Challenge 13 Intro from Kerry T (Valleyboy)

 Morning, afternoon & evening all

This will be my second challenge, I must say taking part in my first challenge last year was I think the highlight of my wargaming year and I am so pleased to be a participant again this year.

I'm a proud Welshman (currently the butt of many rugby jokes) who moved to NZ in 1999, transporting what was probably then close to 7,000 15 mm Napoleonics I think at the same time. It goes without saying that 15mm Napoleonics are my first love and the collection has grown since then. There was a time when I would hide them all away as I was reticent to share with friends the secret of my nerdy hobby. I've come a long way in recent years though and am more open with friends an colleagues and am surprised how well my hobby habit has been received.

Last week we hosted the work Christmas party at our house. No hiding this time though, the games room was open to all and one of the spot prizes was given to  the staff member who closest in guessing  the number of figures on the table! 

In reality there is no doubt I'm a painter as opposed to wargamer, historian or collector. Thankfully I'm generally quite productive as I probably only watch about 3 hrs of TV per week spending my evenings  painting whilst listening to wargames podcasts in the evening after work

I'm a lucky man and now as I approach retirement have the luxury of a wargames room with a purpose built table. Most of my gaming these days is solo and though in the past 2 years I have taken an interest in skirmish games I am a BIG GAME enthusiast at heart and love nothing more than leaving a game up and playing it out over weeks. Some of this can be seen on my blog https://valleyboyinnz.wordpress.com/

I've been fortunate in the past to take part in several big games and was one of the original participants at Ayton (frequently written about by Henry Hyde) many years ago. I've been fortunate to take part in large multiplayer refights of Waterloo, Borodino & Leipzig organised here in NZ by fellow gamers - details on the blog.

The forces of Silverfernia capture some much needed supplies at Ayton in 2011

Borodino 2020, my Polish are in the foreground

At the moment I'm trying to finish off some AB French Cuirassiers in 15mm and having moved now mainly to painting 28mm figures forgot what a challenge it was but I think I might try and get some Young Guard painted up once the challenge gets going.

I have a short attention span when it comes to painting and like to flit from one period to another to keep myself productive. This coupled with my "oh look shiny"affliction means that I have a wide collection of unpainted figures. In fact somebody once described my hobby as being "all over the place", which I took as a compliment rather than the criticism intended!

Last year my entries were themed around P for project but this year I'm going to let myself loose with no boundaries and rummage around in the cupboard below.

I'm still waiting on some shield transfers to arrive and will still need to prep some Perry Miniatures coming for Christmas and some Oathmark Orcs. Thankfully I think I am well enough stocked in tufts and bases

My painting focus has always been on painting large numbers of figures I suppose and my subject matter in the coming challenge will likely involve  Napoleonics and Samurai in 15mm, while in 28 I hope to churn out some Dwarves, Orcs, Normans, Saxons, ECW and VBCW and maybe even some terrain. My main aim and hope I suppose is to try and make a big dent in my slow burn Italian wars project by finishing some Italians, Swiss, a few Landsknecht, Gendarmes, stradiots and finally Spanish. Hence my suggestion of a "My codpiece is bigger than yours" challenge. I also hope to drop a few Squirrel bombs again this year

The painting desk and reference library!

So I've myself a decent challenge  and in order to do this will need to find ways of overcoming my work commitments, ignore the rapidly growing grass and other needs in the garden and try and stay off the golf course 

Even on the golf course there'll be a reminder that I really should be painting!

Thank you all for your encouragement last year, it was such a positive influence, I cannot emphasise its effect enough. I'm looking forward to enjoying your company again for the next few months and being enthused by what you will showcase again. Best wishes