The Comeback Kid

Rumours of the demise of Cheaphammer have been greatly exaggerated. After a somewhat extended hiatus over the summer, I'm back!

I figured I'd kickstart my return to form with a celebrity interview...with myself!

Q: Why the gap in blogging?

A: Well, it comes down to a number of factors:
1) I haven't really been painting that much recently, and what I have done won't be finished for another couple of weeks.
2) During the summer holidays, I've been rather busy - avid Olympics watching, child care and general family time has meant that blogging has taken a back seat.
3) I couldn't be arsed. Not sure why, but there you go.

Q: What has been happening in the world of skinflint wargaming?

A: Well, I ran a WFB tournament/campaign day, I've played a fair bit if WFB, including trying out the new Vampire book and beating a Daemon army for only the second time ever. Matt and I continued our foray into Warpath from Mantic. I played my second ever game of Impetus against JP. I've also begun a new Flames of War army.

Q: So, tell us about this tournament...

A: I was a small affair really of 1200 point armies and only 10 participants. The players were divided into three factions of three and fought for territories. I was the tenth player and operated as a spoiler (as it happened I didn't spoil much as I got smashed in all three games). The faction representing the Hordes of Chaos (a Beastman army, a Daemon army and a Warriors army; how neat is that?) crushed all before them and romped to victory. Prizes were awarded to the winners (Andy Davies, Kelly Dodds and Lee Ashford), the best army (Steve Wren's outstanding Orcs) and the most sporting player (Wayne Poppleton who was learning as he was going). All in all it was a big success and I may be tempted to run another one next year.

Q: And what about your thoughts on Warpath?

A: To be honest, it's a simple but well constructed game. It's also convinced me to finally ditch 40k. With the release of yet another new edition, I've decided to not bother with 40k any more as learning a whole new set of revisions for a game I play so rarely is simply not worth the squillion pounds the rule book costs. I'm not wholly convinced that Kings of War has WFB licked, but as far as I'm concerned, Warpath is a superior sci-fi game for the casual player.

Q: A new army for Flames of War? I trust it's been built according to the tenets of Cheaphammer?

A: It has in deed. You may remember that back in April I got a box of Plastic Soldier Company M4A1 Shermans for 20% off (£14). Well, with the club's mid war campaign around the corner I figured I'd get these painted and build an American Armoured Company. Here's the breakdown:

5 PSC Shermans - £14 (20% off)
1 BF Sherman - £3 (second-hand)
1 PSC Sherman - £4.50 (10% off)
3 BF Shermans - Traded  (swapped for Zvezda tanks worth £5.40)
5 BF Stuarts - £28.80 (10% off - seriously, you can't get cheap Stuarts)
2 Jeeps - Traded (bits box)
Ranger Platoon & Artillery Crew - Traded (for Norman cavalry I didn't pay for)
Armoured Rifle Platoon (Infantry Only) - £12.60 (10% off)
M3 Half-Track - £6.75 (10% off)
P-47 Thunderbolt - £1.50 (clearance sale)

I appreciate that there are certain elements I could have avoided (like the Stuarts) and at the moment the ARP is surplus to requirements (although I didn't know about the trade for the Rangers when I got them), but I've now got all the Americans that I need for Mid War and I'm working out how to use the leftovers expand into a Late War force. All in all, I'm happy with them and I'm looking forward to being to play Flames of War in a less static manner than my Germans demand.

Q: So, if you've been painting them, why can't we have a look?

A: Well, they're not finished. I need some decals which I'm going to pick up at Derby in a couple of weeks. But they're pretty much finished.

Q: It's nice to know that you're back, but is anything going to be different?

A: Yes, I think that I might have a slightly lighter posting commitment, and my battle reports, when I do them will be a little less intense as they were taking hours to do and eating up valuable time. However, other than that, you can consider normal service resumed.