Did you win? and the new man cave is up and running.

It was draw time for my give away for 100,000 hits and 150 followers. So first i just wanted to say welcome to all those new followers over the last few weeks. So with no further delay here are the results

Prize 1 - Gladiator Blu Ray  - Kev at the cabin
Prize 2 - Dieppe - Gary Amos
Prize 3 - Wagram - Peter Bonami
Prize 4 - Korea Edwin King
Prize 5 - Marengo Mike Hert
Prize 6 - Anatomy of Glory a popular choice this one! - Panzerkaput
Prize 7 - Mincemeat - Brendon Watts
Prize 8 - WW1 - Magpie Phyllion

Congratulation one and all - I hope you enjoy them as much as i have. So if you drop me your delivery address details - you can contact me via the link at the left hand side of the blog  I will get them out to you.

Finally I now have the new man cave up and running - it seems an age since i painted something.

nice new paint racks- i got hold of a couple of nail varnish racks - they are nicely tiered so its easy to see

Entertainment sorted with the wifi on ipad , and its connected  to a decent speaker system with a rather large subwoofer under the table.

I have sorted out a gaming / projects table - on trestles - its 6 foot x 4 18mm MDF nice and solid  - its in the corner at the moment while I sort out projects

talking of projects - here are few tasters for next year

first the mine project. Extras from Ainsty now ready to go.

second , the centre piece for my Mexican village - for a Marvelous 7 game perhaps at next years Blog -Con

Out in the country - a ranch house - with the imminent arrival of the U.S. Cavalry into the collection (Thanks to Galloping Majors new releases - and once painting proper starts for Curts challenge) - and extra Apaches there must a scenario of 3 there i think...

My friend Steve has handed over a fort - for one of next years projects...back to the Sudan or the Sahara..

This weekend has seen the arrival of the obligatory parcel from Warbases..

Right I am off to to do some prep work - and to try and crack off Doug C's Highlanders - before the challenge starts -who have been hanging around far too long!! It's good to be back painting with a size 1 brush rather than a 4 inch one!

The pre Xmas give away 100'000+ hits

So I have managed to some how miss the blog going over a 100'000 hits and 150 followers. To celebrate I am going to do a give away.

This will be drawn on the 30th November. You need to be a follower and leave a comment with your choices. Choose as many as you like. An extra 3 draw entries for blog pimping , just reply with the link.










A Blu Ray copy of Gladiator. (1)








An excellent tale of the failed raid on Dieppe. (2)








A cracking guide to uniforms of the units at the battle of Wagram (3)









A little known war sometimes - a great read the battle of Imjin in Korea (4)








One for the history buffs a detailed account of early Napoleonics battles (5)









A real classic weighty tome , Napoleon and his Guard (6)








A tale of real life subterfuge to fool the Germans and the Spanish. (7)








Another little known part of the First World War. The East African Campaign. (8)


Good luck

Let's Go

It's that time of year where Curt comes over all mad , gladly volunteering to run his Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

I see a number of past contenders are already in. I won't be setting a high output target this year, but I may have a few interesting entries up my sleeve.So good luck to all the competitors - and Curt thanks again for organising it.

Tommy Gunn & the man cave progress

After a thoroughly enjoyable weekend with fellow bloggers I came home ready for more projects. I have been working on the new man cave , getting some multi draw storage , some shelving above the desk, moving over the close work lighting , and some of the tools. The new large cutting mat has turned up too. I managed to get my large Tombstone poster up too.Next job is to go through all the various paints i have an throw out the ones that have had it and prepare a Christmas stock up list and get a paint rack sorted.

While part emptying the old man cave I came across some older projects. So here is Tommy Gunn from the bootleggers collection. Picked up ready painted at Scarborough earlier this year , just needed a little touch up work and another varnish- pretty sure he is a Copplestone casting.

and a new view of the man cave.

Blog Con - Day 2

First off , a very big thank you to Wargames Foundry for giving us a great venue and endless tea and coffee. I stocked up on spare lead for the mountain. Likewise thanks James for the original idea and getting it set up. Plans are already afoot for next year.

I am sure there is a joke in these first few photographs about The Good, The Bad , and The Ugly....

 James and Fran

 Lee and Ray

A further run out of Blazing Dice , with big Lee making his escape with his bounty on the train.Great game.

 Who let the cows out ?-- well that would be Loki!

Our Very British Civil War game , hosted by Panzerkaput

 My lads attempt to outflank Lee's boys in blue - failing miserably!

 Ray wonders what PK is about to do with the Morris Dancers?

A great intro to VBCW, with beautiful figures and terrain by PK

We Will Remember Them

It is Remembrance Sunday in the UK. I have never met a gamer who who did not appreciate the sacrifices made. Given the recent conflicts we as a country have been involved in, remembrance does seem to be more relevant than ever. Watching the local battalion parade through town and viewing new names engraved on the town war memorial is hard. That is only a fraction of what the generations who went before us lived through.




They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

"Laurence Binyon - "For the Fallen"




In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

"John McCrae 1918"



I will always treasure the memories of Remembrance Sundays I spent with my late dad Jim. They were special times. I do miss him.



Dad and I on our visit to the First World War battlefields, this was taken at Vimy Ridge memorial park.

Blog-Con day 1

Day 1 of our first ever Blog-Con hosted at Wargames Foundry in Nottingham. It's been great to meet up with blogger friends old and new to chew the fat, and throw some dice.







Ian, Andrew and Pete. aka , Blog with no name, Loki's great hall, and Panzerkaputs painted review.

The cowboy collection has been transported , and I have run 3 great games over the course of the day, with perhaps a few new converts to Old West gaming.



















We played the same Man With No Name scenario 3 times , 3 very different results...great fun

More tomorrow

A new man cave..question for you

With the freeing up of a room in the house it is time to explore a new man cave. The old one is just too small, being in essence the 4th bedroom "box room" type.. I work in there most of the day doing the "day job" as I work from home and it doubles as my paint workshop and reference storage.

 The existing study/paint shop/library.

So I have a decent step up in size to room that is 2.4m x 2.4m - good light as well. It's had a lick of paint over the weekend - new light fitting . I also came across a nice desk and chair combo in "Staples" which was marked down by 60% - so went for that. So here we have the start of the "New Man Cave". A blank canvas. Oh and I still get the old room too.

So here is the question - what would be your essentials for your "Man Cave" - or indeed "Woman Cave" or "Hobby Cave"to keep Tamsin ,Sofie and Anne on side!

Next up in no particular order.

Large cutting mat.

Tool draw storage

Bespoke paint rack storage

Lead mountain storage

Shelving 

Figure display cabinet possibly

Audio Visual equipment

A temporary gaming table solution

Pictures - I feel a western theme coming on..

Photo backdrop.

So over to you...

And in preparation for Blog-Con this week - the toys are all packaged ready

And Ian and Lee's 6mm reinforcements

See you at the weekend if you are at Blog-Con

The cattle baron.

I have finally managed to source a reasonable number of Longhorn cattle after long wait and search around.. These are 1/64th made by ERTL. They come pre-coloured with a mix of plain and patterned. A spray with a matt varnish and then dab of dark brown and a few differing washes broke the colours up. 25 head of cattle. Makes for a bit of fun with the castle rustling scenario, or the stampede through town.

Of course that means i may need to get a Cattle Barons house - which is another new item in the "to do" list.