O.K.  I admit it, I promised that they would be done but they aren’t ! I did try and get a S.A.G.A. Army ready in two weeks from postal delivery but……..

God it’s been hot here in the Toy Cave! 90 degrees in the shade with only the sound of the pigeons on Mr. Chackavorty’s roof to break the monotony, does not make for pleasant painting conditions. I have made some progress but my God it’s been tough…

If you are a young gamer seeking introduction to a sublime hobby then look away now. I bought Little Big Man transfers and then realised that these don’t fit the Foundry Bickley sculpts. These are large, chunky minis and I love them but the shields were problematic. Army painter superglue just couldn’t cope, it was my new favourite, Gorrilla glue that rescued the situation. The box set from Foundry is good value but the spears were the usual nightmare with wide U- shaped hands, rather than fists which one can drill. I wanted the Warriors to have a mix of spears and axes. This meant opening the spares box, there was a distinct lack of alternatives in the set. I replaced the steel pins from Foundry with Fireforge plastic ones which seem to adhere better. Although I put the minis on 30mm discs, one still has to be creative, in order to avoid the spears overhanging the base, allowing them to be stored and carried. I did read somewhere that no spearman could defeat a swordsman in hand to hand combat so again it was the spares box for the Huscarls. I could only find eight Gripping Beast axes to add to the Saxons. Their ancestors would be turning on their pyres!

If it wasn’t the heat I’m sure it would have been the delicate matter of Devizexit that has eaten up the painting time. As you will no doubt be aware, we are in a delicate stage in the proceedings for getting Chris J out of Wales and into the venue of the next big L’art de la Guerre competition. So far, he has refused to contribute to the three pound entry fee although he has said that he will pay half the cost of the meal that Mark was hosting on the Saturday night. He will of course be claiming wear and tear to his shoes whilst attending the competition from Phil the Organiser. Obviously Chris’ legal team will be measuring the distance from Cardiff to Devizes incase the offer of petrol money exceeds £3.56. Note the council workman, on the right of the picture of the last meeting of the Tercio, who has been tasked with Umpire liaison if and when a dispute arises in the venue.

So, there you have it, we have gone into the third week of our quest to go from box to table in record time.But there remains two more celebration nights for my wife’s birthday month and that means painting time. If only the ferocity of the Welsh sun would abate long enough for the paint not to congeal on the Chinese take away lid that serves as a pallette…..

 Fifteen days and counting.