Friday, 20 January 2012

Playing Favourites or Favorites.........put the bloody kettle on!

This has been going around the wargaming blogs, it shows what gets fellow bloggers ticking and not just about wargaming and our hobby.........

Wargames Period :- The Sengoku Samurai period is my favourite and I have a reasonably large collection of figures, scenery and books and followed closely by WW2 in several scales and several times....



Scale :-  For me it has always been 25/28mm but finances can dictate the hobby now but the injection of quality 28mm plastic figures has helped a lot......

Rules :-  I hate rules especially complicated rules unlike some of the rule addicts I've come across through gaming and blogging but my favourite are Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings rule set. I got into these when the young fellow started collecting the figures and I helped him out by painting the good guys (Saruman and the Urak-Hai) so he had an opponent and loved the easiness of the rules and I have used them for dark age skirmish, pirates, samurai and possibly modern......


Board Game :- Don't get to play boardgames any more but my favourite to this day is Shogun but I do get in the odd game of chess.....



Figure Manufacturer :- I used to be an awful Wargames Foundry whore in the day but they went to hell in a hand basket but I had figures from every range they did at one time or another, I used to decide a range to paint by what they made at one stage...... my favourites now are Perry Miniatures, Peter Pig and CP Models (I buy quality rather than the cheapest and most suitable, I will avoid periods if there are no good figures for the period).

Opponent :- Who else could it be at this time but the lunatic Ray over at his blog (I start a blog and he copies me, most of my ideas have ended up on his blog because you can't tell him anything but he's a good lad and got me into the Rejects all those years ago.... I feel nauseous for some reason). We compete in some way over anything and I mean anything.......



Books :- I read a lot of books (one year at a security gatehouse I went through several hundred, there was a library right next to site and things were quiet.....)

Tom Clancy: Anything with Jack Ryan and Red Storm Rising.......

David Gemmell: Anything the man wrote really but Druss will always be my favourite.....

Antony Beevor: Brilliant and interesing military author...

James Clavell: Shogun and his others are good also.....

Jack Higgins: Quality easy fiction with a lot of Irish shenanigans going on at times....

Robert Jordan: The wheel of time series but it's dragging on a bit....

Terry Pratchett: Anything from Discworld.....the man's a genius!

There are lots more but the quality of a book to me is the ability for it to make me want to read it again....





Movies/TV :- Now I love a good movie or TV show so I'll keep this short if I can...

Band of Brothers: The best and most watched....

Kingdom of Heaven : The directors cut version only....

Lucky Number Slevin: A movie about revenge....

Dead Man's Shoes: A movie about revenge.....

I love old movies like Freebie and the Bean, The Wind and the Lion or popcorn like Taken, Rambo, The Expendables or foreign masterpieces like The Killer, Yojimbo, Ran, Seven Samurai, A Better Tomorrow, anything with Laurel and Hardy, of course a bit of zombie with Dawn of the Dead (original) , Zombieland and 28 days later,  diversity is the name of the game......






 Art :- I love a lot of military prints especially anything by Angus McBride but once while wandering  round an art gallery in Ireland (I was dating...ok) I found a painting by an Irish artist Francis Danby called the Opening of the Sixth Seal, I have a copy at home hanging on a wall but the original is huge and needs to be seen up close.......


PS3 :- I am a PS3 whore and love FPS shooters but I am currently banned from using a mike by SWMBO and the neighbours 3 or 6 doors down usually know when I'm playing as I have been known to let my feelings be known......currently wandering around MW3 causing mayhem!


This is me.......

Miscellaneous :- I love A-10 Warthogs, Pamela Anderson, Tiger tanks, Apache helicopters, the charge of the Scots greys in the movie Waterloo, the helicopter scene from Apocalypse Now, SWMBO, good cleavage (women only), sad music, loud music, burgers, Johnny Cash, Ireland, good chips (fries to the US readers), drums and percussion, coca cola (no substitutes or diet), american football (Chicago Bears fan since 1985), decent porn, truth and the smell of napalm in the morning.......





Rant :- I hate liars and hypocrites, the way some figure manufacturers treat us the customer like we're dopey fuckers with the quality of product they send out and expect us to bodge it together and expect holes and excessive flash to be a worth challenge (it's not,it's like McDonalds with their pictures of the burger as in not what you end up with and wonder what the fuck happened), politicians (if you say you want to be one you should be culled), most lawyers, bankers, stock traders.........

....there's a lot more but I'll leave it at that!


62 comments:

  1. Good list, and a nice rant. Its always entertaining to see you rant...

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  2. Very illuminating...and like Lee, I commend your rant sir.

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  3. WoW- its like I have a brother from another mother...

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  4. Interesting. I'm pleased to see your Gemmell fan, which I didn't know.

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    1. He was an incredible talent and sadly missed....

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  5. Ahhh, so much. There are liars and hypocrites pretty much anywhere, but they do thrive in politics.

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  6. Seems like you like anything with big guns...including Pam.

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  7. Pamela for the world a top babe. Some good stuff in there love Terry Pratchett novels myself

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  8. love both BAND OF BROTHERS adn KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!

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  9. I just knew your list would be fun to read. I found doing it, it reminded me of so much stuff. As for Wheel of Time, just one more to go but they have managed to get 800+ pages out of 400ish of story but that's his later style. You have to think though, that if he just got on with it he would have finished them before popping his clogs.

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  10. wow i think this is your longest post ever. and pamela anderson, always acceptable :0

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  11. that is a sweet list of cool stuff, i really enjoy the last pick me up photo... great day!

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  12. Some of those Johnny Cash songs have the atmosphere to help cope with what happened with the Bears this year, ever since Cutler broke his thumb at the end of that five game winning streak.

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  13. I was expecting to see Game of Thrones as one of your favorite TV shows. And sorry man, I just don't understand the Pamela Anderson thing. But to each his own!

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  14. Any post that features Pam Anderson is bound to be a good one. The other stuff is interesting too. I like a lot of the same movies.

    And even though I am a Colts fan, I like the Bears too. Before Indy had the Colts, all we had was the Bears.

    That helicopter is mean looking...bad ass!

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  15. oh my... Pam Anderson. Me likey!

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  16. haha if I did a movie one it go on for days, no joke. I tend to stick with the 360 but I can forgive you, at least you aren't a wii fanatic...haha

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  17. Good post, Fran, and some fascinating answers, many of which I'd agree with.

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  18. Another good post! :D

    Terry Pratchett is a Genius, totally agree.
    Zombieland rocks.

    The rant is superb! :P

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  19. Great list and by far funnier then mine! Added the Samurai to my list of favourite periods which I forgot. I agree on Jordan with the first 5 being really great and then each one after that progressively losing steam. Thanks to you I'll try Terry Pratchett and of course agree on Pamala.

    Christopher

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  20. I loved your miscellaneous list. Ray your bff has interesting collection. I had one teammate of mine, and he used to say that I inspired him a lot. Inspired fancy word for plagiarism. Ray,I am just kidding.
    So nice to read about you.

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    1. I nicks all my ideas!! I've now learnt, don't tell him anything!! Ain't that right Fran!

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  21. Very entertaining!
    In the rant- the bit about the burger reminds me of the scene from 'Falling Down' : awesome.

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  22. Nice post. Thanks for the reminder of Shogun, it's a great book.

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  23. Glad you like Laural and Hardy too! So many people seem to forget them!

    Yojimbo and the Seven Samuria are great too! Did you ever see the Hidden Fortress?

    With your love of war gaming have you ever played games like Age of Empire of Civilizations 3?

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  24. Shogun, now there is a classic game, we used to play that for days when based in Cyprus during 3-week duties in the Troodos Mountains. There appears to be a typo on your post though; you have put 'PS3' when surely you mean 'Xbox'...

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  25. Shogun is a class war and I have and currently playing the Shogun 2 total war on the PC. Class game. Now a Samurai is something I paint.

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  26. Cheeky Git!! You can tell me anything......but maybe chose not to listen!

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  27. Nice!!! LOL One of the armies actually 2 as I have to do both sides, is a couple of Samurai armies. I have always been somewhat intimidated by the source but one of my goals is to do them up this year.

    Cheers

    Eric

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  28. This was fun to read. Read Bard's just before. As I was reading yours I wondered where Miss Pam was. And there she was, all the way saved for last. I should have known.

    Anyway, this was fun to read. Thanks for sharing.

    Home from prep. Time to make supper.

    Cheers.

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  29. Fran you sound like a cross between me and my older brother!

    Have you ever watched Ravenous? 1 of my favourite films, an outstanding cast and just brilliant film.
    Ceers
    Paul

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    1. Great movie and opening track in a movie about cannibalism.

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    2. Yeah I had a feeling we have the same taste in movies!

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  30. Also with the massive book reading, I do hope you were painting loads too at the gate!!!

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  31. I'd tap that girl.

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  32. I remember asking you about the books you read (Prachett and Jordan in particular) and about Kurasawa's Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Ran and you wouldn't answer me. I came back several times with the same questions, stomping my little feet on your doorstep, wanting to know more about you. You ignored my questions. Jesus, you made me angry. I thought to myself, "This can't be the first time this man has had an Irish woman balling up her fists and yelling at him to pay attention to her." I've read all those bleedin' books and loved them same as you and the same movies to boot. I'm so glad that you decided to tell us all more about yourself. So many of us are fond of you Angry, I hope you know that. If you don't read this comment, I'll be directing your attention to it on Monday Have a good weekend big guy.

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  33. I know a lot of politicians , lawyers, bankers, stock traders and there fun guys to be around but all it takes is just a few bad eggs make to them all look bad... But just a few is all it takes...

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  34. "When there's no room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."
    Sounds interesting.

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  35. This post is like a window into your soul.... a very explosive and multi-player soul that is. I agree with a lot of your interests... but have you watched Game of Thrones.... right up your alley!!

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  36. Now I've new questions for you Angry. Here they are:
    Do you have a son? I couldn't tell from the post who the lad you were talking about was. How long have you been in England and what brought you there? (I'm glad you have a good mate like Ray there, it makes me happy to know it). That picture of you in cammo: That's the most interesting. Can you explain that? Also the sidearm your carrying there. What is it? I carry a Glock 22. It's .40 caliber and is lightweight. but has great stopping power. It's what the coppers here have and it's legal. I used to have a 38, but I got bored with it and if some doped up eejit comes through the door, it won't put 'em down. My first gun was a 22 rifle, I used it to hunt witth So what's your favorite gun? And lastly how old are you? I'd bet money that I'm older than you. If you tell me, then I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else or I'll slap ya.

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    1. Not officially as he's my partners from her previous marriage, nearly 11 years as I followed my SWMBO from Ireland where she was visiting a friend, Ray is a good mate, that is me in camo in my dreams, my favourite handgun is a colt 45 and rifle is a Remington acr 6.8 and I am 43 years old....but 14 in man years!

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    2. Thank you for answering me Angry. I'm glad you have an Irish girlfriend to handle you. A stepson can be the same as a son and you the same as his father. I never pictured you with a child. The colt 45 is a classic. I've always wanted one and Remmy makes a great gun. I am older than you, I was born in 1962, which makes me 50 this year. Don't feckin' tell anyone!!

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    3. Jesus Christ, you make it sound like 60 with all those exclamation points. I'm getting a tattoo on my birthday, the kids are paying for it. I told them I wanted Boobs and Botox, but they're not complying!

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    4. Sorry to butt in Anne/Angry, I think what Angry L was meaning is not that 50 is old but that you look much, much younger in your pic!

      Again sorry, and Anne let me know what fountain of youth you have found. Not for myself you understand ;0)

      Best
      APul

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  37. Great rant Angry mate - very similar loves/hates. Band of Brothers was brilliant and so was the other 'Pacific'. Gritty realism and historical accuracy not often seen - usually anything American takes great liberties! And film - nearly anything by Ridley Scott - like Peter Jackson another military history nut who takes the trouble - as Kingdom of Heaven showed. Lastly zombie flicks - a weakness of mine too - the ones you mentioned being my faves also (really looking forward to Brad Pitt's World War Z!) Wargaming and Pammy - its uncanny! Oh, and me first gun was a Lee Enfield .303 - magnificent weapon. As a cadet in me decadent youth I remember shootin' feral rabbits with a Bren - not a lot left to take home for dinner tho...

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  38. Awww, poor Ray. :P

    Though he probably enjoyed seeing that demotivational of himself.

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  39. Band of Brothers is amazing. Liars and hypocrites are decidedly not. :)

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  40. Stalingrad is a brilliant book...and real interesting period of the war...one of my faves as well

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  41. Gotta love LOTR Strategy Battle Game.

    Gotta love Pam Anderson.

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  42. interesting peek into the mind of the lurker. Damn I wish I read as much as you. I've got a fat stack of books I got from the Border Books closing sale and haven't even made a dent in them yet =/

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