A return

 I am alive!

Or as alive as one can be during a pandemic, it would seem. 
Sadly for me, whilst the year has provided an abundance of spare time, it has also provided an abundance in lack of inspiration. I have picked up the paint brush maybe twice since March? 
But that is set to change. 

For the past 3 months I've been questioning the wargaming hobby and which parts of it I like and dislike. When the subject of painting and modelling in general came to the fore, I realised this was an area in which I lacked inspiration, in part due to my lack of patience and harsh self critic. "No more!" I thought, and set to rationalising the hobby. I have decided to cut short my hobby wants and focused on my needs, limiting myself to one game at a time. 
I had pondered this game being Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, but for whatever reason (probably because they're the only army I own to a satisfactory standard, and therefore the only I play) I have gone off Isengard. I looked for inspiration and found it in Angmar, with the thoughts of a rough, spectral theme in mind. A few barrow wights and a shade perhaps, with spectres and wild wargs and then a small core of orcs. This hope was dashed short when coming to the realisation that Games Workshop had removed all of the spectral components of Angmar from their store. 

The dread forces of Angmar, a project sadly out of reach for a while.

A quick rethink and I'm now settled on a BEF army for Bolt Action. A recent game at the club during the small recess between lockdown's here in the UK had me all fired up in terms of WW2 interest and enthusiasm, and I settled on the BEF as I could cover games set in a campaign around Dunkirk and again in Operation Sea Lion, along with some LDV. So here I propose to you my plans:

First of all, I purchased a box of BEF infantry, 10 figures including a rifle wielding NCO and an infantryman with a Bren gun. I then looked to painting them, I have realised I want my miniatures to be a good standard, something I can be proud of fielding. So this shifted my focus slightly, as I ordered new brushes, paints and indeed painting paraphernalia such as a painting handle and some finer modelling tools. Now, I already own a BEF MMG team, Anti-Tank Rifle Team and a Light Mortar, so with the infantry too I have decided once my brushes and paints have arrived, I shall assemble and paint them. I have in the mean time sent links to various family members for the BEF Command set, a Matila II and a 2pdr Anti-Tank gun. These I hope to obtain at Christmas time, giving me a nice month and a bit to get my current miniatures painted and based to a standard I find satisfactory. 

So that's the plan, and if I find myself with spare time between now and Christmas? then I'll slowly paint up some Mordor Orcs and assemble the Mines of Moria terrain I bought recently (couldn't resist.). 
The paints and brushes are due to arrive on the 28th of October, and I shall begin assembly and painting immediately, making a real effort to get the BEF Infantry done first. It's about time I started taking the hobby seriously, no more half-hearted attempts at painting and telling myself "it's fine, you can play with them grey today and paint them tomorrow! yeah right, maybe pigs will fly too?

So there you or I have it, a long, forced break has me enthused and this time not with a game, but with a want to have nice presentable armies and terrain that I can be proud of and ultimately I think this will pay off and make me feel more inspired to play with my figures, as well as have something worth posting about on here. Here's hoping we can stick to the plan eh? I have long had an agreement with Adam from the club that we would run an Operation Sealion campaign, and see if we can't rope in some other BA players from the club, and the painting and basing of this small army will hopefully be all the inspiration I need to begin plotting and planning it once more!

Cor, did you hear that Mr. Wilson?
 Brandon's picking up the paint brushes again!

I hope you're all staying safe and coping well during these difficult times, and wish you all the best!