It was a very good day....

One of the great things about this hobby of ours is the characters we play with and the friendships that a shared enthusiasm bring. I have been truly fortunate in this respect and have enjoyed the acquaintance of a number gamers over the years; all with something different to add to the mix of our enjoyment and to provide that all important human element to our table top endeavours. Along with this is the inevitable generosity of spirit that such a long term shared experience brings - the passing on of information, the unselfish sharing of news, review and such like and even the loan or gift of material deemed surplus to requirements - sometimes sold, sometimes merely passed on.

I am sure we have all been both the beneficiary and the benefactor in this respect at some point and last night  at the club was for me a very good example of this.

A piece of wargames history part 1

My old Friend Chris Hardman came up with a couple of bits for me - one expected, the other a complete surprise. I now have in my collection of Richard Nelson's book The Warfleets of Antiquity published in 1973 by WRG. The implications for this for my Salamis project are huge and I am so pleased to have this. It may not be the most up to date title on the subject but having such information in one place is really handy and it complements his book on Salamis and the fleet action rules he devised as well. To say I am chuffed is an understatement!

Chocks away!

The 'surprise' element (Chris had already told me that he letting me have the book) was a complete copy of Axis and Allies: Angels 20 which was most welcome and appreciated particularly as I needed another couple of Hurricanes. Again, this gesture was really appreciated and means that I need to give the repaint of the models some serious thought - especially as Mr Fox has produced some lovely paint jobs on his own collection.

A piece of wargames history part 2

Mention of Mr Fox leads me to the third gift of the evening. Whilst sorting out his own 'Area 51' he came across not only a copy of the WRG book 'Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars' (which I now have on loan from him) but, and this is now in my collection, a copy of The Peninsular War: 1813 by the late Terry Wise and published in the Battles for Wargamers series. This is a little gem especially as it concentrates on some of the less well known actions and with the supporting maps is ideal for use with Command and Colours Napoleonics or my usual block armies. The very least I can do to return the favour will be to tackle Mr Fox with any of the scenarios I can come up with from this title - so no escape from a game or two Mr Fox!

As my newly ordered second box of blue Hexon tiles arrived yesterday and I also got the chance to go to the club it is fair to say that this Wednesday was certainly a good one. mention of the club and the ensuing aerial entertainment will feature in a later post and the game was not quite what we had expected but it was hugely enjoyable all the same.

Many thanks to both Chris and Mr Fox for these additions to the collection - they are both very much appreciated and rest assured, will bring a lot of ideas currently bubbling under to the boil sooner rather than later!