I have always had an interest in the power of ritual and ritualistic behaviour.  Any hobby is ritualistic, in that it has it's rules, secrets, paraphenalia and knowledge. At their best, wargaming/roleplaying were the most occult of all hobbies, save perhaps folk dancing. As the hobby has been exposed to the light, in that constant chasing of profit and an 'angle'. I guess that being reliant on the hobby for my own living, I am guilty in my own way, but in my defence, I do try to keep alive the wonder and creativity which I myself encountered over 4 decades ago now. As you know, I made a hard decision to not continue simply piling up 'stuff', engaging in that self deceit so many of us seem to believe, that a gamer cannot die whilst they have unpainted figures. Let me tell you straight, that they can and some truly great ones, have. The late Pete Armstrong was one of those taken way to early, leaving three young daughters and a loving wife, a few years back. Pete as ...

 I wrote around 370 pages some years ago, ostensibly about being a tabletop gamer and roleplayer in the early 80s and beyond, but I think it's time to add to that and indeed add texture and context to what it was like to be part of something as awesomely different as this hobby was then.  So, let me try and fill in some gaps and widen the scope of my original writing. I make no apologies for being an unreconstructed man of my time. I don't have time for political correctness, nor for the identity politics of the world today. I believe that everyone has a right to do as they wish within the basic tenets of morality - it is private to them and should be kept that way. If you are 'offended' by terminology, recollections and the like, then please feel free to simply exit this blog and, off you can jolly well fuck, and live your own life. I won't be offended.  In  1981, I was just a normal kid - normal for the time, at least - and in that Autumn, I'd gone from Junior...