The Lead Mountain Boys held their annual Slay Ride game last night. Essentially a race across the table, gaining points for rescuing frozen cantinières or the eagle, or slaying wolves or cossacks, with double points if l'empereur happens to be looking your way at the time! All great seasonal fun 😀❄️

Played Ruckus at the Wycombe Warband club on Thursday and introduced a couple of new players. It was a good game, but I definitely need to have more scenery on the table next time. Of course I would say that as my opponent's bowmen had clearly been attending regular Sunday practice at the butts!

I might have found figures that are even easier to paint than early medievals 😀. I can't have spent more than half an hour on this sample.

I'm pleased my wife takes an interest in my hobby, but she has high standards! She was horrified by the ill-fitting stamina loss marker on the elf cavalry in the photo of a game back in April. Hopefully these larger versions will satisfy. Finished in time for a first game with Normans on Thursday.

Couple more photos of this afternoon's Anglo-Sikh Wars game. We played using Black Powder rules and the game ended up as a draw, with two broken brigades each. Highlight for me was the Sikh Akalis finally (after 20 years' service!) doing what they're meant to do and charging fanatically!

Setting up for a big Anglo-Sikh Wars game.

There's been a wave of interest in Ruckus at the Wycombe Warband club recently. Here's my first retinue. First time painting WotR figures and they are a bit more demanding than the 13th century medievals and Normans I've been doing recently. More to come as I have aspirations towards Billhooks!

A friend gave me a lot of painted Napoleonics some time ago and I agreed to paint these lovely Steve Barber Models houses for him (he doesn't like painting scenery). I'm afraid I've had them on the shelf for 2-3 years (🫢) but they're finally finished. The inn sign is magnetised for easy storage.

Another unit of Normans finished. Just the command figures to go now and I should be able to have a 300 pt Midgard army ready for a game next week.

Sixty-something-year-old men reverting to their twelve-year-old selves at the Wycombe Warband club this evening with Escape from Colditz. A bottle of Tizer and a few Curly Wurlies would have added to the 70s vibe!

More lovely Crusader Miniatures Normans finished. A group of eight spearmen next up, then some command figures, and that's a basic 300 pt Midgard army. It hasn't taken too many figures to increase my Saga warband to Midgard size 🙂. First outing planned at the Wycombe Warband club for Thursday 23rd.

I finished Ian Ross's Battle Song on the commute this morning. An excellent introduction to the second Barons' War and a really gripping read! It was a recommendation on here or Facebook from @mogsymakes.bsky.social ,so thanks James for the tip 👍

Few photos of this afternoon's Midgard game. Playing an ambush scenario from the forthcoming campaign pack. I (left side) ended up with enemy units behind my left flank and on my right side, but still managed to pull off a +7/-1 win 🙂. It's a challenging and fun scenario!

Six Norman knights done. And another six next up in the painting queue. I'm enjoying these Crusader Miniatures! I used to really enjoy applying the LBMS shield transfers, but after swearing with a scalpel to cut out the bosses for these I invested in a punch. Arrived today and seems good so far 👍

Cretan bull leapers entertain the army before the battle. Just about to start a Midgard Heroic Battles game set in the Bronze Age at the Wycombe Warband club.

I haven't had so much time for painting over the last week or two, but managed to finish some more Normans yesterday. Lovely figures from Crusader. Mounted knights undercoated and next in the queue!

When did LBMS stop punching out the holes for shield bosses on their transfers 😠? That seems like a disappointing development. Perhaps when Victrix took over supply 🤷

A couple of years ago a number of friends contributed to a very generous 60th birthday present. I'm embarrassed that it's taken so long to get round to it (well it's a big project 🤷) but here's some progress. This is about a quarter of it, but all is now based/sprayed. Quite pleased with it so far.

No club for me last night as my back was playing up and I didn't fancy bending over a table all evening. However my brother has just cheered me up by bringing over a box of figures from our teenage years. I'm looking forward to going through this properly 😀

Punic Wars game of #Midgardheroicbattles at the Wycombe Warband club last night. Most of my figures come from my twenty-something years old WAB army, while David's Romans are newly painted.

Some photos of the this afternoon's Midgard game. The scenario creates a really confusing battlefield, particularly when both sides look the same! I managed to hang on for a slender 5:2 victory.

The action hots up in Turn 2.

Table ready - awaiting my opponent for a Midgard game. We're playing one of the ambush scenarios from the forthcoming campaign pack.

Samurai action at the Wycombe Warband club last night. Another Test of Honour game, in which I was soundly beaten! Great fun though, with lots of action.

Small gift for a friend at the club - reputation tokens for his Egyptian #Midgardheroicbattles army

Too busy with the action to take more photos, but we had an enjoyable game of Test of Honour at the Wycombe Warband club last night. A bit of a teaching game for Jon who has only played once or twice before. Clever use of Jon's missile troops resulted in a bloody draw at the end of turn 5.

Normans. Inspired by my holiday in Sicily earlier in the year. I'm a bit of a fan of Crusader Miniatures in general, but their Norman range is outstandingly good!

Austrian divisional general for Soldiers of Napoleon. Not my best paint job unfortunately. I'm trying out a new flesh triad from Army Painter after using Foundry for many years and I don't think I've got it quite right yet.

I'm reading this for the first time since 2007. Pearson's account seemed quite recognisable to me then, but I'm now struck by how dated it seems. Whether this is to do with the way my own hobby has changed or whether it's bigger changes in wargaming, it now seems to be describing a lost era.

Currently at Sutton Hoo tea room taking a break from the table. And a photo to confirm that a married couple from both sides of the divide can live in scone harmony...

A bit of silliness at the Wycombe Warband club this evening as three of us played Half Tilt. Three good fun games!

And now for something completely different: two new recruits for the team for Thursday's visit to the tiltyard.

These Austrian artillerymen were undercoated at the start of 2024, but then leap frogged by my Bronze Age project. It's been enjoyable to return to the horse and musket era for a change. And I've still a few more undercoated figures to do before I return to Biblical times.

Terrific Bronze Age game of Midgard Heroic Battles at the Wycombe Warband club last night. After much bloody fighting a single combat between the Egyptian general and a chariot-mounted hero settled things and the sea-borne raiders were repulsed.

I'm excited about the Bayeux Tapestry coming to the BM and coincidentally I've just watched Richard Holmes' War Walks programme on the battle of Hastings. Has anyone ever tried recreating the battle as a wargame? It strikes me that it doesn't offer much potential to make an interesting game.

I sometimes read those reviews in magazines that say 'flash was virtually non-existent and there were no visible mould lines' and think well that that's never, ever been my experience! Well until today with these Crusader Miniatures Normans - these required absolutely minimal work👍.

Quite a productive painting afternoon on a hot day. Austrian artillerymen well underway and some animals: Freya's wildcats from Bad Squiddo and a Citadel Miniatures goat acquired around forty years ago and only just painted!

Incredibly close game of #Midgardheroicbattles at the Wycombe Warband club last night. At one point David's Romans had me down to one reputation token, but the last few turns were nip and tuck and we finished at +3/-3 to the Carthaginians on turn 6. Neither of us expected the game to go on so long!

Excited to be playing our first Punic Wars game using Midgard at the Wycombe Warband club this evening. These photos show the initial set-up.

Finishing up some odd figures this evening. A couple of 1970s vintage Ral Partha elves. Beautiful figures, but I think I need to send some more money across the Atlantic to @ralparthalegacy.bsky.social to turn them into a unit!

I've spent the last hour working on some Numidian light cavalry while listening to @tatmblog.bsky.social's podcast with Andy Hawes. Amusingly, given Andy's wargaming history, these were originally painted for my WAB army and now being updated for Midgard. Hope to meet you both at Sutton Hoo.

Painting on a hot day, so it seems appropriate to be working on figures from around the Mediterranean. Spanish and Numidian command figures finished, while elephants await the completion of their bases. Probably could have done a better job now, but painted to match the elephant done 20 years ago.

I don't usually post WIP photos, but I'm quite pleased with this evening's work on an Iberian command group for my Carthaginians. My game this evening was cancelled, so pleased to put the time to good use!

Another unit of Lucid Eye Sea Peoples for my Midgard Bronze Age army. These always seem to take a surprisingly long time to paint. There's quite a lot of detail and the quality of sculpting seems to demand a bit more care. Pleased to have got them finished anyway.

Two groups I first saw over forty years ago at Milton Keynes yesterday! Both put on a great show, although the Damned were forced into a short set due to earlier overruns. What a great day!

Kidnapped, the characters from the last tv show you watched will rescue you. Yeah. I think I'm good thanks!

Finished some Sea Peoples ox carts. I decided to leave the crew separate, so I can swap them out for the (probably more historically accurate) women and children shown in the relief at Medinet Habu in Thebes. Of course, many wargames rules also have stats for ox carts with fighting crew 😀!

Part way through our second refight of Minden, with a slightly modified scenario. I'm commanding the Allied left and I've been hunbugged by Saint-Pern, who has withdrawn the French right flank. It's going to get exciting for after lunch!

We held our second game of Of Gods and Mortals at the Wycombe Warband club last night, with a couple of new players. I think this game may be something we end up playing fairly regularly, despite some difficulties in interpreting the rule book. We all had great fun and are planning future warbands.

'I'm built for comfort, I ain't built for speed' sang Howlin' Wolf, but to be honest I'm not sure these vehicles would be that comfortable. Starting some ox carts for my Sea Peoples army - a bit of a contrast to speedy chariots I've already painted!