H.G. Wells biography - well worth a read !

Whilst I've been away on holiday I finished the above biography of H.G. . I enjoyed it more than (.: Don't mention the Toy Soldiers ! (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) the last one I read as it covers his whole life . AND it mentions 'Little Wars' and 'Floor Games' , only a brief paragraph but when you see the amount of written materiel he turned out that's about right . It's a bit more gossipy (which I'm base enough to like) and deals with his private life in detail (!) , he was a real literary babe magnet wasn't he ! - I'm not sure he would have been quite as pleased if the long suffering Mrs Wells had participated in his 'free love ideals'.  I've always wondered what happened to his toy soldiers and this book may give an answer - his son Anthony was a pacifist during World War 2 and was raided by the police who took away some of his personal papers and belongings including the figures that took part in 'Little Wars' and 'Floor Games' - was he ever given them back ? or are they still languishing in police custody !?.

 

Homes for Toieland.

 

Over the Easter holidays work has started on converting the bird boxes I bought into housing for Toieland .(.: Affordable Housing comes to Toieland. (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) I'm sticking MDF bases over the holes and using the bird perch for chimneys . Once dry I will just give them a coat of gloss varnish to match my other buildings .

As rare as hens teeth.

We have been on holiday ! , rented a cottage near Newton Stewart in Galloway . Whilst We where walking around Newton Stewart I  came across the 'Hobby Burrow' ! - a modeling/wargaming shop ! - I was surprised they are a rare breed nowadays . 

I would call it gaming shop really, it covered everything from 'Magic the Gathering' cards through board games via Games Workshop to an impressive stock of Warlord boxed figures. 

I had a long chat with the chap that owns it , very interesting about the problems running a business in the present times .

And what did I buy ! ? well you can't go into a gaming shop and not buy anything ! 

An impulse buy ! (more of this later) 

 

East Point Cadets on parade.

A couple of posts ago I mention I had got a bargain deal off Ebay ,.: Lucky eBay find . (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) and I was wondering if to re-paint them .Well we have been having some very wet days recently and I used one of these to start repairing , touching up paint on the figures, which morphed into adding cross straps buttons etc and finally another gloss coat of varnish.

Having got them done I then have had to wait for the rain to stop so I could do an outdoor photo shoot.To commemorate their joining the ranks the C in C of 'Red Army' has decided to inspect them 

He is very impressed with their turn out and congratulates them on their smart appearance . There is some mystery about the young woman accompanying him ? - it's definitely not his wife !

We are lucky that a contemporary print of this occasion exists and I'm told it appears in the American edition of Kipling's 'Dispatches from the Patio' although I have not seen this rare book I did a Google search and came up with the above photo , it's rather blurry but in the upper left it says Mathew Brady Jr , Fort Patagonia (?) , We know that Brady Jr did take a series of photographs of the Great Patio War , but of course sadly most have been lost to posterity .

.

 

Another Wargaming related postcard.

Found whilst idly scrolling through the interweb , one I haven't seen before. I think it says ' victory over the Russians' (?), I'm not sure which rules they are using but the Russians seem to have suffered a catastrophic moral failure and fled the table.

 

The Workers are revolting.

Got my latest batch of Copplestone figures painted , they are two units of Workers Militia here seen being lead by their Shop Steward.

These figures are generic and can be used by both sides in the conflict . They are seen in my new scenery bases MDF cacti . I must get back into Nacho Wars as it's been a while since I've had a game.

 

Nacho Wars Dramatis Personae .

Although I've been busy painting other peoples figures I've managed to get these figures done for my Nacho Wars , the are Copplestone Miniatures in 28mm .

The Nursing Sister , reroll failed saving throw if she attends the wounded ?

The Spy and the Film Star (mistress/ lady of mystery)

The Pilot - is it Biggles ? , we know W.E. Johns wrote about his exploits in the Nacho Wars in 'Wings over the Andes' . Hopefully they will all be appearing on the tabletop soon.