Hilton the Pimpernel

I concur with a couple of mails received recently which have observed that my visibility has diminished in the last few months both here on the blog and on the forum. That is factually correct and there are reasons. I will briefly share those but concentrate on the more positive aspects of my hobby contributions as the main course.

So, the excuses first. I have an odd job (not the Goldfinger variety). I travel overseas for about 120 working days a year and that usually involves disruption to routine. This year has begun in an extreme form of the norm, meaning several more trips than the usual number. Work is also different this year requiring a more intense input. Some of the wargaming projects in which I am involved have been far more complex than could ever have been anticipated. Getting the GNW range to market was a fairly nightmarish process which absorbed literally days and days of time, lots of energy and effort often it appeared for no productive gain. It is far from complete but after many trials and tribulations we now have 16 codes in production, 4 about to be released and 25 Russian dollies on the stocks. It has critical mass, finally.

My contributions to the wargaming press have actually increased over the last two years which takes time as magazines are hungry beasts. I am not complaining but I probably over committed. In addition, this blog which originally started with the idea of six contributors has for various reasons defaulted to a single regular writer, once again, yours truly. A blog, to retain currency also requires a lot of work. Which I have not been able to do as other demands are pulling on my time.

Delays in meeting the planned release schedule of various books on the stocks have motivated me to grab one particularly overdue bull by the horns and complete it. This has meant since January of 2015 I have used pretty much every spare hour completing the text of a new book focused on wargaming the war in Ireland 1688-1692. This book has been promised for years but failed to appear for a variety of good reasons which, when examined with hindsight now seem to me, apologist in nature and symptomatic of overoptimism coupled with lack of project management.

The text is finished and currently being proofed. A production plan is already in place and my target is to have the book out before the summer which I see as realistic. It will be followed in quick succession by three other titles, two of which are written and complete and the third begun. To achieve this level of output I have stopped painting completely and have not ventured into my little cave to do so since early February.

The good news is that lots of good wargaming stuff has been happening but I have just been too busy to let anyone know about it! More blog posts will appear regularly over the next few weeks as I am sitting here listening to the birds singing on a steely grey morning in EK with the back door ajar and the coffee pot on. My fingers are moving like a 1930s copy typist!