2025

 The year started off with a very large U-Turn, I had decided not to build anymore armies, however a Christmas gift set me off on a new and large project, a third Roman army to cover the crises of the 3rd C. Did I need another army of this type, no I didn't but that would be succumbing to commonsense, besides I had seen just such an army on a blog by Phil Hendry, but I had never forgotten it, Phil's army covered the East but mine would be a Western force. I already had five War and Conquest armies and found it hard enough to get them on the table so the project was a bit of a vanity one for me with my fingers crossed for future games.

On the game front the Italian Wars seemed to run out of steam while Chain of Command came to the fore, the latter was vastly improved by the new Second Edition, no rule set is perfect but there is some clever stuff in the new version. It is still wrong to put Bolt Action and CoC up against each other as they are simply completely different games but you still find this nonsense around. I had a bit of a sit down with myself re my wargaming, I have in the past joined in all sorts of games at the club and realise there has to be a bit of give and take for the club to work, however recently I have kind of retreated to attempting to play games I like. Some of the lads play a new game every week almost, also Warlord Games rules are a favourite at the club but I simply do not like them, a rule set which can allow a Napoleonic square to form up in a farmyard or potentially cause a Roman cohort to run from a single slingshot hit is not for me, not any longer I have decided. I have a very short wargame span, ACW, Ancients and WWII but these are what made me a wargamer and I want to play them more although I realise I will have to make more of an effort on this front.

I have been fortunate to have a couple of guys who are more than willing to turn up on a regular or semi-regular basis to the Bunker, 2025 saw a number of these immensely enjoyable games, I hope to continue this trend in 2026. So if you read this and want to visit, let me know. 

Last winter I kicked off an ACW campaign set in the Shenandoah Valley hoping to pass away the dreich days with battles. We managed four battles which I also managed to take part in and they were a lot of fun, I had not intended the campaign to run until this winter. As with all wargame campaigns they do not always, or do they ever, go to plan and at times I was left with no orders due to circumstances beyond my control, I therefore decided to close it down. I called a Confederate win as they had won most of the battles and had the Union command on the back foot. I also had my own real life problems to deal with by the end.

 My Chain of Command campaigns with Matt are still going strong and have all been very satisfying, I see no reason these will not continue.

Round about October I eventually finished my new army, Emperor Maximinus Thrax took the parade and the men were enrolled in my order of battle. The whole army was from A&A Miniatures and the firm excellent to deal with, the sculpts need the odd bit of tidying up as they have been around a while but nothing over the top. I am busy planning an opportunity to lead them in January. 

 

 Since hanging up my paintbrushes, is that a thing, I have been slightly lost, to this end I have not given up entirely and am now concentrating on bits and pieces, terrain, vehicles, small teams etc. this does help but I will admit to there being a void after 60 odd years of building and painting. I also gave up all my map projects apart from the new Arab-Israeli atlas, I am more happy with this as it takes pressure off, there are still about 60 maps to do this coming year before the book will be ready.

 You will all know of course that I continue to have problems with my liver which we had thought had gone away, it looks like they won't. The good news is that I am recovering much better and quicker after this latest surgery. I also very much appreciate all the good wishes which came my way, many thanks.

Highlights of the year for me was Rob Broom's visit and a full War and Conquest gaming weekend, Matt Crump's continued visits, and good friend Robert Thompson's visits from Scotland and being a phonecall away when I needed bouyed up.  

I am starting to try and book the first games of the new year to kick in once all the festivities are over. The future is still pretty much open wargame wise, more games here if possible, I do have a couple of ideas, many moons ago I bought an excellent boardgame called 'Robert the Bruce' for £5, I might at last get around to redrawing the map and replacing the counters with 28mm figures.

Merry Christmas all and a Happy New Year.