

Before bed, I went out to the Rumpus Room, turned on the light, peeked in a box - and giggled again.

And I confess, that this morning at 6:20 I went out again, popped Radio 4 on, and loooked in a few more boxes with my first decaff (yes, decaff) of the day, and cooed softly. I may even have gently caressed a couple of box files.

The Italian Wars became one of my 'first loves' after I saw the inspiring pictures taken by Duncan MacFarlane of Peter Gilder's collection. To a kid who was interested in both fantasy and historical gaming, this was a heady experience. I mean, you could play 'proper' games with figures which would not look out of place. I was hooked.

I would haunt the aisles of wargames conventions, like a Soho Bohemian, in search of my next 'fix'.

I've had a few Renaissance armies over the years. Some have been large, some have been really well painted. In this collection I have both, so I have, I think, reached a zenith with regards to gaming that period. I am seemingly very close now to having all the models I will ever need.

Yes, yes; I know the old chestnut about a wargamer being unable to die as long as they have unpainted figures, but that as they say in the guild is a load of bollocks.

I am beginning to feel the hand of Father Time, tapping on my shoulder (nope it's not the caffeine, I am clean) so I don't see the point in having a pile of umpainted lead in a corner, just so I can say 'look how big my leadpile is. I am a more dedicated gamer than you!'

Of coure I am, but if it's not painted, it's not entering my collection. The minute you pay £10 for that pack of figures, it drops in value by a third. It's a hard learned lesson, but a universally constant one.

Take my advice. Plan an army with care, have it painted, and maybe paint the stuff you want to - and more importantly can paint. Get it on the table and play with it, because you never know what's around the corner. That bastard with the scythe has a tendency to ruin the best laid plans.

TTFN