Unbeaten

It wasn't a game for the feint hearted and certainly wasn't pretty. Wearing the uniform from when the forties Bears played like the Monsters of the Midway. The Bears are now the only undefeated team in the NFC and boy doesn't that sound good.
Largely thanks to the defence the Bears came back from being down 10 to zip and won the game with seconds to spare.
Now where do I get one of those 40's throwback shirts?

2 & 0

How many Bears fans were wondering just how bad things were going to be after the opening two drives from the Bears? Cutler was sacked, hit and knocked down by what looked like a Cowboys defence that was unplayable.
Then things changed. Quick passes over the center and we were in with a score. Things just kept rocking from there. Martz and Tice did a great job adjusting the scheme and cutler looked comfortable behind the line. The only thing missing is any sign of a decent ground game. If we can get that then the offence will be something to fear.
The defence had another great game. Okay we allowed a lot of yards but that will be a feature of the scheme they play. What was pleasing was to see how few rushing yards they allowed.
Great start and sets up a crucial head to head with Green Bay on Monday.

Scottish Artillery

Apologies for the quality of the shots but I'm trying to do this whilst watching the Bears Cowboys game - some things do take priority over Wargaming.
Warlord games Saker. I mixed up the crews from all the various pieces so that they all have some Scottish figures involved.

Warlord games Scottish frame gun. One of two pieces I bought at Partizan.

Warlord games mortar.

Bases have all been finished with Highland tufts and static grass. Bases from Warbases - highly recommended.

Bears 1 & 0 (but only just)

Was it a touchdown? 80,000 Bears thought "yes, no, yes, ....NO!!"" yesterday & led to my favourite headline of the day from the Chicago Tribune "On Further Review Call him Lucky Smith".
The Lions were outplayed, outgunned and knocked out of the game (at least Stafford was by Julius Pepper who looked like he was playing for the '85 Bears). And yet they were in the game all day thanks to poor hands from the Bears and a "what the f#'ck was he thinking moment" from Lovie after four attempts to get in from the 1.
Right now the Bears look like they can play and play well. Just not for the entire game.

Steampunk Festival

This is the second year that the festival has been held in Lincoln and was an intriguing sight as you walked around the Bailgate area of the city. Watching various people dressed in quasi-Victorian dress with loads of accessories hanging from belts caused more than a few of the uninformed tourists to stop and stare.
Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera and, to compound the error, to fully charge the mobile. So sorry for not having more shots.

This young lady was one of my favourites. Double pistol armed and willing to show her weapons off. Her pirate companion was also well dressed and armed with a variety of weapons.

This gentleman in the middle had a uniform that clearly showed an influence from the British colonial period, but he obviously couldn't decide whether to give up the rubber.

An example of what it was like walking around. Fantastic costumes and I was impressed that they were allowed to walk around with, what we know were fake, firearms quite openly displayed.

Vikings

You wait for weeks to have updates and then two come along together.

Reading Tim Severins' "Viking" trilogy over my holiday got me to wanting to improve the Viking collection sitting on my shelf.
Here are some figures in the "before" shot.

Then after repainting the flesh, giving them a wash over on the clothes, repainting the arms and armour and giving them all new shield designs, followed by the use of Army Painter Dark Tone shade, here they are "after".

Much better I think you'll agree. Rebased on Warbases 40m square mdf bases and flocked as per my standard format they look an awful lot better than the tired figures in the first shot.

Oh and for the eagle eyed among you - yes there are some Gripping Beast Plastic Hirdmen mixed in.

The plastic figures are nice. Good sculpting and well defined features are the first thing you notice, making them a pleasure to paint. However, the sheer number of bits on the sprue are fiddly. I decided in the end not to use most of them because en masse you just don't notice the additional knives, pouches and other accouterments. Some of the arms are also difficult to align and needed a bit of trimming. Whatever your thoughts they mix in very nicely with my original figures.

The maker of these veterans was a company called, appropriately enough, Viking Miniatures. Purchased in 1980 they were the first proper army I collected. They are still some of my favourites because they are well proportioned, well detailed and have character that is lacking in a lot of later ranges.

War of the Spanish Succession

I thought it might be appropriate to show you more of the collections from other gamers in the club that face my French on a regular basis.
Andy has created the newest force in the clb - the Imperialists. Rapidly expanding his colection there are now nine battalions and four regiments of horse. All the figures are from Front Rank. Quite rightly these have attracted a lot of favourable comments from colleagues.

Mark has the oldest collection for the period. His force was the inspiration for me to start the French. Painted by him originally he now adds Dutch units painted by Joe Dunn. However here are some of his English.

All the figures are Stratagem (now sadly oop) and have a character all to themselves. I've shown the Emglish Foot Guards and the Royal North British Dragoons.

Grimsby Wargames Society Host Wars of the Roses

Dave, a long time member of the club, organised a day of games for visitors from Leeds & Manchester. He started the day with colonial games using Black Powder rules (more details of these will appear on our website shortly).
I joined the day late on to take part in the large Wars of the Roses game. Using my figures along with those from Mark & Mike we were able to put a thousand figures on the tabletop and get a result within three hours (even allowing for a break for fish and chips!).
The game was split in to two with five players per side.
The Yorkists were bold on the left making a march straight for the enemy. On the right a little more hesitant as they advanced and then withdrew in the face of some aggressive moves by the Lancastrians.

Inevitably both sides clashed across the length of the field. Melees erupted across the front line and the battle swung both ways. News was filtering through that the Lancastrians were struggling on the left but those facing the Yorkist right seemed more determined.

Indeed from where I was watching things looked decidedly edgy for the Yorkists with them seeming to be losing all the melees they were involved in .

Eventually, and largely thanks to the left flank of the Yorkist army, the Lancastrians broke and fled the field as the central unit of knights in the Lancastrian line were destroyed.

My thanks to all those who provided figures and helped in running the game. Special thanks to Dave for organising the day. Also I hope that all of or visitors enjoyed their day out.

More details will appear on the club website shortly (thanks Malcolm).