It's a strange morning for me. Firstly, as a long time fan of M.A.S.H, I am saddened to hear of the passing of Loretta Swit. If you have never heard her interviewed, she was witty, interesting and very gracious, speaking fondly and highly of her fellow cast members. I think that only Alan Alda & Jamie Farr remain now... Ah me, but I feel old. But, what has really hit me is a feeling I cannot shake that I may have reached a sort of miniature-amassing 'critical mass' situation, bordering on burn out. I collect large armies as you know, and I always have. Yesterday I was unpacking 1700+ 15mm Mike's Models Crusades figures. They are gorgeous little models, being much larger than the norm, along the lines of Tin Soldier. It took me 2 and a half hours, standing in a stooped position, carefully unwrapping, rebending and repairing as I went. About two box files into the process, I was filled with a sense of absolute disinterest in wargaming, with such a ferocity rthat it ca...

Where have all the armies gone? I was speaking to several people over the bank holiday weekend, and with one 50 year gaming veteran just yesterday for a good hour or so, and the same question came up each time. You just don't see collections on the table apart from at some shows, and then it's older gamers who were brought up an a diet of Weisencraft, Featherstone, Gush, Gilder, Wise et al (If you don't know at least two of those names then shame on you and nothing less, you ignoramuses - have 'ignorami' if you prefer but the 17th century evolution of the word looks nicer) and who have actually read books rather than get their kicks on Netflix. True, I was raised on a diet of war films from the 50s and 60s, which were on every weekend, and caused many a box of Airfix figures to be sold, as many will attest. I put it down to the modern gamers growing up with the idea that wargaming is something they can afford to do, but working in gig economies and wanting to do ...

 This is a little temporal interlude, so to speak, which is fitted in before other events I'll no doubt relate, such as 'The .44 Magnum as laxative' or 'Toolboxes in self defence'. Perhaps even 'What have you got in that ammo box sunshine?' I was wandering around Fackham Hall this morning, when my eye fell upon two samll boxes on what is otherwise a book shelf. They were a sealed and opened copy of the 1981 Metagaming microgame 'Trailblazer'. In 1983 I purchased my original copy in a 50p bargain bin even which Games Workshop sometimes ran. I took it with me to Thornbridge Hall in the Peak District, on a week long residential with school in the summer of '84 where we generally spent the week, sketching the scenery or in the evening, simplyfucking about - well, most of the rabble did - unless like a small group of us, you locked yourself in your room (3 of us to a 6-person room - LUXURY) roleplaying and boardgaming. Thornbrisdge Hall is now private...

 Well, it's beena relaxing Bank Holiday weekend. The Memsahib and I began with a very late night out, seeing Hawkwind play, on Friday. At 83 years old, founder and 'The Captain', Dave Brock is still putting out some bloody excellent music, with the set coming in at around 1hour and 50. Pretty impressive. Saturday, we mooched around, feeling worn out having not gone to bed until 1AM, some 3 hours beyond our normal bedtime. Sunday was spent having a rather excellent roast lunch and spot of garden centre therapy, the lunch being a little birthday treat for Kayte, whose birthday it is today. Since 1988, she's been my greatest friend and critic, and is one of probably only 4 women regularly seen at shows for all that time, who actively wargame as opposed to being 'arm candy' to coin a phrase. She's a well known face in her own right on the hobby circuit and certainly makes my days out at shows a lot more fun than just mingling with the 'Need A Bath Brigade...

 I grew up and began wargaming, like many of the first flourish of gamers after those sacred Founding Few, in a time when the world was both dangerous and very, very charged with politics and politically aware people. And it meant that wargaming and roleplaying were wonderfully sane places by comparison. Sane places where we all jolly well fucked off to, to get away from the madness of the real world. True, we did have to deal with anti-nuclear and anti-war protesters outside shows, but they were actually surprisingly easy to deal with, because most 14 year old 'Moderns' gamers could take them apart in a debate on the subject of nuclear proliferation. Still, those poor, misguided fuckers chanted and ranted all weekend. I guess their wives, mothers and significant others wouldn't let them take a National Express coach to London or Greenham Common, and yelling at gentlemen dreamers and D&D obsessed kids gave them a sense of putting the world to rights. I remember one year...

  I am going out on a limb here, but it may bring dividends... A few years ago, I sold a massive 15mm Renaissance collection to Neil Fawcett, former owner of the now-defunct Spartan Games. I would really like to trace this collection and buy it back, so if anyone can provide and possible leads to where it ended up, I'd be really grateful. If I actually got it back, I'd be happy to pay a finder's fee or make a donation to a charity of the finder's choice. If you think you know where it is, please get in touch, or ask the current owner to reach out to me please. Thanks

 So, it's late 1982 and I'd been gaming for a while now. Only a few months in reality, but it felt like an eternity. White Dwarf in GW Sheffield at the time was still on the top shelf and having one day looked left and right, somewhat furtively, I'd grabbed White Dwarf 35, with it's fantastic cover by Les Edwards, the Green Horizon scenario for Traveller and Necromancer character class for AD&D. And I was blown away... But, let's go back a little way and go into town with my parents one Saturday morning early in 82 - sometimes, I was required to go with them rather than out with my mates, or maybe I was angling for some consumer booty - and the obligatory sausage sandwich in Woolco on the Gallery, a few doors up from Hopkinson's Toys. Having finished mine, I excused myself and went out of the back doors of Woolies and jogged down to Hopkinsons, where on a bottom shelf, was a pristine Holmes edition of Basic D&D for £2.99. At the time I received £3 per we...

\ \  25mm vintage ECW collection for sale.   £2500 and can deliver to Partizan. Will consider part and full exchange for 15 or 25/28mm AWI, Ancients, ACW,  Renaissance, Samurai.   This is arguably, the definitive vintage ECW collection. The figures all have modern paintwork, very much in the style of Peter Gilder et al, as befits a collection of this type. 358 cavalry (716 piece equivalents) 1162 infantry (1162 piece equivalents) 11 artillery pieces (22 piece equivalents due to size of models) 4 baggage wagons (32 piece equivalents due to size of models)