As has been recorded in the blog in the past, I was wargaming Vietnam when it was considered a little 'off colour' and choices were limited, both of rules and minia, but of course, it was 20mm scale all the way - as is still right and proper of course. How I remember listening to Yes being played on Radio 1 ( that  long ago) as I painted my latest unit of Green Berets or SEALs, and how excited I was when I painted my first Skytrex 20mm NVA which were chunky and lovely to paint. I was thrilled and at the same time repulsed by the beautiful photographs of Tim Page, the photo journalist who, after stepping from a Huey in a hot LZ, hit a mine and ended up losing a section of his brain, the size of a fist, surviving and going back in later years, such was the effect of the country on his soul. I am now wrestling with myself over a switch up to 28mm as I return to 'Nam gaming, but this only applies to smaller actions involving platoon sized formations and a more narrative approa...

 1982 saw the release of Warhammer. It flopped... Really, it did. The roleplayers who, at the time were the dominant force bought it, read it and sold it. Or simply didn't bother. There were stacks of the stuff piled on pallets at the front of the 4 or 5 GW stores, for a fraction of the cover price. It would be a while before we actually got it going locally, because we'd been using a set of D&D mass combat rules from White Dwarf, and they worked rather well, being solidly based in the kind of old school (let's say traditional) mechanics that historical wargamers liked. Some of the lads played the Lidless Eye rules using the Jacobite Miniatures 15mm Middle Earth rangeds which were loively little models with a lot of character. They were 'of their time' - what isn't, but they were great. WRG had a fantasy modification for their Ancients rules and of course there was the excellent Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age by FGU which allowed battles in the age of Cona...

 I love, 15mm Sci-Fi. To be honest, I'd really forgotten just how deeply this wonderful 'period' is etched into the DNA of my gaming experience. Rediscovering it, with the emphasis being on not recreating the exact models, but certainly going full-on with the aesthetic, is proving to be a real emotional roller coaster.  I have always been inspired by the Striker rules, box art, and 'grav' and 'hover' APC's, so it was only natural that this was the direction I took at the outset. As I mentioned previously in another post, I have opted for a mix of models from GZG, Alternative Armies (who currently have a 20% off everything sale in play - go and buy something immediately) and Brigade Models. Jon at GZG and Gavin at AA are a real pleasure to deal with, and they look after and dare I say, spoil their customers. I ordered over £400 of models from GZG at the start of the week, and, even with a late night addition on Wednesday, to my order, Jon got it all to me...

 As you will know, if you were a seasoned reader, before 'The Great Post Purge', I have always pretty much been an 'all rounder' in the hobby, being firstly a roleplayer, then swiftly after that, both a historicial and sci-fi wargamer, and latterly in the wake of the release of Warhammer, a fantasy wargamer too. True, I'd played some games with the AD&D mass battle system on an early White Dwarf issue, so I guess I really did hit the ground running with too many camps to have a foot in, under normal circumstances. But, I was used to having 7 comics per week, all differently themed, and I balanced those well, and so, being that particular type of dreamy kid of the 70s and 80s who did not have the distractions of today's pampered poppets, who try to recreate the 'authentic' gaming experience and generally fail to make more than a pastische effort, an 'Eton Mess' of the hobby, mixing up the metaphorical fruit, meringue and cream into something t...

 Well, my month of R&R is finally upon me, so, having received a delivery of Aly Moorrison High Elves from my painter (the infantry part of my army) I set about basing them yesterday. Today, they are based and double varnished, along with a couple of human characters who were in the box with them. I asked my painter to work from the descriptions in Forces Of Fantasy, which he has done, with exactly the end result I envisaged and which, would have made the 14 year old me, get a little excited in the trouser department. Hell, the 57 year old me is barely holding steady...

 Well, after a 15 minute ride on a 47 bus, we have arrived in Sheffield's Haymarket and two shops beckon which, directly led to me getting into wargaming, although there are also a couple more smaller places in the market itself, but they only have the odd diecast car and Timpo Swoppets copy, so we'll not waste time there today as my nan has to do the weekly meat and fish shop, and I reckon I can get her to spend some money on the family's golden-haired-first-born... Actually, once I ntroduce a location, it may be best if I move across the mutliverse to offer snapshots of how it was but also look at where a place tied into my hobby. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if you wish.  Sheffield market had an area known as The Gallery which was two stories up, a quadrangle of shops comnnected by aerial walkways, which also connected to Woolworths, British Home Stores and several other larger businesses, but the reason I liked it (Woolworths will play it's part later,...