Hi all, Well, the second game took place and was a refight of the ECW game we played back in the Summer. The outcome was surprisingly similar, even though the sides were swapped and another player added. The Bridge was once again the choke point and killing ground. All in all another great day, so that's all that matters. I have however postponed the third game, as I am unexpectedly busy with arranging assorted design visits and quotes for replacing the doors and wondows to the front of the house, changing a few radiators (despite doing it two years ago - all for aesthetic reasons) and arranging for designers to come and argue with me about how they see our bedroom looking and how we actually want it. We have 8 people coming for New Year's Day lunch and so the logistics of that are getting in the way, along with taking family out for lunch at Fox House today. I'm just grateful that I'm much healthier than two weeks ago. On Thursday, the Memsahib and I had a rather wond...

 Yesterday's game was an absolute corker! After commands being allocated randomly, we kicked off at about 11AM with the Forces Of Good steaming forward at a fair old clip on the left and centre, whilst the right flank moved forward more cautiously, forming a nasty combination of infantry columns and lines, with cavalry probing forwards on the flanks. Arrows and magical missiles flew, causing some disarray in the centre of the Forces of Evil. This was pretty much the way it went for the first couple of turns, with the FOG dominating the movement, and the FOE trying to reduce the damage they were taking. Turn 3 saw the tables turmed and the FOE swept forward, taking some substantial damage, with the unit of gargoyles which had got ahead of the main body, getting it's wings clipped by a unit of Hobbit Knights. The Orc trebuchet on the right flank having had two turns of good fortune, completely missed the mark. We broke for lunch, for which a small farm had given it's life and...

 Hi all, Well, I hope you're enjoying Christmas? Today, I'm off to watch the Grenoside Sword Dancers perform their Boxing Day dance, unique due to the fact that they dance it in clogs, of which I am a big fan and former wearer myself. Then I'm off house hunting, ahead of the dismantrling of the games room in January. The nice quiet roads should make it quite good fun. On Sunday, I got the majority of the table set up for the fantasy game tomorrow. There is much excitement as the old crew get together. Here's a quick pic of the tables, sans the figures that one of the guys insists on bringing, despite my having a few thousand unused on the shelves and boxes. That said, they are all by my own company, so it'll be nice to see them all on the table. Excuse the cards and markers. They are to help me in getting it all going across the 8 commands. The ad hoc army of the exceedingly evil mage Mad Ferritt have made a probing attack on the Western border of the realm of King ...

 Has it really been six days? Illness and sickness are not the same thing... And for probably only the second time in my life, I am 'ill' and, it's not funny at all, nor does it have any redeeming factors, other than it has made me take stock and reflect on a few things. C'est la vie. I've not been doing much at all, despite it being my my annual Christmas break. In fact, as it stands, Christmas is cancelled for the most part, because I lack my traditional enthusiasm for it. I dragged my sorry carcass up to the crematorium to where the memorial to my grandparents is, and had a 'family chat' and it was whilst I was there that I made a few decisions and reached some conclusions. The wind and rain up there on the hillside had a wonderfully focusing effect on me, feeling as grubby as I did.  1. A friend who cannot accept you for who you are anymore, is no friend. Move on. 2. Losing two parents, two years apart, even when (and particularly when) you were estrange...

 It is one of those not so curious twists of my accursed fate that I should becom ill on the first day of my Winter month-long holiday. I rarely take to my bed, but the last two days have seen me in serious stomach pain, freezing cold and with a 'right bastard behind the eyes'. All this topped off with no appetite and a Bristol Stool Rating which frankly went off the chart on the first day, including one 'memorable' session where there was a considerable amount of clean, dilute blood. I went to bed all fine and dandy on Tuesday, having watched 'Sharpes Eagle' and then "WHAMMO" I awoke in the morning in the arena of the unwell, where I have remained ever since. Whilst I have only moderate pain in the head and am now feeling generally warmer and livelier, the stomach cramps and simulation of the evacuation of Saigon are actually getting worse. So, reluctantly, I fear a trip to the physick may be in order if I am to see in 2024 and avoid the cold hand of ...

 Apropo of needing some more 12 inch tortillas for my devilishly good (if I may make so bold) vegetarian burritos, we popped over to Ozmen's a rather large emporium of international foods, a few yards from the Sheffield United ground (well, we all have our crosses to bear). Whilst there, we also grabbed some rather good Polish bread, top end pasta and the softest, darkest flan cases (it's a Christmas thing) you could ever wish for. It's a brilliant store, not only for the fantastic ranfge of foods, but also the vibrant racial galimaufry you encounter, all shopping for familiar and 'foriegn' foods. Smiles and good manners abound in a way which could make the most radical of the Left, shed tears of joy. Afterwards, as we passed the new(ish) Sheffield Markets, I suggested to the Memsahib, that we should pop into the food court there, where, as those in the know, well... 'know', you can get excellent Vietnamese and Nepalese food. An added bonus as we braved the ...

 I have for over 4 decades, pretty much avoided Napoleonic wargaming like the plague.  Why? Well, to be honest, I don't know, other than I just never really felt comfortable with the hundreds of books on Waterloo, Borodino, Austerlitz et al... Look, I think we can spend so much time reexamining the minutiae of a period that we forget we are really just playing games with toy soldiers and that of course, is why we are wargamers. I have never been a fan of refighting actual battles to the 'nth' degree. There always seemd to be a lot of this with Napoleonics and a lot of pseudo-intellectual claptrap to go with it. I avoided it accordingly. Full disclosure: I did play a couple of games down at the club in about 1985 using the Newbury Fast Play Rules, and will admit to having a good time. However, I have always liked the uniforms, particularly the stovepipe shako wearing British, and the Vistula Legion, so the idea of three or four divisions of Peninsular period Naps, has been a...

    Recon at Pudsey was always a fun show for me. In the 80s we had Recon in the Summer and Winter Recon in the, well... You get the idea.  For the last few years it's been a December show, and it's great. It's not without it's faults, but the venue, Pudsey Civic Centre gives it the feel of a proper 'old school' medium sized show. The catering is generally good, with standard wargamer's fare. How many shows can you go to, and get two tickets, two breakfast sandwiches and drinks for £16? The ambience is enhanced by the fact the the PCC is all decorated for Christmas and the attendees are almost universally in fine mood and well disposed to the world in general. This year was the first time The Pit Gaming Store have run the show and I have to say, they have largely improved the show, expanding the area used for commercial exchanges ad getting even the renowned Dave Thomas to attend. We arrived a few minutes after the doors opened and it was already filing nice...

    Wargaming has always been a 'Hole In The Wall' for dreamers and misfits. We sort of collected together, drawn by some unseen force and created a new 'normal' in new and exciting world. Who and what we were in the 'real world' meant absolutely nothing. These days it seems as if being a misfit is more important than the hobby itself, a cult of geek personality being waved and projected like a rainbow banner. I don't believe that this is the way it should be.  Look, when you are truly a troubled kid who doesn't fit in, you find a safe place and you try to fit into the community. The idea that you will stand on top of the walls of your newly established castle shouting 'look at me, I'm a weird bastard!' is not a good one - It ends up with you drawing attention not only to yourself, but maybe to others who just want to find a welcoming community and solace from the 'real world', rather than let the world know that they identify as a ho...

 Well, Advent rolls around once again and it's time for that greatest of traditions, the dusting off of the Jethro Tull Christmas Album - HUZZAH! At 7AM, 'Birthday Card At Christmas' was playing throughout the family hovel and I was in fine mood. At 7:10, It was into the Advent goodies pile... A festive Snoopy Timex X watch to add to the collection, a lovely presentation set of Bonne Maman spreads and the always excellent Bonne Maman Advent calendar. The Memsahib happily took ownership a silver and pearl bracelet from one of the two craftsman-jewelers I shop with and a cheese advent calendar. Smiles all round... The bag is packed for Recon on Saturday and various fellow gamers are meeting there, for the Lloyd Powell Memorial Bacon Sandwich (read my book, it's a good story). Oh, I it 10500 hits on this blog in November - A new record - Thank you! TTFN