The house move is now long done, the boxes are unpacked (or hidden in the loft), hurrah, but most of my time seems to be spent in the garden or with household DIY tasks so the 'other' hobby is not getting much of a look in at the moment :(
But life is good and I have big plans, partly because I now have a real "man-cave" and for the first time since 1996 (I kid you not) my home may also be the scene of a tabletop battle. My previous wargames since then were all away dates at the club or at a friends house.
My previous "man cave" was limited to the humble painting bench situation in-house, warm, near the TV albeit with the occasional interloping inquisitive child (see below the painting tray):
Space-wise I have upgraded :)
I have been experimenting in the garage with a 'pretend battle' (ahem, man in tinkering mode, see below) of Renaissance 'pike' versus 'pike and others' to get a sense of what could be achieved:
Resting on two paste tables are my 24" by 24" 15mm DBA battle boards courtesy of MDF/chip-board sections cut to size at B&Q, then flocked and sculpted with TLC. Although designed with 15mm in mind they also seem to hold the 25/28mm figures well. Circa 1996 these paste boards were considered leading edge DIY/wargaming technology, aka remember those wobbly legs and a distinct dipping sensation in the middle. They were definitely not to be rested upon, especially when slightly drunk. Note: there was a third table but my father sequestered it for actual wall papering duties (the philistine) and never returned it. My mounted troops move in to check out the 'new landscape' (see below):
The garage is on the cold side, a heater will be needed for the 'winter' campaigning, the lighting may have to be improved on but the seating is really classy at the moment as the house 'bar stools' which can pneumatically go up and down, are deemed too dangerous to have in the house with young children around and so reside in 'said garage' :)
A double garage without a car in it is definitely "a man-cave" begging "tinnies" and a weekend christening to discern of the neighbours wondering what on earth all that strange noise is about :)
Nice to see you're making progress! No doubt you'll be ditching the pasting tables in favour of something more substantial now that you can leave it set up.
ReplyDeleteYeah! Good to have a space dedicated to the hobby :)
ReplyDeleteGreat news Geordie! I too am relocating and have a dedicated 'Man-Cave/Eagle's Nest' in the process of being set up; it's going to be a tight fit, but do-able...haven't been brave enough to consider the garage yet though :)
ReplyDeleteI had considered putting a table in the garage at our old house but it was a little chilly and there was a terrible draft from under the up-and-over door! So I took over one of the bedrooms instead. Of course this was something of a cause of tension that ended up with us moving!
ReplyDeleteHaving tried pasting tables in the past I was always a bit nervous of someone forgetting and leaning on them. Could you build something that would fold down from a wall?
Cheers Al, your NZ paying area looks the "bee's knees".
ReplyDeleteThe garage may yet turn out to be a mixed blessing Monty as I think it would require a "group" of players to warm it up on a cold night (patches of carpet required to stand on methinks). I am also sharing space with a lot of other clutter at the moment.
Whispering Al and Tim, the paste boards are a retro-thing with me at the moment, my fellow local wargamers have moved on and invested in IKEA style 21st century kit. For now the Paste Boards are propped up/supported by sturdy cardboard boxes
Yes, a disaster waiting to happen ;)