Moving forward

 It has been a bad time with the persistent harrying of the Black Dog. I feel however that l am moving forward. Little to no productive hobby work has been done but l have managed to do the things that needed to be done in real life mostly and mostly offered the support that was needed too. A new month on Thursday and a new season.

Today is the eighth anniversary of Jan’s death. I am posting a picture of us in Copenhagen, having walked up the ramp within a tower  (    https://www.rundetaarn.dk/en/front-page/ ) to look over the city.

Eternal rest grant…

 

Help!

 I can’t send emails this morning. This error message comes up when I do-

Can anyone explain, tell me what to do or help? Thanks in anticipation…

That was the week that was…

 The Black Dog has been biting hard this week. I have attempted to stave him off. Due to his appearance l have had to cancel next week’s holiday to Bruges ( got less money back than I would have liked) as well as an upcoming wargaming weekend. It was less stressful to cancel than fret about them. Friday saw me having to cancel a Zoom game. Disappointing, but there it is.

I did go into my guiding this week, didn’t want to let folk down. It proved a positive experience though l really didn’t have the energy for it. I enjoyed sharing the murals with visitors and engaging in fascinating conversations with those new to the subject as well as with fellow enthusiasts.

My youngest got Covid but was expected to work, seems a tad odd to me.It has hit her hard but she has got through the week. My middle’s worldly good arrive from the far South West Friday afternoon.

I have tried to take projects forward hobby wise but without much success. I started watching series one of  “ Detectorists” and got pulled into this gem of a programme. I think l have joys ahead of me…

A  parcel arrived with these-

I think they have lots of potential. Here they are with 28mm figures but would work well with 54mm ones too.

Just ideal for late 17th century gardeners and plant collectors.

Hopefully next week will be better…

The Maze game

 I bought “ The Game of the Maze” a while back with a view of gaming with it.  Here is the board as it comes-

I had been thinking of how best to proceed for a while and then Man of Tin posted this-

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2023/08/09/lone-warrior-solo-gaming-article-on-creatively-adapting-chess-boards-and-game-boards/

A most interesting post with a link to a Lone Warrior article in pdf form as part of it. So having been inspired l thought I would see how my ideas looked set up-

I added some Warbases hedges and trees to give height and added some topiary I had made ages ago from air drying modelling clay.

The statue in the centre is an old figure of Neptune on an old cotton reel , again something l had done before. The trapdoor , l can’t recall where I got it , hints at hidden passages below…

Figures in late 17th century clothing were added as gaming pieces or protagonists in this game.

I found my cheery faun figure and just had to add him to the fun…

Overall l am very pleased indeed with the look and hope to game things out later plus perhaps try out some further ideas…

It’s in the trees it’s coming!

 

Clearance

 Finally cleared this-

Into some box files, being mainly plastic they are not heavy at all.

These new recruits  below ( having been based and static grassed) are looking for an adventure 

Having spent the night in Reparation Aerienne Inn they set out with their trusty page…

FE Perry (3)

 Final article-

Finally thanks to Brian C and Plastic Warrior for allowing me to share these with you all.

FE Perry article (2)

 And the next-

FE Perry article (1)

 The below appeared in Plastic Warrior 10 . The first is a covering note from Ross Perry whilst the others are originally from the Midland Bank in house magazine.

Old school delights

 I am indebted to Bob C’s blog for drawing my attention to the August 2023 Wargames Illustrated article on old favourites -

Well worth a look in my humble opinion. There’s also a Thane Tostig article to enjoy to.

In other old school news I am indebted to Brian C for sending me some articles on FE Perry. What’s more is that Brian has given me permission to put them up on my blog. Coming soon…

On the Fringe

 Currently guiding in  the Fringe so little time for hobby stuff at the moment.

Do pop by if you’re in Edinburgh…

This charming man etc

 Recently Brian C sent me a photo of some Elastolin Swedish soldiers. He rightly guessed l would be interested to see these composition made , tricorne hatted , twentieth century toy soldiers. I never knew of them at all although I have some composition Elastolin Swiss circa 1970. I looked on eBay to see if any were available and quite a few were- at a price beyond me. However there was a cheaper broken figure available. There and then I decided to give him a good home.

Saturday night when I arrived I found a wee box from Sweden behind the door. It contained this-

I am delighted by my purchase and he now stands on my painting desk shelf in a place of honour.

Claymore

 Went to the Claymore show yesterday with a friend. The day always begins with breakfast and ends with a family bbq with his children and grandchildren and my daughters attending. As ever it was great to catch up with folk. The weather allowed us to sit out under gazebos until nightfall which was not what the forecast promised as we followed it in the days before.

Claymore seemed to have a few empty spaces in terms of games and traders. Some notable absences were The Last Valley and Caliver Books. A few games caught my eye-

A Game of Thrones game , which I know nothing about as a theme. The table was spectacular and the walled city, in 28mm was simply stunning!

This naval battle betwixt Egyptians and Sea People caught my eye with massed ships and simple and effective terrain. Each boat was crammed with crew and warriors ( 10mm figures?) which really added to the look of it all.

The atrium at Edinburgh College where much was on display.

An excellent  small battle from the Wars of Mary Queen of Scots. The battle had been researched by the players who put on a game using 28mm figures. I liked the terrain and the way conquistador figures and late 15th century ones were utilised in this display.

A mid eighteenth century battle in 28mm with a stunningly castle, wonder who makes it? 

Bought one thing at the show-

A relatively rare book at an excellent price.

Here reunited with volume two back at my house which I bought a few years ago. A grand day out indeed!

“ If doesn’t come naturally leave it…” Al Stewart

 These words from the “ Year of the Cat” LP came into my mind yesterday as things weren’t going well with the Zinnfiguren. So l have put them aside to pick up later.

Remembering what Mark M of T said about picking things up in shops when you see them, I picked up these in The Works yesterday. They will come in handy for my Snowball games and perhaps to do some toboggan racing too.

Having set aside the zinnfiguren l went to the lead mountain so seek something out to work on. I found these WW1 German heavy and light machine guns plus sniper made by Great War Miniatures. They are excellent sculpts with loads of detail and equipment and will “ beef up” my Duke of Brunswick faction for  A Very British Civil War-

Later on yesterday l undercoated them and applied the basing Vallejo Earth texture on some bases.

Having watched one of my favourite Ealing films on tv last night l couldn’t resist finding a spare vbcw civilian and giving him a Burgundian flag l had lying around from the Perry plastic figures I was working on recently.

Today is Claymore and I hope to be going. No real intention to buy anything but might pick up some dismounted ACW Union cavalry to go with the 24 mounted ones l painted recently.

Flats

 Found these yesterday when tidying-

Wondering if they might make a little project before tackling something larger like finishing off Eric Knowles Turks and getting them ready for DBR..

I am thinking of basing the French and German zinnfiguren for the Portable Wargame and perhaps One Hour Wargames. However I am undecided as whether to strip the figures of paint and start again or just touch them up. I like the idea of taking forward old figures with their paint jobs and I am well aware I could not manage a better effort. So l am inclined to touch up missing paint etc. Secondly wonder what basing would work well with flats. Not sure if realistic basing is the vibe or rather flocking or simple green paint job. As ever your thoughts would be most welcome.

 Up sharp to base and flock-

Flocked the last of the French, based the knights on individual bases and also based these splendid old school Siphai Turkish cavalry which were a kind gift from Graham K.