The Season Of Goodwill & All That

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 Century, and they sort of lost interest in giving you a kicking. What's more, the next time they saw you run past, chased by Skinheads from the opposite end of The Gallery, they may just step on up and defend your scrawny young arse, because the only thing they hated more than a Hippy was Skinheads, and they got the sport of seeing a long haired little pillock put through the ringer for a minute or two, and then the satisfaction of giving the Fascist Bastards a damn good hiding.

It strikes me that today's kids don't live in the same types of tribes as we did. There are arguably youth cultures, but they are not as varied and we really had to know where our towel was at all times back in the day. 

The tribalism was reflected in gaming too. Roleplayers and Wargamers could be rather hostile bed fellows at times.

I had my feet in several camps simultaneously, which was odd for younger gamers at the time. I built large and complete armies, and although it ate up my spending money, my after school painting allowed me the luxury of being able to own a fair amount of stuff. These days, it's way too expensive for many, and the size and completeness of armies tend to point to the low end of the scale.

I think that there are a lot of people who should perhaps be thinking of taking up a cheaper hobby such a golf or extreme bathing, because  they rarely complete and army and often what they call an 'army' is the same number of figures that us old sweats would consider a battalion.

Ladies, ladies, stop buying every new rule set and figure craze. 

Concentrate on a couple of periods which interest you and then read, read and read until you understand the period and tactics. Then buy a reasonable facsimile of an army of the era. With ECW for instance, you can have a great game with 3-4 units of foot, the same of horse, a gun nd a few dragoons. Then when you have a feel for the period expand those armies. Don't buy every plastic box set you see, because, you can get metal models for not much more if you shop around sensibly. What's more, when you make a fuck up of the paint work, metal figures are more forgiving Owen you need to strip that paint off. Also they generally don't need hours of building before you can even prime them.

Do yourselves a favour and buy a few 2nd hand 1980s Wargames magazines on eBay and read them. Boy will you see your hobby in a new light. Also,learn some of the 'names' and look at their collections, because they were exactly that 'collections' not a few dozen models. You have to appreciate where the hobby came from before you can try and steer where it's going.

But 'tis the season and all that. So, with my spleen vented and after a 12 day end of year ‘shakedown’ culminating in the annual 'Man Vs Oven’ event, let the festivities begin and may January the 3rd take a good long while to come around.

Fresh ground coffee, Living North and both Yorkshire and Derbyshire Life Christmas issues along with a pile of books await.

Carpaccio of beef in the fridge, bottle of Tokaji Furmint on hand for Christmas Eve

As is tradition, I pardon my enemies and thank them for giving me a reason to thrive yet again.

I am also going to let the slaves run free from the pits (I'll get more in the new year, no fear)

A year when my painting could have come to an end, but which saw a very talented surgeon do that voodoo that she do...

May absent friends find their way home and may lost souls find peace.




TTFN