Early spring: Whilst it hadn't been a particularly bad winter, fresh meat would be much appreciated by members of the Clan.
  Fresh shoots were showing amongst the grasses and on the trees, but the early migration of the herds had not appeared and people were beginning to worry.
  It was decided to send out hunting parties in all directions to search for game: Ugg and Stu went North, Nik and Ogg Southwards and Tum and Arri searched to the East.
  Nog and Brik following a voice in their heads to "Go West Young Men" determined to follow the path of the setting sun.

    The day before they were due to leave, Brik, known for his clumsiness as much as his size and strength, managed to injure his leg and was barely able to hobble, let alone chase prey.
 

   Nog decided to go alone taking only Ruff his canine companion. They travelled for the best part of the day before spending a cold night huddled together for warmth.
    Early next morning they climbed the ridge and entered a valley. There in front of them they saw a small herd of Grazing Aurochs, and to the south some small deer.
   The wind was fortunately in their faces, and the herds grazed peacefully on.

It would be dangerous, but Nog wanted to take home an Auroch for the feast, it would not hurt his chances when it came to choosing a new leader, The Greybeard had led for many a year, but more and more was showing his age.

Moving through some scrub Nog disturbed some grazing creatures which raced away, alerting the small herd to his presence.

The Old Bull turned to protect his herd as the females moved off.

With the dog distracting the Bull Nog stabbed Once, Twice then a third Time and the beast crumpled to the ground. A Good Kill.

Far too easy, fired by his success, Ruff chased forward to one of the cows which had stopped and was gazing back to where the old Bull lay. The cow now distracted by the Dog. Nog raced forward and thrust with his spear, Blood pointed from the Beast, But the head swung round and Horn entered frail human flesh.

As Nog stepped back assessing his wound The cow turned and trample Ruff into the Ground.

Nogs Wound was serious, with the dog dead he stood a good chance of joining him.

Warily staring the beast in the eye, Nog took a pace back, he paused , took another step and paused again, A third step and Nog was beginning to hope.

A moment later the beast charged forward and Nog fell beneath angry hooves. The sorely wounded cow moved away. Leaving Nog and Ruff to the mercies of the Night.

Eclecticism Rules

A dull Sunday morning and time to review what is on the painting tray.

1 My little Zebra, 1 Mouse King and Princess, 1 Death figure .
Lord Curran A not Popeye, Bluto and Olive, 1 Dalek A Twoflower figure, 4 1940s pinups,
2 Apemen, 1 Manic clown, Wild Boar and Sheep, A Mammoth, 1 Horse and 16 1940s Regular Infantry,

In the wings another 14 Daleks, 30 Home Guard ,21 Viking Civilians, some 1940s armour and lots of Dogs.

Hopefully this evening will see some impact made.

Making sense of chaos

So the year of the monkey is upon us, not auspicious for an person born in the year of an Iron Tiger, promises to be interesting times, After the past few years all that seems likely to change are the details,
      Well lets try and gain some control over these details. First step has been beating technology into at least temporary submission by being able to access this blog after being frozen out.
      I haven`t been totally idle on the hobby front, in fact January marked an improvement in available time space, money and mojo. Hopefully this will continue and I can record progress for posterity and anyone who actually reads this.
     Work on organising the gaming shed continues, the design and installation of a painting/modelling bench in the lounge, although far from ideal, does at least mean I can get some painting done.
    The Garage cum still room cum workshop is still full of useful stuff, but am beginning to turn left over rebuilding materials into gaming equipment. The major building works are now complete but a raft of finishing/repairs still remains.
     Family continues to be an expensive hobby in all ways, the bright spot on the horizon is my new opponent. Reports of Games in Eclectica to follow, also on this blog I intend to record my second level interests and activities, just keeping my Joint blogs separate for the mainstream.
     In about an hour will be heading off to Beachhead 2016, the new local show, hopefully a success for all those involved, will be the first show I`ve been able to get to for some years.
   Thoughts on that to follow, as I fully intend to be organised enough to post regularly, be it gold or dross

Prelude to Waterloo

Much is known, and even more has been written of Napoleons Last Battle, but that is the end, and would never have happened but for the actions of a small group of men.
   Their story has been lost, buried amongst the plethora of histories, accounts, deconstructions, reconstructions and hyperbole. It must now be told.



The Bridge at Trois Bras.


The Duke of Wellington, was worried. The further he advanced, the more opportunity it gave the French to outflank him and drive a wedge between the Allied armies. Presently he was advancing close to the River Avonne, a wide fast flowing river, with few bridges, few in number, but vital in importance.
   Half a days march ahead lay one such bridge,near the village of Trois Bras.
It must be secured!

 So the General asked the Brigadier, The Brigadier instructed The Colonel, The Colonel Ordered The Captain, And so this unknown Rifle Officer found himself marching through the night with a small band of Riflemen to seize what he considered, yet another bloody bridge, and Hold until Relieved.

Making sense.

An example of wargaming logic sees the creation of a new blog pulp72.  Why the title, well it will be the  home of my pulp project in 1/72 scale, mainly at least.
  Why another blog? purely to help me keep a record of my various projects.Watch these spaces!

A Die is cast, Finally.

Well ,the first games happened and then the third against a live opponent.
    Certain problems were highlighted, In my attempts to keep the building within building/planning rules I had allowed for net headroom of 6ft2".  My regular opponent being 2" taller than this is going to be a minor problem, Options involving a saw do present themselves, but no anaesthetic is available,so a slight stoop whilst moving around the table and choosing to stand between joists, combined with judicious use of the stools will have to suffice for now. It took a long time to find that most valuable of gifts, someone who shares your approach and is interested more in playing the game than slavishly following the latest set of glossy rule mechanism. to trade him in now.
   We play in a variety of periods using sets of rules, some of which were state of the art, once. usually identifiable as the originals, but with minor changes to reflect our view. Or even ignored when an unbelievable result occurs.
    The aim is to capture the essence of the period, with simple, user friendly methods. The two and a half hours available are too precious to waste consulting files of charts or engaging in the cardsharp practices prevalent in some groups. Often we find ourselves exploring the situation and its development rather than confronting each other across the table,We are both out to win, which often means doing better than the historical counterparts, but not at the expense of pleasure.
    The history of the first three games will appear on the somewhere in englandblog asap. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Progress?

Well, slowly but slowly changes happen.

From this to this

and this

and this

and even this.

But dammit, the table is warped.

No matter , the inaugral game is scheduled for today, and tomorrow will finally see the first home match for some time.

Then the game of ¬Whats in this box,Where can I put it, Thats suffered in storage or over the years, Work to do.