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Monday, 31 December 2018

Happy New Year


Happy New Year everyone, I shall of course be celebrating in my usual pious way and not remembering  much that occurred !













2018 saw me play about a game a month until about October, that's ten games more than I played in 2017 and I had a living opponent for two of them!

Compared to the handful of miniatures I painted in 2017, 2018 was a very fruitful year as I probably painted well over 500 figures, including a whole Mahdist army, fauna and explorers  etc.for Jimland, prehistoric humans and their antagonists. Sadly as my eyesight worsens and my enthusiasm drifts I can't see me ever get to anywhere near those numbers again.

See you all in 2019 !

 

Monday, 24 December 2018

Happy Mithrasmas

    The start of a tradition?
To quote from last year's blog:
  "It's that time of year again when we slaughter a bull and drink its blood, exchange gifts and generally have a good time." Or of course celebrate however you wish and have a good holiday break.

















I haven't got any gaming related 'loot' on my list this year and It'll be a big surprise if I receive anything even remotely hobby related, but of course I'll be reporting if I receive anything !












I will of course be looking forward to seeing all the loot everyone else gets (if any)

Have a good holiday everyone!


Monday, 17 December 2018

Coelodonta Antiquitatis

Coelodonta antiquitatis or Woolly Rhinoceros to you and me are one of those iconic creatures, like the Mammoths, most easily associated with prehistoric man, so of course I had to have a couple for my prehistoric games.
In the photograph on the right, the smaller rhino is the "Steve Barber" model, probably originally designed for his smaller range, whilst the larger one on the right is the DeeZee version fro Arcane Scenery.
I like the variation in sizes and they could easily represent a male and female .
On to the photos:
Side view: note the darker centre band as indicated on some cave drawings
The other side view with slightly more noticeable dark band
The now obligatory rear view
Size comparison with one of the larger Copplestone cavemen.
The two new
Thought I'd add this photo of a Paraceratherium, the woolly rhino's ancestor !
When I first started on this prehistoric jaunt, It did think that it would have been a much easier journey than it has been - who would have thought that I would have  so much research to do and not just the various beasts' colourings !
The various creatures that manufacturers produce are one of the problems as there are distinct groups of animals that have only been found in specific areas of the world though they're all lumped together!

Next week's post will be brief,  as it's Mithrasmas eve and I'll be getting ready to sacrifice a bull and exchange presents in celebration of Mithras.

That's it then for another week and as always, your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Monday, 10 December 2018

Smilodon

Another week and another beast for Palaeo action.
The figure is from Steve Barber Models, requiring a little filing to rid it of its mold lines, but it is a figure I like a lot.
I've painted it up using lion-like features and colouring as there is no definitive evidence as to their colouring. 
As usual, the photography is poor and I didn't notice the smear on the lens until it was time to post - oh well.
Here's the photos:
Side view with noticeable smear
Smear moves to right side view
Only slightly smeary in this view
Spot the smear (bored yet ?)
Total menagerie so far
This week has seen me get a mere two hours painting in , but I did have a wonderful blurry weekend, some of which I remember...
Next week though I should have finished my two woolly rhinos to post about, but that's it for this week; thanks for taking the time to visit and as always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Monday, 3 December 2018

Wolves

     My six pack
My wolves would have been posted last week but for the excellent "Battlegrounds" show taking priority and this week would have seen me posting my take on a Smilodon (Sabre Tooth). The Smilodon will feature next week, giving me a bit of a buffer to get my two wooly rhinos finished (fingers crossed).
There's really not that much to say about the wolves, they're DeeZee models from Arcane Scenery and of course my painting hasn't done them any favours!
On to the photos :
Obligatory boring picture
Slightly less blurry side view
Formation dancing wolves
Mandatory rear view
"Grandma, what big teeth you have!"

Slightly different front view (maybe just a bit boring)
That's it then for this week, not much I know, but it's all I've got, (normal excuses of age, eyesight, real-life and so on, apply)

In other news, just in case you haven't noticed my update profile, I'm now a Grandad to a third grandchild ! Another boy; both mother and child are healthy,

As always your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.

Monday, 26 November 2018

Battleground 2018

The hall (about 11.30am)
So, despite being in a modicum of pain, I set off Saturday morning with #1 son, his son and a mate who drove us to venue at Stockton ( a mere hour's travel away) to my second Battleground event.
 As I didn't have a shopping list I went around all the games first then the traders.
 Be aware that this post is very photo-heavy.




Here's my photographs of the event and a few comments :

Stafford and District's Battle of Blenheim was one of my favourite games of the show and I had a very pleasant time talking to the chaps playing it. 
Blenheim in 10mm (Pendraken and Ausburg Figures iirc)
Such detail for 10mm figures!
Great looking buildings too!
A big game !
Another close -up
Next up,  my friend Colin's (of Carry on up the Dale's Blog fame) Battle of Zurich 1799
Huge table with superbly painted 28mm figures
Zurich, probably
There were vignettes all over the place...
Somewhere on the outskirts of Zurich
Ships too on this vast table
Next up was Durham Wargames Group's Battle of Zyrabulak 1868, again a large table using 28mm figures,
Large numbers of cavalry
Good looking town too
Battlefield Trust's Battle of Piercebridge 1642, an architectural model, so probably very accurate was more a display than a game, and in a very small scale and I initially thought the white covered waggons were sheep!
Close-up of the action
Overall view

 Redcar Ironbeards War of Germany 1944, a participation game:

Great looking game - spot the Germans!
Superbly painted models too,
What would a wargames show be without a bit of Napoleonics ?
DBN, possibly Waterloo (?)
 Brompton Bankers, Battle of the Standards 1138, using 28nmm figures

Not my period, so I didn't dwell here long.
 Iacta Alea Ests's WW1 Zeppelin participation game looked interesting:
These were quite  large models for an Air Wargame.
 Border Reiver's Napoleonic Naval Harbour Attack game featured paper (!) ships in  very good looking game
Possibly not the most attractive game, until...
...you see the harbour and the ships close-up
 Durham Raiders Napoleonic game
Looking like a club game and none the worse for that
The Westerhope gamers put on a WW2 Eastern Front game  with their usual panache and banter was not optional - great group of gamers and the argument over whether their shirts are "Commie Red" or "Pink Panthers (Panzers?)" seems to be ongoing:

Tide of Russian Tanks assaulting German defensive lines
I would have needed a high-speed camera not to catch an arm across the table in this game!

Great models and who would be a tanker ?

The German rear lines
Tyneside (iirc) Wargames Ancient Galley game
Busy day at sea...
...from every point of view,
 No show in the North would be the same without Mr Wiley's western games
The man himself
The game, with new river !

With Mr Wiley's participation game I knew what to expect, but with The Society of 20th Century Wargamers, I didn't. It was a strange looking game centring around a French Foreign Legion Outpost.
Cards and card holders...dice...hmmm
The central piece - very nice
Prince Bishop wargames Club's "Battle of Byczyna 1588" :

Good looking game of a battle I've never heard of..
 Scarborough Games Society put on two games on a single table - that confused me !

A fantasy game that...
...seemed to be involved in a Very British War set-up
General & Kings put on this rather attractive Battle of the Bulge game

With my eyesight, 28mm camo works
Splendid King Tiger

Other end of the table (with an oversized Panther imo)
Matt Crump put on a participation game of "What a Tanker" and I'm now a convert to this fun game, as is my 5 year old grandson!
Superb, simple looking terrain, but with many subtle features
Sunderland's "Malifaux":
There was no-one around and I haven't a clue -sorry
 Nate Zettle put on this "Blood and Thunder" pirate game, a genre I'm interested in, but the 'special' cards needed really puts me off this system (amongst other things).

Set-up and figures are good
Huge ship (and why not, even if a bit superfluous!)
Cozzmik Cakes again put on their Cake Wars game:

I don't know anything about this and didn't ask
Where this chap comes into it all is a mystery to me
IIRC. this yellow peril thing was a recent purchase, unfinished and not in the game\
 "Warlords" put on two demonstration games of their products:
Cruel seas
Gangs of Rome
Another view of the hall, busy but not too crowded.
 That wasn't all I'm sure, but it's all I have photographs of . I spent a long time talking to two chaps (the Lancaster Cellermen) using wooden pieces in a Krieg Spiel type of game and got so interested in their game that I completely forgot to take photos - sorry guys!

It was a great day, seeing many great games and meeting a lot of  old friends. 
My loot list is less than poor, it's non-existent. I ate the pie I bought for lunch and my wife ate the peanut brittle I bought her as a present, so no evidence remains !


Thanks for taking the time to visit, I hope there's something here that you find interesting and as ever, your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.