The odd thing about my early years, was that despite the fact that my parents were overly strict and overbearing control freaks in the rest of my life, when it came to gaming, because I was mixing with improving and wholseome characters, I got a lot of freedom.  Ask to go into town when here was some kind of minor Left Wing/CND protest and I would be confined to barracks, but ask to travel 30-100 miles on a quest for games, and that was OK, as long as I let my parents know by publuc phone, when I had arrived and when I was returning home, laden down with booty which even the original Games Workshop could not provide. For a short day out, we would go  by bus or train , to  Doncaster which had The Stamp Corner, ostensibly a philatelic supplies specialist, but which also stocked Minifigs and Hinchcliffe figures and the entire range of Osprey books, which was amazingly useful when it came to Christmas and birthday, as my father worked in Doncaster and, worked wi...

I was chatting with friends over the weekend, and it was quite clear that I am far from the only one with 'views' on how the hobby is becoming a playground for people with agendas other than just playing with little lead dollies on make believe battlefields. One of the things we discussed was 'gatekeeping' and how it is used as a derogatory pejorative, when in actual fact, it's really time that the so-called gatekeepers of the hobby were given some due. Look, like it or not, those people who care so much about the history and traditions of the hobby will be the ones who history will show, were the true heart of wargaming. You can experiment and innovate all you like, but never lose sight or memory of where it all began. Admittedly, I only started in 81'/82' but hell, I was taught by my older gaming peers to respect the roots and trail blazers in the hobby. They did not try to constntly fucking milk gamers. They came up with something, improved it and honed i...