Monday, 3 February 2014

A Dusty Find

I am continuing to uncover little surprises as I clear the shelves in my recently deceased best friends garage. The cobwebs, dead spiders, mummified wasps and layers of dust and grime were quite expected but underneath one particular lump I found, perhaps, a timely pile.

Green and rectangular they were, not heavy at all and swiftly recovered back to my wargaming hut.


Here they are spread along the only clear (but narrow) section of my 12 foot long table.


They are 300mm x 300mm cork tiles painted green and marked off in 100mm squares. There are enough to cover my entire tabletop.


There are a good number of thicker pieces nicely chamfered along the edge.


Here they are with a few 10mm figures for scale. The squares are 100mm wide or 4 inches for those of an imperial mind.

Given the recent waves of interest in Old School wargaming and square grids in particular I am sure I will be able to deploy these when ever I get my tabletop cleared. Peer back at my leading picture and you will see that my tabletop is stacked ceiling high with some of my old chums figures, books and rulesets. Those in sight are about one quarter of the total, another quarter is out of sight in the hut, a third is at a friends house for viewing and the fourth quarter is already sold. I have raised over £2000 so far which will form a donation to Combat Stress in my friends name.

Finally, I can report on a recent purchase which should prove useful once I start gaming again, particularly in games where no grid is used.


It is a sheet of Perspex, cunningly cut and engraved by my good friends at Figures in Comfort. My Imperial version, in clear Perspex has an 8 inch ruler on one edge with 1", 2", 4" and 6" lengths on the other edges and has 30º and 45º angles etched inside. Very useful indeed.

These can be purchased from Figures in Comfort in a variety of forms including Metric, mine cost £6 so I bought two.

http://www.figuresincomfort.net/


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12 comments:

  1. Tim Gow3 February 2014 at 21:57

    What a great find! You have to use 'em now.

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  2. Jim Duncan Wargamer3 February 2014 at 21:59

    Quite!

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  3. Bill55493 February 2014 at 23:03

    How was your trip to York - was it a success at the flea market?

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer3 February 2014 at 23:48

      Exhausting, up at 5am after 2 hours sleep, 4 hour drive, a heavy box up several flights of stairs, very slow at the flea market but eventually rewarding, made somewhere between £200 and £300, made a few good contacts for more sales, quick chat with Charles Grant, 4 hour drive home, slept round the clock, am very sore and stiff today.

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  4. arthur18153 February 2014 at 23:07

    The beauty of the cork tile system is that one could have a different size grid on the underside for games set at a different level, or hexes or a blue background for naval games.

    Since I've been using gridded cork tiles for my gladiator game for years, I must be very dumb not to have thought of this before...

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer3 February 2014 at 23:49

      Just getting the green square grid into action will be a plus.

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  5. The Dancing Cake Tin4 February 2014 at 00:46

    Condolences on the death of your friend and congratulations on your finds and the fund-raising for Combat Stress.

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  6. Jim Duncan Wargamer4 February 2014 at 12:08

    I think Iain would be pleased with what I have done so far. He always had a good charitable conscience and was always keen to see that our club charitable efforts went towards a deserving armed services charity.

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  7. Robert (Bob) Cordery4 February 2014 at 16:10

    Jim,

    The cork tiles are a wonderful and serendipitous find ... and I am sure you will find a use for them!

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer4 February 2014 at 16:40

      I have no doubt that they will host a game of some sort.

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  8. John Curry Editor History of Wargaming Project7 February 2014 at 20:33

    Clearing a friends life time collection must be an adventure with a mix of sadness, surprises and pleasure. As I played with some of Tony Bath's Airfix Ancient Britons I like to think that all wargamers would appreciate their collection continuing to provide hours of enjoyment for others. Hmm, I must be in a reflective mood

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer7 February 2014 at 21:18

      Yes, a great mix of emotions but I have tried to concentrate on the fun side of things. Whenever Iain and I played against each other we always had fun and it never really mattered who won or lost.

      I have tried to spread some of the collections amongst Iains friends so that they have something tangible to remember him by. Other parts have gone to wargamers who I hope will continue to array them on the tabletop. I hope that none of them will be added to anyones loft collection.

      I have kept some armies to hand and I hope to play a number of games and indeed campaigns in Iains memory. I also hope to progress some of the unfinished collections to completion even if that means passing them to others.

      Finally I will be handing over a sizeable donation to Combat Stress as I'm very sure that is what Iain would have wanted.

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