It's Been An Equitable Life, Henry

All things considered, it's been a fair and equal life I've had in gaming, hence the play on that old tag line for an insurance company here in the UK.

I'm very much in the Autumn of my life now and I started in the Springtime, so I have seen and experienced a lot of what the young discuss with sagelike certainty these days, first hand. I have been lucky... Of course, you way not see the description of first setting eyes on a certain model to be anything these days, but over 40 years ago, that kind of thing could be awesome and indeed, jaw-dropping.

I recall the first time I saw the Ral Partha 'Sprite' models, tiny little figures in puffed sleeves and slashed hose, one holding a swod in both hands, the other riding a muntjack deer. What made these special was that at a time when I was just getting to grips with enamel paints and gloss on everything, Pete Armstrong (may he rest eternally at peace, or knowing Pete, repose in an outrageously debauched manner) was painting these for the GW sales cabinet in Sheffield, in beautiful pastel shades and delicate washes, making them ethereally translucent to the eye. 

I'm sure I am not reimagining these models, in fact I know I'm not. They have a place in my heart to this day and were it not for the fact that Ral Partha Legacy sell that at an outrageous price, I'd buy a few units for my Great Fantasy Undertaking.

I am currently in a state of reverie/melancholy, as the Autumn leaves turn and the nights draw in. This was a time of year when, after a summer of holidays and holiday romances, I'd get back home and start another turgid year at school, punctuated with as much gaming as I could, the half-term holidays seeing me once again in Games Workshop pretty much every day (we weren't called limpets for nothing) and taking part in the varied entertainments on The Moor in Sheffield, where I developed a love for and skill at riding electric rodeo bulls one year, getting it right to the top rate on one truly memorable ride - and let me tell you, I'd not be able to these days.  It was a violent flinging around for which headbanging to Iron Maiden seemed to prepare I and my long haired compadres very well indeed. 

A few rides on the bull, then over the pavement to Games Workshop and a verbal rodeo with Chris and Pete, maybe with a flirt in that stuttering, tongue-tied teenage way with Lisa and Jo (Jo, probably way more dangerous than leaving a bull at 35mph, but I fancied her something rotten, so death was a reasonable risk to take even though love was unrequited)

These bpoor buggers had to deal with the Limpets... In this pic Pete Berry, with Cy Harrison and Phil can be seen acting as a human wall for Lisa, who is hiding in the armpit of Cy..

These really were halcyon days that back then I thought would last forever, but alas, like the latest wargaming fads, they slipped by in but an instant.

I shall be putting fingers to keyboard over the next few weeks with more reminiscences which span my life in gaming and which, will feature highs and lows, but I hope might prove entertaining being as it were straight from the limpet's orifice;)

TTFN