Late to the party

I've never been much of one for podcasts - preferring to watch videos or listen to music. However of late I've been trawling through the archives of Meeples & Miniatures and also enjoying The Miller's Tale. Being in Australia, many of the in-jokes and references have passed me by, particularly the UK-centric references and news.

However what I have found exceptionally illuminating are the various interviews with Nick and Riochard from Too Fat Lardies. Given that I'm effectively only just beginning my journey into The TFL rules experience, listening to the ethos of Richard and Nick in terms of rules design, approach to gaming and history, has been both entertaining and thought provoking.

I'm getting that same sense of wonderment and discovery that first struck me when I saw my first 1/300th moderns game back in 1977.
The path I'm on is new to me, but it feels right. I'm shedding years of encroaching and accumulating disillusionment with each step I take forward. I'm now looking forward to the arrival of  my new figures, paints and materials.

It's not going to be a smooth journey as there is so much I have to re-learn and re-discover, but that is also part of the attraction and enthisuasm.

An Introduction

I started war-gaming as many of my generation did, via the books of Wise, Featherstone and Grant the Elder, courtesy of the Khandallah public library. In 1975/6 while in the UK, Military Modelling published a directory of war-gaming clubs which I used to join the Wellington Warlords upon my return to New Zealand.

In terms of "formal" structured war-gaming, I pretty much started with Bruce Quarrie's Airfix Guide to World War two rules, then moved on to 1/300th Moderns using Heroics & Ros models and the very new 1950-1985 modern rules from WRG. The mid-late eighties were primarily spent playing TTG's Challenger and Firefly sets (again in 1/300th) along with a significant diversion into 15mm and 25mm renaissance gaming using the Gush rules.

I returned to World War Two in 1995, this time in 15mm, with  Barrie Lovell's Overlord: Normandy 1944 and Grey Storm, Red Steel rules. I then got involved in the pre-publication play-testing of what became Flames of War and was pretty much heavily involved until mid way through the life of the second edition. I continued collecting WW2 armies in 15mm but my enthusiasm for actual gaming was on the wane - although I didn't realise how disillusioned I was with the hobby until much later.

In the last 12 months, a significant change in personal circumstances meant that I no longer have any of the 15mm armies I collected over the years and effectively I'm starting from scratch. This has allowed me to refocus my interest on some periods and a scale of gaming that I find has provided me with some well-needed motivation to get out of bed and function again.

This blog will document a hopefully long and fulfilling journey back into a hobby that I still love but that desperately needed a reboot for me.

Now on to the French and Indian War in 28mm...