Not now Death, I'm Busy

Never paint your last miniature, it could be fatal. Once upon a time, I had a huge lead mountain that was becoming a millstone around my neck and cluttering up the house. I made a conscious effort to reduce the pile and only buy what I intended to paint. But increased lockdown productivity and a lack of trade shows have reduced my lead pile to dangerous levels. It's time I bought more miniatures, on purely health grounds of course.

Judging from many conversations I have had over the years, I suspect that most of us have a lead mountain that is far from at risk of elimination. But just in case, keep some miniatures aside as life insurance. 

The Battle of Trebia - A Quick Strike AAR

A Quick Strike After Action Report of the Battle of Trebia using 6mm figures and Simon Millers To the Strongest ancient & medieval wargame rules. It is December 218BCE and Hannibal has invaded Northern Italy. He is outnumbered and needs a victory to steady the support of local tribes. But he has laid a trap for the Romans and is confident of victory.

This AAR has been in production for a long time, mainly because holidays and work commitments have eaten into my time a bit this summer. I have learned a whole new set of skills making the film, including finally getting to grips with some sound editing software to improve the audio. I'm still not 100% happy with the sound, but I had to draw a line under this project at some point or it would never have got finished! 

I shot a load of pictures while making the video and thought I would share a few here (it was a pity not to use them) as a teaser for the film. 

Strange Attraction - Picking a Wargame Period or Genre

What is it that attracted you to a particular period or genre of wargaming? Were you inspired by a new set of rules or a new figure range? Or was it a new book or film that got the creative juices flowing? I have been chatting to some of my friends about what motivated them and they suggested a few things I hadn't even thought of.

Maybe there are a few things in this video you hadn't thought of. As always I would love to hear what you think, either in the comments below or on my channel, Miniature Adventures. 

Unboxing better sound

Today's unboxing is less about gaming and more about improving the quality of the audio I record for voiceovers and the like. My games room is not an ideal studio and there are many reasons why it is not an optimal place to record video and audio for youtube. However, this recording screen and pop shield should improve my audio and even a small improvement will be welcome.

In addition to hardware, I am also learning how to use software to improve audio quality. I've been using Audacity for a while now but I was a little bit put off by the level of technical knowledge needed to use some of its more powerful features. Over the last couple of weeks, I have bit the bullet and made a concerted effort to teach this old dog some new tricks. It has been a bit of a learning curve, and I still have a lot to learn, but I'll keep chewing on this until I'm happy with the result. I'm stubborn like that!