Rule Of Thumb

 Well, it's 3 weeks since one of my 5 Scottish Terriers gave me a taste of what is considered one of the strongest sets of jaws in the canine world, when I stepped in to split two 'intact' boys for whom the testosterone was getting too much.

Anyhow, I spent a Sunday night in A&E, followed two days later by hand surgery and 3 different antibiotics because the little darling (Bartholmew Bones McCoy) had seen fit to use his 'acidic venom' mutation on me.

It was a pretty nasty set of wounds, and even on day 12, it was looking like this:

Luckily, my nereves are intact but I will have a 'jangle' for at least several months and the scarring under the surface will change the shape of my thumb apparently.

I got my stitches out a couple of days ago but it's still not healed. That said, I managed to paint with the injury, by the careful selection of dressings and a set of patient nurses, as well as the ingenious use of latex gloves. It's meant long days, often extended further by the need to be at the hand clinic every couple of days.

Anyway, life goes on and I'm trying to plan my next projects.

I've decided that I want to get some variety in terms of periods, so I'm trying to get away from periods which overlap too closely. I'm also reviewing how many figures any army has. To this end, I am carefully curating future armies, making units look decently sized, but at the same time not so numerous that they never actually get used on the table.

So for example, a complete Roman legion with attached auxiliaries, can be fielded under 300 models, giving a nice looking collection which is very flexible and useable as well as looking handsome on the table.

For later 19th century armies, I am looking at 18-20 figure units for infantry, which allows for looks and a lot of units within a limit of 400 pieces per side.

I am hitting a wall with regards to French Indian War because, part of me thinks I should skirmish the period whilst another part of me yells 'Plains of Abraham, damn you sir!'.

I am constantly trying to improve the gaming experience, with the aim of reaching a Zen-like sense of inner satisfaction, and my statement 4 years ago that everything I did had to have 'value' means that figures not used are value lost - both financially and in terms of what I get from the hobby, enjoyment-wise.

So as you may imagine, I'm making notes of ideas and then ripping them up when I can't get them to quite evolve into a clear and workable plan.

The ongoing mission is, well... 'ongoing'.

I've been making fair progress with my old school sci-fi project, although due to my thumb it's been slower than perhaps I should have liked. But any progress is progress, is it not?

I've also been testing the Army Painter Speedpaints quite exhaustively and it's my opinion that they are a liability. Several colours really bleed when overcoated. I'm sorry, but we are in the 21st century and these problems should be a thing of the 80s. It's OK saying to varnish before applying colours over them, but that adds yet another thickness to the model surface, as well as slowing down the process, making them not all all speedy. I'd planned a £600 spend on A.P products but I'm afraid I cannot in good face continue to endorse them. Big promises with small rewards appears to be the Army Painter way. I certainly wouldn't use them on work for clients.

I've also noticed that the Colour Forge sprays are prone to 'powdering', so I've put on hold rolling them out as a material I'd use on work for clients. Don't get me wrong, when they work, they work well, but a failure on a £200 unit is a nightmare scenario waiting to happen. Sorry Army PAinter. You might be able to impress the impressionable, but this cynical old bastard is calling you out on this one.

Finally, I took the plunge yesterday and bought the entire 'Advanced Fighting Fantasy' RPG. It's always appealed to me as an accesible and indeed playable RPG which, like the solo game books manages to generate a lovely, fuzzy, generic fantasy feel. I was hoping that it would be delivered today but those mutinous bastards at Royal Mail are screwing delivery times up. 

How they can offord to lose 17 days wages between now and December 2nd I don't know, but I am really having to try hard not to be rude to my posties, who by and large are wonderful people, with an excellent track record.

My last major show of the season is next Sunday in the shape of Fiasco in Leeds - if the memsahib's knee continues to behave itself, so I hope to find a few bargains or at least interesting items, but increasingly shows are just not punching their weightand I come home with buyers remorse for th cost of the ticket. On the up side I'll hopefully see a few old friends for a chat and a cuppa.

Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to army planning.

TTFN