A new Port wine for New Year

This New Year I opened this bottle of Noval Black Port wine and I have to admit it was spectacular. Thank you Mum. It was a real treat.

Tony

Christmas 2024

In addition to my jumpers and socks, I received two bottles of Port some books and these special gifts for Christmas 2024.

I was particularly pleased with my second Napoleonic wargame book - this time Napoleonic Wargaming by Charles Grant.

Thank you for ALL the very special presents and the time we had on Christmas day and Boxing day.

Tony

Merry Christmas

I hope that you and all your friends and family have a very Merry Christmas.

Tony

Tanker Magazines

I picked up these TANKER magazines from a charity shop on a recent visit to Kidderminster for just £3.00 each. They are not my usual reading material but have supplied a number of great articles and were well worth the £6.00.

Tony

Airfix Guide 4 Napoleonic Wargaming by Bruce Quarrie

This weekend our daughter celebrated her 40th birthday with a family get together in a Stratford-upon-Avon farmhouse. As a welcome gift I was given a goody bag that included this little gem - Airfix Guide Napoleonic Wargaming by Bruce Quarrie.

A real gem.

Thank you and happy birthday Holly.

Tony

Scratch built Star Wars terrain - Miniature Wargames issue 501

The latest issue of Miniature Wargames (issue 501 for January 2025) features not one but two builds by me. The first is a damaged stone doughnut  inspired by an image seen in the Star Wars series The Acolyte now playing on Disney. The second takes a Hasbro Star Wars toy of the Redfin FC20 and re-imagines it as a piece of wargame terrain.

The stone donut was constructed from MDF and thin underlay foam mounted on to another piece of MDF. Painting followed the usual techniques with basecoat, washes and drybrushing before being varnished and having the base decorated.

The Redfin FC20 was slightly modified and also mounted on to a MDF base. Painting was this time done with an airbrush and a 'rattle can' spray paint before detailed painting was done with acrylic paints and a fine brush. The decals came from an old GW set and the stone areas on the base were modelled from dried wood chips.

For more information of the magazine contents and how to order your own copy, see this link.

Tony

Port Tasting 2024

It is something of a festive tradition that I present a short talk and tasting of various Ports in the run up to Christmas. This year following a short city break to Porto earlier this year I had much more to talk about. Sue, Holly and I spent five days in Porto and we were lucky enough to visit a number of Port houses in Vila Nova de Gaia where I was able to sample many, many Port wines and re-acquaint myself with the Houses and Lodge of Portugal's finest wines. 

In a break from previous years I did not have a "guess the Vintage Port competition" but instead copied the sampling and tasting processes shown to me during the visit. 

We started with a chilled White Port from Tesco and then moved on to what I believe to be one of the best value Ports - Graham's Late Bottle Vintage 2019 then finishing with Taylor's 10 year old Tawny. I can confirm that a great time was had by all the guests and a collection for charity raised over £100.00. So a double win.

Cheers

Tony