#30Days30Miniatures: Day 2

Something a bit different for me today.  I went to the opening of The Games Table, a new gaming venue in Norwich.  As one of the launch features they had painting table with Dave of the Rising Sun Painting Studio.  Under his guidance, I completed the following.

Quite obviously a Games Workshop mini, I think for Age of Sigmar.  Other than that, I know nothing.  [Update:  Apparently he's a Stormcast Eternal.]

The photo fails to show the shading etc, but after yesterday's debacle, I'm quite pleased.

Better photo in the morning sun

Day 2

Total minis painted: 4

Days challenge was met: 2

#30Days30Miniatures: Day 1

Day 1 and if can be said that I've 'cheated' in two respects.

First, I've done three figures rather than one.  Well, that's not a cheat - the point is to complete at least one figure per day.  And for me the important bit isn't the figures, but the fact that I do some painting everyday, improving my painting and discipline.

Secondly, and more seriously, I didn't go for the already-started mini I'd intended to, but did some new ones (albeit ones that I prepared in advance for the last APHC).  Looking at the figures the reason will be obvious - they have the same, very simple paint scheme.

Despite (or because of) this simplicity I forgot the cardinal rule that 'More is Less'.  If I'd stopped a third of the way through, they would look a lot better than they do now.  It's clear to me that going for six months without painting has left me needing to brush up on some basics.   I'm embarrassed to say just how long I spent on them this afternoon.  Despite appearances I wasn't five minutes slapping on emulsion!   Perhaps there was good reason to start with monster-of-the-week cannon fodder after all.

Two of the mummies are from Dark Horse Studios, who do them in both metal and resin (these are resin).  I can't remember where the the one with his arm aloft came from.

I also did some work on a more involved figure (and am glad to say that I haven't messed her up yet!).  She may appear as a submission on Day 2 or 3.  I'm not sure which as tomorrow I'm going to the opening of a new Friendly Local Gaming Store and do know if I'll find time to work on her.  The good news is that one of the launch events is a painting session, so I should have something for Day 2 either way.

Day 1

Total minis painted: 3

Days challenge was met: 1

#30Days30Miniatures: Day Zero

OK, I'm committed to having a bash at the challenge.

This evening I've been looking a my painting table and lead pile to see what needed doing and what was suitable.  The focus is going to be on getting part-done and prepped figures finished.  This will include some I had for the most recent AHPC but also some that are up to three or four years old.  I'm also going to include some new (as yet un-prepped) figures after the others are done.   And not a Dalek in sight!

I found some which just needed a coat of varnish, so I've knocked those off.  Although I've decided that these Won't Count towards the challenge, I'm seeing doing this necessary task as its first positive result.  Equally, there's one that just needs basing. I haven't done it yet, but will do so in time to make a Doctor Who Wednesday posting: perhaps I'll find something else to add to it.

Other than that, there's no Great Plan.  I'll probably decide from day-to-day what get's painted.  If all goes well (ha!), there will be a nice mix and some useful minis at the end of the 30 days.

Day 0.  Minis completed: 0

#30Day30Miniatures Challenge

Viscount Eric over at the excellent Gaming with the Gnomies has brought my attention to the #30Day30Miniatures Challenge (originally the idea of James Walls at Living 4 Crits).

The idea is

• At the end of each day, you need to complete the painting of one miniature.
• Basing is optional. 
• It can be any miniature you want, from any game, from any system, from any manufacturer. 
• Partially finished miniatures in your pile are fair game. I figure that this is about finishing miniatures, and working through those pesky figures in your vault. Why not include them?
• Have fun!

Now as regular readers will know, I have a dismal record of keeping up with challenges, but I desperately need a fillip to get me painting after six months, so I might try this.

Another prompt is that a new flgs is opening on Saturday.  One of the things they're doing one the day is having painting tutorials.  I may go along to see what I can learn and if it will help my flagging games mojo (there will also be cake!).

Saved from the Bin...

The volcano in the Lost World is now unlost...

Doctor Who Wednesday #23

The reason that this blog has been so deathly quiet of late is that I just haven't done anything hobbywise worth writing about.  However, as I said last week, I wouldn't be me if I stopped  buying books.  So here we go with that old stalwart "books I've picked up in charity shops".

These I picked up a few months ago.  I thought I'd already posted about them, but apparently not.  

The Torchwood Encyclopedia is nothing special, but has plenty of basic reference on the series.  I was very pleased to get the '80s book though - looking on-line and in more specialist shops, I found that the series goes for silly prices.  That's a shame because (as regular readers of 'Doctor Who Wednesday' will realise) I'd rather have the volumes on the '60s and '70s.  I despaired of ever seeing them at reasonable prices.

So imagine how pleased I was to find this in the same charity shop last week!

In addition, I picked up these specials "from the publishers of Doctor Who Magazine".  Anything that has Roger Deladgo or the Brigadier on the cover is for me!  And they're full of good background stuff. 

This one focuses on the first two series of the New Series.  In addition to episode guides, there's plenty of background in these too, including some nice concept art...

Podcasts and Some Books

For longer that I care to look into I've been promising to restart this blog.  And for most of that time, I seem to have been promising to talk about podcasts.

Perhaps what has been putting me off is that my thoughts on podcasts are really unoriginal.  I'm going to summarise them in a few points

• if you podcast is over an hour and a half long,  it is probably too long
• if you podcast contains a description of how you've edited it, you've failed in the editing process
• nobody wants to listen to you eating or drinking (unless it's a really niche podcast)

There you go.  You can fill in the details yourself with reference to your favorite 'cast.

So what have I been listening to?

I've mentioned the first two before.  Both are from James Holloway.

Monster Man started as 

a podcast that delves into the classic AD&D Monster Manual from 1977. Every episode looks at one or more D&D monsters, digging deeper into their inspirations and uses. 

After 70-odd episodes James finished the Monster Manual.  He's currently doing some specials before moving on the the Fiend Folio sourcebook.

As a spin-off James also started Patreon Deities in which he does the same thing for Demigods and Deities (this one requires a monthly subscription of at least $1.00).

In his discussion of the Norse Pantheon (just completed), James suggested Saga Thing

a podcast hosted by two friends and former grad-school colleagues who have been reading and enjoying the [Icelandic] sagas for years. We’re both professors of medieval literature and we both have beards.  Though we live quite far apart, recording Saga Thing gives us an opportunity to get together again (virtually) and talk about our love of medieval Iceland.  Our goal is to read and review the sagas, one at a time, in an epic quest to put the sagas of the Icelanders on trial and to celebrate the greatness of saga literature.

Which has also joined my listening schedule.

And of course, I wouldn't be me if I hadn't acquired some related books.

This one is a present for The Wife

This one is for me

It has nice pictures

And we both like this film

A Marker

This blog has lost it's direction.  I don't know where to go with it.  But I'm not ready to give up on it yet

The real old guard followers will know that I used to be so short of inspiration, that I would set each day for a different category of post.  That worked quite well, created a lot of posts and led to what some flatteringly called an eclectic mix.  I've not done that for quite a while.

I've not yet given up on the blog entirely, and keep a quiet eye on the stats.  Unsurprisingly, this week has seen a big jump in hits*.  These were on the now defunct (and not up-dating) 'Royals in  Medals' series did - down to the Royal wedding of course.  My regular followers decry the royalism of those posts, but they are consistently the most regularly hit of posts**.   I planed to carry on to some more obscure royals, such as the children of Edward VII and George VI, but I didn't get there.

*Not as big as blogger.com's bot-counter (see left) will tell you, but a real one, as demonstrated by the more reliable flag counter.

**Along, with some reason with that on Sir Arthur Craddock

It won't surprise those who follow me on Facebook*, but my main inspiration now comes when I'm in the pub or when I'm suffering from insomnia.  I need to get away from those situations.  The blog was originally designed to encourage my creative side.  I hope to get back to that.

*For the rest of you - Hello!  I'm still alive!

One of the topics I've been thinking about posting is Podcasts.  I hope that'll be my next post - and soon!

Sailor in the Desert

David Gunn, Sailor in the Desert: The Adventures of Phillip Gunn, DSM, RN in the Mesopotamia Campaign, 1915, Pen & Sword (2013).  

The Mesopotamian Campaign is an interesting one.  The Royal Navy, having made the decision to move from coal, it was necessary to protect the oil supply through the Persian Gulf.  To this end, three Royal Naval sloops were sent to the Gulf, supported by Indian Army contingents (in those Suez Canal days, the Gulf falling within the remit of the Indian Government as far as British policy was concerned) with the aim of  removing Ottoman troops from the Shatt-al-Arab and occupying Basra.

Initial operations in 1914 and '15 were so successful that mission creep developed and the Indian Government and the army sought a way to capitalise on these successes.  Accordingly, an over-ambitious plan to advance (some 500 miles) up the Tigris as far as Baghdad was developed.  More-and-more troops were sent up-river despite limited transport, resulting in over-stretched supply-lines.  After capturing Kut, the expeditionary force failed in the final 100 mile push to Baghdad and were besieged until they were forced to surrender in April 1916.  Some 23,000 British and Indian soldiers died in the attempts to relieve Kut, and over half of the surrendered force died in captivity.

This book isn't the one you want to read to get all the details, facts and figures of the navy's role in the campaign - that's Wilfred Nunn's Tigris Gunboats, reprinted a few times since it's first publication in the 1930s.  Nunn was the Senior Naval Officer, Mesopotamia, during the campaign, and to be frank, his book is a dry read.  On the other hand, Sailor in the Desert is written from the view-point of an 19 year-old Ordinary Seaman.  Gunn* wasn't particularly ordinary though. 

*'Nunn' and 'Gunn', it's annoying, I know!

After serving on HMS Clio during her defence of the Suez Canal and in the occupation of Basra, he volunteered for 'hazardous duties'.  He then, quite literally, found himself at the pointy-end of the advance up the Tigris - ahead of the main force in a steam launch taking soundings to check that the river was navigable for the vessels commandeered down-river to act as troopships. 

Later in the war, the Fly Class of gunboat was developed for these riverine operations, but at this time, two steam launches each towed horseboats which carried antiquated naval ordnance.  Gunn lashed a ladder to his cabin to accommodate a Royal Artillery spotter.  The launch also served to ferry senior officers up- and down-river.

For his services before he was invalided out, Gunn was awarded the DSM.  His obvious merit is reflected in the fact that he ended his career as Captain, RN.

All in all, this is a good read, but I found it slight and a little disappointing.  I gave it Three Stars out of Five.

I am a Character from an HP Lovecraft Story!

I'm sure that there is a genre of fiction (meta-fiction?) in which characters in a story realise that that's just what they are.  I'm equally sure that there is a psychological disorder (The Matrix syndrome?) in which people think that they and everything around them are fictional constructs.

As I've been lying in my bed (it's now 3am) I have come to the conclusion that heads this post, and which compels me to write (while I still can!).  Let me provide the evidence:

1. For many years I practised the profession of archivist.
2. During that time I worked in the archives of a (notorious) religious order; a university; a 300 year-old bank that had interests in the Caribbean and Africa; and the museum of a port town that contained the records of many seafarers and the artifacts they brought back from their travels.
3. Following a sudden collapse and almost three weeks in a coma, I withdrew from the profession and now trade in rare and hard-to-find books.

Madness and the void surely await me!

This line of thought was initiated by an interesting Kickstarter - 'Welcome to Miskatonic University', which sets out to publish an anthology of short stories inspired modern life in that ancient establishment.

One of the features backing is that one is invited to submit one's photo and up to three key details about oneself.  On the basis of this, the creators will have a pool for designing characters to populate their Arkham, incorporating the character into My Miskatonic, a guidebook to Arkham and the university.  

From such innocent requests can darkening realisation grow...

AHPC 'Ate Update #2: Crawlers

My submission date for Painting Challenge entries is Wednesday, so I've been intending Thursday to be my regular spot for an update...

Submitted

As I mentioned the other day, I broke my duck with an entry for the BFG bonus round.  It can be seen here.

Following that, I had the rest of the Terminators from the Warlord Games box which I submitted in my Wednesday spot.  

These are tending to merge into their bases, but that fits in with the post-apoc style of the Terminator movies and they fact that the 'crawlers' are sneaky buggers who grab you even though you've already 'killed' them once.  Their resemblance to the crawlers in Warlord's Project Z game is uncanny - I'm just awaiting crawling Ood in their Doctor Who range now.

These were all the usable Terminators from the second-hand box I acquired (it was obviously one of 'those gifts' - someone had tried to assemble the minis, broken several and then given up).  I've saved the broken ones in my gash box, just in case I ever do a Mad Scientist's workshop. 

I also have a batch of Future Resistance fighters, but no plans to paint them during the Challenge.

Work in Progress

The entry for the 'Music' bonus round on 3 Feb is on-going and on-target.  I've decided to press on with my (non)-entry for the 'Flight' round and submit it in the ordinary way.  I like the concept, it fits in with my existing minis, and I'd like to see how it works out.

Other than that, I've two large(ish)-for-me groups planned (both Pulpy) and the other bonus rounds sketched out.  If I complete those, I'll be happy with the output of this year's Challenge.

AHPC 'Ate Update #1: BFG

Well, I've made a really bad start to the AHPC 'Ate.  This was going to be the year when I had everything organised,  submitted for each of the bonus rounds and met my target.  Ha!

I missed the 'Flight' bonus round (I had a Canard I was going to submit).  But in making this submission, I've avoided the automatic disqualification by a hair's breath.  It wouldn't have been the end of the world, but I enter the Challenge because it makes me sit down and paint (which I do enjoy).  I just feel guilty taking up a slot on the roster.  Perhaps things will be better if I get my new glasses this month.

Anyway, here's my quick-and-dirty 'BFG' entry...  To see everyone's entries (and to vote), go here.

'BFG' Bonus Round Submission

The Terminators have done it again!  Skynet has sent a whole squad even further back in time than before in order to kill the ancestors of the leaders of the Resistance (Skynet's forte has never been originality).

With Sarah Connor less than a twinkle in her grandfather's eye, who is going to step up to save the future, and possibly even delay Judgement Day once again?

Here were have eight 28mm Terminator Endoskeletons from the Warlord Games/River Horse Terminator Genysis miniatures game.  These are described in their blurb as being in "two different posses, advancing and… relentlessly advancing!".  In practice, this means that some of the Terminators carry their BFG in their right hand and some in their left (which made them easier to put together once I'd realised that!).  Box sets can now be picked up cheaply, and for me the Endos will serve as generic BFG-Wielding Robots.

Queen Victoria is from Westwind Productions'  Empire of the Dead range.  A nice, fun sculpt.

Some Reading

I’m not one for writing blog posts at the beginning of the year which lay out a grand plan or scheme of things.  This is probably because I don’t like creating hostages to fortune and therefore, more generally, I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.  However, when I sat down after Christmas to choose the top-ten books I’d read in 2017, I was a little put off by how little I had to choose from.  I therefore made a sort-of resolution to read more and to record it by reviewing the books (at least here and probably also on Goodreads*).

*I use Goodreads to track my reading.

I make not stick to this, but I’ve decided to see if it works to try to focus on particular themes to my non-fiction reading.  In doing this, I’m not putting the cart before the horse – I’ve chosen areas which I’ve been meaning to look into further anyway.  So, to begin with I want to concentrate on the naval aspects of the First World War.

In a way January has been good to me as far as that goes.  I’ve been unwell and (after the sleeping for a lot of the time stage) I’ve been able to do some reading.  I’ve also been listening to podcasts, which I may talk about another day.

So, tomorrow expect a book review.

Doctor Who Wednesday #22

Welcome to the first Doctor Who Wednesday of 2018!

In fact, this is the first DWW since August, which is far too long a gap.  Hopefully that won't happen before DWW #23 as I have some Doctor Who figures in my intended AHPC output.  Watch this space...

So, with very little to comment on, here we go.

Target Books

Yesterday I came across a whole pile of Doctor Who novelisations in a charity shop.  I've never really bothered with these because, a) many seem to be written for children, b) many are also no good and, c) there are hundreds of the buggers.   I'd appreciate feedback from people with more experience.  Are they worth bothering with when they can be picked up cheaply?  I'm wondering what inspiration they might provide for some solo gaming.

Having said this, I couldn't resist buying these Target Books.  Which have an obvious nostalgia appeal.

For those who don't know, Target Books were published from the 1970s onwards (detail can be found on Wikipedia) and include both novelisations of broadcast serials and, later, newly commissioned works.  They're sometimes useful as they can contain back-stories which have been since been recognised as canonical.

The addition of these four brings the total of my Target Books up to six, which I suppose can be considered a nascent collection.  As you can see, I'm not too fussed about condition.  I'm not going to go out of my way seek then out, but if they cross my path, I'll pick more up

For the record, I currently have

2nd Doctor

• Doctor Who and the Cybermen (1975), based on the 1967 serial 'Moonbase'.  Apparently contains some back-story 0f the Cybermen now considered canonical.  This was one of the serials episodes of which the BBC destroyed or lost after broadcast.  It was recently released with animations filling the gaps.



Yetis!

• Doctor Who and the Web of Fear (1976), based on the 1968 serial 'The Web of Fear' - Yeti on the London Underground and worth getting for the first appearance of Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart.  Also one of the 'lost serials'

3rd Doctor

• Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters (1974), based on the 1970 serial 'Doctor Who and the Silurians'.  I'm not sure what the reason for the change of title is - Wikipedia tells me that the book avoids the name 'Silurians' but not why (rights issues?).  The answer will be out there, and I may look for  it when I read the book.
• Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks (1974), based on the 1972 serial 'Day of the Daleks'
• Doctor Who and the Green Death (1975), based on the 1973 serial 'The Green Death' remembered for the departure of Jo Grant.

4th Doctor

• Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (1979), based on the serial 'Destiny of the Daleks'.  This is the only one of the six that I've read - it's a fairly ropy novelisation of a ropy serial.  But it's got Davros and marks the regeneration of Romana from actress Mary Tamm to Lala Ward.

Gratuitous Sara-Jane Smith Photo

My Books of the Year (Fiction)

For my pick of non-fiction books I've read this year, see here.

Again, these are in no particular order...

John Scalzi (ed), Metatropolis.  

I'm not sure how to describe this.  It's an anthology of stories by authors who've set themselves the task of writing in a shared future - a post-urban one.  There is a heavy leaning to a world where Green Is Good. 

Like all anthologies it's a bit hit-and-miss, but I enjoyed it a lot - in no small part because it introduced me to some interesting new writers.

Jason Goodwin, The Snake in the Stone. 

This is the second of Goodwin's novels about Yashim the Eunuch, a resident of 1830s Constantinople who (of course!) gets roped-in as a sort of semi-official investigator when crimes threaten the status quo. 

In this case it's the murder of a dodgy French archaeologist who has been upsetting the city's Greek community just when the authorities don't need it (the Sultan is dying).  Can Yashim find what lies at the heart of a conspiracy that goes back centuries?  (Spoiler: Yes, he can.)

Goodwin, who's also a published historian of the Ottomans, obviously knows his stuff.  The way he describes the city, its people and its food is a real pleasure to read, and Yashim is a very engaging companion.

Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk and Moriarty.

Of course I'm cheating here counting these separate books as one  (thus turning my Top Ten up to eleven).  But I read them both in 2017, so they both fall within the parameters of this list.  Indeed, I was so pleased by The House of Silk, that I went out and got Moriarty straight away.

I've not read any of Horowitz's books before,  He's best known as the author of Young Adult books such as the Alex Rider series and as creator of the TV's Inspector Foyle.

Both books are Sherlock Holmes pastiches.  The House of Silk was apparently the first pastiche authorised by the Conan Doyle Estate.  In a way it's a straightforward  tale in the style of Conan Doyle, but very skillfully done.  As you'd expect, it's narrated by Watson and concerns two intertwined cases.  There is a nice twist at the end which I didn't see coming (perhaps blinded by the twist which I was allowed to see).

Twists are obviously Horowitz's bag, as he takes us on a much more twisty route with Moriarty.  Not so obviously a copy of Conan Doyle's model, it takes us into his world from a different direction.

In the Swiss morgue that holds Moriarty's body after his encounter with Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, a Pinkerton agent meets Insp Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard.  Together they set out to stop the vacuum created by his death being filled by a new threat

Kim Newman, Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles.

Talking of Holmes pastiches, here's another one. It follows one of the more traditional of pastiche styles - "Look I'm taking the Holmes characters and mixing them with other writers'.  Aren't I clever and amusing!"  In fact, The Hound of the D'Urbervilles is both clever and amusing, because Newman know's his stuff.  He also has an engaging writing style which doesn't judder to a halt and signpost every time he makes an historical or literary reference.   A knowledge of turn-of-the-century adventure literature would help, but if you've heard of Fu Manchu, Raffles and Ruritania, you'll get by nicely.

The gimmick here is that instead of the found writings of Watson writing about Holmes' cases, we have those of Colonel Sebastian "Basher" Moran writing about those of everyone's favorite consulting criminal, Moriarty.  A fun read, which reminded me of the best of Flashman.  

I hadn't read any Newman before, but I've got his Dracula books on the shelf and will give them a go. 

Peter F Hamilton, Great North Road.  

In putting this list together, I was surprised that there wasn't more science fiction.  

In this stand-alone book, Hamilton picks up some of the themes of his other works - corporate dynasties, cloning technologies and wormholes - and weaves together a story in which a murder one cold, snowy night in 2143's Newcastle turns out to be of planetary importance.  

Hamilton is, of course a master of both world-building and character creation and here we see him at his best.  If I had a quibble, I would say that at 1,087pp, it's about 150 pages too long.  

After reading this I was lured into starting the Void Trilogy.  I enjoy Hamilton's work and I have nothing against either brick-sized books or trilogies.  The problem is that they do need some investment.  The Void books require me to remember who is who in the Commonwealth Saga.  Now I enjoyed the Commonwealth Saga a lot (it's probably some of Hamilton's best work), but I read it over ten years ago and my memory isn't sufficiency good to recall relatively minor characters.  To cut a long story short, I've got stuck about a third of the way through the second book and moved on to other things.  

However, I don't want to put anyone off,  as I say, Great North Road is a stand-alone, so if you want to read 1,000 pages of great science-fiction instead of 5,000 give it a go. 

Andrew Weir, The Martian.  

This wasn't a new read for 2017.  The Martian has become one of my go-to books when I want to read something familiar.  

I suspect it doesn't need much introduction.  It's a story of exploration and survival as a lone astronaut on Mars desperately tries to live long enough to be rescued. 

Good hard sci-fi.

My Books of the Year (Non-Fiction)

It's the time of year for introspective posts, so I thought I'd put together a list of the top ten books I've read this year.

This list isn't in any particularly order.  It had been my intention to choose five fiction and five non-fiction titles, but I found that I hadn't read as much non-fiction as I'd thought, and that in choosing five I was struggling and excluding some fiction that deserved the cut.  Nevertheless, I;ve still been able to waffle on about them at suffient length to justify splitting the list into two posts in order to give you a break.

So, here we go...

Claire Tomlin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self.  

A  biography of Pepys, who shouldn't need any introduction to my readers.  The C17th "isn't my period", but Tomlin did the trick of making Restoration politics interesting and giving a good, rounded picture of the world Pepys was operating it.  

Unlike some other of his biographers, she devotes as much energy to Pepys' life after he stopped writing the diary as before.  In doing so, she reminds us just what an interesting life he led, and us what a loss it was that it ended where it did.  

We're so used to the diary set-pieces being thrown as us - what would it be like if they included his impressions of Paris, the death his long-suffering wife or the short reign of James II?  What would we learn about the machinations that saw him elected to Parliament, Secretary to the Admiralty, imprisoned in the Tower, tried as a cypto-Catholic and serving out his time as a non-Juror?  What personal revelations would we find about 'the second Mrs Pepys', the mistress that he kept for 20 years?  

This is a damn good read, and the best book I read this year.

DA Thomas, Edwin's Letters: A Fragment of a Life, 1940-43.    

As the subtitle suggests, this is a biography on a much smaller scale than the one of Pepys.  Thomas has collected letters (mostly from Edwin to his mother) relating to his brother's time in the RAF, from call-up, through training, to joining a bomber crew, being declared 'Missing' and finally the confirmation of his death in action. 

It's the fact that very little of this book concerns itself with operation matters that appeals to me. The great majority of the letters concern themselves with a young man thrown into a strange world and bothered about things like whether he will have to re-sit his exams on navigation yet again.

Geoffrey Bennett, Naval Battles of the First World War. 

Capt Bennett's study - first published in 1969 - is now a classic, and perhaps somewhat dated.  Despite this it's well worth the read if you want an introduction to the Royal Navy's activities during the war, particularly the Big Ships.  If you want something more comprehensive that covers all theatres, nations and types of naval combat, read Paul G Halpern's A Naval History of World War I, which I also heartily recommend,

Bennett starts with a consideration of how the German merchant cruisers were tracked down and neutralised - concentrating as you'd imagine from the title on von Spee's squadron and the Battles of Coronel and the Falklands - and the pursuit of the Goben and Breslau.  After that, despite a couple of interesting chapters on the U-boat campaigns, he is firmly focused on the North Sea face-off between the Grand Fleet and the Hochseeflotte.  

For those of you who are naval wargamers, this provides a lot of inspiration and food for thought: not least on the problem of how inadequately wargames represent the fog of war, mis-identification, lack of communication and sheer bloody cock-up.

Elizabeth Speller, Following Hadrian: A Second Century Journey Through the Rom an Empire.

I picked this book up thinking that it would be a travelogue, following some of Hadrian's peregrinations.  It isn't.  In a way it's more than that, it's a consideration of Hadrian's philhellenism and how that affected his attitude to ruling an empire.  Mainly it is concerned with the visit to Greece and Egypt in 128-130CE and how the mysterious death of his lover Antinous changed him and quite possibly his plans for the Empire.

I'm not a Roman scholar, or even anyone with more than a general knowledge of Roman history, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of Speller's arguments.  Certainly, I can imagine that for someone with a 'serious; interest in Roman history her insertion of large chunks of a fictitious diary of one of the Empress' confidants would grate.  For me, those bits were well done and reminiscent of Allan Massie's books (his praise is the cover blurb), but perhaps they belonged in another book.

Monsterman and AD&D Dieties

Now, I think I've probably mentioned James Holloway's podcast Monsterman ('Because Monsters Are Interesting') before.  Some of you will know James from his blog Gonzo History: Gaming Edition, but Monsterman is

a podcast that delves into the classic AD&D Monster Manual from 1977. Every episode looks at one or more D&D monsters, digging deeper into their inspirations and uses. 

It's not so learned as to put one off, but there's some really interesting stuff there.  Basically a mix of 'real' mythology and a consideration of why it appealed to hairy '70s types.  If you play RPGs and especially if your a GM who's interested in world-building, it will reward listening.  We need more of this kind of stuff.

It suits my magpie mind very well and, quite frankly, if you find my approach to blogging of interest, James does in much better.

James has now launched a new project.  Do consider supporting it:-

Edit

Although I've said that MonsterMan isn't off-putting, be aware that Deities and Demigonds does have it's moments.  Frankly, you're not going to get a consideration of the Sumerian Pantheon that doesn't include chaps with confusing names and discussion of  some Big Ideas.  Do persevere though.

November Loot

For various reasons I won't go into now, November was a complete write-off hobby-wise.  I've just checked and it was one of only two months since August 2012 when I haven't even made a single blog post.  But I'm not here to beat myself up about it...

With the prep underway for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 'Ate, hopefully this will change, but I thought I'd start the ball rolling with the old stalwart - 'What I've Bought Recently'.  As regular readers will know, I don't spend much money on hobbies, so it's not a large haul.

With the relative successes of Zomtober and 'Go Sober!' I thought I'd treat myself to some of the money the latter saved me so went out and got me a survivor's gang.

These, of course, are Hasslefree Miniatures post-apoc version of Mystery Inc - hopefully should be fun to paint. 

While in this self-congratulatory mood I also treated myself to David Manley's White Bear, Red Sun - his mini campaign covering the Russo-Japanese War, which I blogged about when they were published back in early October. 

Since then, Topside Minis have released their Tsushima range and David announced yesterday that his supplement covering the naval side of the Spanish American War is now available.  Both are high on my list for my next splurge of retail therapy.

For some years now Bob Murch at Pulp Figures has been producing a figure to raise money for Movember (his giving page is still open).  For the first time these have been easily available in the UK , with North Star carrying masses of Bob's ranges, so I took the opportunity to pick up previous years' figures (this year's didn't appeal to me).  As you can see, these are really great figures, full of character.

Misc Stuff

28mm  mini for scale

A really lucky find was this semi-flat Doughboy that I picked up very cheaply in a charity shop.

Yesterday, I went for a mooch around some of the 'antique' shops in town (as a antidote to Christmas shopping).  I was lucky enough to find this:-

Seems to be complete...

For those interested, the write-up on BoardGame Geek can be seen here.  A few months ago I'd seen a copy of L'Attaque, the land equivalent, and had been half kicking myself for not picking one up.