As part of my post-eye problems recovery, I have organised my year into four week blocks, each week dealing with one of my campaigns - Avrupan, Fescennia and Petaudia - then a week for "Other wargaming". This week is Fescennia and so here is a game I put on fought between Arcadia and Erymanthia. The former has invaded the Duchy of Hesperides and the latter has marched to the aid of the duke. I based the game somewhat loosely on Roliça 1808, with the Arcadians in the role of the French and the Erymanthians as the Anglo-Portuguese force. It also gave me a chance to use some new scenery I had purchased from S & A Scenics - some flocked hills to replace my old-fashioned stepped types and some small trees, of which I do not have enough. I think they are both excellent and intend to get more hills. Anyway, here are some photographs of the game, played with "Old School" rules, individually based figures, and painted up for the relevant countries - white for Arcadia (mostly) and blue for Erymanthia (mostly). The figures are from a range of manufacturers gathered over the years - the majority are 25mm metal Hinchliffe, but there are also Essex and Old Glory metals, as well as Perry and Warlord 28mm hard plastics. My next game for this campaign - in a month - will be a follow on to this one, with the Erymanthians pressing on to drive the Arcadians out of the Duchy of Hesperides.

My apologies for the lack of posts recently, but I have suffered a chronic detachment of the retina in my right eye and opacification in my left eye at the same time! As a result, my vision has been somewhat impaired over the last few months. However, a simple laser procedure has restored my left eye to working order and I can now wargame, paint, model, read and write as normal; my right eye is undergoing a series of operations over the coming months (thank heavens for the N.H.S), although I do not think it will ever be good enough for more than everyday matters.

Anyway, the loss of vision got me thinking, amongst other things, about my wargaming collection: if I could not see to wargame anymore, I would have to get rid of all those figures and scenery. And, no doubt like many another wargamer, I have no written record of exactly what I have got, nor any idea what the whole lot is worth!

So, with immediate effect, I have begun to list every unit/model - type, period, number of figures, manufacturer (if known), etc. - or item of scenery I possess and work out a reasonable "sale value" in case I ever had to sell up for any reason, let alone problems with eyesight. This has been something of an eye opener - no pun intended! So far I have only completed my 1670s Sun King collection and my ACW collection and already the potential value is much more than I would have thought, even with my conservative estimates.

I still have my medieval/fantasy figures to go and my future wars/sci-fi collection and all the scenery, plus my 30YW 15mm figures, and then there are the wargame books and rules as well, but I am beginning to think I might need to up the house contents insurance rather a lot! It has also made me realise I need to improve my storage boxes for quite a few items!

Anyway, I would encourage any fellow wargamer to seriously think about valuing their collection, if not listing all they possess, at least for the benefit of friends or family who might have to help dispose of it or your insurance company!

So, I hope to be posting again quite soon as I have a lot of painting and gaming to catch up with.

A final word - anything odd about your vision, get it seen to, at once!