Some of you might enjoy this…

 Read this the other day. Opened a whole new world to me , utterly fascinating. Have a look-

https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-without-the-war

I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but hopefully some of you will have found the urge to be involved…

Anyway, I printed out a couple of sets of rules from the Discord site-

Most interesting reading.

Progress etc

 Got a little work done today-

This morning I had to go to an appointment a bus ride away. As ever I was impressed by the murals on the walls and those on the shop shutters. A few examples-

Minifigs and Neville Dickinson

 Slingshot arrived today and an interview with Neville Dickinson in it prompted me to look out my Numidians-

They need a wee sort out, possibly rebasing prior to being pressed into service with other old school ancients. In a suitably nostalgic mood I got this old ex library book out for a wee look-

In other news , after class l had lunch with my eldest at Rocksalt cafe-

I had the Turkish Breakfast for lunch and it was absolutely delicious! On returning home l worked on some MLS Workers  Militia figures who l moved along very nicely.

The Ruddle’s County Challenge

 It is coming towards May and warmer weather is just round the corner, hopefully. I thought this might be an appropriate time to introduce “ The Ruddle’s County Challenge “ to you.

Two ideas came together in my mind recently- the famous al fresco wargamer and a beer I drank in the eighties. So I thought I would present the readers of this blog with a challenge. Fight a wargame in the garden or any outdoor space, takes photos and write an after action report. That in essence is the challenge. Whose up for it then?

Whatever next..

 Really need to sort the painting desk, it has become untenable.-

My Old Irish army needs to have steel paper added to the box files and magna base added to the figure bases in order that I can take them to away matches by train or bus. 

I have looked out the remaining Mark’s Little Soldiers to paint. An impetus, in the form of a resin armoured car arrived at the weekend. Many thanks to D of VWC for printing it for me -

An art deco masterpiece , which will look excellent alongside the forces of Ostmerk.

Finally a splendid photo l found on Facebook. Home guard cyclists

They came from…..the shed!

 The Mad Padre was correct, I did find interesting things in the shed when looking for the Ottomans-

P.S l did find the Ottomans in the end, right at the very back in the last box!

Uniform suggestions please or how to use these-

 I was over at P’s for a vbcw game today. Before I left he very kindly gave me the figures below-

They are New York Cops , from a gangster range I presume. P said they were of no use to him and wondered if I might use them in some way in my VBCW forces. He wondered if they might make a unit of Commissioners for example. Hmm not sure. I wondered about RAC.

So over to you , can you think what these figures might be turned into with a paint job and perhaps a rifle or two? As ever all suggestions very welcome!

Spacemen- anyone recognise these?

 I found them in the shed. I don’t recall buying them. They have integral metal cast bases and are 28mm. I don’t know the manufacturer. Can anyone identify them and are they still in production? Thanks.

Landship riders

 The Albion Army High Command has taken advantage of the decent weather of late to put their Landships through their paces. They are trialling tactics whereby some infantry ride upon the Landships whilst other advance on foot behind…

Back to class

 I really missed my Art History weekly class during Covid, the on line ones were no substitute for in person discussions , dialogue and just chatting. Yesterday saw this term’s class start. We are looking at Bosch, Bruegel, Durer and Holbein. Yesterday got off to a cracking start with Bosch and his wonderful yet enigmatic early works. It was great to see some old faces not to mention our splendid tutor.

The above statue represents me inside- the enthusiastic learner off to class…

I had to purchase a new notebook as l had finished the last one during my Scottish Course before Christmas.  Looking forward to learning loads this term…

Space

 Tasks for the coming days- 

Clear this ( again) to allow a game to be set up…

Enter the shed and look for my Ottomans . My regular opponent is keen for me to get them on the table to oppose his Poles. No idea where I put them. Getting at them will be a weight lifting workout…

Pluscarden Abbey

 I’m an early riser at the best of times and while away I got up at the same time or so. Here are some early morning pictures l took-

I’m back

 Been away since  Friday morning on a retreat/conference without internet access. I am looking forward to catching up with your blogs, emails etc. My recent posts were set up beforehand.

John Ruddle Book

 Bought this very cheaply second hand, it was the name that attracted my attention. Comprehensive lists and some photos that were new to me. 

I like the old library sticker and stamp.

Finally, need to tackle this again!

Farm or Someone’s knocking at the door.

 Wednesday saw us trying out my new farm building complex with VBCW figures. The straight forward scenario was that the Swedish volunteers occupied the buildings and the Liverpool Free state attacked from either end of the table. Much of the morning involved my players getting to know the windows and doors in the buildings, defining lines of sight/ dead ground and working out rules for potentialities. Loads of chat, loads of questions, rule definitions dissected and it took ages. I really hadn’t considered much of what came up. Here was the layout-

Below is the picture I took which shows the reality of gaming- stuff everywhere on the table, rules, dice, dice trays and playing cards. I don’t have enough space to begun these on and anyway the cards have to remain to mark order of moving and firing 

Farm looked good, impressed the players and was fun to use. For next time l need to prepare floor plans of each building with doors and windows marked in order to put figures on and to help track where folk are when indoors. Has anyone done this, was it helpful? I feel a one to one floor plan would be best …

Not many turns were run through but we learned a lot of what to do and what not to do.

Finally the highlight of the game was the inability of one LFS volunteer to blow the door open-

I’m not really that good a photographer with my phone but this one came out well l think.

A Joe Morschauser game in 15mm

 I was inspired by this cover of a magazine I saw at Ronnie’s-

So I set up a dark age game in 15mm and am currently playing it through…