Sunday 15 March 2020

That bloody virus thing, discuss.

 I havent posted for several weeks which was a deliberate choice. Sometimes one feels pressured to write 'something,' anything really to prove one is still in the game.Frankly I didnt feel I had anything that was relevant to say so basically got on with wargaming ie playing a wargame each week and some really great fun was had albeit very bloodily fought affairs.
     Anyway  I now feel I should put pen or keyboard to print. This weekend has been a series of disappointments beyond ones control due of course to the Armageddon that is reported as Corona-virus. I was due to enjoy a weekend of quality music in London but inevitably due to the said virus the whole thing was postponed. This was followed by the postponement of my long planned trip to India, well its been reported as a postponement by the travel company when in reality it is a cancellation but they refuse to use that term due to the financial implications of such a decision. Im not complaining and one should simply accept this as a minor price to pay for ones reported potential death as portrayed by all forms of the media.
 What does worry me is the potential effect on wargaming in general. We are in the main a graying hobby and lets be brutally honest there a lot of wargamers who really arent that fit and I dont just mean the veterans. There are a lot of younger wargamers who struggle to see their feet never mind tie their shoelaces. All are potential victims of the said virus. So I can foresee a cancellation of all major shows which are a great source of pleasure for me, second only to actually wargaming itself.
Witnessing how Europe is tackling? the crisis I can see 2020 being a very long year with few pleasures, a bit like I imagine life was in Cromwellian England. So I think there will be more painting activity and less reports of shows for a long time. On a brighter point I have been pottering away with various painting projects albeit varied and basically filling out some bits of my armies.
 This artillery piece and crew is an interesting piece [well for me it is] I purchased this badly painted item from E Bay and began repainting the crew. One figure I immediately recognised as a Warrior figure but the other three crewmen I cant identify. They are lead and whilst a little crude they do possess a lot of charm. The best discovery was the actual gun itself which is handmade from balsa and tin with commercial wheels and a plastic barrel. It is a lovely thing and someone expended a lot of skill creating the carriage and wrapping it carefully in thin strips of tin. I hope the maker is still alive because I would like to thank the person who made such a lovely thing.


 Which leads me onto this foot regiment hat I also purchased from E Bay. Again the figures are lead and are exactly 25mm tall. I have no idea who made them but once repainted I love them even though no civil war regiment would have ever been that well dressed. I have flagged them as Taylor's Royalist regiment. They looked very cavalier-like to me and exactly how I would have expected Hollywood to depict the troops. No doubt they will fare badly at their first outing.
 The Mini Fig officer was a rider that John gave me out of his spares box. He was part painted by him in the early 1980's and deserved promotion to a general officer with a command rating of eight.


14 comments:

  1. If Hammerhead's attendees were anything to go by we are indeed, according to the press at least, about to be decimated. We were planning to go to Barcelona tomorrow but not any more obviously. We are booked to go to India as well, in July in theory but I ain't holding my breath (or maybe I should). Keep well and keep gaming and painting.

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    1. Not only are our India dreams in tatters but no one is prepared to accept the financial consequences, its quite an interesting [not] experience Colin.

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  2. Keep calm and paint on! No doubt we will all have tales to tell when we meet up next. Perhaps at The Other Partizan?

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    1. I like your optimism David. Clearly the pressure is building on our government to follow Italy, France and other EU countries re large gatherings. Surely personal responsibilities have to be taken into account re gatherings? Somehow I can see lockdown coming over the hill especially given the hysteria that is being drummed up.

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  3. What no mass panic buying? No clearing of traders stalls with the impending apocalypse? Really no panic to be seen at all? What is wrong with wargamers!

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    1. Probably because the majority have seen a bit of life and accept that all we can do is what the scientists advise as opposed to some airhead tweeter determined to prove they know better.

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  4. We gave the middle finger to the virus and attended Cold Wars here in the USA. I was surprised HMGS held it, but they did not cancel. There were many game cancellations and I noted a considerable drop in attendance but it still served as a vital shot in the arm for flagging morale. I'm hopeful that by summer life will return to normal, however that looks.

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    1. I was impressed that Cold Wars went ahead, sadly the O2 cancelled the weekender I had hoped to attend. Sorry not cancelled merely postponed. The difference is by postponing I cant get my money back.

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    1. Thanks Ray, wargaming is a great defence to madness.

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  6. No doubt, one of the ‘effects’ of the Coronavirus will be highlight how much we take for granted.

    Your artillery piece is splendid.

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    1. Thanks Norm. I must admit whoever made the artillery piece was a great model maker. I have just completed re painting the second and that is just as well made.As for taking things for granted, having been brought up as a 'boomer' I totally appreciate things we now take for granted, sadly younger people dont and demand the impossible.

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  7. Robbie,
    Great figures and as always nicely set off by some great basing. Apart from joining the conspiracy theorists on media manipulation etc. The only thing for certain that at the end of all this the rich will have got richer and lots of small businesses will have gone to the wall as well as lots of families having unnecessary suffering.
    Watching news etc. At the behaviour of selfish morons doesn't come as a surprise to me and I'm sure not to you either, these would be the very same people demanding their rights, handouts etc with not thought to anyone else.
    Anyway rant over ( only partially) it has been very interesting seeing the take on the Wargames shows by the organisers - Partizan for example - very upfront saying they will make a decision regardless of the showground decision and they are prepared to take the hit financially etc.
    The Salute organisers the complete opposite - the show goes on unless the Excel says no! And it also appears that even if cancelled it's unlikely traders will get any refund! I know there are lots of defenders re Salute pointing out the venue etc isn't cheap but for all the years Salute has been going you can't tell me they haven't made a canny amount of money over the years!
    As you know I'm not reliant on an income from my business but there is still a big financial impact - my preorders are down 75% ( mainly because our European colleagues are unlikely to attend , extra stock has already been purchased etc etc. So the knock on effect is sales down, less money to reinvest so new releases slow down so sculptors get less money and so on.
    Anyway I feel better for that! It's madness but one we will have to work through I guess - so it looks like a return to the (good) old days - games at home with a chosen few and Mail order for as long as the postal service runs.

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  8. I know who you are talking about Graham, sadly things never change, just these groups get bigger. As for Salute, having just watched our PM's pronouncements tonight I cannot see how Salute can go ahead. Clearly SLW are waiting for Excel to cancel the day. I would imagine there will be an insurance issue there because I cannot see the Warlords not protecting their event but they will need the place to cancel and not the other way around.I am currently suffering the same issue with my holiday company and my holiday insurance company, both of which wont accept that one of them should be paying me back. Knowing how important Salute is for small companies like yours you would think that the Warlords would do the right thing in order to guarantee that companies will be around for when the country gets back on its feet. Given how I am in one of the self isolating groups I know I will need? a regiment of your lovely Saxons so I will be in touch.So chin up and paint up some lovely Crann Tara figures.

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My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2013
Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2012

Smoggycon 2012
Smoggycon 2012

Smoogycon 2009

Smoogycon 2009
My French getting another beating