New years eve musings

Normally on New years eve I would be preparing for a night of 'first footing' being a true blue northerner,however my poor wife is suffering with swine flu which has curtailed this years ceildah.
So whilst looking after her I thought I would add to my site and look to the future.
My hope this year is to complete my Seven Years war project which according to my notes started in November 2007.This year is hopefully the year I complete my Austrian and French armies.However I bought the new Jackdaw French Garde from Andy Copestake in November so they are also in need of completion.These are very fine figures and deserve a proper review,[one for the future I think.]
I also have started buying a Hanoverian contingent,and plan an army of 10 batallions plus 6 regiments of horse.Most of my armies are from the old RSM range which I think capture the elegance of the period,and they are still very good value [even at the current dollar/pound exchange rate]

Regarding nostalgia in wargames

Nostalgia.
Over the last year or so there has been a trend towards nostalgia in wargamers,encouraged by the welcome return of Charles Grant jnr,Stuart Asquith and the production of Battlegames magazine etc.
Personally I love the idea, but that is probably an age thing.
However when I started gaming things were very difficult for a young would be wargamer,not least being the lack of figures and lack of information on both wargaming in general and uniform detail in particular.
I enjoy reading everything published over the last fifty years by wargamers,and still feel there is merit in a lot of what was said,however I would hate to see a return to the days when figure ranges were in very short supply and plasticine and banana oil were a must for all gamers.
I never did master the use of the stuff and invariably the adapted figure would fall apart on use.

Aim

Aim;
There should always be an aim I believe even if it concerns wargaming. My aim is really to hopefully inspire people to take up a rewarding hobby ie, Wargaming.
Being of a mature age I sometimes think hobbies have become redundant in the 21st century,and with the way history is taught in schools in the UK I worry that young people have little idea of the drama,colour and adventure that is history.
I was lucky to be inspired as a young boy by a history teacher who loved his subject and was able to convey his enthusiasm to his pupils, from this base I discovered wargaming in the late 1960's.
I have been wargaming now for over forty years,and I can honestly state my life would have been pretty dismal without this hobby which at times took over my life and certainly threatened my financial future.

Independent Wargames Group

Introduction;

This blog has been born out of a nostalgic whim;

I have always been a bit wary of bloggers and the need to tell unknown persons scattered throughout the world their latest goings on,however having been inspired by the sites of Alte Fritz, Unfashionably Shiny and Vintage Wargaming I have decded to bite the bullet.
My site will hopefully contain sufficient items of interest to be of use to wargamers of every level of experience and genre.
The nostalgic whim part comes from a desire to build up sizeable wargames armies to re fight battles of the Seven Years War using simple but fun rules and the desire to record my progress or otherwise in this venture.
I hope however that this site will contain more than that as I build it up.