Ray and Fran's "20 Questions"

I can blame Ray and Fran for this one. It's taken me hours and hours to go through and answer all of these questions  - which has kept me from doing any painting this evening you gits! OK, to be fair, I was feeling a bit lethargic from all the heat and probably wouldn't have done any painting anyway.



1.  Favourite Wargaming period and why?

Having only got back into gaming last year and only having played a couple of periods I'd have to say "Don't know yet". I'm definitely enjoying ancients and medievals, and very much looking forward to Thirty Years War

2.  Next period, money no object?

Oooh, err, no idea really. Next project is to complete my late medieval Swiss. If you're saying "money no object", I think you need to add "gaming/storage space and time" to the "no object" statement. If I had the time, money and space I'd be tempted to acquire enough spaceship models to represent the Alliance and Syndic fleets from Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series.

3.  Favourite 5 films?

Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, Secretary, Ronin, Quadrophenia

4.  Favourite 5 TV series?

M*A*S*H, The West Wing, Babylon 5, The Young Ones, The Water Margin

5.  Favourite book and author?

*looks daggers at Ray and Fran for putting this question in*

Too many favourite books and authors to restrict it to just one of each. Books and authors I've enjoyed reading recently - the Uther series by Bernard Cornwell, the Succubus series by Richelle Mead, the Lost Fleet Series by Jack Campbell, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, pretty much anything by Philip K Dick and Harry Harrison. And that's just the fiction - I read a lot of non fiction stuff too and quite enjoyed reading Machiavelli's The Prince and The Art of War.

6.  Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!

Gustav Adolf of Sweden

7.  Favourite Wargames rules?

Too early to tell as I've only played a couple.

8.  Favourite Sport and team?

I've never really been a fan of team sports - my favourite sports to watch are road-race cycling and long distance running, so it is mainly individuals I've followed. My all-time running hero would have to be Emil Zatopek - as far as I know nobody else has repeated his 1952 Olympics result of gold medals in the 10000m, the 5000m and the Marathon (the first time he'd ever raced that distance). Going back to the late 80s/early 90s it is very difficult to get better than the two great rivals Steve Moneghetti (Australia) and Douglas Wakihuri (Kenya).

9.  If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

To a point far enough in the future that they've developed a repeat-use time machine so that I can get back!

10. Last meal on Death Row?

A "Plume Special" from the Plume and Feathers in Princetown on Dartmoor, just to see if it tastes as good as I remember.

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

Errmmm, can I pass on this? It's so long since I've had sexual/relationship fantasies that I've got no idea whether I'd still fancy them! I'm not even sure if I can remember who they were.

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?

Molly Ringwald for the current me - about the right age and she's a redhead. She'd need to punk and butch up a bit though. Not sure who would play the younger me.

13. Favourite Comic  Superhero?

Never read the superhero comics, so I can't give an answer to that. However, of non-superhero comic characters it's a toss-up between Tank Girl and Judge Dredd.

14. Favourite Military quote?

Not so much a quote as a spoofed slogan. During the late 80s/early 90s the British army had posters warning troops to "BE ALERT". It appears that in once batch of posters a typo occured resulting in it saying "BE A LERT". Some wags from the ranks (I knew one of them) produced and distributed a bunch of spoofed posters saying "BE A WARE - THE ARMY HAS ENOUGH LERTS".

On actual quotations, there is one (probably apocryphal) from the Crimean war that I sort of remember - the British commander telling his senior officers "Gentlemen, the Russians, whom we will be fighting are in front of us. The enemy (referring to the French who were our allies) are on our left" or something like that. I've spent ages trying to find the actual quote on the web without success.

15. Historical destination to visit?

Krak des Chevaliers (if it's ever safe to visit Syria)

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?

Having quit in my teens and wasted over 20 years by not gaming - so much to catch up on!!

17. Favourite Fantasy job?

Multi-millionairess who doesn't have to work, with a large house in the country where I can invite friends for wargaming long weekends to fight seriously huge battles over several days.

18. Favourite Song Top 5?

Wait For The Blackout - The Damned; Fade To Black - Metallica; Bales of Cocaine - Reverend Horton Heat; Temple of Love - Sisters of Mercy; Ace of Spades - Motorhead

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?

Winning my first game. 

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

Annoy rather than upset:

Tory tossers; idiots who get off at the top or bottom of an escalator and then just stand there blocking everyone else; Tory tossers; twat drivers who turn without indicating; Tory tossers; "slebs" who are fampus without having ever done anything truly noteworthy; Tory tossers; people who refuse for years to join a union then suddenly join when they're about to lose their job and demand that you drop everything and help them; Tory tossers; most TV presenters; Tory tossers; 

NB - I do include the DimLebs and the Blairite wing of the Labour Party under "Tory tossers"





1.  Favourite Wargaming period and why?
2.  Next period, money no object?
3.  Favourite 5 films?
4.  Favourite 5 TV series?
5.  Favourite book and author?
6.  Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
7.  Favourite Wargames rules?
8.  Favourite Sport and team?
9.  If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?
10. Last meal on Death Row?
11. Fantasy relationship and why?
12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?
13. Favourite Comic  Superhero?
14. Favourite Military quote?
15. Historical destination to visit?
16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
17. Favourite Fantasy job?
18. Favourite Song Top 5?
19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?