Rebased my British figures for the Sudan. Putting an end to using sabots and very happy with the shift. More compact units look better; footprint is smaller and figures look like they actually belong on their base. All just personal taste, of course.

A game changer? Perhaps literally. I’ve rebased my AWI for Sharp Practice from 25mm rounds and sabots to multi-basing. Huge difference in footprint (not to mention aesthetics). 3 groups now occupy same frontage as 2 did before. Don’t know why it’s taken so long. Inspired by @johnsavage.bsky.social

Set up for a Sharp Practice game using the Magistrate’s Daughter scenario from one of the Lard Magazines. First game against a new opponent who I met in the Lard Zone at CanCon. He lives close to our holiday house, which is in a quiet spot with a dearth of gamers. No longer it seems. Yippee.

Need an earthwork for a forthcoming Sharp Practice AWI game and finally made some use of a set of Renedra gabions that have been lying around waiting for a moment like this. Gun and crew from Foundry. #sreadthelard

It seems like an age since our last Chain of Command campaign, so it was great to kick start a new one today. We’re in the Far East, Malaya to be exact, playing ‘A Driving Charge’, the Japanese breakthrough of the Jitra Line. I’ll be writing these up in full for the blog.

I think my workbench is trying to tell me something….too many periods? I’m a wargaming butterfly? I’m arguing back that this is just reflective of an active and vibrant hobby. Not sure who’s winning this….

Indeed, just done over fifty, but the end result is worth the effort….. just!

Finished off 8 plastic Perry figures as 72nd Regiment of Foot for the Second Anglo Afghan War. A first attempt at painting tartan at this scale, fortunately a fairly simple pattern. Pleased with the result.

Post something from the 80s

This way madness lies. Painting tartan trousers on 28mm Perry plastic figures. They’re intended to be 72nd Seaforth Highlanders for the 2nd Afghan War. Now if someone would only come up with a tartan speed paint…..

Love the versatility of the 28mm Perry plastic sets. All of these were made using the AWI Continentals (except the mounted figure, he’s from their metal range).

A new Jagdpanther to join the German tank park. This is a Revell 1/72 plastic kit and a nice little model. Moulded in black plastic for some reason, not the easiest colour to work with, but happy with the end result. The crew is from AB Figures.

Toy for the new puppy. I think the appendage is supposed to be a tail, but it defaults to the front instead of the back. The unfortunate choice of colouring doesn’t help. I doubt the dog gets the joke….

I’ve had these 28mm Foundry late Victorian figures in the pile for a while. Purchased with Sudan games in mind, as leaders or characters but also perhaps as something like a survey party or government officials in need of rescue. Lovely figures, many uses.

A year since our dog of 14 years passed away and Mrs TP has decided it’s time for a new dog. Much enthusiasm and a search and now we have a 6 week old rescue puppy. Lovely little dog, but clearly Mrs TP has forgotten how much work a puppy can be. Regrets? Perhaps not, but maybe second thoughts LOL.

Second day of running my CoC participation games at Cancon ended with a very tense struggle that finally went the way of the Russians. A plucky SU-76 found itself in a duel with a StuGIII and refused to go down easily. Until it did. Very entertaining and cinematic. Great stuff.

Two good participation games of my CoC scenario in the Lard Zone at Cancon. Excellent games between like minded players in the spirit of Lardy games. Good to showcase 20mm, a scale that gets very little love at an event like this. Lots of nice compliments on the terrain too.

Pie and a pint dice towers for Cancon Lard Zone game organisers, courtesy of Battlefield Accessories. Very nice indeed, big thanks to @toofatlardies.bsky.social

Table all set up and ready to go for Cancon. A Chain of Command seven to set in 1945 Konigsberg, twilight of the Reich. Running four games over two days. No voice by Sunday!

Always good to have @toofatlardies.bsky.social in town and a good chance for a final playtest of my Chain of Command participation game for Cancon. Rich played Dave as I watched on. Dave proved a poor host, driving off Rich’s Russian in a hail of StG44 fire. A good game that just needs a few tweaks.

They don’t make war movies like they used to. Circa 1971 we made two. Shot on Super 8 by one of our friends. Sadly, the films haven’t survived, but a friend sent me this still yesterday, perhaps the last surviving element. That’s 12 year old me jumping down to knife the German sentry. What a hero!

Far too hectic festive period to have any hobby time, so won’t be able to take part in this year’s #FestiveTankChallenge2025 despite having a Sherman awaiting construction in the stash. However, 2025 didn’t pass without a Sherman being made….three in fact. All for Indian tank brigades in Burma.

I didn’t love the first one I owned, a rather poor resin version that looked all wrong on so many counts. The new one is a beauty.

Looking back over the year’s new additions for my Second World War 20mm collection and I think this is my favourite. A Lanchester armoured car for the Far East, a 3D print.

Nick’s recent video on the TFL Patreon site reminded me that I still have the first hex and counter wargame I ever owned - Avalon Hill’s Afrika Korps. Bought for me by my dad, so we could play together. The start of many years of happy gaming. Still has the £4.60 price tag, a princely sum in 1973.

Lard Magazine 2025 is now out. Pleased to say it includes a mini campaign - ‘On Nunshigum Ridge’ that I wrote for Chain of Command, set in Imphal in 1944. As always the Lard Magazine is packed full of stuff for a host of TFL rule sets and is excellent value for the price.

Used some figures left over from one of the Victrix 12mm sets to make up a few stands to represent dug-in squads for my O Group games. Simple enough to make - Milliput for the base and figures cut in half. Good way to use up the additional figures.

Adding a few support options to my US Marines. The bulk of figures are from Eureka but the range lacks most support options so I’ve filled gaps with Kelly’s Heroes and Britannia. A decent fit in terms of size and sculpting style. Although not sure why all the Britannia have a full backpack load.

A few years ago, before I got back into miniatures, I was doing a lot of model making in 1/35. On a whim, I decided to see what I could do with the 1/76 Airfix models of my youth using my current modelling skills. This led to moments of sheer madness. Like rebuilding the engine deck of the JSIII….

Lovely table for a big four player Sharp Practice game set during the Peninsular War. French gendarmerie chasing down Spanish guerrillas on a magnificent 18’x5’ table.