Western Approaches

The title of this post is entirely appropriate to what I am about to relate although it could easily also be called something like 'I didn't see that one coming!'

I popped in for a flying visit to the club last night with the intention of returning a few bits and pieces to Mr Fox and to catch up with my old friend Ernie Fosker. Ernie is a fine chap and tries to get to the club when he can despite living some distance away. Over the years he and I have often conspired to get various projects off the ground - usually without success -and have enjoyed much banter over the same. One of our projects from some time ago was to tackle the North Atlantic in WW2 using 1/3000th models. He amassed the fleets for the same and even managed to get a couple of ships painted - Bismarck, Prinz Eugen and a brace of destroyers. They looked really good. Sadly the initial enthusiasm waned (and we all know about that feeling!) and the remainder of the models lived in their unopened packets in an old biscuit tin.

Until last night that is.

Ernie is having a clear out and as a result passed the entire collection over to yours truly (less the painted models) for me to do with as I please. Well that has decided one project, albeit in a different scale than what I had originally intended! The selection is pretty complete and only needs a few models to round it off and it would be ready to use. It has actually done me a favour after a fashion as the models I will need to complete the set up will cost considerably less than tackling the project in 1/2400th as I originally intended. I needed to go to Navwar in any event for the last of the ancient galleys so the shopping list will now grow slightly...;-)

I was basking in the afterglow of this incredibly generous gift when a second one also dropped in my lap and this has completely confounded me and carefully thought out project list.

Peter Pig has a range of 15mm scale models and the accompanying rules and terrain for games set in the Old West. the rules are called Hey! You in the Jail! and are part of the RFCM series. Ernie has given me a 14 pack assortment of figures, the rules and the plastic bases used - the figures being virtually all in the original packs! All told there are some 50 foot figures and around 25 mounted.

What to do, what to do! Over the years I have fought in a number of skirmish level Western gunfights where one figure equals one man (and usually in 54 or 28mm) but not on this larger scale - the games typically have between 30 and 50 figures a side. Again, this starter set needs very little adding to it to make for a cracking set up. The range also includes US Cavalry, Native Americans (that's Indians to the less-than-politically correct among us) and Mexicans - there is even a train for crying out loud!

I was properly staggered when I got home yesterday evening by the sheer amount of kit contained in these two boxes and mere words would not be sufficient to express my thanks and gratitude to Ernie for his quite frankly incredible act of generosity.

In closing I can say only one thing - that's my project list for the year well and truly stuffed!

I am indeed a lucky chap.