Derby again!

I tell you something, the last year has shot by, but unfortunately, not much has been started or finished on the wargaming front. I reckon my total to date since last October is 15 15mm figures, some 15mm vehicles and some 6mm SciFi skirmish figures, models and terrain.

And that is it!

Pitiful, absolutely pitiful.

But the good news, such as it is, is that I finally found the box of ACW 115mm figures I have been hunting for for ages. You will never guess where I found it.

Just to the left of the fan on the shelf above the printer is some rolled over A4 paper...you can just see the edge of the box on the left of the sheets. The bl**dy thing had been right in front of me for the whole time. Cavalry, wagons, generals, artillery, infantry, the whole lot, it's all there. Wonderful. Now all I've got to do is add it to the 'things to be painted' list. As you can imagine, I chuckled...not at first mind.

Family wise, MO has got himself a role as the voiceover for a certain crisps in a tube company sponsorship thingy. Basically, films on Channel 5 over here in the Old Country for the next few months will have his voice and parts of him on screen as the ad break starts and ends.

Now to Derby. I'm really looking forward to this one because it appears that a number of the WD 3 Wargames forumers?? including yours truly are having a meet in the bar -where else, I ask you- for a few wets. Be nice to put more faces to the avatars. I caught with a couple last year and they will be there this time as well.
   Also, I have decided that I will get some different opposition for my 10mm Mongols. As you know I have a sizable Song Chinese Army to face them but I intend to get some Khwarizmians; I've e-mailed Mr Kay at Irregular and they should be waiting for me on arrival. Can't think of anything else I need at the moment apart from some static grass and flock. I intend to take some pics of the games as well; I took a load at last years show but never got around to posting them.
    This could conceivably be the last Derby that I get for a few years, as soon as we have sold the house we are moving back down south, Kent to be a little more precise. Loads of good shows down there (apart form Salute which I can't stand) -Tunbridge Wells, Reading, SELWG, and more than a few in my native county, Essex.

Just to let my myriad -??- of followers know that I am still around, just extremely busy but nothing to do with wargaming.
I was trawling through some of my favourite blogs earlier and came up with this on Take the High Ground. This gentleman has some brilliant terrain ideas and it's well worth a visit. Anyway, he had found this on someone else's blog, so I thought I'd nick it as well, hopefully no-one will mind.


1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?
 Medieval in the Far East, especially the Mongols and their enemies. When I first started in wargaming back in the early 1970's there was a series of books in Southend Library about Great Commanders written by Dupuy and Dupuy. They wrote one on Genghis Khan and I have been fascinated by the Mongols ever since.

2. Next period, money no object?
 Napoleonic Wars in 28mm.

3. Favourite 5 films?
In no particular order: A Bridge too Far, Zulu, Waterloo, Blazing Saddles, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

4. Favourite 5 TV series?
 UFO, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Primeval, Firefly, The Sweeney

5. Favourite book and author?
 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. An SciFi novel about an interstellar war that takes place over centuries because of the speed of  light and the aging at different speeds thing. Cleverly done.

6.Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
This may surprise a few people (not) but it's Subedai Bahadur, (a Mongol who was the logistical mastermind and brilliant strategist who was the brains behind most of Chinggis Khan's later campaigns and indeed the European invasion of 1241).

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
 A set of Napoleonic Rules specifically written by a mate of mine -I still have the original -for the old Mini Figs 5mm blocks.

8. Favourite Sport and team?
 Football (the real one), West Ham United.

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
 The Battle of Mohi, 1241.

10. Last meal on Death Row?
 Steak and kidney pudding followed by Spotted Dick with Devon Custard.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?
 Maggie Gyllenhaal, marvelous role in The Secretary.

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
 Michael Palin.

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
 Beast from the original X Men.

14. Favourite Military quote?
 'Beware Marshal of what you do', Marschall Blucher (Prussian) to Marshal Davout (French) as the former moved towards Paris after Waterloo.

15. Historical destination to visit?
 Loads spring to mind. Probably Mongolia, Malta or Rhodes.

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
 Not enough hours in the day to keep up with my projects, wargaming and otherwise.

17. Favourite Fantasy job?
 Author.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?
'Man who Sold the World', David Bowie -his version not Lulu's
'Apache', Shadows
'Nights in White Satin', Moody Blues
'This Flight Tonight', Nazareth
'Atomic', Blondie

 19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
 Using one of the old WRG versions on a books under cloth terrain, I elected to use a line of hills. My LMI Ancient British infantry could go over them but my mate's HI Assyrians couldn't. Downhill charge off the table he goes, what a plan thinks I. Rolled to charge with the warband on the far right. Decided it didn't really want to play anymore and ran away...followed by the rest of my warbands. At the end of the third move I only had 2 units of LI and 1 of chariots left on the table! Funny now but not so much then.

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
 A lot of things. I am getting more cynical and intolerant as I age. Governments, large and multi-national companies, mis-use of the English Language, footballers who play act or deliberately cheat, lack of manners and social skills, the majority of television -especially soap operas and 'real life' programmes to name but a few. (Ask Ma Subs, she probably has a list somewhere).

Back in the top flight -football that is, nothing to do with flying

What an afternoon. Just finished watching the Championship Play-off Final and West Ham won. Really good game, commiserations to Blackpool but quality counts and West Ham had it all over the pitch. I bet half the street heard OO and myself when the Irons scored...twice. The Premiership beckons. And there is still the European Champions Final tonight. Never really taken to Chelsea but as they are the only English team in the final I hope they win. I'll watch it anyway.

Been otherwise engaged (Pic and script heavy)

Weeelll, to be completely truthful, after Derby for some reason that I still can't put my finger on, the bottom dropped out of my interest in wargaming in general, figure painting and blogging -hence the time lapse. For a time I was writing and committing most of my notes and role playing systems to for an RPG SF game begun back in the 1980's and well before the availability of pc's. Post Christmas that was done so I cast about for something else to do. Got interested in Mr Angel Barracks 6mm SciFi and made a few bits of scenery and buildings for that to go with the Irregular stuff I painted.

These are some pics of terrain buildings and a couple of cd based chunks of scenery. Two single storey, semi-detached habitats followed by a larger unit. Then there is a workshop unit with a small storage yard and one of those ubiquitous roller-shutter doors. After that is a storage tank for whatever the colony needs to store and finally there is a small unit. The buildings are made from thick card on two faces and cereal packet card on the other two. the tops are cut from small corrugated card strips found as packing at work. (Note to self, need more card.) Details are from hole punched paper, sticky labels and the pipes are straws and the middles of cotton buds. The external pipe on teh starage tank is just a piece of sprue with a bend in it. Painted in a functional grey scheme with a thin wash of deep red over everything to show that the sand gets everywhere.

Now I must apologise for these next two pictures. The ones above were taken directly from my pc but these two are from my photobucket site and I haven't got a scooby on how to re-size them.

Now here a few pics of some stuff I did ages ago but never got round to taking any pics of. The ECW are 6mm and the Romans are 10mm, all Irregular. 1. Imperial Roman HC.

2, 3 and 4. The Earl of Essex's and Lord Saye and Sele's Regiments of Foote from the ECW.

5. Two troops of Essex's Regiment of Horse.

6. Two Imperial Roman Cohortes.

7. Numidian cavalry, Imperial Rome.

I now need to make another apology about the layout of this post. Blogger has changed everything and I can't seem to work out how to get the script lined up with the relevant pics. Sorry. BUT I'M BACK! It seems that after two weeks off work with a bad chest infection combined with the viral thing that's going around meant that I could catch up on my DVD collection. Re-watched all my Mongol DVD's amongst others, my painting mojo seems to have returned and I am painting some Ancient Brits to go up against the Romans pictured above. Roman total painted currently stands at 4 legionary cohortes of 42 figs each, 1 auxiliary cohort of 30 figs, a heavy cavalry unit of 24 and a unit of light cavalry 18 strong. Still to paint are another two units of auxiliary infantry -1 spear and one archer- all Irregular and some ballistae from Pendraken. Facing them I have 1 warband of 27 painted; I based that up to see what it looks like and have another 30 painted (Irregular) and about the same amount of Pendraken half done. I'm also halfway through six chariots. I'm thinking of using Impetus as a ruleset because it fits in with my basing style and I've read good things about it.