Ranke & Vyle No. 55 of 300

The recently formed Retroloque Facebook Group has over the last couple of days been searching for editions of the Ranke & Vyle rule set. I have to admit to not realising that this particular rule book was first; a limited edition and secondly; individually numbered and signed.

I knew that I had a copy somewhere and have just found the A5 booklet in the attic, hidden amongst 4 boxes of Flintloque/Slaughterloo information and leaflets.

Here is my copy - number 55 of 300.

Tony

Retroloque - A new Facebook Group for more information see this link.

Ranke & Vyle - First published in 1997. Ranke & Vyle is Company Level Black Powder Warfare in the World of Valon and written by Steve Blease. See this link for more information.

Flintloque/Alternative Armies - See this link.

Terrain Essentials by Mel Bose

My copy of Terrain Essentials by Mel Bose (also known as The Terrain Tutor) has arrived. I'll give a more detailed review once I have had chance to read through, but my initial impression is that it is quite a hefty tome and the production values are top-notch.

I found this You Tube flip-through should you wish to see more - follow the link for a comprehensive review.

I first started following this Kickstarter back in April 2019 and agreed to the $45.00 pledge for a soft-bound book. Since then the page count has increased to 192 and the cover has become a hard-bound book.

I'll give more details soon.

Tony

Birthday Foot Stool

Today's post shows another of the home made wooden presents that I have built. This time a wooden stool for my daughter Holly's birthday. The stool was built from various pieces of scrap wood salvages from used wooden pallets.

The images below show various stages of construction.

It was great fun to build but took ages as I wanted to hide any screws with wooden pegs and ensuring the correct angles for the legs was a real head-scratcher. But I can report that Holly is very pleased with her Holly Stool. The wooden pegs were hand-made from some spare dowel with any holes filled with a PVA/sawdust mix before being sanded smooth.

The stool is 9 inches tall and 16 inches along the top. The Holly design was cut out with a hand-held jigsaw and the stool was lightly stained with light oak stain before being waxed.

Tony

The Man From U N C L E

Last night Sue and I watched The Man From UNCLE (the Guy Richie film) and once again (we've seen it a number of times) we really enjoyed it and can't believe that there hasn't been a sequel.

Browsing reviews and Wiki I was struck by the fact that it was looked upon as failure. Both Sue and I loved watching it and even though I know all the plot spoilers I still found it very entertaining and a great watch.

Possibly one of the most stylish movies ever made with a great comedy/light hearted story line.

Hopefully there will be a Man From Uncle 2 soon.

Tony

Retroloque a new Facebook Group

I have only recently been made aware of this Facebook Group - Retroloque is a site dedicated to the early years of Flintloque and Slaughterloo, particularly the years up to 1998. At this moment there are 47 members but growing every day.

I would suggest that anyone with an interest in Flintloque looks to become a member. You can find details here.

Good luck with the new project and I look forward to seeing more.

Tony

Bleak Falls Gaming Board - part two finishing off

Miniature Wargames Issue 453, (January 2021) includes part two of the Bleak Falls gaming board project showing how I finished this display/gaming board for Modiphius Entertainment.

The three page article written by me shows how the table was painted and how the snow effect was added.

For full details of Miniature Wargames magazine, see this link.

The final image shows the gaming table just before it was shipped off to Modiphius Entertainment. The finished gaming board is 1200mm long x 470mm wide x 760mm tall.

Thank you to Modiphius for allowing me to be part of this project.

Tony

A new camera set-up

After many years I am eventually updating my digital camera. The Minolta Z1 with 3.2 mega pixels has been my go-to for nearly twenty years and has given me stalwart service for all of that time.

I'm now playing with this bad-boy. A Nikon D3300 with DX VR set up.

I would like to tell you that it's simple.....

But it is a bit like learning a new language. I am currently taking images with both cameras and checking the quality and settings of the finished photographs. The Minolta (after all these years) has been set up for my circumstances and feels like an old friend. The Nikon is fighting me all the way (far to sophisticated) so expect a long hand-over period before I'm happy with the results.

In addition I have been using the tripod and fast-release system for taking images and even changing my pale blue background for a more publishing friendly white one in the hope that it will give better images for magazine articles.

If anyone has any suggestions - remember that most of my photography is in what the Minolta calls Macro and Fine Quality or close-up. I would very much appreciate it.

Tony