Hello.
My name is Stewart, and I'm a Pendraken addict.
It started when I was just a kid. We lived in Germany, dad was part of BFPO, and I was ill, so we regularly travelled a great distance to the British hopspiatl. Along the way, I became fascinated by columns of military vehicles, particularly the tanks on their transporters. They looked so uniform, so purposeful and so magnificent.
I wrote to Santa, and it is he that I have to blame for my habit. He got me started in a small way, just kids' stuff really. An Arifix coastal defence set; A gun emplacement defended by the (first production) set of German infantry being assulted by British paratroops backed up by (I think) an M113, a Centurion a M110 and an M60. That got me going. I became an Airfix freak. I had everything from the Guards band to the Africa Corps, from the Churchill to the Wasa.
This was all very small beer; the bedroom got a bit cluttered but that was Ok. The next development in my case came when I found a book by the arch-enticer Donald Featherstone. His "War Games" particularly the "Action on the St James Rd" (?) showed me how the whole affair could be structured and rule based - not determined by the patriotic savagery of a young boy's heart. He also showed me that other periods could be gamed: Ancients and ACW! This was bizarre - warfare without tanks? How did they manage?
The next twist was whenI read David Howarth's "Waterloo: A Near Run Thing". This coincided with the release of some Airfix Waterloo ranges, and when I bought Blandford's "Uniforms at Waterloo", I was hooked.
Since then I've done it all. Ancients, dark age, SF, board games, computer games, even done some Dungeons and Dragons. Don't judge me, it was the 80's and everyone was doing it.
I have to raise my HaT to HaT Industries. They sparked anew wave for me with their introduction of all sorts of 20mm plastic goodliness. I was, for forty years mostly plastic. Never really got near the hard stuff.
Then, a few years ago, I found myself living on my own in a smallish house. My 20mm were beginning to look a bit tired and i was looking to start anew. So, about a year ago, I looked into 10mm and there was Pendraken. It was like a 50 foot high neon flashing sign saying "WATER" over the most remote oasis in the Gobi. (Everyone knows the most remote oasis in the Sahara now has a McDonalds and a Tesco Metro.) I have, like a stereotypical unprepared desert traveller fallen into this oasis and am gulping down as much as I physically can.
They're cunning too, these Pendraken merchants. I'm tryiing to be good and get my WWII forces sorted out before casting too far afield, and they're whipering in my ear "we have Napoleonic Austrians ...." , "Come see the pretty Falklands range ... just a taste".
So here I am. Unabale to leave the house, a lone dweller with lots of time to spend painting, basing and gaming. Just looking fopr that next delivery from Pendraken ... but I could stop any time I wanted to. Really I could.
What's that Pendraken? A Pink Panther? Really?
A very warm welcome Stewart. :-h
You'll find the group therapy sessions very useful for your problem. ;)
Remember.....You are not alone.
Cheers - Phil.
Welcome on board Stewart :).
Give in now young man, you know its pointless to resist, you really do want to do the war of Jenkins Ear dont you?
Hop on fella, straight-jackets and muzzles very much the norm here ;)
Hello there sir! :D
Resistance is useless, you will be assimilated, fsn. But it doesn't hurt - well, only your wallet occasionally :-*
Cheers,
Aart
Hi and welcome, there,s to much nice stuff to choose from in Leons range of figs, im on AWI at the mo but got a few nap samples yesterday so thinking of lots of them now, but there,s also the new LoA range, :-\ . To many figs and not enough hours in the day to paint them.
kev
Welcome, Stewart :-h
Quote from: Aart Brouwer on 10 April 2013, 07:34:48 AM
Resistance is useless, you will be assimilated, fsn. But it doesn't hurt - well, only your wallet occasionally :-*
Cheers,
Aart
Feudal, not useless.
Welcome to the madness.
Thank you all for your warm welcome.
I apologise in advance for my future verbose postings.
Hi Stewart, welcome to the Forum!
8)
Howdy!!
Welcome, great first post! Share many aspects of your story, but particularly the Don Featherstone Wargames book. I still have it on my shelf, and it still inspires me. Oh, and by the way, I too am a Pendraken addict1
Mollinary
Hi FSN
I to am a Wargamerholic. Not just 10mm but 25mm, 20mm 15mm, ancients to Scifi. Just accept there is no known cure. :d Not all of us have muzzles and straight jackets, but most have responsible adults who live with us, or at least freinds with white coats ;D
Welcome, Stewart. You've taken the first step of the cure in admitting the problem. The only thing is - there is no cure! 8-}