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

 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 different in that Pete was guided into a room with me, by two indistinct figures, and then at the end, led away similarly.

Anyway...

This has got  me thinking. Had I not bought that pack of 3 Citadel Dwarves in Hopkinson's Toys, found Games Workshop a few days before it opened and so on and so forth, I would not have met all of these amazing, frustrating, abrasive and loving people who, in one way of another have influenced and shaped me.

And, because such was my way, I argued with so many of them... But, I suppose that made me, a shy and introverted kid, come out of my shell fighting. I was obnoxious at times, but I built a shell which protected me, for right or wrong. I became ultra serious, because I was much younger than many of my peers and emotionally younger than my contemporaries. I over compensated and found myself adrift and alone by 1990. Still, I held these people, these brilliant human beings in high esteem.

The great painter, Andy Ritson never gave me a single lesson, but was responsible for making me the painter I am today with 5 words -'That's crap. Do it again.' To this day, Andy is still in my top 3 influences, sharing top place with Pete Armstrong.

6 months later, I won my first trophy and my future changed. He changed my life, with 5 words, probably delivered with a bit of pique, because I was constantly pestering him as kids are wont to do with those they idolize. To this day, Andy is still in my top 3 influences, sharing top place with the - sadly - late Pete Armstrong.

Pete Armstrong gave me a hard time, every time I showed him a mini over the counter at Games Workshop he gave me some shit. I determined to be better than him and learn from him.

He and Chris Gilbride used sarcasm like a weapon. I reeled from the ascerbic comments and learned that the word was more powerful than the fist. They taught me to stand up to people much older than me with wit and a sharp tongue.

They made me the person I became - for better or worse - and all this was because of gaming. I had never met people like these in the mundane world. Gaming really did draw in the most interesting, infuriating people.

Over the last 10 years, I have mellowed somewhat. I am very comfortable in my skin, I am happy in my hobby and indeed my life. I'm just a bit pissed that it took 45 years of so to balance the chemistry. But that's history and although I can't erase it, I can learn from it.

Mick Rothenburg was another influence on me. Mick took me under his wing and introduced me to gaming luminaries such as Ian Smith. He saw I could paint and paid me to paint some  - if I say so myself - lovely 15mm armies. Mick and Ian put on a stunning 15mm 7YW display game in the mid-80s which I think at the time, set a new standard. 

Over the years, Mick and I have had our differences, normally caused by my moods, but after 45 years we are still friends, and Mick is still someone I respect greatly, even if we are  both a little rougher at the edges and frayed at the seams:

It's a fine hobby - a way of life for me, in fact, and I am not sure that many of us are truly engaging with it in a way which we get the best from it. Companies are larger, producing item after item. They have shareholders who expect returns, regardless of the way it comes, employing financial scarification,  bleeding gamers who (and I am as guilty as the next here) are chasing the next fashion or 'fix' like junkies.

You see very few fully realised, painted armies on the market these days, but plenty of unpainted plastic and metal 'scrap', as one project is cast aside because the owner does not have the drive or I guess finances to complete it.

During the lockdown years, I sat back and took a look at how I interfaced with my own hobby, and I realised that, because I work in the industry, the last thing I want to do is do my day job, 7 days per week.

So, I took the decision to use the money I saved with the lack of shows and focus, focus, focus on my hobby. Our daughter had grown up and left home almost a decade earlier, and Kayte and I had weathered and survived some pretty serious financial states - not surprisingly caused by wargaming and roleplaying, coupled with my stubborness in the late 90s. 

We decided that a dedicated gaming room to the rear of the house was a good idea when our builder, apropo of deciding that an old 40mm concrete garage really didn't go with his vision of the way our back garden could look, enquired what we were doing with this dilapidated shell. 3 months later, he'd converted it into a really nice games room which has been the guiding factor for the last 4 years of taking my hobby to a place that I wanted to be. 

 

In 2020, I had not a single piece of terrain. Now I have at least as much as many 'proper' clubs, all of high quality both in terms of construction and aesthetically. To be honest, I probably have way too much, including 48 feet of professionally made teddy fur cloths in three colours.

I found a talented painter who could paint stuff to a standard I was comfortable with, and quickly. I made a 'mission statement' that if I bought lead, it had to be either painted or sent to a painter and that's how it's been. True, I've cycled through a few projects to find my centre of balance, but nothing has been sat there unpainted. My armies tend to be on the large side, as I have the space and the tools in place to make them work. I have narrowed my interests and gone with things that I want to game. Luckily my friends have (seemingly also triggered by lockdown - I hate that term because it goes against my principles of individual freedom of action and expression) rediscovered their love of similar things. And, now that there is a place we can get together whenever we want, as well as playing smaller games on their dining tables.

I have even made it clear that if they want to drop by and play games when I can't, then that's fine. There are plenty of keys and these are my friends, my brothers to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for allowing me to be part of an amazing world for 4 and a half decades.

You see, I have learned that whilst it's great to own fantastic figures and scenery, it's so much better, so rewarding to share it with others, to pay it back down the line, so to speak.

If some people feel that it's anathema to them, to be in my company, well - that's fine. They must be who they want to be, but I think that as we all grow older, we should grab every opportunity to get together and reconnect with the teenagers we were.

After all, you will always, despite how you may protest be that crass, obnoxious kid, so just embrace it and channel the the enthusiam you had when you found the hobby.

I know that I and several others have done that and our lives are enriched by it. 

Additionally, I'm always looking for older companies, smaller 'mom and pop' operations on which this hobby was built, so that I can spend my money with them rather than some faceless shareholder driven business, which wears a smiling mask whilst not really giving a shit. Don't agree? Fine, but take a look at the lack of character in some of these models. It's your money, but that money can do more good and get you meore and better product which in turn will enhance your gaming.

Trust me... Take a day or so to step back, take stock of your hobby and what you truly get from it. I am pretty certain you can get more.

Nurture your friendships and, if you see that awkward, obnoxious kid in your loical store or at the ganmes club, reach out to them, because you could, even with just 5 words, change their life for the better. We must always 'pass it down the line' if this hobby is going to live on.

TTFN