On the not-so-good side, we lost our much loved patriarch at the end of September after he finally succumbed to that insidious disease which picks people off from families everywhere. He was brave to the last and it was a privilege and a blessing to have had him in our lives.
Similarly, it was a mournful evening last week when the mighty English blasted our noble All Blacks to smithereens in Yokohama.
More positively, South Africa then crushed the English in turn to win a well-deserved third World Cup title. To be honest, I would have been almost as happy had England won - so good was their performance the previous week - but for the South Africans to triumph after having looked a shadow of their former selves not so long ago is great for rugby and for their country. It also gives nice bragging rights to the host country - the only game they lost was to the eventual champions!
The job is going well, house hunting is about to begin, and my wife and kids are moving over at the end of November, so this drawn-out process is now starting to look like it is producing results. It's been a long few months since February, but video phones are a wonderful thing!
Despite everything else that's been going on, there has been some gaming: I introduced a friend to Commands & Colors: Ancients not so long ago; while an epic night of rum and chess at an old school mate's place in Rarangi will live in the memory.
To close, here are a few pics of the last miniatures game I participated in, this one being a huge ACW battle in 28mm at Roundie's. It was a fine contest with plenty of blood and thunder, and even a crossroads.
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| The battlefield looking from the Union left. |
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| The Union right centre catches a Confederate force in their tents. |
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| The Union centre. |
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| "Here they come, boys!" |
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| And here we come on the left... |
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| The fighting on the Union right was grim right from the beginning. |
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| We race to defeat the Confederate left. |
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| "Push on, gentlement!" |
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| "Come and get us!" |
We deployed quite craftily as defenders and I thought we'd done enough to beat those damnable Secessionists, but it was not to be. They held on their left, but we (mostly...) controlled the centre and pushed them on their right to take the advantage in victory dice scored. Unlike with victory points, however, victory dice still have to be rolled - and we rolled miserably, giving the staunch men in grey and butternut a famous victory.
As you can see, Roundie's table and figures are really something.
So there we are. Hope all readers are well and in fine fettle.
