Where has the last year gone?! Perhaps it’s a consequence of Covid Groundhog Days, but it only seems like a couple of months since I was writing my 2nd Birthday post! Looking back at that post, I see that I was looking forward to having a big Napoleonic game following lockdown… Ah well, so much for that plan… Maybe this year…?
Thankfully things do now appear to be heading in the right direction, so the clubs should be opening up again soon and we’ll be playing games once again (playing with someone else is so much better than constantly having to play with yourself, I’m sure you’ll agree). That said, we did actually manage to re-open the Carmarthen Old Guard club briefly last Autumn and I did manage to play a 15mm Burma game that I completely failed to take photos of. Phil Portway also invited me over for a cracking refight of the Battle of Medellin 1809… Suffice to say, following the glorious victory by General Cuesta’s Spanish Army, he probably won’t be inviting me over again…
As mentioned at the time, the very linear 18th Century nature of the Medellin game and the use of Shako 2nd Edition rules, which I hadn’t played since using a modified version of the 1st Edition to run a massive 18th Century campaign during the 1990s, prompted me to dust off my Seven Years War collection (and in some cases crack open the rusted-shut lids). Since then I’ve painted over 1,000 figures, including whole new Wรผrttemberg, Bavarian and French armies. I’ve also expanded my existing Prussian and Imperial armies and have repaired and spruced up my Austrian and Swedish armies. I’m presently just starting a new Seven Years War ‘Western Allied’ army (Britain, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Brunswick and Schaumburg-Lippe-Buckeburg). A few of the lads in the club have reciprocated with new Russian and Ottoman armies, so I’m looking forward to running a whole new 18th Century campaign once this bloody pandemic is over.
One unexpected consequence of the pandemic and lockdown is that the stats for this blog absolutely sky-rocketed immediately after the start of lockdown in March 2020 and have only kept climbing! In the first year I received 20,000 hits on the blog, which I was perfectly happy with. I then had 40,000 hits in the second year, bringing the total to 60,000 and since then I’ve received another 65,000 hits, bringing the total to over 125,000! My ‘followers’ (I prefer to call them ‘supplicants’ or perhaps ‘disciples’) have also doubled in the last year to over 80. The only explanation I can find is that desperate times bring desperate means to find entertainment… Or sleep…
So while still not exactly viral, this blog (having become a persistent yeast infection last year) is probably now resistant to modern antibiotics.
With light finally appearing on the pandemic horizon, we’re finally able to look forward again and make plans. To that end, the Wargames Association of Reading’s ‘Warfare’ show has been confirmed for 27/28th November, at its new venue of Ascot Racecourse. I’m not sure if I’ve previously mentioned it, ๐ but thanks to my Cassinga Raid 1978 game, I’m the reigning demo-game champion for ‘Warfare’ (for two years running by default – thanks Covid! ๐ ). Consequently, I’m going to defend my title this year with a 10mm American Civil War refight of the Battle of Murfreesboro (also known as the Battle of Stone’s River). So once the Seven Years War itch has been scratched, I’m going to be buying and painting figures and building terrain for that project and hopefully get it done by Autumn.
In the meantime, I’ve still got a vast heap of pictures, articles and scenarios in the crypts of Fawr Towers, so there will be plenty to post here on the blog, even if we don’t manage to get wargaming again for a while yet! Sorry if the Seven Years War doesn’t float your boat, but I will get back to all things Olive Drab, Khaki Drill, Jungle Green, Dunkelgelbe and DPM again soon, I promise! ๐
In the meantime, thanks for looking! ๐
Hi Mark
Thanks for the blog, I have enjoyed all of it and more power to your elbow (to help with the painting that is)!
Cheers Paul
Thanks Paul! ๐
Happy birthday. A fantastic blog, long may it continue!
Thanks Paul! ๐