Yesterday

 My plans changed yesterday and I went uptown instead. A trip to The Works found some paint needed for some snowy bases and these trees which I will use in my 54mm games. I have seen them used to great effect on Tony’s blog. Later on in the day I cleared a space on the painting table and as a change worked on these semi flats. I have had them for ages so it was about time to move them forward a little. I managed  to find a replacement arm , my last in the spares box. The figures will be used in some interwar gaming as additions to my Austrian army.

A little light research..

 This morning sees me drinking coffee and waiting for dawn to break. In order to stave off the assaults of the black dog l am doing a little online uniform researching. I am amazed and delighted at what can be found online in the way of access to old books in library collections as well as prints. We are, in this way, blessed in the digital age. Some gems mined this morning-

Green stuff

 I’ve been fascinated by what fellow modellers achieve with green stuff. I’ve used milliput in the past but not really liked the texture of it. So l got some green stuff yesterday and decided to try it this morning. It was easy to mix together and apply. Made my fingers a tad itchy but washing relieved it. Here are the figures l experimented on. Tomorrow after drying out they will get painted. I feel there is a lot of potential in this material and intend to try further attempts to add detail to my figures.

Famine or feast

 It seems to go in cycles, l either have loads on or almost nothing. We are in one of those busy patches currently on all fronts, which is great in many ways. I fought two face to face games this week - the Jacobite one already alluded to an yesterday the continuing Antietam game. Being retired, having others in the same position and a friend with a room where games can be kept up is most fortunate. We continue to get used to the rules, enjoy my friend’s beautifully painted (and organised) ACW collection he has worked on for years. The photos show me advancing towards the sunken road with my Iron Brigade. We aim to complete the game on Tuesday, after a number of sessions over the last few weeks. Thursday saw me out for a Christmas meal with friends in a well spaced out restaurant. I thoroughly recommend Scott’s at Port Edgar , South Queensferry. The photo shows our view out onto the Queen’s Crossing. Today I will do some shopping then some Christmas tasks before settling down to the Zoom delight that is the Virtual Wargames Club. A cornucopia of banter, inspiration, geekery, Napoleon worship ( not me) and great company.

Fantasy find

 Found this chap in a charity shop today for £8.50. I immediately saw his potential as a giant for fantasy gaming. A very reasonable price I thought, not to mention the money going to a good cause. Here he is in action ( posed photos for scale purposes) against 40mm Dark Age figures and 54mm Guardsmen. 

Winter is coming!

 Took the chance to change the table today-

The green cloth were removed and the white cloth added. Like the green cloth the white one is gridded on one side and left plain on the other.The wintery railway backdrop was eventually located, stuck on with masking tape and held in place with the base mat. Here it is ready to be set up…

Jacobite game

 Enjoyable game with Ronnie C here in the Duchy. Good discussion also on how to  take the rules forward. Hopefully over the coming weeks we will come up with even better rules ,with period flavour but not at the expense of short length and simplicity. A few photos to capture the flavour of things-