Independent Wargames Annual 2020

 

If this had been a 'normal', and I use the term loosely, year I would have created a series of soundbites regarding what stood out for me in the wargames firmament in the calendar year.

Of course 2020 was the opposite of normal and instead can have many cachets attached to describe the year. For me 2020 was and remains a living nightmare with relief barely in sight. 

 I class myself as lucky because our wonderful hobby was able to keep me occupied and allowed me to remove myself from the realities around me. A lot of people weren't so lucky and that doesn't include the thousands who have died. Many will never recover from the experience and no doubt we will witness certain fourth rate media personalities regaling us with their mental health issues and producing books etc to tell us how we can combat the effects of isolation, fear and in my case my burgeoning waistline. But I digress.

 Has anyone else found that as the months have dragged on they struggle to focus to complete even simple tasks. Procrastination is certainly an issue I repeatedly confront and finding ways to remain motivated increasingly difficult. But enough of my whining, lets talk wargames and all things positive.

This nightmare has certainly been good for most figure producers and I hope this has percolated down to the smaller one man companies as we ordered figures, paints, buildings etc via the internet. I would like to think its been a boom year for the traders.

 I read today that the share price of the mighty Games Workshop makes them richer than Marks and Spencer's. Now that could be down to the price of their figures and the numbers they have shifted, but I suspect my purchase of their Contrast Paints has gone someway towards them making piles of cash. I confess I do like using the range but find the price hard to accept, but I still buy the damned things.

 In  the early months of the lockdown I was finding myself able to paint figures by the score as I quickly built up units of ancient Persians, Greeks, Caesarean Romans and Ancient Britons. The release of the first box of the Wargames Atlantic Ancient Persian range didn't help with the numbers of figures I found myself painting, and just when I thought I had enough Persians, Victrix released their first box of Sparabara that are beautiful figures and of course they provided beautiful transfers for the shields and quivers the figures possess. Having now seen their images of their Persian cavalry and  heavy infantry I know I will need more storage boxes.

 Wargamers are really spoiled.....

                                             Wargames Atlantic, Persian Sparabara.

                                                     Victrix, Persian Sparabara.

This image is of the Persian infantry, based for both Sword and Spear and Hail Caesar. The cavalry are of equal size and numbers. Personally I know I over did the numbers, but what else could one do. 

 I couldn't help myself and bought a number of unpainted and really old Mini Fig Ethiopian infantry.

                                   My small but very effective Caesarean Roman army.

Unfortunately as we approached the autumn I began to struggle with being able to sit and paint for any length of time, well actually being able to sit per se. The pain was diagnosed as two bulging discs. I wont bore anyone with the details, but sitting for any length of time has become a debilitating issue which clearly affected my wellbeing. I've found that even surfing the internet has become tiresome, which I will use as an excuse for my lack of regular blogs. The reality is, that I had little to say, and what I could have said wouldn't have been very inspiring and probably depressing. 

 

Luckily a free set of rules has helped me combat the issues I was struggling with. 

Andy Callan's free Wars of the Roses rules offered me inspiration and a small kick up the backside. 'Never Mind the Billhooks' a diminutive booklet is a joy as a wargame. It possesses enough historical realism to make it feel right' for the period whilst flowing easily. Basically its a game that's simple to play whilst containing enough friction to reflect the historical nuances that were the Wars of the Roses.

 So having sold my WOR armies many years ago I am now slowly replacing them. Talk about Groundhog Day. Years ago my mother in law obtained details of the history of my family name and the heraldry that would have been used if my family had been influential enough to have possessed such a thing. Its all bollocks really but I will be fielding my own 'ward' resplendent in its livery, and why not.  It is keeping me amused and inspiring me to take up a brush for short intervals. 

 

This  'ward' is mainly Grenadier, Citadel and a few Perry Kern. In order to cut back on the expense I fully intend to use Perry plastics, but everyone knows about the best laid plans. The actual flag is the Stanley family as is the livery colours.  

 So thanks Andy for your work and generosity. Later this year? Andy will be releasing a further set of rules for the period with added units, rule etc. and also additional cards to frustrate the players I cant wait.

  One of the many things I have put off is actually counting the number of new figures etc that I managed to paint during this crisis. I know its a lot, but I have continually found reasons not to actually find out. Perhaps its because I know its too many and will probably never be used in battle. 

So finally I hope everyone has weathered the crisis and like me is looking forward to lots of wargames big and small with a smattering of wargames shows thrown in for good luck.