Doolally tap and the next big thing

My Nan always used the phrase doolally tap when I was a kid to describe someone who’d gone nuts. You might have come across the more commonly used shortened version - doolally. I always thought she’d added the last bit on by herself but it seems not.

Collins - Word Origins

C19: originally military slang, from Deolali, a town near Mumbai, the location of a military sanatorium + Hindustani tap fever

Anywhoo… things have been going well over here…too well really. I’ve even stopped biting my nails. Which makes me worry. Not that I need an excuse to worry of course, It’s my default setting. Indeed the longer the period of quiet contentment the more the fear builds of the unseen and silently growing disaster that will definitely engulf me when least expected. 

Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you! Lol.

Man, it’s bloody exhausting being nuts. 

Of course I have been here before (in every sense) so it’s come as no surprise that the old noggin has started fraying at the edges a bit. Moments of forgetfulness have increased tenfold and my ability to multitask has disappeared entirely. 

The number of times I’ve thought I’ve left comments on blogs or answered emails is ridiculous - so if you think I’m snubbing you, nope, soz,  I’m just in a bit of a blue funk at the mo. (Does anyone other than Biggles actually say that?). I still love you. It’s me not you. (Been a while since I’ve had to say that). 

Probably as a fallout from this there’s been some fun with lost car keys and last week a lost wallet (containing every possible piece of frustratingly difficult to replace - yet totally essential documentation). 

Amusingly it seems that when I lose my shit… I actually lose my shit! 

Which brings us to the next big thing. 

I’ve owned and sold…and lost, and re bought…and then sold again ECW armies in every scale (apart from 54mm). Although it remains my favourite gaming period I just didn’t feel I had it in me to repeat the laborious and costly process once again. But with the likes of Iain over at Caveadsum 1471 taunting me with his ever growing collection, who was I kidding? 

So the next big thing is ECW. Again. 

Now don’t sigh but I’ve gone for 2mm once more because the advantages of this scale are many fold. 

1. No bendy pikes. I loved my Baccus 6mm lads and had many a good game out of them but the delicate pikes were a nightmare.

2. Pikes in a single tall block. Not pikes that are irritatingly short and are more like spears (I’m looking at you Pendraken 10mm).

3. 2mm has only a modest array of representational « types ». My wonderful 15mm PP ECW lads were (as always at PP) a pretty decent price per pack…however…there are so many wonderful packs you ended up spending a bloody fortune. I also insist on trying to paint them as though they are 28’s.

4. They’re 3D. The Wofun 18mm flats were an instant army solution for this lazy gamer but they were expensive and somehow never really floated my boat. Does that make me a « sideist » ?

5. I can continue to eat meat and don’t have to sell a kidney. Anything over 20mm is sooooo costly if you are looking to do some of the real big battles at anything like a realistic scale. 

6. The ends in sight. Well I’m 60 now, so I don’t fancy spending the next two precious years building up a reasonable force that’ll end up in a skip when I’ve shuffled off this mortal coil. That’s two years I could’ve spent on drugs and hookers as Stew might’ve said. In two years time I’ll probably be into Space Nazis or some other nonsense and deeply resentful of the untouched ECW lead pile taunting me from the cupboard of shame. Gotta get this project done well…and on the hurry up.

So what went wrong with 2mm last time around? 

1. The rules. I bought Twilight of the Divine Right and hated them with a passion that I can barely express. Odd since I know that Chris at Horse and Musket likes ‘em and we see eye to eye on most things.

2. The standard units supplied by Irregular are regiments in different size and armament proportions. I just went with it and based away. Natch. Lovely. Except upon completion I recalled that most regiments were routinely merged into standard sized battalia for combat purposes, so my representation of them for larger engagements…was…erm…wrong. Aaargh.

Both of these points are correctable, I’ve now written my own rules, which unsurprisingly I rather like, and I’ve purchased different components from Irregular with which to construct realistic battalia on a broadly 1:3 ratio (thanks to Elenderil’s previous posts over at Small but Perfectly Formed). 

2mm Battalia. Horrible close up but forgivable at arms length. I remember a teacher saying something similar about me a long time ago. 

Crimmeny or Jings (as they say in Scottish comics from the 1950´s) I’ve even managed to get the terrain looking okay. Representational woodland for your delight and delectation.

All of which will lead me back to a slightly revised version of my ECW alt history campaign from the old blog that some of you may remember.

So that’s still to look forward to. Unless you hate the ECW and think that the ACW is the best CW. (As if). 

Time wise I’m going to take a bit of a pause in posting I think while I assemble my two opposing factions for this slugfest. Maybe do one post in December then come back in Jan 24. Part of me is wondering if this might be a good way to round things off in toto. Going out as I came in so to speak, with an ECW campaign. I like the symmetry of it. I’ll get back to you on that one. The jury is still out.

If I don’t drop a post before the big day have a great Xmas, kwanza, festivus, bachanalian mid winter sex feast or whatever is your jam.

Toodleooh.