A visit to Bluewater

On last Monday evening I was suddenly struck down with a very bad dose of gastroenteritis ... which is no fun at the best of times and very unpleasant when - like me - one has a stoma. This laid me low for two days, and I meant that I missed my usual weekly game session at the local club, Dice of the Hill.

I was feeling somewhat better by Thursday morning, and as a 'reward', Sue decided that we should visit Bluewater, the large shopping mall that is about 25 minutes drive away near the southern end of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford. This would not have been my first choice as somewhere to go after being ill, but she wanted to go there ... so we went.

Whilst Sue was paying a visit to the Bluewater branch of Boots, I wandered across to the former branch of WHSmith, which is now named TG Jones. As I looked along the shelves, I found the wargame and railway modelling sections and chanced upon a copy of the September issue of CONTINENTAL MODELLER ...

... which I bought because it featured several model railway layouts that I thought might provide me with some inspiration for my own railway modelling. In particular, it included one set in an imagi-nation, the Grand Duchy 0f Mittenberg.

Whilst I was standing there, a man of about my age appeared in the same isle in a wheelchair being pushed by his wife. I was in their way, and I asked if I could hand anything to him. He replied that he would like to see the latest copy of WARGAMES, STRATEGY& SOLDIERS magazine ... and this led to us have a short but very interesting discussion about wargaming in general and magazines in particular.

It was as a result of this that I picked up a copy of the September issue of WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED and decided to do something that I haven't done for a long time ... and bought it!

I'd like to say that when I got it home, it confirmed all my prejudices regarding the glossy, mainstream wargames magazine ... but truth be told, there were several articles that I enjoyed reading! These were:

• Trouble in Tibet
• The Sea Fencibles
• American Invasion 1812

I met up with Sue after my visit to TG Jones, and she then took me to the branch of Flying Tiger Copenhagen ... where I found several sheets of what they called decorative moss.

These were 25cm x 35cm and cost £4.00 each and I immediately bought two as they will make ideal wargaming fields.

So, my trip to Bluewater did prove to be rewarding, despite my initial reluctance to go!