I have PROOF!

After a long and dangerous trek through the Lost Forest of Mirages we have finally returned to civilization. I deeply regret that neither Wally nor I have any idea of what became of Chuck Steak. The last time we saw Chuck he was running back and forth through the underbrush ~ muttering something about, "No! Really! I have it under control . . ."

Despite the unfortunate and hideous deaths of Walleye and his brother Beareye Wally and I continued our exploration of this strange and fertile land. Neither of us have the words to describe the many different BIG creatures that we discovered.

Fortunately we were well armed and had sufficient ammunition to defend ourselves with. In fact the Big Game Hunting was so 'enjoyable' that I believe neither of us will ever reveal the details of the location of this fabulous area. (We might however be able to be, um, persuaded to lead other Hunters to the area for suitable inducement.)

Despite our long search, once we returned to where we had last seen him, we were unable to find Chuck Steak. However we _did_ find an abandoned cache of photographic equipment. The first of these plates have just been processed.

Now we have proof of the tales we have been telling in The Mug Alehouse! I am enclosing one of the prints for your consideration.

Your Friend
~ Tomas

Time Flys!

It really is true ~ Time Flys when you're not painting and blogging!

Somehow it's mid-January 2009. Yes, we have been busy with lots of work. Which is a Very Good Thing. Yes, we are finally almost better and almost over the nasty bugs that we've had since the weekend after Thanksgiving. (Before Christmas the Doctor actually told me that I had worked myself sick, and ordered me not to talk . . .)

And yes I have gotten a little painting done! But not as much as I wanted, or hoped. We're past Christmas and the Holidays. The house is back to normal. And it's time for me to get back on the painting wagon! I need to paint ~ and I need to paint regularly!!!

I must have been pretty good last year . . . Santa Aelf supplied me with a four figure sample pack from Askari Miniatures and a copy of Two Hour Wargames Colonial Adventures rules. The figures are 28 mm and beautiful ~ perfect porportions and great animation. The detailing is amazing! They are very worthy successors to my beloved Ral Parthas. Colonial Adventures look like a great set of fun playable rules too!

Now I'm planning a French Foreign Legion, and Enemies, collection for once I've finished The Secret Project! I'm really looking forward to it too.

In the meantime I'm following Al Maurer's excellent blog, which you can find at http://edsarmy.blogspot.com/ . I highly recommend his lines and company! Al is great to deal with and I am really looking forward to acquiring and painting a lot of his figures.

I was able to almost finish painting my sample Berber while our Family was here for Christmas. The other three figures are primed and waiting. I hope to post photos and review soon.

We did get to play/fight Tim the Elder's brillant Battle of Barnet (which he called "Stay Misty for Me"). It was a great game and I have a bunch of backlogged correspondance to post yet. (Which I will do. The lead up was so much Fun that I really want to preserve the, ahem, "historical record".) I have an incredible number of photos of the game to sort and edit too. So continuing the Barnet Saga is definitely on my to do list.

In the meantime though, as of today I'm getting back into my regular painting and posting regime!

I'm including this photo of my character figure since long psots without any photos can get boring. (Goodness knows my recent posts have been long and haven't had any photos!)


This 25 mm Dixon figure was a gift from Tim the E. Half of the horse armour is finished for the mounted version. Of course I still have six more figure characters to paint for Tim's Castle Devin games!



Even though I'm not very happy with his eyes I do like how he turned out.

Next up is a unit of six Ral Partha AElvish Archers. They are truly beautiful figures that have been waiting for me to paint them for about thirty years!

My goal for The Secret Plan is to finish painting one unit a month. Since I want to get back into the routine and get a unit finished this month I think a small unit is a perfect start! The figures are cleaned and washed and ready for me.

Before I begin I'm going to write back to my sister Terry. She sent me a wonderful note this morning. Pat and I got so busy, and so sick, that it's been awhile since we've been in touch and a lot of really exciting things have happened!

More soon and more photos to follow!