Competitive blogging??

I actually had a fairly decent weekend hobby-wise repairing and spray basecoating up all of the Orcs and Goblins prior to drybrushing the be-Jesus out of them but that's not massively exciting so you get this instead.

So what is this post? Labeled as "Musings" is it just a filler post designed to pad my hit-count?

Despite being at this for best part of two years now I've only recently succumbed to "stat-fever" and I know that I'm far from being the only sufferer.


I love to wander this hobby's blog-o-sphere as it provides plenty of ideas, inspiration and motivation. Over time my reading list of followed blogs has steadily increased. I've noticed a number of blogs have large followings (I have seven and I treasure each of you) and boast massive hit counts and page views (I have 4500 total page views, last month's 685 was a new record) and some blogs have been voted for various awards (well done them).

Not that this was ever an issue for me but these blogs seem to be no different to my own other than their stat....why? Not in a bad way, just out of interest.

Being a regular reader of  Tabletop Gaming News I recently joined it's blog network and unsurprisingly my stats increased greatly and I naturally felt rather chuffed at the apparent compliment. But soon I was checking my stats on a more than daily basis and in the push for another record month scouring my brain for potential post ideas.

Stimulating creativity? Maybe. Massaging ego? More than likely.

I've never blogged on a daily basis. It's a lot of effort and I'm sure that I don't have enough relevant, interesting stuff to say. Some guys do and it'll mean that they're constantly visible in other people's sidebars and blog lists which strikes as self-perpetuating.
This briefly seemed like "the next logical step" until I stepped in and hard a word with myself.

To be a little harsh many daily posters regularly have to resort to filler (filler is for cracks!) that I'll quickly glance at and then move on as I always prefer to have a thought or two provoked. I'd prefer to do the same myself if at all possible.


Each to thier own though as taste is an individual thing.

Sometime ago I just looked at my stats occasionally and wondered why the interest from Iran or South Korea. All of my most popular posts were from back when I was making up my converted Chaos Dwarf Blood-Bowl team with a lot of interest from those BB crazy Dutch dudes.

As on the table-top I've always wanted to be competitive enough to provide all involved with a worthwhile experience. The occasional win always helps but I'd never want that to become my sole motivation!.

Anyway, I've vented without ranting too much so I shall thank you for your time! Playing Naps with Rich tonight before a Star Wars RPG session tomorrow evening so grab your place early Friday 'cos that post will be a doozy!

Happy blogging :)

Club vs Country

WARNING: Sports related post!

Well, it has been quite sometime and there's a toys twist a few paras in at least ;)

This is Joe Simpson, live-wire scrum half for my beloved London Wasps, one of the club's star players. On the fringe of the full England squad for a while now, the foot injury to Danny Care has seen him included in the World Cup squad.

Good for him, well deserved BUT this means that Wasps will be without him for the new season's start and with a lot of new faces and many other big names already injured pre-season. As effectively 3rd choice how much meaningful game time will he get? What will be the knock on when he returns to the club?

This is nothing new amongst any team sport, all standard stuff, but it did set my mind wandering to nerdy wargames comparisons and the best inter-dynamic I could come up with was Game vs Company i.e. games, figures, genre that you like / dislike versus their manufacturer that you may like / dislike...... bear with me?

GW has to be the obvious first "hit". I love the figures, the settings and artwork. Once upon a time I played (and worked) it all. Now it's Blood Bowl, Necromunda and Mordheim. As much as it would be cool to dive into a new Ogre army the horrific cost and ropey ruleset just stops me dead.

I've previously got in on the ground floor of a number of big hitters in the form of Flames of War (Battlefield) and Warmachine (Privateer Press) back when artwork was black and white the books fell apart and their forums were almost just one big FAQ but the game, the community and the company were bending over backwards to be fun and accessible.

I suppose that with success comes inevitable change to what is labelled as a GW-centric business model. Having recycled sometime ago I'd now be looking at a £200 / £300 layout to get back in bed with either of them! Maybe I'm just whinging again??

Two Hour Wargames churn out great PDF rules that are just that, you sort out the rest. No problem with that as me and my lot are long enough in the tooth to do so but many aren't. Love them but hate that they're so limited.

Finally Spartan Games. Still got my Uncharted Seas, resisted Firestorm Armada, sorely tempted by Dystopian Wars. Wasn't bothered by non-digitally mastered figures a version 1.5 reprint or a relatively slow release schedule. Loved the fast, fun, simple skirmish level games that they are. WIN - WIN.

My ramble has become a rant, I'll stop :)

P.S: just for the record for me this is never about expenditure of time / money / effort only ever about RETURN!

Out with the old?

....possibly! In with the new... more than likely!!

When first discovering GW / Wargaming (delete as applicable) it was Warhammer Fantasy (1st Edition) that first gave me the itch via Greenskins. I can remember sitting on a south-coast family beach holiday wearing out the army-list with my eyeballs.

Much later in life Orcs and Goblins became my first proper army and somehow fittingly they remain the last vestage of that "other hobby" within my possession. So on Monday night, with a bout of hayfever preventing any brush-time,  I dug out what remains to work out what to do with it.

So after loosing various bits along the way I have two units of 30 boyz "static-furred", 20 black orcs, 8 boar boyz, 3 wolf chariots (sans crew), 10 wolfboyz, 2 pump wagons (sans crew), 2 bolt throwers, 2 giants, boss on wyvern and the characters below in various states of salvageable repair.

Thought 1 had been recycling via E-Bay as is but wasn't sure I'd get much. Thought 2 was to repair, spray and basecoat prior to thought 1, possibly painting the characters below properly, to hopefully improve return?

Thought 3 occurred after a few more lads at the club played Kings of War last night and at lunch today I've established that the Orc element = 1300 points of KoW. Interesting!?

So for the moment I'm going with thought 2 whilst remaining open to thought 3 i.e. prevarication!!

Meanwhile the new is represented by the possibility of an end of year Mordheim campaign at the club and a number of OOP Confrontation O&G's that I've had hiding away for in excess of two years for just that very purpose. Actually they were acquired for a Songs of Blades campaign that I missed but its all skirmish at the end of the day.

A little more armoured than necessary but a little conversion will be necessary to give the goblin contingent short-bows. Really love the oriental feel and detailing so keen to crack on!

I'm not just ignoring "The Plan" but I can do all the repair / construction whilst the hayfever relents. I really want to finish the church but I'm still waiting for the last few windows to be delivered.

Sarah Beeny eat your heart out!

Lost in Translation?

Not a lot of posts recently, which I'm sure you've lamented at great length but this has been for too main reasons.

Firstly my laptop's power lead has died. Maplins want £65 for a new one, thanks for that but I think I'll pass. The little repair place can do £35 but not for a couple of weeks. Must be cheaper online, if only I could access it!!

I've also been to Brighton for the weekend and spotted this! The shop to the right was full of spangly accessories and as such bought me some drooling time.

MG42. I tried to explain the significance but quickly gave up recognising that initial error in record time and thankfully didn't try comparing my fascination to that of the afore mentioned shop next door. Learning!

I was intrigued by the stamping near the stock and wondered if it was original not expecting anyone to ruin it's market value intentionally. I had thought that it might have been made by a satellite state, maybe the Czechs, but a colleague of mine who's just been there on a family holiday says not and that bottom line looks Russian to just about everyone.

Possibly a captured piece, there must have been plenty, that ended up in a museum in and eventually onto a gun shop in Brighton? Operation Sealion the long route??

Answers on a comment!

Bored Games

A phrase coined by Shaun, though it didn't stop him attempting to thrash all comers at Carcassonne the other week.

On one of those quiet August club-nights Jon ran a few of us through A Touch of Evil describing it as Sleepy Hollow meets Munchkin, which was all that I needed to hear!

Good game, enjoyed it. Described as non-cooperative we didn't really have too much interaction with each other focusing more on our own build-up to taking on our randomly determined night-terror a Demonic Scarecrow.

Mr S Crow went down surprisingly easily at the first attempt to Jon though Mr Crow did (through me) roll some seriously poor dice. I'd definitely play again!

As some of my recent blog posts / whinges have alluded to I've been in a bit of a gaming malaise recently and have felt the pull of various board-games. this particular evening's entertainments helped here as despite having a good time I also found myself looking at the majority of the board locations taking inspiration for further St Peytersburg real estate developments.

Having not yet finished the Church I went home thinking of windmills and a quick google search gave me this for a mere tenner. About the right scale but possibly a bit big it would need detailing up but how could I possibly loose. Added to wish list!

Back at the original point I've run through a thought process;
1. Wargames wise I want to play skirmish
2. The main con for boardgames (for me) is the lack of "proper" figures. I want to wield a brush!
3. Thusly I'm looking for boardgames with figures.
4. Why aren't I playing Space Hulk more?
5. For playing at the club I'd like to involve us many of us as possible.

So to satisfy points 2 and 3 I'm looking at such offerings as Incursion and  Dust Tactics.

But that's potentially an awful lot of time / effort / money. So, really that brings me back to Touch of Evil and an offering from the same stable Last Night on Earth. But we've already got Zombies!!
Picky aren't I!?

One particular board-game that I've had my eye on for quite some-time is War on Terror and not just for the balaclava, it just appeals..... the balaclava is simply a bonus! I saw it released at Salute a few years back but at the time board-games weren't good enough for my cash. Saw a copy this year early on but went back for it too late!

Now that's regime change in action!

So, in eventual conclusion what I really want to do is play games with my mates. Either skirmish wargames that I already know / play and have figures for or board and card games that we can all join in on. Everything else can, to be blunt, take a number and form a queue at the local cliff.

Rather simple really but also incredibly cathartic, thanks for hanging on in there.

Now to make things happen, which has probably been the root of my recent malaise / frustration. Sort out some skirmish gaming down the club that we can all get in on, Mordheim or Necromunda possibly / probably. Also, buy War on Terror....... and a windmill!!!

P.S: Many thanks to boardgamegeek.com for all their links. For those interested here's their Top 100 Board Games. I own two and have played a few more..... room for improvement :)

Vive La Diff-er-ance II

It would seem that I've used this title before, thus the numerals, but I'm fairly sure that the content will differ some what, at least in the specifics.

This is my current read and it's very entertaining. I've breezed through the first 250 pages, going out of my way to find the time, chortling regularly. A random find via a Waterstones 3 for 2 with a similar-ish book about Germany (which I had to put down after struggling through to a low triple figure of pages) and something else even more eclectic.

Stephen Clarke has a number of similar offerings; Talk to the Snail, A Year in the Merde,  Paris Revealed and the intriguingly titled A Brief History of the Future. As well as knowing his material he, more importantly, also knows how to entertain with such material. More offerings for the Amazon wishlist, heartily recommended!

The main relevance to the remainder of this post is that with my Church windows still consigned to Royal Mail purgatory and Sunday evening spent at a loose end failing to watch The Expendables with due attention (a £5 Tesco impulse buy) I've started work on painting my AWI French. Merde!

So, WHITE uniforms with specific detail then. Not beyond my ability but a relatively challenging return to figures since my last painted figures some 5 weeks ago of St Peytersburg supernaturals and civilians.

To matters a little more interesting I've decided to run a little experiment with this one undercoating half of the figures, there's a dozen, black, half white and comparing results at the end of the process.

Starting with the whites I've applied a Sepia wash to add a dirty shade and bring out all of the detail. Flesh and muskets have been base coated along with tricorns and boots / gaiters. Brow has been crossed and end of brush chewed.

Just need to re find / hit my rhythm....... apparently its a method (childish snigger) ;)

A LIFE less ordinary

Whilst surfing around the blog-o-sphere yesterday I stumbled across some chaps discussing their roleplaying groups and whether some were too chatty / social and not getting enough actual gaming in.

Interesting, as it was Star Wars again last night and I felt the need to raise the point that we'd been back to it for 6 months now and did the group feel that it was time for a change?

The chatter moved onto to the fact that it didn't feel like we'd got much actual adventuring done, almost two longer missions. General opinion was that start times had slipped a bit, mission planning often involved plenty of discussion (still roleplaying!) which could be done in between sessions via e-mail and generally ballsing things up on a regular basis.

No great problem for anyone but we'll finish this mission and then review. More than likely we'll return to D&D or maybe find a bit of filler with something else, mini-campaigns / board games etc.

I often Google up some images for these posts, being a very visual type, and "Roleplaying" brought up some interesting results including various Basket Ball references that were a long way beyond me.

With my my interest piqued, especially with Aaron's recent tropes offering, I did a quick wiki-search through a wry smile: RESULT

I've had a go at everything on that page in the last 20 years and had great fun doing it but with reference to the top image it's possible that I've gained a cumulative +/- 1 bonus every few years. Now there's a can of worms!!

I've also played rather a lot of Magic / Tragic prior to getting into wargaming though as previously alluded to here I've recently found myself more and more drawn to the recent slew of miniature based boardgames.

Meanwhile, last night the chaps finally cleared the cold, airless, zero-G cargo pod that they recently blundered there way into and started to get on with actually locating the crates that they'd been sent after.

With Star Wars all enemies come rated by Challenge Level (CL). Six level 4 players gives me a total CL of 36 to play with. So far I've gone for an even spread as with some of the big-bads I loose track of all their skills / abilities too quickly. This time its CL 1 and 2 battle-droids plus one CL 8 bad-ass based on a Bounty Hunter profile.

At the relevant point, droid goons dispatched and the lights still off, Big-Bad struck, randomly going after one of the more isolated chaps. Once again, Mr C came up trumps and was soon sucking deck having dropped down the Condition Track a couple of steps.

I was actually remembering rules, feats and abilities and deploying them effectively. Next came a Stun Grenade welcoming Aaron and Ian to unconsciousness whilst they attempted to shutdown the droid server. TACTICS!!! Eyebrows were raised by all, the group were tightening sphincters. Good stuff :)

Thinking that I might need to back down a bit Jon's Jedi once again stepped forward. I braced.

Jedi action 1: new feat giving him Damage Reduction of 10 - sensible / fair enough
Jedi action 2: lift and slam large cargo container into Big-Bad - minimal damage / felt like a let off
Jedi action 3: Force Stun on a natural 20 - Big-Bad drops down the CD like a stone - feck, Feck, FECK
 
Big-Bad is still going but is now at minus 10 to everything including his defense. He unleashes a bit, spending Dark Side force Points liberally and even with the Jedi spent and battered eyes the situation as the other lads suddenly find a bit more courage.
 
Tactical withdrawal thanks! Jon gets his powers refreshed but so can Big-Bad and they've still got to find what they're after and make a getaway........................ poxy Jedi ;)
 
Ding ding, round two!!

The thin Blue line

An instant classic of a sit-com for Rowan Atkinson from some years back that rather glibly sprang to mind last night on the way to the club.

After settling in amongst the odd siren and a bit of copper spotting Rich ran me through Man at War's Naps offering. Possibly following the Battlefront model they're also offering a range of 18mm figures boxed by the Brigade. As anybody could we played in 10mm with a converted ground-scale.

This was a proper test game for both of us and having dabble d unsuccessfully on a number of occasions I would have cheerfully ticked the sceptically open-minded box (WTF?) if asked.



I'm sure there are proper reviews out there and the following won't join them being more of an impressionistic ramble. In short, after a bit of bodging / learning on the hoof I like them enough to play another game. High praise indeed!!

Despite not being anything of an aficionado of the period, though I do claim more knowledge than the average Sharpe viewer, the mechanics had the right feel to me with more emphasis on manoeuvre, strategy and tactics than hot lead and cold steel.

The reserve move mechanic allowed my light cav to get in around Rich's right wing, whilst my march attack columns pinned his infantry on that flank, and cause a suitable amount of havoc before expending themselves and retiring suitably. Regiments, as the lowest element, "wear" suitably and provided a feel of diminishing returns that quickly plummets if you push your luck too far.

My French reserves turning up quicker than Rich's Brits helped greatly in my securing 1 of 2 objectives a la refused flank but still left us having a decent tussle in the dying light.

After 150 minutes of learning the game we were through our 6 turns for what felt like a draw only to see a British victory as I simply hadn't pushed hard enough, partly at least as I hadn't really paid attention to victory conditions, preferring to learn as many rules as possible. I did feel that as nominal attacker I would have had a hard time given my limited understanding of the scenario and all.

So coming from my Sci-Fi / Fantasy-centric fun-first(good game, good game!!) stance I honestly feel that the fact that I'd play another game is reasonalbe praise at the very least. I even suggested that a few other guys at the club would do the same.

Next up for the rules is Shaun. Shaun knows Naps, Shaun is a Rules-Breaker!!
Napoleon at War, you have been warned :)

Law and Disorder

Be warned.....rather a bits and bobs post!

By combination of the Enfield riot knocking out the early morning train and a slightly sore knee *cough* flaring up *cough* I got to spend yesterday at home tying up loose ends.

I got a fair bit of work done on the church tiling all the roofs and adding a number of windows and doors. I'll put some pics on the WIP page tomorrow as that's actually what its there for!

For background I watched T3: Rise of the Machines which I'd recorded the other night, whilst cutting up card strip tiling, promptly deleting it, realising how relatively poor it was.

I also caught up on a couple of episodes of Big Bang Theory and the first series finale of Spartacus which has been excellent throughout.

Previously on Oddleg's Enterprises  Mr Aaron Tunney had donated a small pile of Warhammer building scenery bits. A door and a number of windows have made it onto the church. A touch too Gothic in all honesty but a job well done and suitably cinematic a la Sleepy Hollow which is the where I want the project to go.

The only problem was not having enough windows so I trawled the internet. Proper model-making sites offering where, unsurprisingly, too modern so it was a quick click to E-Bay. Duly located the law of "shiny, shiny, shiny, now, now ,now" kicked in and I've paid £16 (inc P&P) for 5 various sized windows.

EDIT: I've since been refunded the best part of a fiver from the seller as I failed to sort out the combined postage for myself. Thank you Battleforge, kudos!

Only since have I questioned the price or whether I could have found them cheaper but that's the nature of the beast. Bought from an E-Store I wondered about the moral side but supply and demand it is and The Itch demanded so I supplied (Eh??).

Feeling slightly sullied now, I'll be as happy as Larry (I amuse even myself!) once they're in place ready for  paint.

I'm also grateful to Aaron for the following blog-post. I've banged on about the Star Wars group repeatedly constantly trying to give enough background / detail without trying to confuse. Aaron has achieved this, not sure I have!

Club tonight, despite our location being adjacent to various riot sites. the plan is to "play it by ear" i.e. wait for the sirens and then leg it!

Kneel before Z-Odd

Please forgive the vague Superman / Zombie / Me reference but I've spent the afternoon building St Peytersburg's church and the spray mount fumes have gone to my head a bit. I also watched England edge out the Taffs which was just as euphoric!

I've managed to incorporate a stage / pulpit as well as the standard spire / bell tower, even though it seems a little large, with steps up to what will be the main entrance.

Detailing is still required, mainly doors and windows, and I've decided that these will be almost exclusively external. The internal foam-card finish is good enough to just paint over and as much as I want to do a good job I also feel the need to draw a line.

I've got a handful of donated Warhammer windows and bits plus there's a proper architect's supply shop, 4D Models, up the road from work so I'll take a wander Monday lunchtime. Meanwhile I get to tiling the roofs.

More tea vicar??

Don't split the party. NEVER split the party - DOH!!

To be honest we're all old hands at this roleplay thing. We're well equipped with a myriad of many coloured die of various sidage. We have a regular night, reminder texts and an informal biscuit rota.

We're also well practised with the rules, both written and unwritten. Never use the phrase "anything but a 1", don't nark of the GM too much, never ever split the party.

But rules, as the saying goes are made to be broken!

Whilst most of the lads looting the scragged shuttle (see 3 posts down) Rob and Charlie as Scout and Bounty Hunter bravely / moronically moved into the cold, dark zero-G Trade Federation transport.

They left the maintenance "scutter" bots to their own devices, locating and taking out a lone B2 Battle-Droid, in zero-G Jon Woo stylee, at which point their Noble leader (Aaron) joined them.

After best guessing the layout Aaron tried the keypad to what they believed was Engineering. Natural 1. "Your password had failed and your account been locked. Please call the service centre during office hours".

Undeterred the next nearest door was tried to reveal a repulsorlift to a lower level, most likely the cargo pod.

What to do? Inform the others and wait for them? Check the other doors on this level? NO..... pile into the lift and over-ride the controls OBVIOUSLY!!
Natural 1 :)

Not being one to look a gift horse inb the mouth the lift crashed down to the cold, dark , zero-G lower level disabling itself. Welcome to the self sealing cargo pod with minimal signal strength and a roving crew of battle-droids!!


Suddenly the spare room had an extra use and I spent the rest of the evening gleefully shuttling between one and the other with hand written comms transmissions in hand. Some made it, some didn't, many were partial. I was having a blast!

So whilst our three intrepid explorers were battling barely seen auto-firing battle-droids in the dark, taking steady hits and covering behind barrels the fetch and carry chaps were left to wonder where they'd got to.
 
Full marks to the lads for roleplaying the whole thing exceptionally well (experience counts apparently) with the would be rescuers locating the second repulsorlift. They did however arrive danger close to a couple of droids who immediately hosed them with fire to reasonable effect.
 
Ian rode his newly acquired salvage droid into battle and despite not yet naming him had already started planning the upgrades. Notan issue now as one of the Roger-Rogers rolled a natural 20 and blew "Wodger" into so much smeg!
 
Reunited in mortal danger seemed like a classic cliffhanger (it was also getting late) so that's where they are til the same time next week. So far from the original plan it's untrue.
 
AWESOME :)

Pure FANTASY

As I'm sure I've mentioned previously back in the not so dim or distant I spent some, not lots, years working for the big bad Gee-Dub as a store manager. About 7 years ago I left, for a variety of semi-obvious reasons, and redicovered MY hobby, which oh so quickly only vaguely fraternised with GW's.

I do Blood Bowl and Space Hulk whilst occasionally hankering for Mordheim and Necromunda. I still own a large unpainted Orc & Goblin army mainly because I haven't yet been bothered enough to E-Bay it. I'm very committed to this stance for a number of reasons; time / money / effort /poor rules / poor players :(

I still surf Warseer on occasion but mainly for wicked amusement (you know what I mean) and re-confirmation that I've done the right thing, for me anyways!

This state of affairs does not stop me having "shiny" issues, the latest bout of which was brought on by this chap and his mates. Yesterday afternoons "but I could....." and flick round E-Bay quickly gave way to last night's "but I wouldn't......" and eyeing up Toy Mountain in the spare room.

In truth I don't really have the time for everything that I'm trying to squeeze in right now. I've recently given in to the fact that whilst I'm running the current Star Wars roleplay arc, which I'm LOVING, I won't be able to devote the writing / playtest time to St Peytersburg that it needs to be a quality item.

I'll keep working on the scenery and figures, hopefully host the odd game, maybe even do a bit of solo-play (that's a new one on me a feels somehow taboo / icky) but that'll be it for a Little while yet.

Star Wars will have to "feed the need" for a while so unless I write in a high gravity feral moon visit any Ogre figures are off limits. What is within remit are some of the new Dark Eldar, especially chaps like this who will easily fit in with all of the Oni, which figure heavily sometime real soon :)

I just need to solidify the relevant parts of the story arc , currently written in crayon on rice-paper, and actually get the chaps to it, though they're not that far away (Bwaa haa ha ha).

So, more writing,  less painting. BUGGER! Need to order up some more paint anyway!

Maybe just one Talos, just to see what I could do with the kit! ;)

I'll put a SPELL on you!!

Or at least a Hex sign, or two, on my barn as a finishing touch.

Otherwise it's all done and I'm rather pleased. Possibly a bit chunky but hat just means that its not going to blow down to easily though I'm equally sure that I wouldn't have liked to have helped to raise it.

I'll colour photocopy / print a couple of hex signs so feel happy to award myself the first PPs of the month. Extras for construction obviously but a very simple paint job. I reckon I could have painted 4 or 5 figures in otherwise so 8 PPs seems about right.

Doing some wiki-research I didn't realise there was so much controversy involved:

 There are two opposing schools of belief regarding the derivation of the name. Those who support the occult nature of the signs assert that the term hex derives from the Pennsylvanian German word "hex" (German "Hexe", Dutch "Heks"), meaning "witch". By contrast, supporters of the folk-art theory point out that the most popular hex signs were brightly colored geometric designs that were six-sided, or hexagrams, from the Greek root hex- meaning "six". It has also been suggested that the German "sechs" (six) was transformed into "hex".

In recent years, hex signs have come to be used by non-Pennsylvania Dutch persons as talismans for folk magic rather than as items of decoration. Some view the designs as decorative symbols of ethnic identification, possibly originating in reaction to 19th century attempts made by the government to suppress the Pennsylvania German language.[4] Anabaptist sects (like the Amish and Mennonites) in the region have a negative view of hex signs. It is not surprising that hex signs are rarely, and perhaps never, seen on an Amish or Mennonite household or farm.[1] John Joseph Stoudt, a folk art scholar, challenges the view that hex signs, as a part of Pennsylvania Dutch culture, have had any magical significance.

I get the feeling that they might be a bit early for AWI but aren't too bothered given my multi-period intentions and they just fit too well with the Sleep Hollow inspiration.

Next up is a church. Same basic kit but with a solid floor, windows, steps etc plus the obligatory spire. I'm just wondering if I should detail the interior walls as painted wood or painted plaster. I'll just have to watch Sleepy Hollow again!