Hi everyone, it has pretty quiet around here since Bart decided to have a second little horror (actually number one is very sweet, and I have not yet met number two, though I can guess that he is small, incoherent and rather boring to all except immediate family - no offence, Bart, it’s just one of those facts of life).

So why don’t I bore everyone with a brief account of my recent gaming? Great idea, I think, so working backwards, here goes. Today, I visited our local games shop in Brussels L’Antre Jeux which has a pretty good selection of all types of games. I bought a Flames of War source book, planning to build a Soviet force, some quite nice trees for 14 euro, which I will have to base and flock but I think will be quite effective plus ‘Commands and Colours Ancients’ from GMT. A sort of thinking gamer’s Memoir 44, for those who know the series. Quite a good series of games based on the Punic Wars.

In the week, I played DBM (this is a dangerous admission on this site and in my gaming group, who are largely anti-DBM, thinking rightly it is largely for rules lawyers and frustrated chess players). I played with my Normans against Jacques (a local Police Commissioner) who brought out his brand new Nikephorian Byzantines. Alas, I rudely and luckily dispatched them with the cream of Normandy’s finest knights. we will try again next week.

I have done some painting as well. Over easter, I took advantage of the cold and grey hangover from winter to paint up some ACW troops and scenery. This was to add to the very nice painted armies that I bought recently from local NATO supremo, JP and Bart D. (the latter bought them from the former and then sold them on again). I now have enough to field two corps per side for Principles of War and have some nice woods and a homestead ready. I also painted up some 15mm Carthaginian types and some 28mm Saxons - both these armies are now very close to completion, at last.

There’s not a great deal of action around here, or at least not that I’m aware of, so for the next few weeks it will be a bit more DBM (such a great game), painting and boardgames. 1st may I will try Paths of Glory again, the GMT world War One game. If I don’t get too badly hammered, I may even tell you all about it!

Alan