There's been lots of chatting both online and over the phone with fellow gamers this week, discussing the fantasy rules I'm wotking on and planning what we are all going to do in terms of historical and fantasy gaming. It's been really great to repeatedly hear that friends are more into gaming than they have been in 20+ years.  I'm planning to wrap up my fantasy stuff by mid-2025 including the painting. I'm literally just buying the last few bits and pieces now, to fill out armies which, in a couple of cases have been steadily built up (well, piled up in unpainted piles) since 1982 - 1984! I confess now, that the fantasy has taken over and historical is in the minority, albeit a healthy one. My wife, very kindly bought me some birthday gifts a few months early after a fellow collector offered up a Ral Partha Imperial Dragon and Elf Chariot, both in boxes and in great condition, for a very reasonable $75 plus shipping from the U.S, which came out at less than £90! I...

 The fact that I am now of pension age, is still settling on my mind, but even though it sifgnals the third and final stage of my time on this planet, it has acted as a supercharged burst of hobby-based determination, not only for me, but a couple of other friends too. I have been making lists and opening long forgotten boxes to get my fantasy collection thoroughly completed, but the cost is not something I think reasonable, as scalpers and profiteers run amok on the internet, claiming that figures produced in their thousands are 'rare'... The truth is that they are not generally rare and can be found very easily. Let me demonstrate... The pic below represents some of the stuff I've purchased this week: As you can see there are 4 of the 5 Dark Elf War Eagles I managed to find from various sellers, both on and off eBay. These averaged £45 per model against an original £7.95 40 years ago - Not bad by modern standards but still eye watering. They weigh around 400g each so are ...

 In 1981, I found gaming, without realising it. Now, some 43 years later, I'm still obsessed with this hobby and enjoying it at a personal if not group level, more than I ever did. I was chatting with the Memsahib recently and trying to convey to her just what it was like back then.  We are the same age, but our experience of our own home town is totally different. I suppose that to some degree, it's just what Joe Jackson sang about, but moreover, my wife comes from the semi rural fringe of the city, whilst I am from a 10 minute bus ride from the heart of the Steel City. I met my wife in '88 so she saw the final throes of Games Workshop allowing stores to have an individual identity and sense of autonomy and saw the high water point of the Sheffield Wargames Society domination of Northern wargaming, so her own gaming experience since then has mirrored my own. But S.W.M.B.O missed a critical period in our hobby (as did all those who somewhat ironically profess their love for...

 It's been another hard week at work as we have had assorted surveyors and contractors crawling all over the manse, but I've managed to add a few more pieces to my fantasy collection. First up, is a full set of Golfag's Mercenary Ogres in their original format. The trooper is a bit on the ugly side but the command models are what always made my heart skip a beat, so getting a full 15 figure regiment was a treat at a reasonable but considerable price.   And to round out the week, I today bagged Golgoth the Giant Balrog, part of the Tony Ackland Arcane Monstrocities range. It's a heft lump of lead and is in it's original box to boot...      And as if these gems were not enough, I set myself the challenge of finding one of the old Dark Elf War Eagle from the Arcane Monstrosities range on Wednesday. And I acquired 4 - so far...     If you have another one of these, with or without rider, please reach ou to me if you want to sell it. So, all in all It's bee...

 I confess, that I'm not getting as much gaming in as I may like, and it's all my own fault, because I have a games room filled with stuff related to the renovations, although the pile is now somewhat smaller and I can see the tables. We had the builder quote for 5 more projects yesterday on the basis that we aim to get this place exactly as we want it when we retire. There's a lot to be done, so I am already planning for how not to have to use the games room as a builders storage yard, and have been quite firm with my position in that regard. As I write, it's 5:40 and I have been awake since 4AM. I'd hoped to find a new project which interested me over a first fruit tea of the day, but I confess that I really cannot find a period that gets my juices flowing. This is both worrying and at the same time rather pleasing because it implies that whilst not tired of the hobby, I'm fulfilled with what I'm already doing. But it has to be admitted that, after 46 year...

 The Memsahib finished basing a few giant toadstool forests over the weekend. The mushrooms are ready painted resin models ordered from China through 'Temu'. They do the job nicely and are in the game room awaiting use...  

 I spent Easter Monday painting, after first booking another meal for two at the Cavendish in Chatsworth - Look, you get one life and that tahini and white chocolate torte, really is something special. I've had several character models for my fantasy collection, sitting on my desk for over 6 months noe, so I decided that despite hating spending my free time doing what I do every day for a living, I'd crack on. As a kid, I lived in the 'original' Games Workshop store in Sheffield, the lair of one of the pioneers of fantasy painting - and GW staff member - Peter 'Greblord' Armstrong, from whom I learned a lot and in doing so, also got picked on a lot, which toughened me up to the world, being (as I became) a student of the 'Armstrong-Gilbride Youth Education Programme', graduating summa cum laude in 1984. Pete is no longer with us, but his blog  remains as a deliberate memorial to him. I always loved Pete's work in the early 80s, and Pete pretty much p...