Paint etc

 

 

I read excellent reviews for this board game and decided to get it to add to the family collection. The rules are mercifully brief but the tactical options seem large. Hopefully we will try it out today. In March I bought a set of Army Painter paints which began to run out a month ago. I got a reasonable deal on the ones below and am looking forward to trying them out. I have bought one or two bottles of this make which served me well. Pavements remain like sheet ice and I haven’t been on a walk for some days. I do not want to add to others burden by breaking a limb. Tradgardland is adjusting to the new conditions, organising space, time and supplies to make this time the best it can be. 

Dark Age DBV via Zoom etc

 Yesterday morning saw me doing some reading around these splendid but awful uniforms. They are some of my favourite all time uniforms due to their sheer theatrically. Here they are  ( beneath the Zoom photo) modelled by some reenactors.  

I

The afternoon saw me back on Zoom playing a dark age Ancients game. My regular opponent and Zoom host was giving his newly painted Irish a first time out on the battlefield. Their opponents were Saxons. The Irish have lots of javelin armed fellows ( defined as peltasts in the rules ) and some blades. Due to some consistently awful dice throwing ( and of course my tactical genius, goes without saying) the Saxons won relatively easily. A rematch is scheduled for Friday.

 

Craft

 Daughters one and two are really working hard on their lino cut work-

 

The kitchen table has been taken over. I do like the tools used and the effect achieved. 

Last night we all sat down together and watched the second of the Fantastic Beasts films on terrestrial television complete with adverts. There is something nostalgic and or satisfying about rushing out to make a cup of tea or get pudding in these breaks . Much better than pausing the computer or dvd. It was a most enjoyable film, I am enchanted by the creatures.

Trouble in the forest- how the game works...

 I have annotated some pictures to show how the game work. Please click on them to enlarge and read-

There is trouble in the forest

 There is trouble in the forest in Maple Leaf Country. It is winter and reports have come in to the high command that rebel forces are gathering in a winter camp beyond the Celine Dion forest. Some light infantry and highlanders have been hastily assembled to see what is happening- h

Above we see the troops setting out and the officers receiving their briefing. Below we see the enormity of the forest where it is necessary to keep to the path and not leave it otherwise their is a chance of getting lost or worse

. The game is of ambushes controlled  by dice. Each move the government troops make a dice is thrown and some rebels place on the table randomly. The number and position  selected by dice throws. Line of sight ( except for along the path is limited to adjacent squares with a further chance  enemy may be heard.. 

 

 

Back of a post it rules and the battle fought

 Here are the rules l used for my syw game, written on the back of a post it some years ago -

Brief but covers the essentials. Anything else was diced for if necessary. The game was a hard fought one with the Austrian Army retreating in the end . Here are the photos-

Break on through to the other side

 

I have never been a fan of New Year. I was always glad to get through it, rarely stayed up to see it in and am glad when the barrier is crossed. My mother always stayed up for the Bells with a wee sherry and mince pie or something similar even when on her own latterly. She had come from a family who embraced New Year with a good party, sing song, opening the windows to let the old Year out and of course first footing. Sadly the customs have died out since my youth for most .

Our New Year’s Eve was pleasant enough. Monopoly late afternoon , a Chinese meal from M&S and a film. My middle daughter chose “Emma” and it was a relief to find something we could all agree on, my youngest being allergic to period dramas, sometimes. Incidentally this was the last film I saw in the cinema with friends just after my birthday in March. We all enjoyed the film immensely last night, my oldest daughter ( Austenophile)  revelled in the costumes which is her particular interest and the other too were caught up,like myself, in this super retelling of the story. After that we all went to bed. I listened to a recording of a Big Bash League game on the radio and was awoken by fireworks at Midnight. I hope you all had a good New Year’s Eve too.

A quiet day awaits and that suits me fine. One of the last jobs I did yesterday was to sign up for an Open Learning course for ten weeks come late January. . There are less being offered and the art history ones are either a repeat of one I took last year or a far too generalist one. So something different- Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. It will be online again sadly but that’s the 2ay it is, hopefully I will be back to my weekly trip to Edinburgh to face to face learning later in the year. I dare say that the course may feature in some hobby activity this year.

No big hobby plans to announce ( for now anyway)  today, just carrying on with those started and see where my butterfly flitting takes me ...

Finally I intend to continue regular ,hopefully  daily posts for the foreseeable future as I have done since March. Have a good day everyone.