Getting back up to speed

Yes, it’s been a while, hasn’t it! What is it about twenty-first century life that means that you try and save up some time for your hobby, only to find that ….. well, things just crop up to stop you. It’s been a frustrating year for me in hobby terms, with a few false starts, a couple of blind alleys and a cliff-edge or three. I’m sure you know the sort of thing.

But, thank you all for sticking with this blog. And, as my wargaming chum Mike Whitaker once memorably recommended in his blog, I’ve stayed “on the bus”.

So here’s what I’ve been up to recently.

I’ve placed the Tirailleurs Sénégalais on the back burner for the time being. They’ll be back, possibly this autumn. A brief hiatus, but nothing more. Coming back to a “large” (also known as “over-bloated”) project can be daunting and intimidating. One of the things I found coming back to the hobby was that a large half-finished project doesn't encourage you to get started again. The very size of what’s remaining is a disincentive. It’s like being constantly reminded of your failure to complete something.

So, I’ve opted for something much smaller. I’ve managed to paint and finish a small group of German trench sentries and some tempting targets for British trench raiders to try and capture. Nothing remarkable, but the Brigade Games and 1st Corps sculpts were fun to paint and, above all, they were something achievable.

I found having just a handful of figures to paint was reassuring. I could feel I was “getting somewhere”, even speeding up a couple of times to get the first figure done.

I’ve vague plans for the next set of figures to paint. And, probably on the same basis, a handful of Great War Miniatures highlanders look manageable.

As well as painting, we’ve been play-testing TooFatLardies’ new supplement for “Chain of Command”, entitled “Fighting Season” at the St. Albans wargames club. This supplement recreates fighting in modern-day Afghanistan. It’s early days, but Richard Clarke has posted some very thoughtful material on his blog, “Lard Island News”, addressing some of the ethical issues with wargaming this conflict. He’s been joined by some excellent blogging by both Benito and Mike on their own blogs, Gaming with TooFatLardies and Mad Padre Wargames.

Here are some photos of the play-test games.

The next edition of Wargames Bloggers Quarterly is also out – available here. WBQ4 like its previous three issues is a great combination of fine writing and wonderful photographs. Huge congratulations to everyone who worked on it. WBQ4 is an excellent addition to the stable of hobby magazines, all the more so as a free and entirely volunteer driven publication.

And, finally, I did make the trip to Salute this year. I also took the time to hook up with other Bloggers at the meet-up. I’ve been remiss in posting photos of the day, but I hope the photos below make up for that (including Michael's spectacular "Stockholm 1392" game). It was great seeing you all there!