ABOUT YOU
Name:
Ashley R. Pollard
Location:
West London
Do you have a pic?
Yes I do...
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wKUPDuAjvKQ/SxvqmPu_VmI/AAAAAAAAADw/gQIC8K5bAos/S220/Looking+cute.jpg)
PAYING FOR IT!
Current occupation:
Health care professional
What’s the best job you've ever had?
Current one
What would your ideal occupation be?
Current one, or independently wealthy and able to run a charity clinic.
GETTING INTO IT!
How did you get involved in wargaming?
Friend took me a wargames club.
What was your first figure?
No idea.
Do you have a favourite period/genre?
Science Fiction warfare in the future.
How big is your figure collection?
Not very, do mostly skirmish gaming, so I guess about 1500 figures across all my favourite scales and genres.
And how big is your unpainted lead mountain?
A couple of shoe boxes full, about 700 figures I guess.
Do you have a favourite model in your collection? And do you have a pic?
They are all my favourites as I tend to do a lot of conversion work. See my blog for pictures of my stuff.
What is the most important aspect of wargaming for you?
Social story telling process of the game.
PLANNING IT
What project are you currently working on?
Terrain boards and figures for my campaign; Operation Sandbox set on the fictional world of Mummerset.
And do you have any long-term projects on the go?
Vietnam and Spanish Civil War, I'm in the acquiring phase rather than painting phase at this point.
Do you have any wargaming influences?
Not sure what you mean. People I copy, no. People who inspire, yes. Frank Chadwick for Traveller, the guys at FASA for BattleTech and Richard Clark of Too Fat Lardies.
BUYING IT!
Do you buy scenery, or scratch build it?
Scratch build boards, but I will buy buildings that fit my needs, in particular the range from Fieldworks.
Which figure range is at the top of your request list?
Vietnam, but mostly vehicles.
Which individual item is at the top of your request list?
Vietnam riverine monitors etc and Huey variants.
Which wargaming websites do you visit regularly?
TMP, Pendraken, Classic Battletech, BattleTech Universe.
(http://www.classicbattletech.com/images/gallery/Classic_BattleTech_Technical_Readout_3050_Upgrade_Cover@1600x1200.jpg)
If someone handed you £100 right now, what would you buy?
Fieldworks new buildings that have just come out at Newbury.
What has been your biggest one-off purchase?
Probably a BattleTech miniatures order from IWM in the States.
PAINTING AND MODELLING IT!
How many hours a week do you paint?
Three to ten hours it all depends.
What kind of technique do you use?
Combination of whatever works for the job at hand.
Do you have a preferred brand of paint?
Not really, use what I can get easily.
Do you have a painting area?
And do you have a pic? Yes and yes.
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8571/92982092.jpg)
Have you had any painting/modelling disasters?
Apart from spilling paint pots, not really.
Do you have any painting/modelling top tips?
Take your time and remember to enjoy the task at hand.
PLAYING WITH IT!
How often do you get to game?
Once a month at most, sometimes once every other month.
Do you belong to a local club?
No.
Do you have a funny wargaming story?
None that I can think of.
And have you had any wargaming disasters?
None that I can remember.
Do you prefer short games or long campaigns?
Campaigns.
Do you have a wargames room? And do you have a pic?
No I don't and I just set up on the dining room table.
How do you store your figures?
On shelves, and in boxes, but I don't have that many.
READING ABOUT IT!
What are you reading at the moment?
Just about to start The Truth of Valor by Tanya Huff, just finished Matter by Iain M. Banks.
(http://media.ove.cybermage.se/2010/08/the-truth-of-valor.jpg)
Do you have a favourite book?
Not one book.
Do you buy any wargaming magazines, and if so, which ones?
Just started getting Battlegames, buy others if they have an article of interest to me e.g: something on Vietnam for instance.
WATCHING IT!
What are your 3 favourite films?
Can't answer that because I have lots of favourite films, and what I would watch depends on my mood. I would have to do this by genre.
And your 3 worst?
The ones that I've watched once and thrown away and have forgotten about them.
What are your all-time Top 3 TV shows?
Dr. Who, Farscape, Stargate, Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica.
(http://infotoxin.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/farscape_logo.jpg)
And right now?
Dr. Who
(http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2009/1/3/1231009595396/Matt-Smith-as-Doctor-Who-001.jpg)
LISTENING TO IT!
Who is your favourite band?
Garbage.
(http://stustation.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/a91d325e6939cd2d4d4d877f1a6e4925.jpg)
And favourite album?
Something by Bear McCreary that he composed for Battlestar Galactica.
And your 3 favourite songs?
Too many to list I don't really have just three favourites.
NOT RELATED TO IT!
What other hobbies/pastimes do you enjoy?
Photography, cycling.
What do you drive?
Chevrolet Blazer.
(http://www.autos-review.info/images/chevrolet-blazer.jpg)
Are you a breast or thigh person... ;)
Six pack.
And who are your Top 3 Totty?
Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., and Alexander Skarsgård.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kttx8dJaoE1qaty8qo1_400.jpg)
Do you have a favourite quote?
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."
Sherlock Holmes nee Arthur Conan Doyle
If you could do anything, what would it be?
Bring about world peace...
:-bd
Good stuff and a great bunch of questions/answers/piccies ;)
Neat
great answers. I like the concept of an 'acquiring phase'. I think i've been in one of them for 40 years :)
have you got a link to your blog ?
Thank you for the comments.
Blog in my signature line below.
PS: May not have a favourite book per se, but I have two authors who I will buy in hardback when they release a new novel.
The first is Jack McDevitt, whose first book "A Talent for War" really impressed me. The second is Vernor Vinge for his "A Fire Upon the Deep" and his "A Deepness in the Sky". Lots of other authors I like too, and even buy in hardback, but these two I'd almost buy novels about their shopping lists... ???
Very enjoyable read, nice pictures, and very funny how some of the questions assume a guy and the first one in the series is a girl and you answer without blinking. Neat!
Yes, enjoyable and interesting.
And nice blog, Ashley.
Thank you I do try, though some say I'm just trying. :D
Very interesting! It's a good idea!
Nice to meet you, PiP!^^
Good stuff Ashley - and I'd echo Rudy's comments: nicely sorted gender response - utterly seamless. 8)
Leon, you didn't previously work for the C.I.D. or the Inland Revenue, did you? My tax return's shorter than your questionaire. :D
I admire your patience, Ashley. ;)
Great stuff Ashley !
Cheers - Phil.
Patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace, and Grace is a little girl with dirt on her face.
Quote from: Hertsblue on 09 October 2011, 11:16:23 AM
Leon, you didn't previously work for the C.I.D. or the Inland Revenue, did you? My tax return's shorter than your questionaire. :D
I admire your patience, Ashley. ;)
That's the edited list of questions... :D
Quote from: Leon on 10 October 2011, 12:26:27 AM
That's the edited list of questions... :D
Gulp! :o
Quote from: Hertsblue on 09 October 2011, 11:16:23 AM
Leon, you didn't previously work for ... the Inland Revenue, did you? My tax return's shorter than your questionaire. :D
I admire your patience, Ashley. ;)
I did...
Excellent..... nice one :)
Six