Well after my radio silence I thought I'd do a bit of an update on 'things', so without further ado:
The Move
A week ago today we were loading up the car for the final move of stuff for our son, as this was the day when he finally moved into his own supported independent living accomodation. Having thought about this for nigh on 20 years, it was somewhat surreal (and still is) that it has actually happened. Touch wood everything has worked out really well so far and he is happy to have his own space, which as a young adult is what he really needs. The flat is BIG and he is rather like a pea in a tin can!
We are all getting used to the 'new normal' so to speak, but most of the hard work is done. Luckily the supported housing company have been great and done most of the heavy lifting for us in terms of sorting out 'stuff' with local government, utilities etc. There are still a few teethign issues, but this has taken a lot of stress away from me for sure! Fingers crossed and in another few weeks I can relax more as all the paperwork will be in place...
The Games Room
Now that our son has moved out, I can finally begin to contemplate tackling setting up my own games room, something that I have dreamt of having for years! Whilst it will be a small space, it will be more than ample for my general needs and, with the room devoid of furniture, it looks much bigger than I'd imagined. I need to re-charge my batteries first before work commences, but I've got plenty of ideas of how to set it up, once it's been redecorated.
Time For Reflection
As anything vaguely gaming related has been virtually non-existent for most of April, this has given me plenty of time just to think about the hobby in general. Whilst it is tempting to try loads of new periods, such as The Italian Wars that piqued my interest after Jon Freitag's battles, I know my decision of last year to (for the moment) concentrate on those periods I really know and enjoy, is the right one. Later on I might branch out, but for the moment it's a case of stick with what I know and love.
19thC Roosians
One of my favourite periods is the mid-19thC, from 1848-1870, or thereabouts. Many years ago my original intention was to do historical forces, but once the allure of ImagiNations forces got hold of me, I wholeheartedly went down that route. Currently I have based or planned, a 'British' force, a 'Prussian' one and one that was meant to be 'Austrian', but has since moved more towards an Italian one. A chance comment by Jon Freitag about me not having a 'Russian' force, given I have an interest in the 'Great Game', got me to a thinking. This was coupled with enjoying watching the progress of David's Crimean War Russians.
So looking through the pile of shame that is made up of 'failed' projects, I've got a good core force already, that naturally I want to add to, to make it feel more 'Russian'. So recent evenings have been spent researching some options from the Pendraken catalogue!
Basic Impetus
This year I had no intention of buying any new rulesets and had been good in not succumbing to any temptation, although to be honest nothing had really caught my eye. Then Chris/Nundanket mentioned on his Blog that Basic Impetus was on sale and that it contained 340 army lists! Initially I was not interested as I'd tried the 'Baroque' rules, but could not quite get my head around them. Then I thought even if I didn't use the rules, the army lists would be worth it for use with other rulesets, so after a tiring day on the 'house move' front, I ordered a copy for some 'retail therapy'. As with their other books, being ring bound is a big bonus and one cannot fault the production values. Some of the terminology hasn't been translated over from the Italian, but this is easy to recitify and a minor issue. I was however very happy glancing through the army lists, which as a perfect start for someone like myself, with only a passing knowledge of some periods and forces, with others completely new to me. So Antingonus Monophthalmus, Maurikian Byzantine, Despotate of Epirus, Frisia and Free Cantons, Hephthalites Huns etc all sound so exotic and fun and worthy of exploring at a future date!
Blogger
Finally the bug that has affected receiving replies to comments on Blogs to my e-mail inbox finally appears to be sorted! It has only taken maybe a month or so to fix and countless messages to the Help icon on blogger, but fingers crossed we are back to normal. As always when their is little games time for oneself, it is nice to keep in touch with other games and to vicariously enjoy our hobby.
Spring
I am reliably informed that Spring has arrived but to be honest, there has been little sign of it here so far! Yes the plants are growing, but it still feels like Winter, with colder weather than normal and precious little sun here. After the wettest Winter on record too, we are all desperate for some warmer weather! As a result, I've barely got out on the bike this year, nor been for walks in the countryside and even barely out in the garden, which is where you would normally find me at this time of the year. With my sprained knee almost back to normal, i'm keen to get outdoors again after being cooped up for so long. The only upside of this is that it might make progress on the games room faster than otherwise might have been the case...
TTFN.
