A short report on the Hobbit.

The clue to this post is pretty evident. Last night I went to see the Hobbit part one.
 I must admit I was a bit concerned as the reviews that I had read had been pretty mixed,and some had been quite rude.
 Anyway,dragging along 'our lass'  [my wife] I lashed out £32.00! to experience 3d and Imex,whatever that is.
 I don't want to spoil the film for anyone and write a review of the film,but I will say that I loved it.
 I think its better than Lord of the Rings,and for me the 3 hours went very quickly.
 I'm not certain how it got a 12 rating as some parts of the film are fairly scary,in particular when Gollum appears on the scene.
Gollum by the way is better than ever. I was interested to see how Radgast the Brown would be interwoven into the film, but it works,and lends a bit of humour to the film. I think its alright to describe the character as a hippy type of wizard.
Personally I don't think the film feels padded out,and the additions work well.

I even liked the new arch enemy that is introduced into the film,who is clearly going to cause heartache throughout the trilogy. He certainly wins my vote for scary nastiness.
 My wife unfortunately was a herder person to please,but even she liked the way it was filmed. That's posh for I'm bored!
 Anyway if you were thinking about going,lash out,get the best seats,and enjoy the experience.I did.

I admit defeat.

I thought that I would have accepted that I now have enough Seven Years War troops to say that my project was complete.
Anyway I had to re paint some more Hinchliffe Austrian cuirassiers in a colour scheme Ive liked for a longtime, green and white.

I know they are not historical,but I can always say they belong to my imaginary army,although they actually do exist,if you know what I mean. I cant decide whether to make this into a 24 figure regiment,or leave it as it is. Only another 48 cuirassier figures to repaint.

I also picked this figure up off e bay,and painted him as a brigadier of my Hanoverian's, I don't recognise the range,but think it might be Citidal. Its a nice figure though.

Is Old School dead,???

The phenomena of Old School Wargaming I think came about partly through nostalgia and partly as a reaction to increasingly complex wargaming rules,discuss?
Personally I think that because a lot of the wargamers out there are of the greying variety there comes a time when we look back with rose tinted glasses at not only their hobbies,but probably their lives as well.
 Henry Hyde's Battlegames magazine helped and became a catalyst for the hankering for Spencer Smiths, Mollwitz and imaginary nations.
 I know they were probably already out there but more wargamers wanted to be a part of the movement,if that is the correct term, and flocked to be a part of the movement.
Where's all this going one may ask?
Well I personally think that OSW, has now rejoined the list of passing fads and wargamers are probably looking for the next big thing.
 If one is honest, most wargamers are magpies,hopping from one fad to the next, collecting the next big thing then moving on.
There's nothing wrong with that,and god knows the traders need that mentality to survive.
I think we are all creatures of today's consumerism.
 This is not,by the way an announcement that I am ditching my SYW project and buying red indians or some other such new project,this is merely an observation of trends that I have witnessed.
 Firstly I am a member of the OSW Yahoo group,although it still is getting the odd new member,the posts are definitely drying up.
 Secondly,I think Battlegames the magazine is starting to struggle in its content and readership,I may be wrong but there is definitely a dearth of articles and the like. I will however continue to support it.
Thirdly I watch the sales on E Bay a lot [ I think I need a life] and its depressing that OSW books and magazines are going for a song.This is not a quibble but I sold a copy of Feathersone's Solo Wargaming this week,for £3.00! Similarly bids on the Wargames Newsletters were hardly inspiring either.
I didnt expect to make a killing,but one bid later, I think shows that gamers are looking elsewhere for their kicks.
I know its hardly proof but I think its an indication of a change.
Anyway if anyone who actually reads this blog is thinking of chucking in their beautifully painted Willie, Hinchliffe,Hinton Hunt etc armies I am willing to pay nostalgic 1970 prices for them.

 Moving on I picked up some new castings on e bay from a range called ALTE ZEIT MINIATURES .
They are described as Stadden like,generic Prussian mounted officer.
I can definately state they are Stadden like and the horse certainly has that style.The officer comes with a loose saddle,and would fit perfectly into a Stadden unit.

 This is the figure compared to a Willie figure,quite a size,I reckon about 35mm.  Go on buy some nostalgia,they will paint up beautifully.