Wargaming: Is It A Hobby Or An Obsession?

Background

I used to run small wargames business here in the UK. I ceased trading in April 2021, and began, what I hoped would be, a serene and relaxing retirement playing toy soldiers.

Naturally, it didn't turn out that way. Moving house didn't help. Now that's over, and I've finished the bulk of the decorating required, things have improved. I've now got more time for painting toy soldiers and wargaming.

Retirement goals

My wargaming dream is to play in half a dozen Art de la Guerre competitions a year and make inroads into my small stock of unpainted miniatures. That's it for my hobby: nothing more ambitious.

Podcasts, Podget, Audacious, And Linux

For over ten years I've been using gPodder to manage my subscriptions to music and hobby podcasts.  Recently, I realised that gPodder was using almost 0.25 Gb of memory all the time just to monitor podcast feeds every hour.  This seemed an excessive overhead.

To make matters worse I'd developed all sorts of different podcast habits; copying music podcasts to an archive folder etc etc.  The habits weren't onerous but I began to wonder if there was a different way to do things with less intervention on my part.

From now on this gets "techie".  So, if this isn't your thing, look away now!

With A Little Help

So far I only have one competition in my 2024 diary as the Northern League dates aren't out yet.   It'll come as no surprise to regular readers that it's "The King in the North" weekend event at Haxby (York) in October.  However, my attendance was in doubt until recently and thereby hangs a tale.

Painter's Miscellany #5

It's been a while since I posted anything in this occasional series.  This is more a "thought piece" delving a bit deeper into my approach to painting ancient and medieval toy soldiers.

A Painting Injury?

No. Not cutting your fingers with a scalpel or stabbing yourself on a pike.  This is a bit more serious and a cautionary tale for all avid modellers and painters.  Please bear with me as the background is important.

Background
For some time I've been suffering with a problem with my left shoulder and the left side of my upper back.  In 2019 it got a lot worse and I thought I'd injured myself in the gym.  I had tingling fingers and pains in my left arm.  My GP thought I might have something more serious so I had an MRI scan and was tested to see if I had Multiple Sclerosis.

Thankfully all the test were negative and I was referred for physiotherapy.  A set of simple exercises eased, and then eliminated, most of the trouble with my back and tingling fingers.  My shoulder still had the odd twinge but nothing too serious.

Lockdown came and went.  I painted a lot; almost every day.  The twinges persisted.  I tried all sorts of stretches many of which helped but nothing really eliminated the problem.

A Resurgence of Blogging?

In this post, which I admit falls into the category of "a blogger writing about blogging", I want to discuss the history of, and one possible future for, blogging from the standpoint of a wargamer and hobby blogger.

I'd also like to touch on the impact of the ever changing world of social media on the popularity of blogs.

I know I've been writing about this, and related topics, a lot recently, so if it's not your cup of tea just skip this post.  Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Quality Time

Anyone who spends any time online knows the benefits of using the Internet as well as the annoyances.  The key is to strike a balance between the two, and ever so slightly in favour of the former.

Recently, I've been reappraising my own use of the Internet; from social media, through hobby forums, to online chat.  This was prompted by a realisation that sometimes I would be "clicking for clicking's sake".

Here are two things that I've done in the last week to improve the quality of my time online and free up time to devote to my hobbies.

Twitter, RSS feeds and "Getting a Life"

As I've said before, things change and sometimes not always for the better.  Recently, I've been trying to figure out what to do about the changing nature of Twitter.

Background
I've used Twitter since Dec 2010 which, for a web service, is a long time.  I recently wrote about my dissatisfaction with the current direction of Twitter and how I'm using Mastodon more and more.

Since then Twitter has got worse.  The tools I use(d) to make Twitter bearable (IFTTT & Tweetdeck) have been adversely affected by the recent changes and free tools are disappearing fast.

I've also been increasingly concerned that my use of Twitter has become a waste of time.  So my plan is to stop using Twitter; if at all possible.  I've been cutting back my usage for a while now but I was still checking Twitter too many times a day: not ideal.

Hardware

Things change and sometimes not always for the better.  Recently, I've been trying to figure out why my desktop computer kept dropping its connection to the internet.

A Happy Ending

No, not that sort.  This is about football & technology.  Be warned about the latter!

Football
It all began when I decided not to renew my season ticket at Tranmere Rovers.  Two successive relegations, the last to the National League, coupled with the cost and a sixty mile round trip had sucked all the joy out of football for me after nearly twenty years.

Everything Must Change

After more than 25 years in our current home it's time to move on.  It's the usual set of motivations for people in retirement: fewer stairs, closer to family, move while we're fit & healthy, etc.

Our house is the one with the car parked on the drive.  From a hobby perspective I've had a great painting desk on the middle floor with lots of natural light.  The room also doubled as a home office.

Social Media Changeover

Way back in 2021 I wrote about how I use Twitter.  I say way back because I'm using "technology time" which passes far quicker than real time.  Needless to say, how I use it has changed significantly once again.  I'm using Twitter less and using Mastodon more.

Moving House

My wife and I have been trying to move house for almost all of this year, but the whole process in England is a nightmare.  As I write, we're still not certain our purchase will ever happen.

One of the by-products is that we have spent, and continue to spend, considerable amounts of time looking at our possessions and thinking “do we need this?” and “how are we going to move that?”.

Now add in the factor that this is a very troubling set of questions for a wargamer, and you should be able to imagine how stressful the entire process is.

I Used To Be A Wargamer!

There's been something nagging me for quite some time.  It's about my hobby.  It's so troubling that I've written this post at least three times.

I enjoy painting toy soldiers.  To be specific I like painting 15 mm figures for the ancient & medieval periods.  It relaxes me and I like to think that, after years of practise and hundreds of figures, I've become proficient.

So what's the problem?  It's this: all this painting has to have a purpose.  I don't want to be a collector.  I'd like to think that the units I've painted will see service on a table (one day).  But as this year has gone on, I've become less and less certain this will happen.

A Face In The Crowd

Second played third in the game of the day.

Match	Farsley Celtic v Warrington Town
Competition	Northern Premier League
Date	Sat, 05 Jan 2019
Venue	Throstle Nest
HT score	1-1
FT score	3-3
Attendance	471
Press:	Warrington Worldwide
Pictures:	John Hopkins
Video:	Farsley Celtic

A Face In The Crowd

The magic of the FA Cup 4th Qualifying round with a packed ground. I'm a bit difficult to spot to be honest.


Picture credit: John Hopkins

Match	Warrington Town v Halifax Town
Competition	FA Cup 4th Qualifying round
Date	Sat, 20 Oct 2018
Venue	Cantilever Park
HT score	1-1
FT score	2-2
Attendance	929
Press:	Warrington Worldwide
Video:	YouTube

As Time Goes By

There's snow on the ground here in sunny Warrington and therefore today was a hobby day. There was lots of varnishing and basing and a little bit of painting. There was also a little bit of repair work too.

I am contemplating which of my medieval armies to use next and I decided to check my Later Polish army.  I noticed a bit of wear and tear that needed touching up and one base that needed a little bit more.  Nothing serious only half an hour's work.

This repair work made me compare my current painting style with that of years ago. For me this is never a good thing. We all improve with practise but I appear to be pre-disposed to be shocked by "how bad" my early work is.  In 2016 I wrote about similar issue with a different army:

"I examined the painted figures from 2007 in detail prior to painting the additional figures.  This brought the contrast of styles between 2007 & 2016 into sharp focus.  Prior to this my perception of the quality of these figures was high.  I felt that the paint job was one of my best.  Nine years later the critical part of me wasn’t so sure."

The 2016 experience taught me the best way for me to renovate older figures is to relax and be patient. So this time I was mentally prepared and wasn't too hard on my former self.

A Face In the Crowd

It appears that in this type of photo I am destined to always look like a complete fool. Then again I don't appear to be the only one.

Match	Tamworth v Warrington Town
Competition	FA Trophy, 3rd Qualifying Round
Date	Sat, 25 Nov 2017
Venue	The Lamb Ground
HT score	2-1
FT score	2-2
Attendance	468
Press:	Warrington Worldwide
Video:	YouTube

A Face In The Crowd

Life isn't always about wargames. Sometimes I watch football. Sometimes I end up in some of the photos from the game. If you can spot me in the crowd leave a comment.

Match	Warrington Town v Bamber Bridge
Competition	FA Trophy, 1st Qualifying Round
Date	Sat, 28 Oct 2017
Venue	Cantilever Park
HT score	0-0
FT score	2-1
Attendance	239
Press:	Warrington Worldwide

The photo is from the second half of Warrington Town's FA Trophy game against Bamber Bridge.  The Yellows won 2-1 and the next round is at home this Saturday.  Oh the excitement!

Seven Steps For The Tempted

I’ve been having a bit of fun on TMP with the following:

“If you are tempted to begin your post with "So":

1. Write your post,
2. Go to the beginning of your post,
3. If it begins with "So" delete it,
4. Reread your post,
5. If it makes sense post away,
6. If not – edit the opening of your post,
7. Go to step 2.”

Like all new idioms and modes of “speech” it gets very annoying due to over use.  Then people like me try to hold back the flood.  I don’t know why I bothered bar the fact it made me feel better.

If you are interested you can read the original post and the mainly less than original replies.

More links of interest:

• What's The Big Deal With Starting A Sentence With 'So'? – NPR (USA).
• How A Popular Two-Letter Word Is Undermining Your Credibility – Fast Company (USA).
• 20 of 2013's most overused words (No 6) – BBC (UK).

Time to get a life.