My splendid Tekkie Mattie has just added a new feature to the Old Glory UK website. It may to the Bloggersphere look just like another Blog. Well thats what it is but its use will be purwely as a newsdesk for Old Glory UK rather than as this one a collection of Andys ramblings
Log on to the OGUK website in the normal manner and go to the foot of the page then click on Old Glory UK Newsdesk.
Only a single post there currently as the feature is less than an hour old but like Topsy it will grow.
News of New releases , Shows, shipments from the USA- much of the Old Glry related stuff that formerly appeared here will go to the News desk .
Right back to the parcle packing ....
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Friday, 27 March 2015
Arrivals ....
So I get up this morning and check my emails . Have one from UPS telling me a shipment is due for delivery today. Yipppeee thinks I at last .
Then I look a little closer- 17 boxes/crates . Man!; that is a LOT of stuff.! I knew this order would be a biggie as its the first re-supply I've had since late January.- the US show Cold Wars got in the way .
Now aside from some ships and Building that are special orders for customers scattered about the globe there will also be a big bundle of stock . This means that once I've broken down and sorted these 17 boxes (no weekend off this time then) the back -orders will start to go out.. This should cover most of the chaps who are waiting for stuff ordered during the period of Jan and Feb and early March this year. and for some who ordered later- depending upon what thay ordered. There will be some blokes who ordered AFTER this order was sent in and some stuff that went out of stock in the intervening time - Catch them with my next re-supply which should land before Salute 2015 . I hope ....
Of course I'm also starting to build up stock levels for that show- see the previous post for details of the ranges we will be taking to Salute2015
11.17 am. Shipment arrives- 17 boxes- Here we go . Let the mayhem begin .....
14.08 About half way through- Soldiers everywhere not to mention the odd fleet or two and a few odd villages. It doesn't half give the knees some gyp.
Saturday Morning 11.18. Been at it since 8.30 no weekends off here ! . Unpacked the last boxes then started on the back orders. Carole also down here packing up the back orders and writing the addresses.- No you cant use printed labels as by the time you've farted about in the computer you can write 3 so I don't bother- and proofs of posting have to be written anyway
Sunday Morning 11.09 I must have been a evil B' stard in a former life ! -There is no rest for the wicked. Yesterday Carole and I packed up 63 parcels- outstanding orders, back orders and new orders. I'd estimate we are roughly half way through the backlog or perhaps a little more
My Salute order goes off to the USA tomorrow. Hopwe they get it to me in time.
Monday 12.36 Just back fropm the Post Office. First load of parcels now on their way - Next lot go out tomorrow plus a few heavy ones by Interlingk Express.
Then I look a little closer- 17 boxes/crates . Man!; that is a LOT of stuff.! I knew this order would be a biggie as its the first re-supply I've had since late January.- the US show Cold Wars got in the way .
Now aside from some ships and Building that are special orders for customers scattered about the globe there will also be a big bundle of stock . This means that once I've broken down and sorted these 17 boxes (no weekend off this time then) the back -orders will start to go out.. This should cover most of the chaps who are waiting for stuff ordered during the period of Jan and Feb and early March this year. and for some who ordered later- depending upon what thay ordered. There will be some blokes who ordered AFTER this order was sent in and some stuff that went out of stock in the intervening time - Catch them with my next re-supply which should land before Salute 2015 . I hope ....
Of course I'm also starting to build up stock levels for that show- see the previous post for details of the ranges we will be taking to Salute2015
11.17 am. Shipment arrives- 17 boxes- Here we go . Let the mayhem begin .....
14.08 About half way through- Soldiers everywhere not to mention the odd fleet or two and a few odd villages. It doesn't half give the knees some gyp.
Saturday Morning 11.18. Been at it since 8.30 no weekends off here ! . Unpacked the last boxes then started on the back orders. Carole also down here packing up the back orders and writing the addresses.- No you cant use printed labels as by the time you've farted about in the computer you can write 3 so I don't bother- and proofs of posting have to be written anyway
Sunday Morning 11.09 I must have been a evil B' stard in a former life ! -There is no rest for the wicked. Yesterday Carole and I packed up 63 parcels- outstanding orders, back orders and new orders. I'd estimate we are roughly half way through the backlog or perhaps a little more
My Salute order goes off to the USA tomorrow. Hopwe they get it to me in time.
Monday 12.36 Just back fropm the Post Office. First load of parcels now on their way - Next lot go out tomorrow plus a few heavy ones by Interlingk Express.
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Its about time you painted some soldiers!
With the current burst of agonising over "The Hobby" you wonder what has happend to actually doing some of it
Work has slowed down my painting of late but here are some 40mm Sash and Sabre Highlanders that I actually managed to finish. They will - despite thier Jacobite cockades end up in my 40mm Montrose Scots rebels force that I'm slowly building however they will also go into a nascent Jacobite force that is entirely possible in 40mm with a bit of fiddling about and ingenuity
I do like this pack
Their are 8 body variants- with separate heads and a selection of weapons- Lochaber axe broadsword, pistol and Targe. Sash and Saber are promising Archers, Musketeers and a command pack . The idea being that with careful selection you can do highland units from the 1640s through to 1745. Chris has even muttered about some mounted Highland Gentlemen but I've no timetable for these..
Continuing the Celtic theme I found these two in a spares box and decided to slap a bit of colour on 'em . I've always fancied a Medieval Irish army simply becasue its so different from the norm and of course gets out of that samey gamey rut that the games designer dudes want you to stay in.
Since I'm a modeller nad historian fiorst and foremost and actual "gaming" comes a long way down the list then I don't suppose by today's strange standards I'm a wargamer at all.
Riddle me that dudes !
Work has slowed down my painting of late but here are some 40mm Sash and Sabre Highlanders that I actually managed to finish. They will - despite thier Jacobite cockades end up in my 40mm Montrose Scots rebels force that I'm slowly building however they will also go into a nascent Jacobite force that is entirely possible in 40mm with a bit of fiddling about and ingenuity
 | |||
| Highlander of "Clan Palatic" uttering their fearsome warcry "Gie us a dram Ya Basta!" |
Their are 8 body variants- with separate heads and a selection of weapons- Lochaber axe broadsword, pistol and Targe. Sash and Saber are promising Archers, Musketeers and a command pack . The idea being that with careful selection you can do highland units from the 1640s through to 1745. Chris has even muttered about some mounted Highland Gentlemen but I've no timetable for these..
 | |
| 28mm Irish Gallowglass from the Old Glory wars of the Roses range. |
Since I'm a modeller nad historian fiorst and foremost and actual "gaming" comes a long way down the list then I don't suppose by today's strange standards I'm a wargamer at all.
IS WARGAMING STILL A VALID TERM FOR OUR "HOBBY" ? .
The miniatures gaming hobby is now so diverse and so fragmented there is no real catch all term that fits any more. This is part of the problem- assuming there is one- everyone has an axe to grind and often can't see past it..The result of the current emphasis upon games to the exclusion of all else by much of the public face has left those who also enjoy the modelling , research, and indeed all the "other stuff" feeling somewhat out in the cold perhaps. Killing demo games at show will of course only make thissituation worse. Show might then get filled with teenagers wanting to play "Kill the space marine" or "Torture the Zombie" or nay other bit of 30minute silliness but they won't spend any cash - so why should I spend a grand to go to the showRiddle me that dudes !
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
What is the point of little soldiers !
Bearing in mind all the recent hot- air that is being expended upon "The Future of the Hobby" (and indeed is still being expended) it comes as a bit of a surprise to realise that little of said hot air has mentioned what used to be - back in ye olden tymes considered by many the most important part. The actual toy soldiers . Few if any questions have been asked about this since the late 80s/ Early 90s - there was a pretty fierce debate in the pages of the old WI as I recall involving no less a figure than Paddy Griffith amongst others suggesting that toy soldiers were largely irrelevant.
Now as it happens my version of this hobby has always been toy soldier driven- or miniatures in the correct NEWSPEAK terminology.. So my question is how important are the toy soldiers to you.
I know MY answer- without them this hobby would be even more pointless than it sometimes seems .
The little lead dudes give you something to look at during the tedium of the dice rolling- during those few seconds when you don't have your face in your pint!
Jesting apart- the modelling and collecting part of this hobby has ALWAYS been as important if not more so then the mere gaming. At their best toy/model soldiers are a minor art form and even at a lower level give a visual impression of a battle that only recently- and then not always- has been surpassed by computer games. This is especially true now when as general rule the "gaming" for many means another pointless and rather futile skirmish game of one sort or another where period knowledge is not only non-existant but actually denigrated in favour of "2970 WAYS to Roll a 3 sided dice " or similar twaddle.
The most recent issue of WSS had a couple of articles germain to my subject- though it may not have seemed so.
Sam Mustaphas piece on Rules writing - this told me more about the dismal knowledge of a certain breed of games players than I wished to know. Frankly I was appalled- not by Sam's article- but by the frankly dumb- assed, dick-witted ,shyte- brained questions he claimed to have been asked by "wargamers" - "Can Cavalry form square !!!" "Can you fire through a line of troops to hit a line behind them!! " . What sort of thick pillocks ask such dull witted questions?
Answer
GAMES players- i.e. those who want no knowledge of history or period but only seek to manipulate the game to their advantage . Since Sam's article pertained to his ACW "game" Longstreet you'd have thought that some knowledge of the ACW was a perquisite. but no, games players have to be reined in or they will do all sorts of silly things to win their silly games. THAT is why many rules are written in such a turgid technical fashion . You know what , I see his point. You'd think the toy soldiers would help . The LOOK of and ACW unit should give you some infromation but the gap between "Game designer dudes" and the actual toy soldiers is now so immense that I wonder if it can ever be closed.
The second article looked at the death of shows- one of the authors remedies was to ban display and demo games and make all games PP- talk about short sighted- alienate hafl of your volunteers why don't you ? Since he also wanted to invite dolls houses and assorted craft stall in as well it makes you wonder.
Losing demos at shows would inevitably drop the quality of games. I've already seen this with the awful rash of boxed games at Battleground and to a lesser extent at Derby . I'm far from anti- the craft stuff coming in - always need at least some craft items- and some traders already provide such but doing away with volunteer demos will kill the historical part of the hobby.- Bear in mind that half of last years games at Salute were Fantasy types and almost ALL of those were put on by GW wanabees each carefully narrowing the once wide spectrum of our once open -ended hobby . And all of these GAMES driven rather than toy- soldier driven.
There is an argument that says that the toy soldiers are mere counter decoration- and lots of rules follow this precept. Its not with out some merit - sometimes for certain types of game it works well but - and its a big but - the toy soldiers at least hint at the human side of what we do. Which IMHO we for get at our peril
Now as it happens my version of this hobby has always been toy soldier driven- or miniatures in the correct NEWSPEAK terminology.. So my question is how important are the toy soldiers to you.
I know MY answer- without them this hobby would be even more pointless than it sometimes seems .
The little lead dudes give you something to look at during the tedium of the dice rolling- during those few seconds when you don't have your face in your pint!
Jesting apart- the modelling and collecting part of this hobby has ALWAYS been as important if not more so then the mere gaming. At their best toy/model soldiers are a minor art form and even at a lower level give a visual impression of a battle that only recently- and then not always- has been surpassed by computer games. This is especially true now when as general rule the "gaming" for many means another pointless and rather futile skirmish game of one sort or another where period knowledge is not only non-existant but actually denigrated in favour of "2970 WAYS to Roll a 3 sided dice " or similar twaddle.
The most recent issue of WSS had a couple of articles germain to my subject- though it may not have seemed so.
Sam Mustaphas piece on Rules writing - this told me more about the dismal knowledge of a certain breed of games players than I wished to know. Frankly I was appalled- not by Sam's article- but by the frankly dumb- assed, dick-witted ,shyte- brained questions he claimed to have been asked by "wargamers" - "Can Cavalry form square !!!" "Can you fire through a line of troops to hit a line behind them!! " . What sort of thick pillocks ask such dull witted questions?
Answer
GAMES players- i.e. those who want no knowledge of history or period but only seek to manipulate the game to their advantage . Since Sam's article pertained to his ACW "game" Longstreet you'd have thought that some knowledge of the ACW was a perquisite. but no, games players have to be reined in or they will do all sorts of silly things to win their silly games. THAT is why many rules are written in such a turgid technical fashion . You know what , I see his point. You'd think the toy soldiers would help . The LOOK of and ACW unit should give you some infromation but the gap between "Game designer dudes" and the actual toy soldiers is now so immense that I wonder if it can ever be closed.
The second article looked at the death of shows- one of the authors remedies was to ban display and demo games and make all games PP- talk about short sighted- alienate hafl of your volunteers why don't you ? Since he also wanted to invite dolls houses and assorted craft stall in as well it makes you wonder.
Losing demos at shows would inevitably drop the quality of games. I've already seen this with the awful rash of boxed games at Battleground and to a lesser extent at Derby . I'm far from anti- the craft stuff coming in - always need at least some craft items- and some traders already provide such but doing away with volunteer demos will kill the historical part of the hobby.- Bear in mind that half of last years games at Salute were Fantasy types and almost ALL of those were put on by GW wanabees each carefully narrowing the once wide spectrum of our once open -ended hobby . And all of these GAMES driven rather than toy- soldier driven.
There is an argument that says that the toy soldiers are mere counter decoration- and lots of rules follow this precept. Its not with out some merit - sometimes for certain types of game it works well but - and its a big but - the toy soldiers at least hint at the human side of what we do. Which IMHO we for get at our peril