Lead of Winter 2017

Matthew Street, Tom Reynolds and Jerome Franklin-Ryan survey the initial set up. They took generalship over the 'goodies' during the game, despite all being horrendously evil and unpleasant in real life.

Having been confined to barracks for the Night of the Living Dead game, I made the journey to Newark with exultation. And abiding at a different address resulted in a brand new route to traverse, with much of the journey through unspoilt English countryside. It was lovely travelling up but a different matter when returning along unlit, winding roads! 

But, as always, the event was well worth the effort with plenty of old faces to greet and a couple of new ones to meet. Wargames Foundry were very welcoming and served us with coffee, tea, doughnuts and sandwiches all morning. Bryan Ansell graced us with his lawful presence for most of the day, despite facing dramatic and calamitous computer problems. 

What follows are a number of snaps I took during the event with a few words of comment from me. 

Chris Howell, Andy 'Atom' Taylor and Owain Brordway took charge of the 'baddie' side, which was just as well as they all complete sociopaths who enjoy kicking small children and pulling the wings off flies. Warlord Paul was, as nearly always, the discerning GM..

Cambridge Don and officially recognised tall person, Richard Irvine fielded (like me) a small warband of pixies, sprites and things that go squelch in the night. Nik Dixon arrived just in the nick of time to field large blocks of hideous undead. 

Steve Casey and Stuart Klatcheff arrived in the afternoon after visiting Warhammer World - note how Steve's back is arched under the weight of multiple plastic kits. 

As you would expect the table was covered with a glorious selection of vintage models, many of which stood out from the chaff being original 1980s Citadel (not that I am biased). The quality of painting was excellent, with Matthew Street's dwarf force really catching my eye thanks to his excellent banners.

The battle in full flow. The forces of evil lurched forwards in a manic, gibbering line (and that was just the players) supported by several artillery pieces. Smoke effects provided by the dashing Owain and the cavalier Jerome via the vape machines. 

The allied forces of good do their best to thin the enemy line but were hampered by very poor shooting -  prompting a stern telling off and a few smacked bottoms from General Jerome. The fletchers must have been down the pub the previous week!

The chaotic (and presumably Trump supporting?) hydra managed just about everything it came in contact with much to the glee of the evil commanders.

Beautifully painted models from the Ansell collection seemed to grace a greater number of cabinets than ever before. These vibrant genestealer cultists caught my eye once again. 

As did the hybrid models that have recently been re-imagined by modern GW. 

I was also pleased to be able to photograph the iconic Plague Altar of Nurgle by Ivan Bartlett from the front. And I never realised that the model from the corpse cart (with the addition of a new face) was driving the thing. 

Bryan brought out some of his art collection. He showed us three John Blanche originals and talked through as much as he could remember about each piece. A not very good photograph of each of them will follow. 

And finally, I got the chance to see the famous 'Foundry Collectibles' Colditz set, which made the news just before Christmas.

To conclude, it was yest another fine day pushing little lead men around a table with like-minded enthusiasts and I look forwards to the big summer event in July. I hope to attend on the Saturday  -operation depending - and do something either Space Mariney or McDeathy. 

Until then, I'll head back to my painting station. 

Orlygg