602 - Resurgam

Hullo, World.

I was totally planning to do some painting this evening, but alas and alack, my frustrating allergies to my two pet cats [don't ask!] has rendered my eyes puffy, bloodshot and less than ideal for painting. 

So I figured I ought to return to the blogosphere. 

Thank you very much for your kind comments after my last post - life is returning to normal now and all is well. 

I've felt actual, real-world guilt for not blogging about some of my Bolt Action games  - which I know is ridiculous - but if I gloss over some of them, I shall at least eventually cover the second part of the Battle of Hamburg (which was every bit as amazing to play as the first installment). For now, though, here is a brief overview of some of my gaming antics over the last three months...

Bolt Action!

In a nutshell, I finally played a game with a fully painted (if not ideally composed) force of Germans and got enjoyably thrashed by Mattenbury's gutsy RM Commandos... 

I played a joint game against some Russians with my established ally, Alex, and to our surprise we won...

I played a handful of introductory games against some pleasant opponents in Portsmouth...

I've painted up my first 1000 points of late-war Germans AND started to put together my Blitzkrieg/Op Sealion Germans with more of a sense of direction now, including a couple of enjoyable conversions...

Points for telling me what's going on with the last two pictures...

For my late-war Brits, I've started putting together a squad of RAF Regiment, a 4.2" mortar and a Chaplain. Because why not, right?!

Black Powder?

Yes, I finally gave Napoleonics a go, on a grand scale, courtesy of Guy and his amazing miniatures...huge fun, but it's not for me.

40K! 


I finished painting up Zzzzzz's combat medic team (and quite enjoyed them in the end!)...
Oh, and I was invited to Devos IV to help him to "line up the little men". 1830 of them, to be more precise...

Recognise any of these lovelies...?

Yeah, this experience was absolutely amazing! I urge you to check out the first of Zzzzzz's posts about it, here: link, and here: link.


Err...and I've discovered Netflix and the strange not-quite-nostalgia of watching my way through Star Trek: TNG.

Oh, and this is a snapshot of the Drax family (No.1 Daughter) enjoying one of our many beautiful local beaches. Honestly, sometimes it's like living in Narnia, round here...

Good to be back!

Cheers, 

- Drax.

601 - In Memoriam

Dear Readers,

Apologies for the slowing of posts recently, but over the last few weeks (and months, actually), my father, Peter, was very ill, and sadly he died this week.

He was a good, good human, and I'm very grateful for his wisdom, appreciative of his pedantry, and proud of his service as a Chief Petty Officer, Artificer, RN.

L-R: brother; some officer awarding my dad a clasp to his
LSGC medal; me; my dad and my mum. c.1991?

Normal service will resume shortly...whatever that means. 

TTFN,

- Chris. 

600! Six Hundredth Blog Post! Huzzah!

Hullo, Fair Readers!

Well, I've been blogging about my hobby now for over nine years, and it's come a long way.

Nine years.

Since discovering Bolt Action (and finding some local-ish gaming clubs!) I'm gaming far more than ever now, but with the arrival of children and more facebook-based hobby-tracking, I'm blogging less often. So it goes.

A pic from our local walk, last weekend. Because I love my girls,
and we couldn't hobby without the support of our loved ones, right?!

Anyway, I shall keep this uncharacteristically simple, and focus on two key elements of my hobby these days: Bolt Action and the good 'ol Draxian Painting Chart - together at last!

Firstly, my Number One force, 4 King's Shropshire Light Infantry (with attachments) from the British 11th Armoured Division in Northern Europe, 1944:

Next, my complicated and disparate new German forces - a 'Blitzkrieg'/Op Sealion occupation platoon AND my late-war platoons:

And finally, my entirely loved (but not often used due to the variety of local foes) British North Africa Desert Rats Sikh platoon:

And there we have it.

What does the future hold for Drax?

Well...

...I've  a LOT of Germans to get on with, a fair bit to finish up for my Brits, and a burning desire to try out some different WW2 game rules with my various 28mm and 15mm troops.

Also, hopefully, a bit more narrative X-Wing over the summer.

And possibly even some D&D 3.5...

For now though, cheerio - and thank you, readers new and old, for joining me from time to time on this journey!

Yours aye,

- Chris.