HISTORY
Welcome to the history page. This is the bit, where, if it was was of those Hollywood movies, the screen would start to wobble, and you would be transported back to the beginning of our heroes' quest, same here, just no wobble, and I get to keep the money set aside for the special effects.
I first started wargaming, [it was called playing with toy soldiers, when I was a boy,] probably, when my brother and I were given some Airfix box sets. I then think, we also started using Britain's/Timpo's 54mm plastics, there were some memorable battles, and not all using plastic figures. [I was given a plastic Naval Destroyer set, it included, one Navy Destroyer, an MTB boat and a target, I think they were in 25mm scale, you could even buy, a Battleship, these things were huge, all the guns, torpedoes, depth charge firer's worked, and he broke the gun on the Destroyer, well I hadn't even had it 24hr's, so I knocked one of his teeth out, and he blackened my eye.] Happy Days.
Getting back on track, I started using, proper wargames figures when I was in the British Army, I was stationed at Woolwich Barracks, Thinking, "what the hell was I going to do with all these painted 25mm Confederates," I discovered SELWG, [I have this terrible feeling at times, some people there, wished I hadn't found them.]
I still remember the first night there, the Smith brothers, Andy and Adrian, fighting an ECW battle in 25mm, [it took them, most of the evening, to set up, and put the figures away.] Dave Bates, [sadly no longer with us,] with his 25mm Austrians, and Ron Phipps, with his 25mm Prussians, battling it out in an Napoleonic game, and a host of other people playing WRG 6th edition 25mm/15mm games. I joined just after the 81 open day at Greenwich town hall, It was at SELWG I met, and made many friends, one of whom became a close friend, Kevin Dallimore, who over the years, and still is, giving me invaluable help with my wargames painting.
I have been a member now, for 30 years, served on the committee, in one capacity or another, even president, [less the medallion.] I have also been a member of the South London Warlords, and took part in the excellent, Live Roleplaying games they have run.
What has rekindled my interest in 25mm wargaming, is the vast amount of range of figures, from various manufacturers, oodles of choice, in the paint department, [I use Plaka/Pelikan, some Citadel, Vallejo, but most of all, the Foundry paint system, no need to mix up those Plaka's now, all acrylic's. Revell enamels, although I still use Revell sand for the bases now, and Humbrol gloss, followed up with Blackfriars varnish, to matt the figures down.] Also those excellent Warhammer Ancients rules/supplements, [I still remember the night when WRG 7th edition came out, everybody stopped playing 6th, I had numerous 25mm/15mm armies, Byzantines and Timurids being my favorites, terrible night.] And now with the release of rules like Clash of Empires replacing WAB, thanks to the idiots at GW/FW not releasing any WAB suppliments, my interest is being renewed, although I am in the Far East now.
That's it for the History side, some more pic's to come, the first lot, is of the the, Rob a Bank With a Tank game in the mid 80's, [some are taken at Claymore in Edinburgh, where we won best party game, and at the South London Warlords, old clubhouse in Dulwich.]
In the first picture, the SELWG display team, D.Burns, K.Dallimore, A.Smith, M.Piercy, at Claymore, thinking, "is that smoke coming from a brewed up allied tank, or just from Dave Burns cigarette," in the last, J.Treadaway, thinking, "why don't these tanks hover," whilst, K.Dallimore, and P.Merritt look on.
Pic 1, J.Cleverly, R.Taylor, a young, G.Bull, and D.Burns, ponder the rules, pic 2, K Dallimore, being questioned by the local constabulary, on the whereabouts of a gloss varnished, Hinchcliffe, 25mm Byzantine army, pic 3, B.Roberts, and friends stage an engagement, set sometime in the future using, the Twilight 2000 rules, pic 4, showing that S.Dean, and C.Steadman did play wargames once upon a time, T.Rodwell, P.Greenwood, look on. Also, for certain users on the Wargaming Ancients Battle forum, here are the famous 10' x 5' tables.
The late, great Bill Brewer, and his daughter Christine, at a SELWG show, held at Lewisham sports center in the eighties. Bill ran the, Rye Stamp and Hobby shop, in Rye Lane Peckham south London for many years, every time I visited the shop, Bill would be busy, beautifully painting another unit of figures, he was a founding member of the South London Warlords, and treasurer of the club, he even took time out to visit us mortals at SELWG, once a month to sell his wares. I remember going down to the shop, in the anticipation, that the new range of 15mm Dark Age Minifigs would be out, [I needed the new Varangian Guard fig's to add to my ever increasing Byzantine army.] I remember going into the shop, being told, they were not out yet, and then leaving the shop with a number of packs of, Egyptian, Wesh Wesh axemen, with Bill's words ringing in my ears, "you can convert those," I never did, Bill could sell you anything. There is an old saying now, between a group of my close friends, if you are ever sold anything you didn't want, you've been, Weshed Weshed.
Myself and family playing soldiers for real.
Pictures 1,2,3, sunny Irelandia, picture 4, my grandfaather in the Cameronians just after the battle of the Somme, the Regimental piper and him were the only ones left when they got to within 10 yards of the German trench line, where he asked the piper, 'Bloody well play something these Germans like,' he survived the great war only to be cut down by Silicosis in 1946, he was a coal miner for god knows how many years. My dad in the RAF during the second world war, and the last picture is off friends and myself, in the Middle East, well we were not there for a holiday, I am the one lying down by the way, not sleeping, making myself a smaller target, as if someone would shoot at British troops sightseeing, or it could just have been, that the Germans had nicked all the sunbeds
Below is the old painting desk in London, and the new desk in the Far East
if you open the picture on the right and you notice a pic of the Tory leader and think I am a fan, your out of your mind, click the pic below, thanks to the boys at Essex mini's for the pic, when I ordered up my latest army.
