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

Comments

Post a Comment

Leave your praise and vitriolic commentary here...

Popular posts from this blog

How, Over 40 Years Ago, A Guy Called Andy Changed My Life With 5 Words, And Other Reminiscences...

Image
 Of late I have been having long and vivid dreams wherein, I am often walking or travelling with people I have known, some living, some passed, talking over things we had done or said. I confess that it's been eerie but also very liberating. These coversations have been so real that I have awoken in the morning (more usually, half way through the night) and been confused at my surroundings.  Last night I was speaking with Dave Hoyles  - very much alive and kicking - of Q.T Models/Museum Miniatures. The only thing I have noticed is that is often been snowing heavily in these dreams. One of my latest dreams was of the late Ian Smith, another the comic book artist Paul Green - who, thankfully is still with us. This pattern began a few years ago when I had a similar experience with the recently deceased Pete 'Greblord' Armstrong. It was a very cathartic experience for me, as I had much which needed to be said. I may have written of this before, but this particular dream was d...
Read more

A Serious Post And Another Obituary But With Some More Positive Stuff At The End

Image
 I am at an age where I would expect the odd death of someone I know, but I am starting to realise that it's the younger end of the line which is getting culled.  This week I found out through a good friend that another friend in the hobby from the old days had taken his own life, bringing the total friends lost to 5 and drom that number the number lost to suicide in the last few years to 2. Now, I've been close to that I think, three times, but I've been lucky enough to be able to turn my illogical brain around and decide that the world and my enemies will not be happy if I thrive and stay alive. So, that has been my stated mission, to live long and be hated that much longer. The first time I was taken with thoughts of suicide, was when I was banned from Games Workshop Sheffield in the 80s (see my book or earlier posts) and my so-called friends allowed themselves to be bought off, trading silence as to what a set-up it was in return for part time jobs at the store. That wa...
Read more

The Passing Of A British Wargaming Legend

Image
It is with genuine sadness and heavy heart that I must record the passing of Sheffield Wargames Society founder member and long time Chairman, Steve Roberts.    I was 13 when I first met Steve (some 43 years ago, now). It was a chance meeting. I'd been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about a year and had taken some Citadel FTZ Zombies back to my Junior school to show my headteacher there, who'd always encouraged the creative arts in pupils.    He was impressed (as you'd expect) and told me that a wargames club met at the school now, on Monday nights run by a chap called Steve Roberts.    Well, of course I was interested, and together with my friend Alan Staniforth, I attended the club, to find there was no D&D...   What there was however were historical games, played by local kids with 'Big Steve' the only adult. But he ran that club like a champion, providing all the models and simple rules, which was just what you needed to hook kids in. ...
Read more