The Battle of Anachronism Bridge

As habitual readers may be aware, I often like to come up with little stories to explain why my toy soldiers have come to blows. In this  particular report, however, I cannot think of any reason why Edward Longshanks and William Marshall should be ganging up to fight Bishop Odo.

Derek sets out the forces of Edward Longshanks in cover of the trees

Operation Trashpoint: A Cold War Blunder

For the first time in my life, I've spent more on a rulebook than on an army. Two armies in fact: the joy of using 2mm scale figures is that they cost 30p for 16 infantry or two tanks. The only downside is that they are so small that "You may as well use cardboard counters" as Derek pointed out.

Anyway, here are some pics and you can judge for yourselves. The 5p coin is for scale.

A 1000 pt. British battlegroup, the black lines indicate unit facing (they're at the back) and nationality.

Announcement and picture

Just a short post tonight, I have been advised by a friend of Derek's to add a 'follow' gadget to the blog. I've never followed anyone else's work on blogger before, but am always keen to match supply to demand.

I try not to let a post pass by without some sort of model-related content, so I will relate to you the participation game Derek and I took part in at a show that I've forgotten the name of (Help!).

The game was a skirmish from the Trojan War, featuring two heroes and a few random goons on each side, run with the Song of Blades and Heroes rules. A good set of rules, producing a quick, elegant and brutal game. Unfortunately, it also requires a bit of getting used to and good dice rolling skills, which is what I chose to blame for the end result of Hector and Paris dead (Hector on turn two...).

There's only one photo because I wasn't doing very well, but it displays the only combat where I won a round, as well as some very well painted models too.

Two nameless spearmen who held of one of the Achean heroes (Nestor?) for a majority of the game.

New Year's Eve Odds and Ends

Well, another year over and I'm still sitting on a pile of unblogged pictures, some of which are of models I finished painting several months ago.

The mounted standard bearer is has clearly had a couple of vins de trop, as has his cheval...

Teapot Rampant

After all this faffing around I've finally got round to playing the Lion Rampant rules that have been sitting on my windowsill for time immemorial. My old teacher Derek, who got me back into wargaming after my long hiatus, has assembled an assortment of early medieval fellows so the only logical conclusion was to have a punch-up.

My deployment: Left are foot yeomen with javelins, foot men-at-arms in the centre, and bidowers on the right

What I haven't been painting this year

I've been lured by the cold war for a while, largely drawn by the draw of CoD-style ultra-macho modern warfare stuff, except against an enemy who could well have clobbered the west in a straight up fight.

S & S models are generally good, but the tracks were a pain to fit. That's the downside of resin I suppose.

I learn how to resize picture in blogspot

So I've been off work again with the old mental illness, which I'm sure comes as good news to those who want to see me paint as many of the little men (and women) as I can. Speaking of which, I've also got next week off work too!

The secret to good model shots: Hold the camera close to the models