I crawled off to bed at 10:15 last night... I am an old man and the weekend had, as I said previously tired me out somewhat. I settled my head for a decent 7 hours, with Radio 4 Extra playing on a timer. My dreams were fevered and in them I heard a screeching bark (no, not my mother). I woke up and there it was for real. A quick look at the clock - 12:37 'SCREECHBARK!'      'SCREECHBARK!' It was a programme on R4E all about bloody baboons - I ask you, 12:30 at night and they play screeching, bleeding apes? Well as you may imagine my night was disturbed...  I awoke this morning and found solace in a glass of fizzy multivitamins, a mug of coffee and my iPad. I finally managed to calm my somewhat shattered nerves with a small purchase in the shape of a rather pretty 'Sons Of Horus' Heresy era force for a £200: Two hours later, and I can conform that retail therapy is a definite cure for baboons! TTFN

There I was in the bath with the iPad, when ehe voices started whispering in my head. Then I saw these three Imperial Knights… Did a deal for £60 each (RRP unpainted is £85 each) I have 5 now, since yesterday, plus the Warhound Titan... .

It's a dull Bank Holiday Monday here in Sheffield, and so I am at my desk preparing for my return to work in the morning. It's been a very busy long weekend. Friday saw Kayte and I travelling down to Nottingham for lunch at a cheeky little oriental place. I was in need of sushi and sashimi. I have to say tempura sushi is an experience worth repeating. The large Japanese population in Nottingham means that the food is pretty damned fine. Thence, we made our way up to Warhammer World after calling in at a newsagents so that I could pick up my copy of 'The Chap' a fine sartorial magazine. And guess what? I was in in the mag in all my Death Eater finery after lightheartedly submitting myself for sartorial scrutiny in the guise of 'Damius Darkweasel'. It was a surprise that I was actually featured though :)  But I am known by some (the poor deluded fools) as a narcissistic media whore , so it was good to live up to my reputation. Anyway, I went

In almost 4 decades of being involved in this hobby and by extension of my mercantile nature, the industry, I have generally prided myself in not only having a finely honed sense of what lies behind any story, be it about a company, gaming club or individual, but also at being on the leading edge of the miniature ranges available. I confess that in the last decade, Games Workshop have been pretty much off my radar as I thought (with good reason I believe) that they were, in a creative sense  a soulless corporate garbage tug, heading down the river to the Bay of Oblivion. And so, that is my defence for being totally unprepared for what I found in a box this very morning. Yes, I was caught out by a box of plastic! After a long hard week of painting and basing I am taking a 4 day break, and so as my wife (whose birthday is today) slumbers, I have wandered upstairs into my studio to open the box of Tyranids which arrived yesterday. I was happily opening the models when I found so

Armies are like Chinese food...  Better than sex   *Ahem*  Rather, you need another shortly afterwards. And so, following the purchase of the Tyranids which I spoke of in my last 'show and tell' I felt the urge to buy another army, this time those stalwart defenders of the Imperial creed, the marines of the Adeptus Astartes, and in particular the Imperial Fists chapter in their striking yellow paintwork. This time I had to go to £475, which was still frankly a bargain, and I got the following: Space Marine Captain  Space Marine Librarian (metal) Tactical Squad One - Sergeant has a chainsword, flamer, missile launcher.  Tactical Squad Two - Sergeant has a chainsword, melta gun, missile launcher (6 have transfers rather than sculpted pads) Tactical Squad Six - Sergeant has a Power Fist and Combi Plasma, Plasma gun, missile launcher Each of these have a Rhino with corresponding markings 5 Assault Marines - Sergeant has a Power Fist and Plasma Pistol 6 Devastator Marines - 4

The last week has been a hard one in terms of the sheer volume of work I have completed. One of my clients is putting together 1/300 WW2 German units at 1:1 ratio, which is a real challenge , but one which I really enjoy as it allows me to do what I do on a truly epic scale. Alas, basing is a real marathon as I like to make sure it's all finished to the same shade, so I spend 4 days basing each battalion which in the current weather is lethal. Anyway, here are some pics of the whole establishment of the chaps who make up 26th Panzer in the Summer of 1943, somewhere in Italy: TTFN