More comebacks than Lazarus

Hello?

Anybody there?

Hmmm, I guess it has been a long time since I've been on here. 

But I know that some of you are still on the go as I saw the pic of the Bloggers Gathering at Salute last week.

Yes, it's been a long time since I last put something up on the Menagerie. As always that curse of all hobbies - real life - had a lot to do with that. Work - boo; 5 shows - which were good but take up so much time with rehearsals etc; and then I was ill for a while which fair knocked the stuffing out of me for a while (do I hear volins playing???). 

As a result gaming time has been much reduced over the last couple of years. Not that I haven't done any - it's not been that bad!!! - just not a lot for me to feel justified in boring the pants of you lot. I'm definitely not one of those people who blog just to let the world know what I had for breakfast that morning.

Still it has been a pretty lean time on the gaming front. 2014 was the first time for many years that I didn't get to any of the Wargame Shows in Scotland so that was a bit of a blow and the way things are going I'll not manage along to Carronade in Falkirk next weekend either.

However, all is not lost as I will be allowed to cross the Border at the end of May when Ruarok and I go to the UK Games Expo in Birmingham so we are both looking forward to that.

One major plus on the gaming front did happen during my absence from t'internet. Last year, did see me hit a significant birthday - yes 21 at last. Persistent readers of these ramblings may remember a very early post where I put a picture of where I did all my gaming (those of you who don't remember will find it here). Well to celebrate this significant birthday, Mrs Kingsleypark agreed that I could get something special. So inspired by Postie's Hut from Postie's Rejects fame and also remembering a post that Jim Duncan put up many moons ago here I ended up getting one of these .....

A 22ft x 12ft self contained wargames cabin, man cave, games room, hobby escape call it what you will - just don't call it a SHED!!!!

Inside I have enough space for all my toys, including a mezzaine level.

So plenty of storage space......

It took a couple of weeks for the cabin to go up and then about a week to get the floor varnished and the furniture moved in until it eventually looked like this

Plenty of room for a 8ft x 6ft table and with some shuffling about of the trellis legs and the boards I can also put up a 12ft x 4ft table as well

First game on the table? 

.

Yup, started down that slippery slope that is Commands & Colors, so much so that Ruarok and I are taking part in the C & C Ancients tournament at the Expo.

Ruarok about to make the critical move which once more condemned me to another hammering at C & C

Although, figure painting has been almost non-existant, the C & C rules have got me thinking of the possibility of using 6mm or 10mm on Hexxon terrain. It's only got as far as thinking about it mind you......

Not sure when the next post will go up on the Menagerie - I have show next week and then an EXAM!!! the following week (an academic exam that is not a medical examination) so not much scope for gaming over the next few weeks. As a last hurrah before this hiatus the guys came round the cabin on Wednesday past to play Star Wars X-Wing. 

It was my first time playing and was enjoyable enough but I can resist the temptations of Star Wars, never having been a big Star Wars fan. This on the other hand might be the ruin of me....

Speak to you soon!