As you all know, I am an unapologetic 80s throwback - actually I can't be a throw back if I never came forward can I?  And as you may also glean from my previous posts I cut my teeth back on Warhammer Fantasy right from day 1, moving on to 2nd and then 3rd edition and merely dabbling with later editions which lacked the feel of creative freedom and the sense that the designers 'cared' about their game. It may have been unbalanced, not really made for competitive gaming until 3rd edition but it was FUN. I can say hand on heart that I never had anything like as many (if any) arguments over WHFB compared to historical games rules - even when we simply turned up en masse to a game with totally unbalanced armies - you know, like real battles. I've spent what little spare time I have had recently, reading my old Warhammer rules and supplements from square one and also reading through the first of my books put out in the 80s by Christian Fundamentalists who th...

I'm something of a gaming culture vulture. I'm not only interested in the games themselves, but also the people, trends and history of this fine hobby. Anyone who takes in the various shows, will now see not only couples but in many cases large family groupings at shows. This was not always the case however... If one, looks at photographs (remember those?) from the 1970s there will be a noticeable swathe of middle aged men and young boys (no, not like that) with just the odd female in the shot, usually looking either over-enthusiastic or in the majority of cases attentively bored. Back then, culturally, it was more often than not the preserve of the male to go out and protect hearth and home from rampaging 25mm invading hordes, and for the 'little woman' to prepare food and raise those children who were either too young to wield dice or whom wore dresses (don't go there eh?). Another reason for the lack of female companions in those early years, may be due t...

For a while, I have been considering how fashion and social groups have re-modelled the hobby over the years. Now, I really got involved in the hobby proper around 1980/81; at the start of a decade which was creatively unsurpassed in the 20th century.  The music (although at the time I ignored much of it) the fashions (ditto) and indeed the gaming hobby was more varied than at any other time. The Cold War was winding down, the drab colours of the 70s were fading to black, to be replaced by vibrant hues. Hair was big, the Baby Boomers had bred and their offspring embraced life, big time.We had Heavy Rockers, Prog' Rockers, Punks, Skinheads, Glams, Goths, Townies, Urban Vagabonds, New Romantics, Mods and probably a few more youth sub cultures that in the befuddled LateSummer Season of life have slipped my mind.  Whatever your taste in clothes, cause of adult deafness or outlook on life; there was something for you. Apropos of nothing, I was listen...