"Fannying about" and game preview.

As soon as the "soaps" start,I sit my wife down in front of the telly with her box of snuff and a bottle of Gin,and I disappear into the garage(club house!) for a couple of hours.
Invariably,when I re-enter the time capsule that I call home,she asks me(in-between sneezing and slurring!!) what I have been doing-and I invariably reply "oh,just fannying about!"
This begs the question,what exactly do I mean by "fannying about"?
Well,"fannying about" covers a multitude of wargaming sins,such as repairing broken terrain pieces,sticking back on shields,spears,muskets,flags etc,moving things about to create more space,thinking of scenarios,trying out new rules,making things(see previous blogs!) and very occasionally tidying and cleaning the garage!!-all of these things take up an awful lot of my time each night-and I love it!!!
Last night,for example, I tried to perfect(ha!) my simple set of rules for my "mini-tanks" in preparation for any participation game we might do in the future............................

Of course,this turned into a full-blown,and very enjoyable,solo game involving 20 tanks-great fun!!

This lasted about an hour,and was sheer pleasure,and I perfected my "no book-keeping" rules..

I stuck pieces of clear plastic to the bottom of the bases,wrote on the points values with a marker(not permanent!) and when the tanks sustain damage,I just wipe the value off and replace it with the new value-simples!!!-just "fannying about"

As I said in my previous blog,we a re fighting the battle of Hastings on Sunday,so as a bit of a preview..........................

The scenario/map and initial dispositions for both armies,we'll pick sides on the night.

A view from behind the formidable "shield wall" of the Saxons-roll on Sunday,and doesn't the new "battle mat" look good????