The end of the beginning….almost

Still no wargaming activity but much deep background prep. Three weeks ago I wrote about the start of the preparation work in the garden for the new command centre-cum-office-cum-yoga studio-cum-hangout pad. That work is virtually complete now. One final dump run on Friday and a bit of final pathway clearing for the installation team, who are supposed to be arriving Monday. I say “supposed to be” as we’re still all subject to the Pingdemic and general lack of labour.

At times the digging work was like archaeology. As well as countless bricks and pieces of concrete rubble, I found a piece of metal drainpipe about 9 feet long. Picking it up I understood how our tiny Hoplites must feel with the thick spears they come armed with. This got reburied to confuse future diggers. I also came across a charred layer. Evidence of the Great Burnings, when the local males were allowed to build huge edifices with anything remotely ‘wooden’ and to put effigies of 17th Century terrorists on top and set fire to them. The chronicles tell us that this ancient Anglo-Saxon custom was initially tolerated by the Finnic matriarchs, but the practice was eventually stamped out. Even attempts to celebrate Finnic festivals like ‘Vappu’ (aka Valpurgus) with bonfires met with silent disapproval.

I digress. All being well we will have a structure with mains electricity and the interweb, ready to be painted* in about a week. Then we have to furnish it and I have been ‘promised’ a trip to the great yellow and blue temple to the Scandi Gods. From a wargaming perspective I am thinking about a 4’ wide desk/table permanently against one side wall and then add one or two 4’ long foldable tables as required depending on the size of battle. Maybe a paint shelf above the desk. And then a cabinet for the toys to the left of the desk. The far end will be a comfy seating area with light pieces that can be carried outside easily. Then I’m in a battle to keep other objects (or ‘clutter’) down to a minimum whilst avoiding it feeling Spartan. And thus the constant negotiation between different cultures continues, between the underlying substrate and the newer elites.

In the meantime reading continues apace. I’m gradually working my way through a collection of ECW books bought from David Crook. Currently I’m reading a collection of essays called The Civil Wars: a military history of England, Scotland and Ireland 1638-1660. This is surprisingly readable  and is widening my understanding of the complex series of wars. But no, I am not going to ‘do’ the Montrose campaigns or anything in Ireland. I have an unfulfilled wish to do ‘something colonial’ and a growing itch to do the Spanish Civil War. And I have the long/delayed ECW campaign……

* what I would call ‘RAF blue’ seems to be the preferred choice for the outside.