I have a face-to-face wargame scheduled here for 8th March, which will be my first live 4-handed game for a couple of years, so I'm working on the scenario and the game details in preparation for that. It is to be the Battle of Orthez (27 Feb 1814), and I'm looking forward to it. Orthez, right at the tail end of the Peninsular War, is not quite my usual period, so I've been doing a lot of reading to get up to speed, and have enjoyed this. Should be a very decent game, I think.
This blog has been quiet lately, and I've had a few kind emails from friends wondering whether I have, in fact, died, so I am pleased to announce that I am still around. I regret to say I've been struggling with depression since the New Year - not an unfamiliar companion - and have been deliberately keeping a low profile, but I like to think things are improving, and today's sunshine does no harm at all. I've been sort of waiting until I have something to say!
Glad to see your coming round Tony. Sometimes just keeping a low profile is the best way to deal with depression. The game should be most enjoyable even if a bit of a challenge. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying getting more involved in the research, that's more like how I think I should be! Very quiet and peaceful in the attic, with my security blanket.
DeleteI think it's the time of year - amateur pop-psychologists usually identify a day in January as "blue Monday" due to where it lies relative to Xmas.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure we are all such clones as to feel universally depressed, but grey skies and getting dark early does seem to impact a large part of the population.
I've only broken my own lethargy after several unproductive weekends; due in no small part to work pressures. As I approach an age where I should in theory be able to retire, it gets harder to work all week and find energy for hobbies at the weekend.
It's chastening to reach an age where silence in the online community makes people wonder if you've died!
Neil
If these clowns in Parliament would shape up things would be better, too! I have soldiers to paint and others to base, and nothing is happening - I just have to think how much I will enjoy them when I get back to it.
DeleteGlad to see you are back, always enjoy your blog so have missed it recently. Interesting choice of game, should be a good one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie - I'm doing away, on an unassuming scale!
DeleteTony, it is a relief to see you are not dead yet. Good to see a F2F game on your slate. A game will certainly improve morale. Awaiting a battle report of your great victory.
ReplyDeleteHi Jon - you are one of a few people I am intending to get in touch with - any week now! Apologies - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
DeleteSorry to hear that matey, it’s a ruddy terrible time of year for those of us that suffer from these things. Sunny days ahead. That always helps for some reason. Enjoy that f2f game and lose yourself in the research.
ReplyDeleteCheers JBM - the research has been particularly rewarding - maybe worth another blog post in itself!
DeleteOrthez will be a top battle to recreate and I'm sure that it will look wonderful. I look forward to posts about developments and, of course, the eventual game. Sharing hobby time with like-minded friends is always uplifting.
ReplyDeleteOur days are shortening noticeably now. I find our June/July a drag and it's nothing like winter for you mob. Added to which you are all having a tough time of things at the mo'. Hopefully the hobby and planning for the game is just the medicine that you need?! :)
All the best, James
Thanks for this James - I'm getting there. Orthez will be quite a day out for me, even at home!
DeleteSorry to hear you have been "down in the dumps" I think we can all empathis, even if not having ever experienced clinical depression, life gets on top of us all now and then, I am sure. I think I mst be if an age with Mr Scott above...I recently had a Ten Years service award with my employer...nice morning tea, on off extra weeks leave AND a $500 Prezzy Card I hope to spend on toy soldiers (plus the obligatory framed certificate!) and in my very short acceptance speech I got a laugh by saying, at my age, I hoped I DUDNT have another ten years of work in me...but the way things are, who knows? Now, that's bloody depressing!
ReplyDeleteHi Keith - you reminded me that when I got my presentation for 25 years service with my (only) employer, back in another century, the Big Boss sat with me over coffee for 15 minutes, telling me what a terrific rugby player and squash player he had been in his younger days, and how active he was in his local Rotary Club. He never mentioned me at all!
DeleteI still have the carriage clock sitting on the dresser in the Dining Room - it never gets wound up though. I think at the presentation I made a mental note to retire as early as possible, in case I became an idiot as well. That bit of the plan has worked especially well, I find.
Looking forward to your report on the game, Tony. Hopefully putting it on is both a cause and an indication of improvement in the depression, which always sucks - robs life of everyday joys!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter - I find the winters harder to get through as I get older - a bit of sunshine will help a lot!
DeleteWekcome back! Yes, the season and the times are pretty rough and taken together do take some surviving. Getting involved in a project is often helpful, if only to take one's mind off the downward spiral of brooding about things we cannot change. Anyway, look forward to the battle; one of my favourites. Those last battle of the Peninsular War like Orthez are much less well known than they should be and offer some very interesting challenges for the gamer, I think.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
David.
Of recent years, I have made a positive effort to avoid worrying too much about things I can't change or influence. Nothing particularly original in that, but certainly new for me. It is made easier for me in that, as I get older, no--one actually cares what I think anyway, so I shall leave them to get on with it. I worry for my kids and their families, but I do try to focus on things which I enjoy - sometimes it is not so easy! Orthez is pretty much unfamiliar to me, so I've enjoyed the reading - very therapeutic.
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