Tales From GHQ

It will only be a brief entry here for this month, as you'll realise in a moment. In wargaming terms there is little to report: eight figures painted and based this month - all Empress Miniatures AZW figures, making up two Regimental command stands for two of my three British regular units {but still awaiting the long promised flags}. Only one purchase this month, a general illustated guide to Gallipoli, which I bought for general interest when I was in "George's Book Store" somewhere in rural Western Australia...I truthfully can't recall where, but for any interested Aussie readers the book store itself was for sale.

Now you can see why the entry is so brief, as I'm holidaying in Australia and parts of the Far East for a while. I arrived in Adelaide, South Australia, yesterday via Hong Kong, Sydney, Ayers Rock and finally having meandered 4,300 km from Perth in Western Australia; taking in Margaret River's wineries, Albany's whales,Kalgoorlie's Super Pit and crossing the Nullarbor Plain in a most violent storm. Along the way we saw some wonderful sights, stayed in some super places and met some interesting people {but my favourite spot by far was Streaky Bay, SA - couldn't say just why, but it just felt perect and had views I would never tire of.}

Now I'll be in Adelaide for a while with friends and then it will be home via Singapore - Qantas permitting of course... Hope you've all been keeping busy. Toodle Pip,

David

This has been another splendid month in the life of a retired teacher, passionate wargamer and geriatric in waiting. Sue and I were proud to see our daughter Ruth married at the beginning of the month. The whole day was wonderful, but as the ‘Father-of-the-Bride’ I really enjoyed every aspect of the day. Even the weather was brilliant, and it made the setting at Moseley Old Hall magical! Both children married in the same year, and to such wonderful and loving partners, I feel really touched by this as you might gather… And now, the Indian Summer to cap it all!

On more mundane matters, painting has been very patchy: I managed 31 figures and six small terrain items ~ the latter A frame tents {thanks, Dave P} and some packing crates I got from Ainsty. What I did manage were: some Foundry Late Roman Heavy Infantry; a few GWM WWI British cavalry I’d forgotten I had to do; some of the newish Empress Boer infantry; both this year’s Partizan free figures and the Warlord Fairfax ~ the last three all sculpted by Matt. Not a great month, but a satisfying total in the circumstances.

I’ve played six games this month, and ever the results were mixed, but all were wonderfully enjoyable ~ I won three, drew one and lost two. Stand out game was again a Crimean War game with me as the British and Jon as the Russians. My steadfast infantry contrived to arrive at the decisive moment in the centre of the Russian line and win the day! A very satisfying game all round. Memorable defeats were a SYW game with Phil and a Bull Run to Gettysburg ACW game with Jon. We played two Hail Caesar games, one of which was a draw as we ran out of time or steam or both! Phil and I also played a WWI 1918 game using Through the Mud and the Blood by the TFL, a set I find very taxing but really rewarding ~ I won that one by the way. Now that my ACW rules, called Bull Run to Gettysburg, written for Foundry Miniatures have been published, it has been interesting reading web based feedback in Forum/Fora[?] Boards and answering questions folk have emailed me. Mostly, I’m pleased to say, comments have been positive. What has been really strange has been seeing folk buying various sets of my rules at Partizan II and then sitting near them having a cup of coffee and trying to gauge their reactions as the look through their purchases.

It’s been busier for visits than usual this month I think. Obviously, I went to Partizan with Phil at the beginning of the month. I enjoyed the show as much as ever; for me the standout game was the 221B Baker Street game put on by Shaun of Bunker fame ~ I could have spent all day watching it if I’m honest. He’s a true wargaming treasure! I also attended Foundry’s Bull Run to Gettysburg delayed launch day. The folk who played in the morning and afternoon games seemed to enjoy themselves, two even buying a set of rules and an army each I’m told. Jon also took me along to Stafford Games’ Open Weekend to celebrate their new premises. There’ lots to buy and a very large gaming area where you and your chums can game the day away if you like. Their were some nice games taking place, but the Warhammer Ancients Battles 28mm game between an old chum, Nigel, and new acquaintance, John Hill, was particularly colourful I found. Some of JH’s painting was really spectacular…

Purchases have been very eclectic: some Foundry Indian Mutiny figures ~ the Maharaja’s Body Guard at last sorted and some extra mounted HEIC/HM officers; Warlord’s ECW Fairfax; Mutton Chops’ Holmes & Watson; and finally six large trees from the Last Valley. At the Foundry Open Day I availed myself of several bargains, mostly 1940’s Germans ~ motor cycle teams and cavalry, some ACW limbers; an AWI Grasshopper gun, crew and limber set. As I said, its a mixed lot. Finally I’ve continued with my rebasing crusade. Now I have got all my ACW collection onto MDF bases, having done the ACW camp scenes and General bases last month. I’ve even been making up vignette bases of odd stuff to make our games more picturesque, inspired by Moss Trooper’s offerings on his Blog, The Steadfast Tin Soldier.

Well, that’s it for a while as I’m off on holiday tomorrow. Remember, this is a hobby that’s meant to be fun, so, “Enjoy your Wargaming!”

Toodle Pip!

David

As I said in the title, “This will be short but desperate…”

Painting this month has been disrupted by a new madness ~ I decided, with some encouragement from Jon and Phil it has to be said, to rebase my AWI collection and bring it to a more modern appearance. I had ordered the 40 x 50 mm MDF bases from Warbases ~ whose service is second to none in my opinion ~ and took advantage of having the house to myself for a week to get it all done. I have British, Loyalists, Hessians, Continentals, State Troops and Militia, six boxes worth in total and I can say it took six whole working days!!! Having taken all the figures off the bases and re-stuck them to new MDF ones in the previous month I set to with a will. It took two days to texture the bases, two to wash them all with GW’s graveyard earth, and two more to flock them all with static grass!!!!! I was well and truly done for when I’d finished. But, in tonight’s AWI game here in GHQ with Phil, when they made their debut, they looked ‘SO MUCH BETTER’ than on the old style green Basetex on card bases, so it was worth it!!!!!! So much so that the 40 x 40 MDF bases are now en route from Warbases to enable me to rebase the whole of my ACW collection, hopefully before the end of the month!!! Now, painting? Well, I’ve managed 32 figures in all, mostly Late Roman Infantry, some Mediums and some Heavies, to pad out our Hail Caesar games. I also added three 2nd Punjab Irregular Cavalry to a Mutiny force. All in all I think it’s a respectable total….

I’ve managed seven games in August, winning three and loosing four. I won two ‘Bull Run to Gettysburg’ ACW games here to celebrate the release, at last, of my rules by Foundry. I also won tonight’s Black Powder AWI game here in GHQ, although Phil put up a tremendous fight right to the very end and then just crumbled away… Losses were a RF2 WWII Eastern Front game; a BP ACW at Jon’s, where effectively I’d lost in Turn 1 due to unbelievably poor dice!!! And both games on our GHQ Games Day ~ with Phil, Jon and John Aston ~ a Sudan game in the morning and a Western Gunfight in the afternoon. John has posted some really good pictures over on LAF if you’d like to see them, under the ‘Bickley Towers’ labels I think.

Trips out on gaming themes have included the annual trip to Claymore in Edinburgh ~ one of my favourite shows down the years, I thought it a bit flat to be truthful this year, with not so many standout games: although that may be a view coloured by being a part of the judging panel this year. We took advantage of the fine weather to pop up to Stirling, visiting the castle {recommended} and the Museum it houses of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders { interesting, but with a really disappointing approach to photography [none allowed] and to items/cards in the gift shop [identical to those in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry museum]} We’ve also been to stay with Matt and Sarah for a long weekend, great fun and of interest to see what he’s working on as a figure designer and also what he’s painting for himself ~ Late Saxons from Foundry, which he sculpted, and which are painted so well it makes me despair of my own pathetic efforts with them….

I’ve bought very little this month. Obviously my MDF bases from Warbases; Black Powder’s Last Argument of Kings; two pots of Dried Earth Basetex; and six mounted ACW Generals from Dixon, or rather from Spirit Games. And that’s it! Summer’s over, Autumn will be here, the nights are drawing in ~ time for planning a new project for 2012 I think!

Toodle Pip!

David

Post Publication Stress Disorder? You may well ask? Well, after what seemed like a very long wait, my ACW rules, written for Foundry Miniatures in 2008, have finally been published, or at least they will be in mid August! They are called Bull Run to Gettysburg: not my preferred title I have to say, but those who pay have the ultimate say. On Tuesday this week I was over in Nottingham delivering copies of my latest C19th Colonial Rules, The Devil’s Wind {for the Indian Mutiny} to Dave Ryan at Caliver and Nick Eyre at North Star with Phil keeping me company for the day! We went on to Games Workshop {Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!} for lunch in Bugman’s Bar and to meet Dave Andrews and Ally Morrison for a brief chat and decided then on a whim to pop in to Foundry to see what was happening there, as I’d been told my rules were imminently expected. Grand and pleasing surprise, they were there, and in enormous quantity it seemed to me! {How easy it is to please a simple soul!} I’ve signed 60 copies for the first people who’ve ordered the book at Foundry’s request, though I can’t see why anyone would want my signature to spoil a book, but there you go. I bought my copy home with me and have glanced through it from time to time ~ oh, OK; I’ve lovingly read every word at least ten times and gazed entranced at all the wonderful photos, illustrations, maps and diagrams included. Of course, the down side is likely to raise its head soon too: the hordes of ‘Foundry Haters’ are mustering in the realms of TMP I expect, ready to condemn out of hand, moan about the price, criticize the rules and whinge about the postage charges… Of course, you cannot please everyone I know, but it does grate all the negativity that surfaces in the ether on Forum Boards…

I’ll press my point a little further I think. Without wishing to be too outrageous I would hazard that amongst hobbies and pastimes we wargamers are way down in the basement of popularity. We are a very small number, but we are ridiculously well served by all sorts of talented folk making figures and terrain, writing rules and scenarios for almost any conflict that might cross your mind and in endless scales and at all levels of cost. Yet still people come out of their holes and whinge about things. “Get a life!” This is a hobby, it’s meant to be fun, but in the final analysis it is hardly a matter of life and death. Folk need to move on and concentrate on the positives our hobby brings them, the negatives will take care of themselves I believe.

Turning back to the mundane: I’ve painted 56 figures this month, the muse is on its holiday I fear! I finished the final unit for the Indian Mutiny project, a second LBI unit. I worked up my Pulp Warship, the USS Farncome and her crew of Pulp Miniatures sailors from Bob Murch’s talented hands. I also painted a Musketeer Miniatures HMG and crew for our 1940’s game and another base of three mounted and dismounted Boers from Empress for my AZW project. Finally, I started a unit of Late Roman MI from Foundry for my Hail Caesar games. Hopefully I’ll be more productive in August, but then perhaps not…I have n’t bought much this month either. I finally tracked down a Hudson and Allen walled farm/manor house through Ebob, and on Tuesday I bought three blisters of Foundry’s Early War German infantry as I plan to extend our 1940’s games next year, though they’ll still be of the tongue in cheek variety. Oh, and I bought a pack of IM Sikh irregular cavalry to bring a unit up to strength.

I’ve played nine games this month, probably the most in any month this year on reflection. As ever the results were mixed, but all were wonderfully enjoyable. Stand out game was a Crimean War game loosely based on Inkerman with Jon as the British and myself as the Russians. Despite wandering all over the table in the fog my infantry contrived to arrive at the decisive moment in the centre of the British line and win the day! A very satisfying game all round. Memorable defeats were two ECW games with Phil and then Jon, which I lost both times in Turn 10 with relief expected in Turn 11!!!! We use the wonderfully challenging ‘Victory Without Quarter’ rules which are free on the net, although I believe an expanded published version is in the pipelines.

Finally I’ve embarked on a rebasing crusade. So far I have got all my AWI collection onto MDF bases with a view to applying texture and static grass etc in mid August after I get home from a trip ‘oop north’ to take in Claymore and meet some of my ‘wild northern chums’! Yesterday and this morning I reorganised all my ACW camp scenes and General bases to make the command structure more easily discernable when we play. The latter are all textured now, so I plan/hope to paint them all tomorrow and then apply static grass and other bits on Tuesday. No choice in that really; Phil and I are planning an all day game on Wednesday to celebrate the publication of Bull Run to Gettysburg! So, that’s it for another month! Whatever your interests and scale preferences, “Enjoy your Wargaming!”

Toodle Pip!

David

Its been a very mixed bag here in GHQ, and elsewhere for that matter, with disruption to routine being the norm it seemed at the time. I think that, with the Indian Mutiny project moving towards completion, I have been unsettled in myself and wondering what the future might bring in my hobby. Perhaps, for the first time since I retired in 2002, I have no clear idea of starting a new project: nothing 'out there' in the hobby is really calling to me to be researched, painted and gamed. It might be because there are so many things going on in real life that the little lead men are occupying less of my attention, but I worry that it might be the onset of a new period of retrenchment in my hobby, perhaps just working my way through my 'Lead Pimple' ~ there's hardly enough to call it a 'mountain' now-a-days! But, perhaps I just got out of the wrong side of the bed today!

Painting has progressed steadily when I've had the opportunity to paint. Apart from two Late Roman cavalry generals all the other 70 pieces I finished this month have been for the Indian Mutiny project ~ I only have twenty Loyal Bengal Infantry and a Bengal Horse Artillery limber set to paint now . As I near then end of this project I've also been spending time refining and proof reading the rules, THE DEVIL'S WIND, and I'm pleased to report they are ready to go to the printer on Monday 4 July, I only have to take three extra photos, including the cover picture, and I'm done. I've been really encouraged by the response of folk who have bought the previous two sets ~ "A Good Dusting", for the Sudan War and "Washing the Spears" for the Zulu War ~ and also by the traders who have made it all possible by supporting my rules enthusiastically from the offset.

Gaming has been very hit and miss too this month. Although I played seven games, I only won three at the start of the month and then went on a four game loosing streak. Three of the games were Indian Mutiny games as we ironed out one or two minor issues with the rules ~ mostly wording rather than mechanisms it turned out. My most memorable game this month was a Black Powder ACW game at Jon's in which my Union Army triumphed over Jon's Rebs in a magnicificent seesaw of a game! I also won a Back of Beyond game at Phil's using the Brigadier rule set intended for A Very British Civil War.

When I come to visits and purchases I've made  this is a very short  entry. We went down to Cornwall for a week's holiday, so when in Bodmin I popped into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Museum. Also in Bodmin I trawled the second hand book shops and charity shops, as you do, and got a hardback copy of The Last Mughal by Dalrymple, an account of the Siege of Delhi and its aftermath with loads of first hand accounts woven into the narrative. I really enjoyed reading it too!

So, back to where I started really, wondering what direction our hobby will take me in 2012, and beyond I hope! I have added some new Redoubt figures to the French Indian War project for 2012, as I hope to write a set of skirmish rules for the genre. For the remaining three months I have left to paint and game this year,before Sue and I go to visit friends in Australia for two months, I hope to add two Infantry units to my Late Roman armies for 'Hail Caesar' and also finish my Pulp warship, the USS Farnsworth, and her crew of 'Pulp Miniatures' sailors. Anything I manage beyond that will be a bonus I think if my present mood lasts long. For 2012 I'm toying with a Samurai skirmish game, perhaps 50 figures a side, using the rather nice Museum Miniatures 28mm figures. I'm also thinking I might dabble in something very modern, I like the Empress Miniatures Modern War figure range too. Perhaps I'll even have some plastic Mahdists! Or not...

Well, no more rambling, time to get on and do something more useful than Blogging! Perhaps I'll meet one or two readers at Claymore in August. If you see me there do say 'Hello' if you'd like to. I will have had my 'Full Scottish' so I won't be dangerous! Anyway, whatever your gaming intersts, have a good month! Toodle Pip1

David