All is safely gathered in.

Autumn has finally begun to make its presence felt out here with a little yellowing of the leaves and a well received morning chill when I venture forth, early doors, to let the chickens out. Mists and mellow fruitfulness. You get the picture. Anywhoo, we had our log delivery a week or so ago, which means we’re all set for the winter. The caveman part of of my brain (and let’s be honest it’s the majority of it) always finds great comfort in a full larder and a heat source independant of the current worlds economic ups and downs. 

The autumn and winter usually provides the added pleasure of lying in bed until I have to consider breakfast to be lunch and wiggling my toes in delight at the thought of all the poor buggers struggling out to work in the gloom and the rain outside. Schadenfreude. I reckon there’s a bit of German in me somewhere. No not like that you filthy minded beggars.

Also on the gathering in front I’ve begun collecting new toys for the winter / spring 27 projects. I’m holding back on doing anything with them for the mo though while the old left flipper is still a bit shaky. Doc says it’s nerve damage that’ll gradually heal if I stop using kango hammers and such like. Another reason to be grateful for the onset of autumn / winter with its bad weather is that it brings about a natural cessation of “work” on the property for a while.

Being the trooper that I am however, I still managed a bit of painting to finish off my AVBCW project despite the wobbly digits as you can see below.

RN landing party Lewis gun team. 

RN landing party sailors. Hi res digital photos are no one’s friend.

Soldiers of Edward VIII’s Severn Valley force.

Local news: I made the mistake of looking out over MT’s back field last week whereupon I observed two giant babies (one pink, one blue) apparently knocking seven shades of shit out of each other. 

I didn’t linger. 

I’ve got form… (refugees from my old blog may recall the cowboy and Indian incident). 

Instead I went straight to the meds cupboard to see if I’d taken more than my usual dose by accident. All seemed to be in order and when I got back to the window the buggers were amazingly still there. Turns out the young couple who’ve just moved into our hamlet (Pradeix: Population 12: Days since last major incident: 27)  are going to have a baby and this was some sort of American style “gender reveal” party. Apparently the scripted fights winner reveals the sex of the new arrival to a crowd of onlooking friends and relatives.

Yeah. Me neither. 

Nicked this picture off the interweb by way of illustration. I don’t know…the kids of today…with their winkle pickers and their rock ‘n’ roll. Where will it end?

Don’t worry, I’ve written a letter of complaint to president Macron. I’m sure the gendarmerie will now be placed on high alert to deal with any other outbreaks of American “culture”. Sorry Jon.

What else? Oh yes. Youngest son will be making an appearance soon and is pretty jazzed about something called “Greathelm” (28 mm knights duking it out on an A4 sized map?! This might be an opportunity to find employment for my dormant 100YW lads? I’ll post a batrep if I don’t lose too badly. 

Of course I’m still buggering about with AI now and then and this picture should give a flavour of what’s coming up shortly. There’ll be steam punk tanks too btw, if that’s your bag.

Apart from a Sealion campaign I’ve been casting about for ways to utilise my Victorian Brompton buildings - and this genre might just suffice.

Right then. That’ll do for now. Time to sling my hook and toast some autumny marshmallows over a roaring log fire while listening to some Val Doonican.

Toodleooh mes amis.

Low hanging fruit

I sat in a field with the wife the other week to watch the eclipse. Saw bugger all as it happens, but something tiny in the grass (no not the wife) bit me in the nads. Nasty.

The swelling was awful, but it did get me some very admiring looks from the grannies in the boulangerie the following day, so it wasn’t all bad. “Yeah bitches” I muttered sotto voce as I stood at the counter, “check out them apples.”

Returning home with the croissants I heard the wife talking to her mother on the phone, cackling with delight about biting low hanging fruit or some such. Now I know we’ve not long brought in the last batch of plums from the orchard, but why she’d find feasting on them so amusing is anyone’s guess? Women. Pah! 

Not having been able to sit down properly has been a welcome excuse not to go into the games room mind you. I’ve been trying to paint some 15mm ECW for a week or so but I’ve developed a bit of a tremor in the left hand that’s made it nigh on impossible to obtain a decent result. Sad to report that I made such a dogs breakfast out of my last attempt that three of the little sods ended up in the bin following a bit of a hissy fit. 

Talking of chucking things away, my Brompton terrain boards all went the way of the Swan Vesta yesterday too. They were getting a bit “frilly” for my taste. Verging on the railway  modeller aesthetic or thereabouts. The way things were going there’d have been no room for the troops again. Been there done that. Besides I’ve got form for destroying things I’ve created. Just ask my therapist about my robot buddy Colin, my previous blog and my self published novel “Wormwood.” Sometimes you have to burn the village to save the village, n’est ce pas!. 

Being a natural « coughs » brightsider though I’m pleased to report that while 15mm appears to be a no no for now, I’m still able to knock out the 28mm stuff to my usual crappy standard, witness these lads below:

Stretcher bearer! These boys will be aiding the forces of repression in forthcoming Brompton games. British army uniforms of this period don’t present a great colour pallet to work with do they?

Without Brompton’s Sarissa terrain boards I’m moving back to hexon for the foreseeable; sort of stripped back and almost cartoonish. Better looking? No. Easier to create landscapes? Yup. I know most of you really don’t like hexes, but I reckon if you squint really hard at my blog photos from here on in, you probably won’t notice them at all. 

Probably.

Fortunately I’ve created another set of rules for my most recent AVBCW pash, which just so happen to be hex based and 28mm. 

What a happy coincidence.

Other than that I was surprised to find a figure on the Artizan website that’s named after me, and that doesn’t happen everyday now does it? Could it be a sign from the cosmos to indulge in some more Victorian sci fi?

Mmmm. Hold my beer for a mo would you? I’m off to have another decko at Pendraken’s Selenite’s.

Blimey you have a filthier mind than me. 

Selenites are moon men.

Invasion of the moon men could be a thing at some point I reckon…well after I’ve finished the jolly jack tar contingent for Brompton that is. 

Toodleooh for now mes amis.