Arghhhh, hobby drought!

Yup, that’s right I’m currently on the slippery slope to hobby burnout, I can feel it sneaking up on me like some kind of giant purring tomcat that you can’t quite see in your peripheral vision but you know is just about to pounce and dig its needle like claws into your arm, and I’m bloody well allergic so will end up sneezing with runny eyes, trying to get the slippery little bugger off me cursing all the while.

Sorry, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, hobby funk/burnout. Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to make sense of our garden and therefore I’ve not had much energy to motivate me to paint and as any of you know, once you lose the motivation it turns into a mammoth task just trying to muster up the focus required to pick up a paint brush. Arghhhh how bloody annoying. In addition I’m still trying to find a decent place to store all my hobby stuff in the new house, my plan to convert part of the garage has been put on hold whilst everything else gets done. Even more annoyingly many of my prized painted mini’s have been damaged in some minor way during our move (that I am only now finding out as I root through my stack of stored stuff) and they have to move over to the “repair“ pile on my painting table, which is slowly growing to Kilimanjaro proportions.

Maybe it’s not a hobby drought but rather a blogging drought (although that is firmly part of my hobby now)? I’ve been listening to the Behind Enemy Lines Podcast quite a bit recently in which they talk quite candidly about their experience of it and it would seem that being a member of a

positive gaming community is pretty much the best way to overcome any sort of hobby slump (and maybe just having the kind of self motivation that kicks you up the ass!). Having a group of hobbyists that you meet regularly is great inspiration and a good way to lift your mood.

Anyway go check them out at http://bel-podcast.blogspot.co.nz/, they laugh a lot!

I have however had a couple of games of Saga with Ashley, which is turning into a bit of fun as we both learn/re-learn the rules and come to grips with the complexity that is the battle boards. Ash’s Anglo Dane Warlord keeps kicking my Saxon Warlord in the teeth, which is evidenced by the really poor pictures below.

Let battle commence

Saxon Hearthguard try to sneak through the marsh

Saxon warriors fancy their chances against some Viking Hearthguard

The left flank, also trying to be sneaky through the trees

Hmm, fatigue on saxon levies, not good!

Trust me Saxon Warriors versus Viking Hearthguard does not end well

Saxon Warlord vs Viking Warlord - what do you think happened?

I’m building stuff again – this time its Walls!

So as part of my renewed interest in Flames of War I thought it may be prudent to have some 15mm scale terrain for my little toy tanks to fight over. Its all well and good playing with other folks stuff however what happens if I want to be the host.
"I'm the host, you're supposed to bring the terrain"
"But this is NZ, we brought a plate"

So prior to shipping out from the UK I was involved in organising a Bolt Action campaign day for my local club, this required the usual admin shenanigans (booking the room, organising players, terrain etc). As the setting would be the D-Day landings we needed a wide spread of terrain options, most of which we could cobble together from club stocks. However the one thing we were missing was ruined buildings suitable for WW2. In steps Ed, club member and also proprietor of www.wargamestournaments.comwho manufacturers laser cut mdf terrain, amongst other things. For an idea of his products visit his website or pop on over to Simon’s blog to see the set up he’s bought for Necromunda.

Anyway to cut a long story short Ed had a waste bin full of sheets that hadn’t quite cut right which he donated to the club however there few people willing to sort through and actually build anything from the off cuts. So both Geraint and I spent a good portion of one weekend in the summer of 2014 cobbling together some ruins out of the stuff Ed had donated. The campaign day went off without a hitch, we had two full boards of ruined city to fight through and everyone was happy.

Ok fast forward a year or so and here I am with a box full of mdf “junk” left over which I completely forgot about. So after sorting through I identified a load of scenic dressing from some ruined building sheets that look just about right for rendered walls.

A little cereal box basing and some liberal dry brushing and “voila” …….battered walls for FoW!

Now I just need to make some hedges, so bring on the scouring pads!