Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Life Goes On

A dear friend of mine whose husband died of cancer a week before my own beloved Madame Padre passed away last November said something wise to me.   “You and I are still in the land of the living”, she told me, and I have tried to live by those words for the past five months.

 

 The support of my wargaming friends has been wonderful and I have leaned on several of you, as you know.  Thank you all.  I’m in a better place now, and do indeed want to dwell in the land of the living.  I’m eating well, working out regularly, have lost some of the weight I put on as Kay’s caregiver, and am fully engaged at work and as the volunteer honorary priest of my local parish.  A lovely lady, a cancer widow, has entered my life, and made it much richer.

 

So my life has changed in many ways, but some constants remain.  I have only touched a paintbrush a few times since Kay’s death, and I have rolled dice a few times.   I am however slowly coming back to the wargaming hobby via my first love, boardgames.  A few months ago I had the opportunity to take a longish drive to buy five boxes of games from someone’s estate.  They almost went to the garbage dump, but someone had the sense to take them to a thrift store, and the thrift store owner knew someone who got the word out into the local gaming community, so that was a close run thing as someone once said.  Here are some of the games, mostly classic Avalon Hill titles.

It me, reading rules.

Besides the AH titles, there were some happy surprises, including seven of Avalanche Press’ Panzer Grenadier series, which looks like an interesting tactical game in the vein of AH’s Squad Leader.   I hope to explore PG in the near future.  

Currently on the gaming table is GMT’s game Churchill: The Struggle For Peace.   I’m playing i solo, as the Americans, and the other sides (USSR and Britain) are played by decision trees or “bots”.   The game is an interesting take on WW2, and certainly works as a history lesson, but not really sure yet whether it works as a game.   More to follow.    Also, my gaming friend James came by recently for a weekend of miniatures fun, in our ongoing OPERATION THUNDERING DICE series of irregular weekends, so I will have a report on that soon.

So it’s good to be back, I hope someone reads this, and I hope to be more active in the hobby again.

Blessings to your die rolls and paintbrushes,

MP+

 

 

 

54 comments:

  1. Welcome back, best wishes Padre.

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    1. Thanks so much. I just started following your blog, it looks like a lot of fun.

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  2. Glad that your life has taken a turn for the better. Sometimes when some doors are closed to us, others open.

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    1. So kind, and so true about doors opening in unexpected places.

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  3. I'm glad you're feeling the love for gaming once again, whichever format it comes in. I'm sure Kay wouldn't want you abandoning your hobby.

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    1. Thanks Ray. I am sure you are right about Kay, she never really understood the games but she appreciated the complexity and the craft elements.

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  4. Glad to hear that life is moving on to a better place. And you've now got a dog in your life!

    Excellent score with the board games! I managed to pick up 1776 in a charity shop a while ago.

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    1. Thanks Edwin. It is indeed good to have a doggo in one's life. She's a funny old dog, a rescue by my girlfriend, but she's adorable.
      I have the new GMT COIN game about the American Revolution, it would be fun to play that and AH 1776 side by side and compare.

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  5. Most excellent to see you back, Michael! You made a nice haul with your recent game acquisitions. A few highly sought games in that load.

    Welcome back!

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    1. Thanks Jon. We need to finish our 1914 game sometime.

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  6. Glad to hear that your interest in gaming is returning. That's a nice haul of board games :)

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    1. Hey Tamsin, thanks so much. Life and interest are returning. It was indeed the haul of a lifetime. I would have settled for half of one box, let alone five!

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  7. Thank you for coming back Michael
    A very interesting haul of games
    An epic range with some "giants" amongst them

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    1. Thanks Geordie, glad to be back. Definitely some classics in there.

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  8. A time for every thing under heaven. I'm glad to hear that you are entering a new a phase of life without forgetting the old.

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    1. Hi Ross. Thanks. Another chapter in the larger book.

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  9. Bloody good to see you're both up to posting again Mike, but also that you are slowly getting back into a gaming groove. :)

    Glad to hear there is positivity in your life mate.

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    1. Cheers mate, and thanks for being there for me along the way back. So glad to be back and looking forward to checking in w your blog.

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  10. Good to see this, Padre. Good to hear from you. Missed you at Synod.

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    1. Thanks Pastor, good to be back.
      Don't go to Diocese of Huron synod anymore. I am technically still on their books as a priest on leave to the Armed Forces, but that's about it. I guess you went because Waterloo Declaration?

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  11. Glad to see you posting again Padre. Good scores at the estate sale!

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    1. Thanks Peter. Looking forward to catching up with your blog and seeing what all you got down during the last AHPC. Say hi to Curt for me.

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    1. Thank you Barks, glad to be back. Looking forward to visiting your blog and seeing what madness you have been up to.

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  13. Very glad to see you are finding some new life. All the best for the future, and quite envious of your boardgame haul.

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    1. Thank you Doug. Envy merited - a once in a lifetime haul. Hopefully I have time to play each once in my lifetime!

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  14. I'm glad to hear that happy, helpful things are happening Padre.

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  15. Glad you are back and good to hear your are gaming again - From my own experience, I have recently discovered that gaming, while often a good escape from everyday life, can sometimes also be too much if bad things happen in life.
    Also, I'd be interested in your opinion on the Gettysburg game - I've had an eye in this one for a while now :-)

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    1. Thanks so much. I now have a small arsenal of Gettysburg games - two by AH, SPI's famous TSS, GMT's 3 Days of Gettysburg. It would be fun to do a comparison of all of them!

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  16. Excellent to hear that things are progressing. I look forward to hearing about how these board games go down!

    Running is a great stress buster. I'm glad to hear you're getting back into it.

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    1. Thanks brother. I confess I am not running any more, my knees hurt too much. Swimming, elliptical, cycling are my friends now. Also I have a kayak, but I have yet to get it into the water.

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  17. It takes time to grieve. Glad to hear from you.

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    1. So true, Ashley, it takes it's own time, and that timing is surprising - just when you think it is over. But it is over, I think, and it's good to be back.

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  18. Welcome back Padre. Good wishes for the future.
    best regards
    Mike

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  19. I'm still getting over the death of my Mum. And I'm slowly getting back into my hobbies. Glad to see you can see some light.

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    1. So sorry to hear about your mum, doesn't matter how old you are, losing a parent is hard. Blessings to you friend.

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  20. Nice to see you getting back into it my friend. Stay well!

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  21. Very good to see you back on this blog, mate.
    Every blessing.

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  22. Sorry I'm late here, Mike - been off the blog for a few days. Delighted to see you are writing and gaming again. My very best wishes to you - you've been through a lot - an inspiration to all of us.

    Look after yourself.

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  23. So good to hear you're feeling better. Really happy about that.
    Quite a find there. I've played a few (well, more than a few) of the games, and Africa Korps has a special place in my heart, as it was the first wargame I ever played.

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    1. Hello Joakim! I have never played Africa Korps, nice to get a copy of it.

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  24. My thoughts are with you Mike. I‘m glad you’re feeling better.

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  25. Nice to see you are blogging again and glad you're getting back to something approaching normal, you've done well on your boardgame haul!
    Best Iain

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  26. your bravery and grace is an inspiration.

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