Hi folks,
Apologies for the lack of updates of late - unfortunately last week I was attending my Nana's funeral in Scotland which had an impact on my ability to think about blogging. My Nana, Nancy, was 94 years old and the funeral was a rather large affair - mainly due to her having 10 grandchildren, 40+ Great Grandchildren and 4 Great Great Grandchildren with more on the way.
It's tough, I think, to measure the impact that Nana's and Papa's have on your life. I know my interest in WW2 and Normandy is driven a lot by my Papa's involvement, while my interest in Aircraft I think comes from my other Papa who did his national service in the RAF as an armourer. My Nana was a nurse during the war, although I believe she remained local to home - my abinding memory of her will always be of a lovely, kind woman who always had cake in her cupboard and gave wonderful hugs.
Personally, I've had a pretty tumultuous life - moving house something like 14 times, but my Nana remained in the same house from when it had been built in the immediate post war period. I hadn't realised just how firm an anchor that house had been for me till I realised I'll probably never visit it again and some other family will have their memories there. Such is life I suppose.
Aside from this, I've been relatively busy.
Continuing my efforts to support Flames of War, I had another article published last week on the website on playing narrative games and their use in helping teach the game. I have to say that the response to the article has been better than I expected it would be with a lot of positive comments. It was also nice to see pictures of some of our games published on the official gaming page! You can read for yourself here:
https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=6879
I also finished painting a few small things, specifically the 15mm crew from a popular Western Sci Fi programme, care of GZG:
I've a few more 15mm sci fi models just needing basing.
I also attended Vapnartack, although I was so rushed I failed to take any pictures of games. I did receive at this show models for the Joshua project from fellow Old Guard Wargames Club member Stuart (more on these once I have them based), as well as from a lovely Scottish chap called John who had seen my youtube video and decided to contribute an army:
His 'Highland Cow (Coo!)' inspired army is a sight to behold. A truly terrific idea and a very welcome addition to the project. You can see some of John's other work (and give his blog a well deserved follow please!) here:
https://studiogaarewblog.blogspot.com
As for show loot, I limited myself to a few books and a whole load of Really Useful Box trays:
The Tiger books were £6 each so a real bargain. I bought enough trays for (I think) 3 more 9 litre Really Useful Boxes (the plan being that one box would hold 10mm fantasy models - I underestimated). I also picked up some dice frames and small dice from Pendraken and the new Cruel Seas sourcebook from Warlord.
York has turned into much more of a shopping trip for me. I did appreciate the changes to the Bring and Buy area, which was a substantial improvement over previous years. However, as usual a lack of 15mm WW2 stuff available.
That same weekend I also had an engagement party to attend, where I messed about with my new phone camera:
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| Stockton-on-Tees by night, looking over towards the uni where the Battleground show is held. |
While this weekend we had our first run out of the Joshua Project models and our attempt at a fantasy version of To the Strongest:
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| All the armies I've received so far. Barbarians from DaveD, Lizardment from MartinC, Goblins from Ian, Undead from Chris, Dark Elves from Stuart and Heeland Coo's from John - as well as my own compliment of Undead and Human knights. Also present are donated Dark Elves and Ogres from John at Vanguard Miniatures. And today I received more undead and a useful Human unit from the USA care of Adam and Bob. |
And finally, back to WW2 stuff. I've found someone who can make decals for me, and the first draft arrived. Unfortunately, there's a little work to do getting the size right for 15mm, but the art work is superb.
When done, these will be decals for my 5.5" battery, De-Frocked Priests, 144 RAC and 7RTR.
So currently I have a fair bit on the go, and I'm trying to balance painting new stuff with basing received stuff!
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! I know there are still people working on stuff and it will all be included - the more there is hopefully the more that can be raised for charity in Joshua's memory.
Lastly, I put up a Facebook page to help track the Joshua's army project and help keep people in the look about events it will be attending. You can find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/ForJoshuasArmy/
