Recently, I've been somewhat deep in thought, as to just how deeply my hobby has intertwined with my life thus far. 45 out of 57 years is a long time for anything, let alone, playing let's pretend with little lead dollies. On the day of my marriage, I kept a promise, made some years before to go into Games Workshop on my wedding day, alas, by then it was not the wondrous store of my 80s youth, but still, it was personally symbolic. On that same day, I purchased my first 'Paper Tiger' art book, 'Lightship' by Jim Burns, which to this day is on my shelves. As my daughter spent the first few days of her life being poked, checked and generally approved by midwives, I played a blinder of a game (15th Century Japanese vs Knights Of St John - My K.O.St.J won, hands down) with Andy Mackay, a stalwart of the early days of Games Workshop. A few years ago, as  my Grandson made his early appearance, I sat painting at my desk for 26 hours straight. ...

 Unless, it can be shown that it positively changes the hobby in some way, for the better, for everyone , and I mean THE HOBBY, IE: it improves games, and the experience of what the hobby is, then politics, identity and indeed opinion (including my own, of course) are irrelevant. I've had some very interesting and thought provoking discussions on this subject, and by embracing one cause celebre, you risk, no, will alienate even more people, with legitimate religious or conscientious positions.  I truly don't believe that politics or identity change how we play with little lead dollies, although it may mean that a few companies use it to cash in. That is my opinion. You do not have to agree with it.

 1982 was a pivotal point for me in many ways.  Alan and I had rapidly made ground into discovering the hobby, and we'd also introduced a few friends who had tried out D&D but not really had that 'Eureka!' moment that we'd had. We were buying and painting miniatures wherever we could get them, having three or four places to buy them in Sheffield, and also, on a day trip to the coast, found Q.T Models where I met and formed a friendship with the great Dave Hoyles, who was one of those 'O.Gs' who don't get the recognition they deserve, and who brought some fantastic models and inspirational painted displays in the store cabinets. Anyone of a certain age, will get rather excited when 'Q.T Hoplites' come up in conversation or indeed 'Q.T Samurai'. Sadly, Dave sold the Q.T ranges and they changed hands a couple of times. Indeed, I offered well above the asking price earlier this year when the ranges came up for sale, but the seller decided to ...

 We've got it wrong. No, we really have. In several ways. Look, there are those who have immeasurable resources or who are simply able to pretty much buy what they want, but the vast majority of the people in this hobby have a limited amount of time and/or surplus funding. I'm sort of lucky in that because when my wife met me, I was already a veteran, who, just like now talked wargames from opening my eyes to closing them (I even dream about wargaming - honestly) after Kayte said 'yes' to my proposal of marriage (amazing as I had no money and was not even sure I had a home) one dark night as I found her sitting on a friend's doordstep (waiting for him to come home) I was pretty certain that the whole gamer thing was OK with her. Let me be clear, in the early days when we would argue with a degree of venom a cobra would envy, gaming could have been the end of it all. But as Kayte got to know the same people I 'd grown up with or looked up to as some of the hobby...

As you may have already read, I have decided that the time has come to draw a line under acquisitions of new lead after 45 years of gaming. It's a conceit, a lie, that a gamer cannot die whilst they have unpainted figures. That's been proven wrong to me personally at least 5 times so far. Why, oh why, do we simply continue blindly buying lead which remains unpainted for decades in some cases, knowing full well that at the point of purchase we just pissed 35% of our money down the drain in lost value? For me, this could equate to a four figure sum, and a hefty one, wasted every year. To sell all that unwanted/unpainted lead, I'd need a lot of dead relatives to use as a reason for selling. Easier to say, 'I'm addicted to a rather peurile pastime, and I have buyers remorse/been unable to control myself. To this end, I have actually pulled the plug on another project, to stay true to my decision to simply focus on fantasy, the late 19th century 'imagined wars' a...

 I appear to have reached a new stage in my hobby, what I am calling my 'Imperial Phase'. I have literally gamed and lived within the hobby for over 45 years now. I have painted for fun (and since I was 14, profit) , gamed, written rules, a book ( another is in the works ) run one of the most successful bring and buy's at a major show for nearly two decades, and managed and then owned a bricks and mortar store. And, I am tired...  But in a good way. Yes, with the exception of loathing the integration of 'politics' and 'identity' ( which have no part in playing with little metal dollies )   into what is supposed to be a refuge from the real, my tiredness, is because I have pretty much exhausted my options for 'something new' .  I learned about 5 years, maybe a decade ago, that the industry, now ruled by 'big box' companies pushing ( who could have seen that coming, 25 years ago? Let alone 45. ) over-produced, high priced rules and chasing of ...

In 1984, I first really got an interest in wargaming the Renaissance. Some older friends in the 5 clubs I gamed with every week, were ECW re-enactors, By The Sword Divided had been on TV for a while, and I had fallen under the Mephistophelean, the Machiavellian, grasp of Lloyd Powell, whom I looked up to as one of several role models, who collectively shaped me into the misanthropic and opinionated ne'er-do-well I am today. But more importantly, Lloyd really got me interested in the Italian Wars and Wars Of Religion, and even today, over 4 decades later, when I need to check something about that wide period, I will still pick up the phone and call him at his repose in the Tower Of Doom overlooking the Rivelin Valley, from where he plans the reintroduction of the Feudal system and the arming of certain government agents with the longbow and shoot to kill instructions. But, I digress, as always... I love the colour and pageantry of the period and I have developed a acute aesthetic se...