Creating A New Hobby Space Part 1

 It has been a while again since posting but I have the perfect excuse. Without disclosing too much, my partner and I welcomed our first Child into the world on the 16th of October 2024. Baby Michael was born at 0940am and weighed 3.5kg and was perfect. We are truly blessed and I appreciate what I have everyday.

Leading up to baby Michael’s birth I had to do some huge changes to our house. I am quite the DIYer but I also used professionals when required. 

Goodbye Hobby Room

For nearly 10 years I have been using one of our spare bedrooms as a dedicated hobby and storage space. I had a built-in Wardrobe that was chocablock with terrain, hobby supplies and miniatures. It was a fantastic, albeit poorly designed space for storage needs. It was hard to access everything and a haven for attracting mold due to poor air flow.  The plan was to gut this room and remodel it for Michael but where would all my hobby go?

My Old Hobby Room

How I stored my painted figures. I also built that coffee table when I was 15

I patched the walls, repainted and put in new carpet for the baby

Putting in an attic

We have an old 1960s built home, single story with not a very high roof. This aside I was hoping I could squeeze an attic in and I got some experts in that surprisingly gave us nearly 14m squared of storage space! I transferred all my hobby into the attic successfully and was very pleased with the outcome. It is the perfect solution for both short term and long term storage, especially when it comes to hard to store items such as terrain.

I am most likely going to leave my 3d printer in the attic as I have power and a good space for it there. I have a monitoring camera for it and it will be out of the way. I will install a small smoke detector up there for peace of mind.

The outdoor Cabin

I did not want to take over another room in our house with my hobby and after months of searching I found the perfect solution, an outdoor studio. I got an absolute banger of a deal on an ex-display model. I got it professionally installed and did the majority of the internal fit out myself. Given the angled roof I decided against doing the dry wall myself and got some plasterers in. I then installed floor boards, window jambs, and added molding to the window jambs and door jamb. I added skirting boards and architraves around the doors and the windows and was rather pleased with the outcome.

The old space and crappy garden shed

The new outdoor cabin installed

Deck added, doors primed and flooring down

Setup very WIP

Creating the ultimate gaming setup.

The Cabin features a Desky standing desk that is motorised. I also have an ergonomic chair as I have had dramas with sitting at desks and using a computer. I almost stand exclusively now. I have a 5 x 5 IKEA Kallax shelf for storage, and IKEA side table and lamp and have a Temple and Webster 2 seater couch.

I scored some sweet Displates for Christmas. One being the cover art for Warhammer 40000 second edition box set. The other two are from Back to the Future (the greatest trilogy ever) and Spider-Man (my all time favorite superhero).

Warhammer 40k Second Edition Box Art Displate

I am a massive video gamer and huge fan of 7th and 8th generation games as modern gaming… well it's kind of shit. In the cabin I have one of three Xbox 360s (my limited edition blue Xbox 360e) a PlayStation 3, PlayStation 5 (limited edition Spider-man 2 console) PlayStation Vita, Xbox One (needs repairs),  and an older but still solid gaming PC (still rocking a 1070ti that plays many a game well in 4k at 60fps). I have a Xbox 360 and Xbox series X in my living room. Yeah I like video games. I also have many controllers at my disposal. I have an awesome video game collection particularly for Xbox 360. Best generation of games ever. 

A mere fraction of my collection of games

I have a 32 inch true 4k monitor with HDMI 2.1 support and have a HMDI splitter box.

I also have a gaming laptop that I mostly use for anything but gaming. 

Cable management... very WIP!

Hobby wise I have a number of dedicated spaces within the Kallax for miniatures and paints. I will store my painted miniatures in the attic but build and paint in the cabin. I will have all my books and magazines in the cabin. I have installed some cupboard doors on the Kallax to hide some stuff as well as having some baskets for bulky items I want out of site.

It's still very work in progress and once completed I will show the cabin off. The company that sold it to me has seen my work in progress and want to eventually send a professional photographer out to photograph it. See how we go.

Externally I have repaired a lot of the weatherboards as they were probably a good few years old and a little neglected as it was an old display model that was in storage for a few years. I have given an entire fresh coat of paint to the exterior and still need to landscape around it.

It truly is going to be an awesome set up once I am done with it.

Hobby Projects

As I'm a dad to an infant my hobby time is extremely limited. I'm going to try and focus on a couple of projects being, WW2 28mm Battle of the Bulge and the other painting up my various board game miniatures as I really enjoy these games. 

I have always had a keen interest in the Battle of the Bulge and I love hobbying a winter theme. With Bolt Action 3rd edition coming out with a starter set themed for this period, it's a great time to revive my long delayed project. I can wait to mix up a number of Warlord Sprues and create some awesome looking winter Germans and US forces.

I will still use Twitter for now despite how Elon has pretty much destroyed the platform however I am now on BlueSky. I will post regularly on BlueSky once I get some hobby done.

Thanks for reading.

Bring on 2025!

Bolt Action... The game we love and hate

 I have been playing Bolt Action for almost 10 years now and a lot has changed since I first picked up the rules.  I started playing towards the end of 1st edition and generally played the Bolt Action . (dot) net modified rules - I believe these are what they were called at the time.  I went in head first and collected and painted a number of Armies however this has slowed down over the years.  I have thoroughly enjoyed 2nd edition however it feels bloated and slightly stale and I am really looking forward to the much anticipated 3rd edition.  

A Stug famously destroys one of my mate Joe's American Half Tracks.  We had an epic game of Bolt Action Tank War many years ago.

I have been fairly critical of Bolt Action in the past but one thing I noticed as it gained more and more popularity is the small but vocal minority that criticise the game.  My criticisms are minor compared to my praise for the game and its obvious by my Social Media Networks that I thoroughly enjoy the game as a casual player and have had some success in the competitive scene.  I far prefer casual and historic match ups over competitive gameplay however I do enjoy the social aspect that attending an event provides.  

I am not the biggest fan of Competitive tabletop gaming but I can hold my own and have has many successes over the years.

Most criticisms I see for Bolt Action are on the Bolt Action Facebook group or other historical Facebook groups for WW2 Games that are not Bolt Action.  The Bolt Action Facebook group is a mixed bag and at one stage I left the group due to mixed reasons but I re-joined a couple of years ago as the page became overwhelmingly more positive and better moderated.  It still has the odd know it all, or just plain rude person bringing someone down for what they posted but that is to be expected now that the page has over 26,000 members. 

The Experimental Warbird Rules are always fun.

26,0000 members is a lot! Take aways the bots, the multiple accounts, the lurkers and the people that no longer play the game you are still looking at a very large player base for what is undeniably the most popular WW2 tabletop miniatures wargame.  If you look at all the other WW2 tabletop miniature wargames Facebook groups and combine their memberships you wouldn't even get half of the following that Bolt Action has.  Facebook however is a guide only and I appreciate there are other Social Media Platforms that have large followings of other rulesets such as Chain of Command on the Social Media Platform Twitter.

Large Thematic Group Games of Bolt Action are always Fun.  My Favourite way to play the game.

The negative attitudes to Bolt Action are often humorous and harmless however I have a laugh to myself whenever I see someone ranting about how it is the Hollywood version of WW2 or it is just a re-skin of Warhammer 40k.  The game can be broken by the competitive sweatys, but after all its a game and a game that has a large player base, so this is bound to happen.  

Early War is my favourite era for Bolt Action - A very level playing field

Say what you want about the game and its historical errors, it is the juggernaut of WW2 Wargames Rules and whether you agree or disagree it is a fantastic introduction to WW2 on the Tabletop.   Some of Warlord Games' sculpts are questionable and the grumblings of button counters are heard, however they have the largest range of 28mm WW2 Miniatures and their sculpts are continuing to improve.  I see Bolt Action through my own experiences as a Gateway Game for historical Wargaming.  If it wasn't for Bolt Action, I wouldn't of played and collected a large number of forces over a number of historical periods.  I would not have discovered the Too Fat Lardies world of wargames or brands such as Perry Miniatures if it wasn't for this game.  I would still be stuck in the Games Workshop ecosystem.  

Perry Miniatures and Offensive Miniatures DAK are a match made in Heaven

Bolt Action will continue to grow, especially with the hype for the upcoming 3rd Edition of the game. From what I can see so far, its the shakedown the game needed to refresh its rules and reinvigorate the player base.  The sweatys will no doubt break the game and you will get the win at all cost types bending the truths of history for glory on the tabletop.  I however look forward to playing lots of themed games with my mates and most of all having fun.  

Keep painting those Fallschirmjager Helmets Blue, for every time you do, a button counter will criticise another Warlord Games Sprue.  

My version of Winter Fallschirmjager for the Ardennes 

First Squad of Winter Germans Complete

Its been a while since I painted my Winter Test German.  I thought it best I finish off the squad and thanks to the Analogue Hobbies Painting challenge I have done so.  The test figure is hiding in the back of the group photo and I painted up the remaining 9.  This brings my tally of total figures painted for March to 53!

These are the Warlord Games German Grenadier Squad (Winter).  These are fantastic 28mm Metal Miniatures.  I have another box of these to do and will try and make them different to this squad.

I am quite pleased with the result and they have a real winter feel to them.

28mm WW2 Winter German Grenadiers by Warlord Games

My favorite 3 poses

NCO with MP40, Assault Rifle, Rifle and Panzerfaust (Note... it is not left handed)

Panzerfaust with rifle, MG42 Team.

Warlord Games German Winter Pak 40

My Winter German forces are slowly being put together.  This force is mainly themed for the Battle of the Bulge however it can be used in a variety of battlefields across Europe especially on the Eastern Front.

I decided to paint up the Warlord Games Winter Pak 40.  This is a beautiful model.  The gun went together with ease.  The figures that crew the gun are well sculpted and you really get a feeling that the crew is in action against some enemy armour.

I based the gun on some MDF and used a variety of winter weathering products to capture the feeling of winter.  I used the Warlord Games Winter Tufts to provide a bit of color among the snow.  The tufts are nice and have a fine white material coating to them that sets well with a bit of matte varnish and appears quite frosty.

Any questions regarding specific details or techniques, please ask.

Warlord Games German Winter Pak 40

The Winter Tufts from Warlord Games break the white of the snow up

A BIG Game of Bolt Action

A very talented terrain maker and member of Company of Dice, Paul, proposed a big game of Bolt Action, and a BIG Game we had!  Paul hosted this at Company of Dice West.

The scenario was June 1944 D-Day +.  It would be Germans vs Brits.  It would be played on Paul's magnificent Normandy themed Board.  The table size was a massive 12 x 4 feet!

We did not want to game all night so we came up with the following conditions

• 750 Points Per Player
• 6 Order Dice Cap
• Key Positions D6 + 6 Objectives (a 6 was rolled!)
• Objectives must be 12 inches apart and within 12 inches of the centreline
• Officer's could snap to action allied units
• 4 Order Dice would be pulled at a time
• A limit of 2 free arty observers for the Brits (they brought one to their credit)

Paul and his son Angus were incharge of the preliminary dice rolls and then we simply drew dice and got on with it!

It was an epic game and everyone had fun.  The Germans trumped the Brits on the Day, 10 objectives to 2.  The Brits blame tiger fear however they were both Panthers so they couldn't complain too much as we paid the points for it.

The Teams:

Germany:

Paul, Dave, Bryan (The General), John

Brits:

Angus, Spyros (no free minis but plugged Uncle Les), Andrew, Ian

I very much look forward to another big Bolt Action Game!



A big Table for a big battle - Stunning Table

My Humble Kampfgruppe - Green Fallschirmjager

Brits Take a salvo from the Nebelwerfer

The Field of Shame.  Destroyed dice entered it... Full of Brits

A nebelwerfer salvo got rid of those Brits

My MVP for sure!

The end result.  The field of shame.  Brits top, German Dice Bottom