All Change!

Well it's been a while and much has happened both in my personal and gaming life over the past few months!

In February my wife and I packed up home, sold our house and moved to a beautiful little village in Cheshire. Quite stressful at the time but well worth it. We now have less focus on work and more time for each other and our hobbies!

We were actually lucky enough to be able to move into a converted church, it's stunning and we both love it. This is our front door!.....

So life has changed considerably but alas, concessions had to be made and I no longer have a permanent gaming room. I decided to sell my Napoleonics just before we moved as I knew that I wouldn't be able to playin that scale at our new home. So, after some consideration I have recently embarked on a 10mm Napoleonic project using Old Glory Miniatures.

I have recently joined an online community called Tabletop Commanders ( they can be found on Facebook) and had great fun playing a live game of Blucher which really sparked my interest. They are a great bunch and the game played very smoothly even thought he tabletop was in America and the four commanders involved were in the UK!

So, there you go. New life, new project. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of my first attempts at 10mm figure painting....

Very much 'work in progress'.....

Napoleonics. Old School

A few (bad) photos of my Napoleonic figures. 
I came across a great set of old school rules called 'Muskets & Marshals' which upon reading took me right back to my teenage years when I took part in some epic games at Stoke Wargames Group.
The rules call for 24 figure infantry and 12 figure cavalry units with artillery batteries being represented by single guns.
I still need to get more units on the table to be happy with the 'look' that I'm after but I think that's the curse of every gamer.... never enough toys!
My French force consists of 8 infantry units, 2 cavalry units and 4 guns a with my combined Austrian  /  Russian force consisting of more or less the same ( with a little more artillery )
I'm currently working on more Russian infantry but also need to get light infantry units for all forces sorted at some point!

A bit of Bolt Action

Managed to get a game of Bolt Action in this week, a rarity for me! The game is ongoing and so far even though the Germans have taken most casualties they are definitely getting the better position on the table. The rules are fun to play though I'm probably not playing them to the letter yet. Anyway here's a few pics... Enjoy.

Another WWII Rule Set On The Way!

I couldn't resist picking this up from EBay last night, it just had to be done. I've played the Rookie version of Rapid Fire and I actually enjoyed it. They are quite old school in their approach which suits me just fine and I look forward to playing the 'full' version soon.

And now for something completely different

For a long, long time I've considered starting a ACW project but never quite got around to it. I know nothing, nowt, absolutely Jack about the conflict but have always admired the great looking games I've seen online. So, with the help and advice of some friendly ACW gamers I finally took the plunge this week and purchased some Blue Moon 15mm figures from Glory Miniatures UK who are conveniently situated about two minutes from my front door!
Now I've never painted ACW before, neither have I ever painted 15mm and the difference in the technique I had to adopt was quite surprising and very time consuming to start off with! Anyway, I've made a start in my Confederate infantry, opting for the late war 'rag tag' look with a variety of shades of greys,  Browns and the odd blue.. Here's my first little batch of figures ready for basing. Still loads to do but it's a start at least and now I'm finally happy with the colour combinations and the change in technique I'm hoping the painting process will speed up somewhat...

Charity Ride Completed!

Well, I had a fantastic time yesterday riding in the Durham Big Ride. The weather was perfect for cycling, I made it up all the climbs and came in in record time! Looking forward to doing more charity rides next year so best keep the training going through the Winter months... Easier said than done!

In loving memory of my big sister Lorraine.

This Sunday (6th September) I shall be taking part in the Durham Big Ride, a 25 mile bike ride through the hills of County Durham. I will be riding in memory of my late sister Lorraine who we sadly lost to cancer in 2007 at the age of just 47 and in aid of Douglas MacMillan who took care of her during her last few weeks of life.
It's strange to think that I'm now older than my sister but she will always be my big sis. I love you Lol, and I miss you. I hope you're with me on the day and I do you proud.
Anyone wishing to make a donation please visit my

JustGiving page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/Steve-Clay3/

Thank you everyone.
Steve

P.S.
Many thanks to Steve the Wargamer for your donation, I really appreciate it Steve.