Wow! 2022 has rocketed past, hasn't it? Here we are with my last post of 2022, and it's been a curious week... Despite having a very enjoyable 3 weeks off work, I've been on a real melancholic vibe. I confess that at one point I was so convinced that nothing was interesting to me, that I looked up Dignitas, which gave the memsahib some concern. But, boy have I felt disconnected to everything for a few days. I'm not fully out of it, but I'm at least looking at other things somewhat. I have been reflecting on whether I should have done more with my life than just live and breathe gaming. On one hand, I may be seen as something of a failure, being as I am a painter and owner of a nice range of 28mm old school inspired fantasy models. But, I have a home that is my own (well subject to a few more years of mortgage payments) I'm not rich, but I am arguably comfortable enough to have an expensive hobby, eat at decent restaurants and keep 5 dogs - so what more do I nee...

Hurrah! The total number of hits has reached 303500 today. The last year has felt at times like the era of the Cold War in Sheffield.  It actually has me recalling how the days used to go each week and how I'd see new and interesting, yet risque bands on posters in particular areas of the city as I made my way from one gaming orientated activity to another.  In fact, knowing a few of the names of the bands, could stop you getting a kicking. Chased by older punks on The Gallery having visited the wonderful Hopkinsons Toys, when asked 'What's a fuckin' ' Hippy doing up 'ere?', you made your saving throw and morale test and then asked if they knew 'Sid' or 'Flobb' and they invariably did.  The ground laid, you told them you were getting into punk and were growing the hair for the mother of all Mohawks and for good measure ask if they preferred the Mau Maus to The Exploited or if they felt John Lydon was the Tristan Shandy for the late 20th Centu...

 My War Front set arrived today, and I am really pleased with the colours. I was using Scale 75 well ahead of the wargaming proletariat, and liked them apart from the more generic theme of the range. The War Front range rectified that problem for me.    

  Well, I popped into Element Games here in Sheffield on Tuesday, to purchase a full set of War Front paints and indeed several more ranges.   I specifically wanted the full set with the storage rack, given that I have a lot of paint on my desk at any time and this makes the job of switching paint systems a lot easier.   So, I asked if they could get me one of the sets from their head office, and was initially given a couple of weak excuses, including:   1.  Confusing them with Army Painter ("You mean this? We don't carry that range...")   No I mean fucking 'War Front' by Scale 75 as I said...   2. Telling me they didn't stock the paints    What? You mean you don't stock the paints on the stand over here? - Gesturing to several hundred War Front paints. 3. "They don't like sending us full sets."    What? They don't like to sell product through the stores which (and I speak from personal experience) are a drain on resources? You know...

 As you may know, I am a big fan of fantasy art books, particularly the Mirage, Dragon's Dream and Paper Tiger imprints. However, in the 80s Games Workshop published a couple which I had but which had to be movrd on as we fought to keep our heads above water after the loss of Dungeons & Starships in the late 90s. The easier of the two to find at the high end of 'fairly priced' is Blood & Iron by Les Edwards who is a superb imagineer of the macabre:       The harder find is Ratspike by Ian Miller and John Blanche. Now I confess that I am 'meh' when it comes to Miller, but Blanche is almost up there with Patrick Woodroffe,. I have owned some of Blanche's work and I have been in the presence of Woodroffe's work, when he kindly invited the memsahib and I to the opening of his preview of his 60th birthday exhibition in his adopted home of Falmouth. But I digress; the Ratspike book commands prices that even I go a little wobbly about.     Anyway, in one o...

 Good morning to you all, As I write, It's just after 4AM and I've been awake since 3. Talk about squeezing every drop out of conciousness... Anyhow, I'm sitting here, bored, with the first coffee of the day, 4 of the 5 terriers who act as warders here at H.M.P Fackham Hall, listening to podcasts and trying to gather my thoughts. We awoke yesterday to heavy snow, and much of it remains in patches like Nature's psoriasis on the tarmac and mist lurks in the Don Valley like an over zealous store detective in the perfume depatment of John Lewis - not that we have one in Sheffield anymore, but that's another story and rant about the modern world, and I just can't summon the enthusiasm. Last night, we were so frazzled that we ordered a Chinese instead of the planned roast dinner and settled down with a now rare glass (yes, just one) of wine to watch the evergreen feelgood classic 'Home Alone'. Brook me no buts, it's a wonderful film, made more so when yo...

 Well, so far, I could take a year off wor at the very least, with what I have found in the first two of five boxes... That is not hyperbole.   That's about a 3x3 foot area in the pic and 11 inches high at the 'peak'

 Well, I promised news of another addition to my lead pile. And... It's a lead pile. Please excuse the pictures. They are the pics I was sent by the seller and lack the lush gaming room and kitchen worktop shots I normally use as backgrounds. I spent a rather up and down ten days of negotiations to bag around 3000 pre and early slotta figures. Then there was the matter of being unable to make an 8 hour round trip to collect them, and the fact that the seller had to close his bank account after he was scammed. Anyway, you can't keep a an old school limpet down and I was persistent and dedicated. We agreed that I would cover the cost of shipping, which I had expected - I also paid a lot to get it all insured, to the point that Parcel Force contacted me to ask what was so valuable and so heavy that it needed so much insurance - I told them to fuck off, in no umcertain terms as their own booking system was badgering me to pay £40 for the insurance alone. We also managed to arrange ...