Don't delay... #SpreadTheLard #WWLVI

Thanks for umpiring. Enjoyed the new elements in CoC2 that seemed to keep both sides actively involved, and offered new tactical options.

Are you 'too sixy for your lard'? Find out at Winter Wonder Lard VI! #SpreadTheLard

Had a nice afternoon putting some Lard veterans through their first run of CoC2 set in Crrte. The Fallschirmjager overcame a tough start, to push round the right flank and break the doughty Kiwis defence. Terrain and miniatures courtesy of Rob, dodgy umpiring by me. #SpreadTheLard

Lot of fun in the 6mm Desert War with #ArmouredStorm last night as Phil's DAK squeezed out a bloody victory against @andycrow.bsky.social's 8th Army. Man of the Match award to the Panzer II zug who took out three Matilda's at (very) close range! #joyofsix

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This January I’m launching an online course for people passionate about History. This isn’t a historian telling you things, it’s designed to turn you from a vociferous reader into someone who is starting to think like a historian themselves… Sign up details: introtohistory.eventbrite.com

To book a place, please PayPal [email protected] (friends and family) £12 (adding a note that it is for “Winter Wonder Lard V”) or £22 (adding a note that it is for “Winter Wonder Lard VI and Curry”). Please include your name. #SpreadTheLard

Winter Wonder Lard VI (I’m Too Sixy For My Lard), Bristol’s premier Lardy day, will be held on Saturday 7th February 2026 at Bristol Independent Gaming. So far we have had thirteen Lardy games offered to be put on at the event... #SpreadTheLard

Ay caramba!

If you are interested in putting on a game please email [email protected] with some details on the game you would like to put on, table size, how many players you can accommodate and whether you would like to run it in both morning and afternoon sessions, or just once...

Winter Wonder Lard VI, Bristol’s premier Lardy day will be held at Bristol Independent Gaming on Saturday 7th February 2026. We are now looking for games to be put on to make 2026’s Winter Wonder Lard ‘too sixy for my Lard!’ #SpreadTheLard

You're absolutely right — starting a land war in Asia wasn't just a bad call, it's 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀. Thank you for calling me out on that — really. I'll be extra-strategic from now on. Would you like me to get cracking on those 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿?

Trying to keep myself sane during shutdown with a Pint Sized Campaign for Chain of Command, with a twist. @herrbrush67.bsky.social & @andycrow.bsky.social will be acting as COs, choosing supports and issuing broad orders for each game and I’ll play the actions out. #spreadthelard

Okay in the grand scheme of things, that didnt take a million years and has come out pretty well for this scale. Just 8 more to go now... And the Fox's And the FV432... Oh god. #Teamyankee #Berlinbrigade

Any bluesky chums heading to the @thegreatwargroup.bsky.social conference in Bristol on Saturday?

Amazon. This series.

Can the hivemind help me towards finding some books published by either the Australian or New Zealand govts on the WW2 operations? I'm sure I remember @toofatlardies.bsky.social singing their praises a while back, but can't seem to find anything that matches my memory!

Unexpected consequences of a holiday in Crete... Nice to be able to get a full platoon for Chain of Command out of a box of Perry Desert Rats! #SpreadTheLard

Great game of #ArmouredStorm with @andycrow.bsky.social last night. Three platoons of Matilda II's forlornly tried to hold off Panzer Armee Afrika until reinforcements arrived but initial successes soon turned sour as the PzIII's and IV's wreaked havoc when they got in close...

More #ArmouredStorm last night as @andycrow.bsky.social & I introduced Phil to the game. Initially it looked like an easy victory for the DAK as they stopped the British on the right flank, but the left turned into a bloody battle before ultimately Phil's Germans won the day...

When I was at Anglia TV about 25 yrs ago, a girl in our office sent out a team email that said, “It’s been a crap Monday, who wants to come to my flat for a smoke?” Sadly she sent it to everyone in ITV. Melvyn was one of the first to reply with “That sounds lovely but sadly I’m filming in Newcastle”

@andycrow.bsky.social & I tried our Dan Mersey's #ArmouredStorm company level Western Desert tank rules last night. Great little game, the use of the Tactics Board to choose orders (and prevent your opponent picking the ones they want) is really clever. Lot of fun and two close battles.

Game four of the #ForceOnForce campaign was a night rescue with intel received the POW's were being held in a Tamarud Alghurab compound. Hummers sped through the dark streets whilst an M2 smashed through the compound wall. The POWs were rescued but one rescuer was KIA fighting insurgent fanatics.

Back to Uruq and game three of @andycrow.bsky.social & my ongoing #ForceOnForce campaign saw the US forces falling back through the city. The mission went smoothly, with three Fire Teams reaching safety with no casualties, but the appearance of an insurgent mob saw FT4 cut off and captured!

@andycrow.bsky.social & I started our #ForceOnForce campaign last night with the US trying to suppress the Tamarud Alghurab in Uruq. Game one started well for the US, moving swiftly through the town, an insurgent IED in a truck failing to go off and the target asset captured...

Back to the liberation of Uruk last night with @andycrow.bsky.social relearning #ForceOnForce. What felt like a tight battle with the US losing one KIA, four WIA and accidentally shooting a civilian but completing their mission resulting in a decisive victory over the Tamarud Alghurab insurgents!

Government has got this spectacularly wrong. If an organisation is breaking the law, prosecute it. But arresting people for holding up signs is a waste of police time, it's increasing support for the organisation &, above all, it's a flagrant violation of free speech. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"On Dec. 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first humans to orbit the Moon, and the first to witness the magnificent sight called 'Earthrise.'" www.nasa.gov/image-articl... #NASA #JimLovell #Apollo8 #Apollo13 #SpaceTheFinalFrontier

Had a 'Bob off' down Bristol Independent Gaming last night as @andycrow.bsky.social and my British Lights gave Mr & Mrs @jennyturner1971.bsky.social's French Légère a convincing thrashing on the plains of Spain... #SharpePractice

I visited La Ferte in June. An extraordinary place, that I found to be much more visceral than the Atlantic Wall fortifications in Normandy. The temperature drop and atmosphere change as you descend the stairs was unsettling.

A smashing day enjoying @lordraglan.bsky.social's hospitality and great company with @ironcow2103.bsky.social

17. The ultimate constraint on rearmament was not money but labor and capital plant.

He's one of Britain's richest men. So why does Asif Aziz's property company keep leasing London gift shops to overseas students based in abandoned offices or flytipped car parks — before vanishing without paying millions of pounds in taxes? www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-l...

4 games of Gallipoli action this weekend with @andycrow.bsky.social and others. The RND managed to get a foothold in Ottoman trenches, fought off a counter-attack, battled to take the second line, then narrowly held off a massive Turkish attack. 2 RND and 3 Turkish platoons wrecked. #spreadthelard

A much delayed battle report of an I Ain't Been Shot Mum game fought earlier this year (it has taken some time to translate the original report which appeared in Pravda!) #SpreadTheLard

Weird they're showing Swan Lake on Fox right now

Muwatalli the Merciless (played by Phil Turner) led the Warriors of Tarhunna (Hittites) to an overwhelming 5-0 Glory Point victory over the Warriors of the Green (Sea Peoples), leaving their leader Kubaba (@andycrow.bsky.social) as vulture chow in the dust in last night's #ChariotsRampant game.

Thank you to @lordraglan.bsky.social for a wonderful day of gaming and hospitality. @ironcow2103.bsky.social and I faced a stiff fight to secure Liepaja. A pleasure to play on such fabulous terrain with lovely figures.

A nice start to the bank holiday weekend. Great effort @toofatlardies.bsky.social #SpreadTheLard

17th May, 1940. 12 Blenheim IVs of 82 Squadron, led by Sqn/Ldr Miles Delap, set out on a mission to bomb German armour at a crossroads near Gembloux. A group of Bf109s intercepted the formation and only one damaged aircraft returned to base at Watton. 22 aircrew were killed and three captured. 🧵1/4

HaT Miniatures were kind enough to send me a couple of sample sprues of their forthcoming 28mm HARD plastic Napoleonic Prussian Landwehr, How does HaT's re-entry into the wargames market stack up? Find out here... bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2025/05/war-... #SharpPractice #SpreadTheLard

He also gave us televised snooker but once again people sadly just focus on a single small part of his career.

Is anyone aware of Battlefield guide books for the Franco-Prussian war? Something akin to Pen and Sword's Battleground Europe series?

Super Ayrshire Killie 💪

Good morning from Taunton. Worcs are 22/0 from 5 overs.

And he's armed with a bayonet to discourage heavy petting and diving in the shallow end.

Your owning despot is pleased www.theguardian.com/football/202...

New Invasion Threats episode just gone out over on the YouTube channel. This time I take a look at how the picture changed with the invasion of the Lowland countries in mid-May 1940- youtu.be/pT0Om-cMei0?...

Awful, horrifying stuff, often forgotten. Incredible that one of the bastards wanted to film it