A rare reappearance for the Madaxeman Podcast as a part new, part old crew heads down to the West Country for a bit of Hard Rock, a lot of beer, pubs and food, and eventually some rather eclectic analysis of a variety of unsuccesful army lists from the recent ADLG competitions held at the Attack! show in Devizes.

Join me, Dave from The Podcast, Another Dave (technically "the Dave formerly known as Pants"), Jason and Steve as we take you gently down Melksham Way. 

(Apologies in advance for some of the audio - there are a lot of clicks and hisses in one section towards the start. It's been a while so our audio setup was even further away from being describable as "slick", and my editing was even more rusty than has been the case in any of the previous hundred+ amateurish episodes. It's a low bar I know... )

As usual:

• The lists we discuss are available on the Madaxeman website's ADLG Wiki
• The ADLG content starts about 22:45 in, so you can either start, or stop listening then as you choose
• There will be a video version of this on my YouTube channel
• The incidental sad violin music is (perhaps unsurprisngly) "Sad Violin 2", by TheFlyFishingFilmmaker , (License: Attribution 4.0)

Disproving the old adage that the best things in life are worth waiting for, the 100th episode of the Madaxeman Podcast thunders onto the airwaves with an epic, 6-handed special all the way from Spain, as myself, Dave From The Podcast & Aussie Simon are joined by Gordon, Revolutionary Dave and Mark to discuss and digest the lists we all used at the recent Alicante competition. 

 That means there is some sort of analysis of the Ancient Britons, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Mithradatics, Warring States Chinese and the countless  hordes of Aztecs shoehorned in among some tourism discussions, culinary observations, and insightful exposition about the contents of Spanish motorway service station vending machines - plus the first ever advert break to ever feature on a Madaxeman Podcast!

This whole podcast is also available on the Madaxman YouTube channel where you can see pictures of the lists, some of the games and troops, as well as our tourism and eating exploits too.

The army lists can all be found in the ADLG Wiki on the Madaxeman Website 

The Ides of March are upon us, and so it must be time for Episode 5 of Series 2 of the Madaxeman Podcast.

This week a 6-handed episode sees extensive coverage of the Painting Challenge, discussion of competitions, restaurants and public houses of all flavours and dimensions in the pseudo-industrial brewing town of Burton Upon Trent, forward-planning of a kind rarely seen outside of a gold spray tan booth online booking system, an almost-ISITYAA discussion of Why DBA is the best ruleset ever written (and a simultaneous demonstration that we very clearly and absolutely don't script any of the rest of this podcast to boot) as well as the usual inane chat, observations about kitchen implement storage solutions, and links to pictures of Japanese soldiery of a 28mm variety.   

There is also an episode of Andy's Quiz, including the answers to the last episodes questions (for those of you old enough to remember it). 

• Tamsins Painting Challenge photos 
• The Coopers Tavern, Burton

Another year, another brand new experiment as we unleash a multi-session podcast recorded "in the studio" in the UK (aka on Zoom), "in the field" abroad (aka in a bar in Spain), and "in the 1980's" (aka in a coffee shop back in London with overly loud music playing in the background) in which some of the regular crew initially preview, then discuss half way through, and finally review the recent L'Art de la Guerre competition held in Alicante in Spain in January 2022.

We are also joined by a number of special guests, and an even greater number of waitresses who all make a unwitting yet far more meaningful contribution than most of us can manage ourselves - especially after several bottles of red wine at lunchtime.

Heads-up - some of the audio is a bit murky, but you should be able to hear the clinking of wine and beer glasses clearly enough to get the gist of it, even in the bits when the words might get a little lost in the background hubbub. 

This podcast accompanies the Alicante Battle Reports on Madaxeman.com. 

• The Spanish music in this podcast is used under a creative commons license and is from the Watcha Clan. The original track can be found here.

In what is likely to become this year's Christmas episode by dint of us almost certainly failing to find time to record another one in the next few weeks, the full Madaxeman podcast crew reconvene online to witter aimlessly about what they have been up to since the last podcast (which could be a description for almost any podcast on any subject come to think of it..)  As well as the usual painting chat, we unpick the piratey bones from the recent Brixham Devonian Classic ADLG competition, which saw 36 players gather for chips, beer, invigorating coastal walks and some incidental games of ADLG at the very site of the landing point of William of Orange on his way to claim the English crown, before going into the freezing details of the Warfare event held recently in Ascot. 

Along the way there's a painting challenge, lots of cold-weather outdoor undercoating, several Samurai excursions, the Kingdom of Benin gets a mention, Perry plastics are yet again lauded to the heavens (Christmas is coming after all..), and a vaguely informed debate as to whether competitions actually have to be competitive to be enjoyable (spoiler alert, the answer is "no").

So, sit back, make sure to keep dipping your brush in the water pot rather than that glass of gently steaming mulled wine, and revel in listening to the 205th most popular hobby podcast in Finland right now !

• Tamsins Blog
• Xyston Generals as Companions
• Brixham Match Reports
• Red3 Miniatures

After every hiatus comes a podcast, and this week is no different as the full Madaxeman podcast team return somewhat grudgingly from an extended break of actually playing games, going outside and doing proper things in the real world - or in Tamsin's case, making one helluva lot of trees and shaving a few towels in the process - and step up out of their basements, dust off their parchment rulesets and head to their microphones to share their lack of wargames wisdom... 

The end result is a decidedly unscripted second (and first non-ADLG-specific) podcast of a new series, as we compare notes on painting and not painting, discuss how weird it is to go to a show again (SELWG), engage in a pretty piratey Andy's Quiz and see a welcome return for Micah Richards and the World of Wor-Wor-WarSports as we preview part of the upcoming Devonian Classic competition next weekend and try and predict the winners of the 25mm pool in a more random than random sort of way.

• Refurbished Medievals in 15mm 
• Tamsin's SELWG Demo Games report
• Tamsin's Jungle Terrain 
• The God's Own Scale Podcast Site

Another tentative step back towards recording and publishing a regular podcast this autumn sees the usual list review team of me, Dave and Richard pore over the 6 lists used by the members of the top 2 placed teams from the recent BHGS Teams L'Art de la Guerre event held in London in September 2021.

The event was themed into 3 separate pools : Biblical, armies with Steppe terrain, and Sub Zero (pre 0AD) and so we have a very eclectic group of lists to share and discuss in this podcast: Hittites and Assyrians, Parthians and Abbasids, and Later Persians and Ptolemaic Successors. 

The lists all are reproduced on the Madaxeman ADLG Wiki so you can read them at your leisure, or read along as you listen.

As usual this podcast is also being published on the Madaxeman YouTube Channel with pictures of some vaguely relevant figures and more importantly frequent appearances of all of the lists as well.  

After much promise and very little delivery, another lazily rehashed cut-and-paste job recycles an old episode of I'm Sorry I Think You're An Arse and plops it out into the audio-ether for your delight and tangible disappointment.

This segment was originally published at the start of 2021, probably when we were all working under some sort of lockdown scenario, and addresses head-on the vexed issue of whether modern gaming and modelling paint ranges have just gone too goddam far, and instead puts forward the entirely reasonable proposition that we should all simply go back to the halcyon days when the Humbrol range of enamels was the be all and end all of painting toy soldiers, and further expounds the theory that we would all be far happier if someone important just drew a big fat Gloss 208 Day-glo Green line under any further paint-based development shenanigans going forward.

As well as this recycling initiative, there are actually some other new podcast episodes in gestation - a list pod is in production as we speak, and there are mutterings and vague talk of restarting the full team pod in a few weeks as well, most probably with some World of War-War-War Sports punditry and predictions on upcoming tournaments.

But in the meantime, a bit like finding an open petrol station, then realising that it only has LPG in stock, this is about as good as it is going to get for this week I'm afraid ... 

As threatened, The Madaxeman Podcast returns to punctuate your summer with a lazily cobbled together series of repeats of our barely tongue in cheek I'm Sorry I Think You're an Arse feature.

This 30 minute snippet of Madaxeman Podcast is an ideal way to brighten your already sunny day (between showers), and this time around features an ISITYAA from way back in March of this year in which Adam takes on the vexed subject of why anyone who comes out with the hoary old line of "The Hobby is Greying, And we need to do something about it!" actually needs to get right back in their box (ideally quite quickly, as otherwise Adam may assist them in an overly proactive manner). 

Look out for more ISITYAA repeats in the coming weeks!

This week the 84th episode of the Madaxeman Podcast marks a firebreak in the cavalcade of nonsense as we finally decide to take a bit of a break until the Autuumn Lockdown season hoves into view again - possibly in a couple of weeks at the current rate.

In this week's episode we push the boundaries of the wargaming/tropical arboriculture sub-genre to the max with an other extended session of In The Jungle with Tamsin, a smidgeon of painting gets done, the relative merits of the two key brands of non-local chip shops in the North of England are decided, the A1 roadside phenomenon is revived and marvelled at again, Adam has a good old rant about the nonsense of the Longbow in I'm Sorry I Think You're An Arse, many, many games are discussed - some of which are also tastefully censored to avoid giving away too much information to the enemy - and Andy's Quiz returns from the depths of Time with some Eboracum-themed answers, a new set of questions, and in a "we can't keep you waiting until September" splurge of generosity, you even get the answers to this week's questions after the closing credits. 

We'll be back in the Autumn with this sort of nonsense, but watch out for one-offs and (possibly) some "Greatest Hits" special episodes (aka repeats of the funnier ISITYAA segments, shamelessly thrown out there as stand-alone podcasts) over the next few months of Summer 2021. 

• Birdsong Audio from Squashy 555, used under Creative Commons license 
• Trees, 'faarsands of 'em sir! on Tamsin's Blog

In this Madaxeman Army List Podcast the regular team run the rule over 5 lists all of which featured at the recent 3T's ADLG v4 event held in York in June 2021.

The lists covered are Thracian and Late Roman, together with the top 3 placed lists, Bosporan, Parthian and Nobades.

This podcast is also available in video format on the Madaxeman YouTube Channel, and a series of 5 battle reports featuring the Thracians is online on Madaxeman.com

All of the lists are also on the ADLG Wiki 

This week the painting hiatus starts to break for some of us as work and weather and actual opponents battle for supremacy on desktops and dice bags right across the country.

That means a bit of black dot madness creeps in, football strips as heraldry get debated, there is a lengthy diversion into how many bananas can you fit in a 2-foot square terrain tile, Dixons 15mm Marlburians get a quick review, Mirliton's 15mm Communist Italians are sprayed and glued together, and the logic of reviving Hard-Fi's career through small scale modelling is briefly considered and discarded in a short section in which we all pay libations to Vallejo, the Greek God Of Paint Colours.

More importantly at around the 44 minute mark we dive headlong into the world of sports broadcasting with World of War-war-war-Sports, a pundits-eye-view of the runners and riders from the UK's first real post-lockdown ADLG v4 competition in York this coming weekend. We go through the field, and pick the group stage winners and them simulate our way to the very final itself all without the aid of VAR, but with the aid of special guest Micah Richards calling in from table-side.  

The episode rounds off with Andy's Quiz, this week on the topical topic of York. 

(Next week might well be our last Lockdown 21 podcast before we all take a well deserved summer hiatus, but watch out for some live, in-the-field specials coming out over the summer months.)

• Everest Models on eBay - Banana Trees that work!
• Communal Italians on Tagmata.it
• Sports background music as used under Creative Commons Attributional license 

Our Pool-based draw for the York competition:

Group 1 1. Dave Handley   Early Arab  2. Dave Ruddock    Armenian  3. Dave Allan      Parthian 4. Bob Amey      Palmyan 5. Nik Sharp    Meroitic Kushite 6. Gordon Jamieson  Caledonian 7. Bob Middlemist  Carthaginian 8. David Roberts   Middle Imperial Roman 9. Graeme Carroll Sassanid Persian Group 2 1. Robert Taylor  Palmyran 2. Julian Lopez  Blemmyes/Nobatoes 3. Bill Robertson  Slave Revolt 4. Richard Case   Bosporan 5. Tim Porter      Thracian 6. Andrew Ellis   Early Imperial Roman 7. Alan Cutner  Aramean 8. Dave Saunders Late Imperial Roman 9. Robin Jackson  Ancient Spanish Group 3 1. Adrian Steer Republican Roman 2. Marco Baroni    Ancient British 3. David Finnigan Triumvirate Roman 4. John Hogan     Carthaginian 5. Ferdie       Mithraditic 6. Chris Tofalos  Ptolemaic 7. Chris Proudfoot Aramean 8. Jesse Schoor   Mithraditic 9. Tony Robinson  Judean Jewish Group 4 1. Hunter Hope   Meroitic Kushite 2. A Late Entry with Romans  3. Kevin Johnson   Selucid 4. Stephen Nice   Early Imperial Roman 5. Hugh Cameron  Parthian 6. Charles Gronau  Middle Imperial Roman 7. Paul Dawson  Late Imperial Roman 8. Mike Bennett   Sassanid Persian

It's been a while since we've done an ADLG Army List podcast, but with the recent Roll Call event throwing up some really interesting lists in a 15mm theme called The Roman Pond (armies and enemies of the Roman Republic & Empire that could have dipped their toes in the Med) it seemed like an ideal opportunity to delve back into the theory of list design yet again.

In this episode not only do we go through the lists of the top 5 placed 15mm players, we also have 2 of the top 5 in the Podcast "studio" (aka Zoom call) in the erudite shapes of Paul Dawson and Richard Case.

The lists we look at are all available on the Madaxeman website in the ADLG Wiki, and this pod is also available on YouTube with pictures of troops and the lists themselves too:

The list covered are:

• Late Imperial Roman
• Hunnic
• Late Imperial Roman 
• Patrician Roman
• Hunnic

Roman Clibanarii from Forged in Battle.

In this week's swelteringly hot podcast the regular team of seven perspire their way through a zoom call in a brief interlude from actually playing games in the real world against real (fully vaccinated) people to bring you what may well be one of the most podcast-like podcasts we've ever actually done. 

Part of the reason for that burst of unexpected normality is due to an unplanned but intriguing discussion about when and how we all outed ourselves as wargamers to our colleagues at work.

Following that, normal service is quickly resumed as we start to consider if a YouTube channel devoted to road-testing kitchen blenders for their ability to chop up car-wash sponges is a viable commercial proposition, if painting just three 10mm figures in a fortnight is something anyone would be prepared to admit, how Watford Gap Services is muscling in on eBay as the premium marketplace for sale of second hand wargames figures and if pizza making is an integral part of the gaming pantheon.

There is also a whole new episode of I'm Sorry I think You're An Arse! this week in which the proposition that the Achaemenid Persians were just so crap they deserve to be wiped from the slate of wargaming history is carefully considered and eruditely discussed, followed by a spot of actual gaming-experienced-based assessment of ADLGv4 so far. 

Finally Andy's Quiz hoves into view yet again, and attempts to deploy three new questions which are vaguely topical when the pod comes out but which in 2 week's time will no doubt feel as relevant as a discussion around the Eurovision Song Contest results would do today.

• Tamsin's Blog
• Clive's Stuff on eBay
• Watford Gap Southbound

After a fortnight in which we received some disturbingly positive comments from many of wargamings Twitterati, the usual gang of 7 return with a tentative foray into the actual real world as lockdown eases sufficiently to allow CLWC to reopen again and all of us to attempt social engagement in a proper face to face environment.

In a limited palette of painting this week Tamsin goes totally herbal in the hillsides, Dave chunters on about the Franks for the 600th week in a row, Simon finally cracks and joins the Perry Medieval Plastic Tribe, Peter discovers that Red is the new Gold, Adam thinks carefully about meeting strangers in a warehouse late one evening, Andy finds a hole to drive into and I end my decades-long addiction to Testors Dullcote in dramatic style.

The "What did you play this week?" section focuses on our first tentative steps with ADLG v4 in the real world against real opponents as we try out some of the theory from the previous episode and stress test it against harsh reality, and Andy's Quiz of course returns with a highly topical (if this had come out last Sunday) Eurovision-themed Italian Heavy Metal special. 

(Adam was having audio issues this week, so apologies in advance for the iffy sound quality from his microphone)

• Tamsin's Hills 
• The Dullcote Tweet  
• Love for the Podcast from @GodsOwnScale

In this week's epic episode we zoom in from the inky depths of Galaxy A41 to share with an already deeply v4-satiated world our initial incoherent thoughts on the list of changes for ADLGv4, adding almost nothing in the process to the tidal wave of excitement and analytical discussion already sweeping through social media like a somewhat garlic-infused tsunami of love and gratitude for El Kreator's latest issue.  

There is also a little bit of chat about painting, a diversion into why buying 1/300th forests from Dunelm off the back of  spurious text-based recommendations on Twitter from complete strangers is sometimes a bad idea, why Germans tend to look less boring after they have had a wash (especially little ones), and a rather impressive foray into why making your own rocks is far better than just, erm, picking them up off of the floor. We also have time to squeeze in a spaced out version of Andy's Quiz notable mostly for the fact that Syphilis is a potential answer to every single question.

But, it's the V4 stuff you're probably here for - so press "play" and let's get on with the business... 

• v4 Changes on madaxeman.com
• Tamsins Blog 
• The Devonian Classic - Play ADLGv4 in Devon this coming November
• Ambient Space noises from Jovica and univ_lyon_3 used under Creative Commons licensing

The first ever v4 Army List Podcast hits the airwaves with a paella-infused deep dive into one of the brand new lists from V4 of the recently released rulebook, the Taifa ("Scouse") Kingdoms.

These Arab-led, Christian-featuring armies of pre-reconquista Spain bring a whole load of new options to the ADLG  tabletop, with both existing and brand new troop types to conjure with - and, of course, the classic Strategist El Cid. 

We were lucky enough to be granted a pre-release view of this list, allowing us to record this podcast before we had our stickly little hands on the V4 rulebook so myself and my usual Army List guests Dave and Richard were able to bring you our thoughts only moments after the V4 book hits our doorsteps - with the caveat that we were slightly guessing at how some of the new troop types would actually work in practice!

The usual mix of list, history and figure choice all form a part of this, our first V4 Army List Podcast, and as usual the lists are available on the ADLG Wiki on Madaxeman.com 

After deciding that 2 hours of Jo Davidson-eque repetition of "no comment" wouldn't really work as a podcast, the usual gang of seven get down to some serious business this week with a range of topics, scales and periods all covered.

Things kick off with a Victrix Hanomag House of Horror, segwaying neatly into Stug Life to keep the tiny WW2 theme alive. The exciting side of Swiss colours get discussed (erm.. red and white?) just before we venture into the murky undergrowth of "is that your Perry-provided flag or are you just not pleased to see me?".

There is a vivid demonstration of Army Painter Varnish Mid-life Murk (and Are We Over It Now?), we get down and dirty with the German trousers, wonder if there is any difference between Artizan and Crusader, and all do a little summertime almost morris-men-like dance with the Hopping Pararoopers.

We then dive right into the interview with Herve published on No Dice No Glory and try and pick apart the new rules and troop types he mentions for ADLG v4 as we all wait furiously for it to clear customs. The new lists also get a superficial scan over, and we are all extremely excited about the prospects for the Viagra Kingdom and the new Scouse Kingdoms army lists. 

With so much ADLG v4 chat there is no ISITYAA this week, but there is Andy's Quiz, and it's music - and the tumbleweed sound effect also gets another outing as well. 

• Tamsin's Polish Paras
• Tamsins US Paras
• Tims Thracians

In this weeks veritable post-lockdown-lite smorgasbord of conversation we are delighted to offer you a range of topics as diverse as a first look at undercoated Victrix 12mm German infantry, 28mm medieval transfers as a rival to Bitcoin, The Tale of the Heinkel Knights and that Whole Snow Nazi Thing, Khurasan stock levels, ADLG v4, 50cal Roman bolt shooters, decal choice for bazookas in cold and warm climates, the use of gold spray paint to don General Custer fancy dress, the best Vallejo paint to recreate yellow snow (including the taste), more Museum musings, the increasing importance of 2D printing in modern wargaming, North West London Ramblings, and the very, very end of the Battle of the Boing.

There is also a timely episode of I'm Sorry I Think You're an Arse in which the team debate the question as to whether the entire American Civil War was just a load of old nonsense, and if the entire conflict should instead now be expunged from the wargaming canon, and of course we wrap up with another regular visit to the seemingly decreasingly onanistically-themed world of Andy's Quiz 

• US Paras on Tamsins Blog
• Success of US Civil War Commanders correlated with Facial Hair
• Wallpapered Sparabara

In this epic pre-bank-holiday episode the gang is reduced to just 6 as the triple-headed wargamer-unfriendly spectres of gainful employment, exercise and fresh air consumes one of our regular team members at least temporarily. 

Even so we manage to ramble on close to the 2 hour mark with an episode that features yet more analysis of 6mm ACW hat bandings, octagonal basing for paratroopers, hoplite madness, ship construction, glue debates, and in which we again all ask ourselves "Museum's Z-range - are they just too detailed for mere mortals to paint?" 

This week an enormous amount of time is also consumed by ISITYAA, our "increasingly challenging to remain tongue in cheek" regular feature which this week features Adam in the chair telling us why he thinks Wargaming Shows should be consigned to the dustbin of history (and explaining why it's technically accurate but still not entirely fair to call him a moth##-###ker in the process).

Andy's Quiz returns with a gallic duopoly of topcs, and we also have a quick shufti at the "announced by Tuesday evening" changes for ADLG v4 (which takes place at about 1:28:30 into the pod in case that's all you are interested in!)

In this week's L'Art de la Guerre Army Building podcast I'm again joined by regulars Dave & Richard as we venture into the little-visited back of the book to take a gander at the Meso-American armies in an effort to see if we can pick some nuggets of golden Aztec goodness out of these rarely-seen army lists. 

As usual we conjure up a variety of quite different lists, all of which manage to extract very different and intriguing play styles and approaches from what initially seemed the slim pickings of these later lists.

We also skip through the history of the region, consider whether these armies might be viable in open play, and debate if the addition of the Conquistador command to the Texcallans imbalances a pure Meso-American competion army pool.

In a brand new (and I suspect unique) tie-in, some of this week's list are also not only available to view on the Madaxeman Wiki, they are also available to buy in the form of ready-made, discounted army packs from UK-based manufacturer Fighting 15's. 

Yes, hear the discussion then - if you like what you hear - there's now a simple one-click way for you to pick up 4 of the lists we cover all for under £40 a pop for 128 figures (thats just 31p each for those of you who don't like taking off your socks this early in the year!)

The list we cover this week are:  

• Aztec x2
• Texcallan x2
• Zapotec/Mixtec
• Chinantec
• Mayan x2

You can see the Fighting 15's ADLG Army Packs featuring lists from this Podcast right here on their website , or just browse Fighting 15's Aztecs & Enemies ranges 

The 10th in the 2021 "UK Lockdown III" mini-series rolls into town with a rather lite painting week in which we are all rather distracted by the announcement of ADLG v4 coming out in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile the hussar-wing-glue debacle rolls on, an accidental company-level purchase of WW2 Artizan Designs paratroops somehow seems to happen without conscious human intervention, the Perry Twins make another £20 from us all with those black-undercoated medieval horsemen, Pitshanger Lane gets a double visitation, Dave's Magic Drawer of Left-Over Xyston Wonderment makes an initial bid for it's own theme tune and dedicated in-pod feature, Museum's Z-range get close enough to lose a little bit of detail and a flurry of Macedonians hit their bases at various points alongside the M40 elevated section.

In between this excitement we somehow manage also to fit in a quick session of "What are you hoping to find in ADLG v4 Santa's sack this Easter?", an episode of ISITYAA in which the venerable Humbrol Paint tin is proposed as the one and only true solution to the modern wargaming worlds slow subsumation into the iron grip of grasping corporate interest, and Andy's Quiz seeks to pull itself away from it's recent teenage obsessions with a whole new set of questions (and answers) for your delight and delectation.   

In this weeks cavalcade of conversation the team assemble and then kick off with an immediate foray into the best tools to use to bend the legs on cavalry riders together.  A surprisingly lengthy chat about whether Ivory is a better colour for painting things white than actual white then diverts into the age-old question about deck white being better or worse than deck tan, rounding off with whether black-grey is a better black than, erm, black?

Atlatl pronunciation debates occupy us all briefly, as does the entire engineering and strategic developmental back story of the Japanese Navy in a single book. That then inexorably takes us through to finding out why the book "D-Day through German Eyes" is actually a complete scam from start to finish before we look at Museum Z-scuplt cavalry, and whether their Noddy hats all need to be painted red.

A 10mm Barons War-full of figures offered via kickstarter gets its' first-view, Wallenstein is broght back from the grave to cast his unevenly beady eyed at us all, there is a timely Podcast Team Vaccine Update, and in the smaller scales the best Vallejo options for ACW limbers are compared to the original soot and ochre.

Adam then yet again helms an occasionally almost-proper-discussion (but still mostly "offensive rant") ISITYAA this week, looking at the tricky topic of competition wargames, and more specifically explaining his theory that curing a few bad eggs (OK, getting a few bad eggs to follow his forthright and robust advice) would rehabilitate the image of the genre, or whether this idea, much like the idea of a cured egg, is just inherently whiffy.

There is a little more O-Group chat, some more ADLG:R feedback, an another obliquely onanistic theme tugs at the heartstrings in the return of Andy's Quiz. 

• Vallejo's Black & White Paint Set on Amazon
• Kaigun - The Japanese Navy book
• Wallenstein - weirdly animated 
• Museum Z-range Pseudo-Thracians

Yes, a rare in-the-field podcast in which a team of 3 (me, Dave from the Podcast and Mike) storm the beaches of Normandy to visit Bayeux, Le Havre, several seaside gun positions, Pegasus Bridge, Rouen and Dieppe whilst also finding time to fit in a bit of Norman-themed ADLG competition action in between numerous bouts of eating, drinking, discussing former Fulham players of the last decade, and many other regionally appropriate activities.

As such, sound quality is a little sketchy in some parts of this podcast, mainly on account of the fact a number of the individual segments were recorded on my phone in (or outside) various bars and restaurants in the Normandy heartland. 

The battle reports and tourism photos from this trip can all be found on the Madaxeman website and there is also a YouTube video version of this podcast which also includes all of the photos too. 

The latest in Madaxeman.com's regular L'Art de la Guerre Army List Building Podcast series focuses on another matched pair of historical foes - this time the Bulgars and the Byzantines.

The Bulgars were both enemies and allies of Byzantium in the near-ceaseless wars and feuds which swept across the Balkans in the period from roughly 600-1100AD.  In this Army List Building Podcast we look at both the Bulgar and the Nikeforian Byzantine army lists, and myself, Dave and Richard put forward three very different approaches to constructing, deploying and then using each of these lists to create varied and viable L'Art de La Guerre V3 army lists based on the historical forces of each of these military powers. 

As usual we also cover a brief bit of the history of these two competing empires, and chat about how to go about your figure purchases to help you on your way to successfully adding either (or both) of these two armies to your own collection.

This podcast is also available on YouTube, with loads of pictures of relevant figures.

All of the lists featured in the Podcast are also available on the ADLG Wiki on Madaxeman.com

You can also search for suitable figures on the 15mm Gallery on Madaxeman.com

In this week's 70th episode (and the 8th week of 2021's Lockdown) the team manages to hang on for almost two very solid hours indeed of chat, banter and lead-based quasi-entertainment without anyone storming off set at all (although to be fair we have no official weatherman on the team).

Making a fast start with an electrifying discussion on how best to wire an shock-giving glow-in-the-dark rat wheel we move seamlessly onto a segment about the fraught subject of mast erection glue strategies in which Warlord Games somewhat unusual Victory at Sea ship-basing conventions are critiqued and compared to wake-less alternatives.

The Biblical era then gets a proper look in as we debate whether there are really only 3 different biblical armies, and how easily can they be morphed into one another - and if it's possible to successfully ship the right lead for any or all of them in from the USA post-Brexit. Inevitably both Vic Reeves and Bob Marley both pop up here, as someone mentions the Uratu and Uvavu Dynasties in a segway to much Biblical Dub Reggae goodness.

Baccus 6mm (is that a scale...? Ed) American Civil War figures are then drooled over, as we all carefully consider whether The Band's Robbie Robertson was actually the prototype for one of the more hirsute Baccus ACW General figures. 

Then things go a little off the rails as we all have a long run up at pronouncing "Tlaxcallan" and consider whether buying an Aztec or Inca army is something any wargamer simply needs to do before they die (and whether it's possible to do so for less than the price of a new car).

With three purchasers around the microphone we also have an initial shufti at the new "O-Group" rules and cough up some first-look feedback on what seems to be (so far) a promising development in WW2 battallion-level gaming.

The episode then moves into full steam ahead mode as Adam yet again returns to the chair in I'm Sorry I Think You're An Arse to put forth his latest theories on why anyone who says "the hobby is greying, we need to do something about it" actually needs to get right back in their box (ideally quite quickly, as otherwise Adam may assist them in an overly proactive manner). 

Finally we of course round things off with a happy ending in Andy's Quiz as, paying tribute to another podcast's frequent and enthusiastic one-handed embrace of a ruleset-specific onanistic double-entendre, Andy treats us all to a trio of questions on the carefully-enunciated subject of "Pulling Rank". 

• Ian Heath's Aztec & Other Armies
• Sat July 31/Aug 1st - ADLG event at Entoyment in Bourneouth/Poole - 15mm & 25mm, more details to come soon!
• Tamsin's Blog - 6mm AWC
• Devon Self Catering Holidays 
• Fighting 15's Meso-American Army Packs

This week we hit the not-quite-70 mark with a whole slew of actual proper wargaming podcast-type content, including a discussion about how to cheat when painting tartan, Danish infantry coat colours, whether hobbits featured in the ACW, as well as a first look at the new O Group rules, a quick flirt with how to make money selling rats on eBay, what basing might look like in ADLG v4, the merits of waterslide vs LBMS transfers, and a chat about how big Victrix horses (and specifically their arses) actually are.

Normal service is resumed however when we get onto the topic of identifying suspicious badgers when they are in ambush, in a section in which Adam uses his newfound knowledge of honey badgers to make his pitch to replace David Attenborough in the BBC presenter roster. We also discuss gearing up for competitions again, how to buy cycle wheels succesfully, whether "Tirpitzness" is best as an adjective or an adverb, and how to paint eyes on small scale figures. 

In our regular features this week I'm Sorry I Think You're an Arse features a fully motivated Adam as he approaches the delicate subject of "wargames figure scales" with much the same finesse as a WW2-vintage M16 quad 20mm AA half track brings to the art of making an omlette..

The aftermath then leaves Andy's Quiz somewhat floundering as a quivering wreck on the floor, with Andy barely capable of coming up with a subject matter for this week's question. Instead he simply mutters the gnomic phrase "Words" before sloping off back into his techno dungeon in the heart of the French undergound Le Disco scene once again.

• Cheating with painting Tartan
• Kujo's Blog Video - Painting Tartan 
• Honey Badgers - They Don't Care

In this week's episode the full team contemplate the possibility of having to actually meet each other again in the real world as the route out of lockdown is revealed to a skeptical British public. All of the regular features return (or more precisely "both") with Dave this week taking the lead on ISITYAA with his unhinged rant about just how much mispronunciation is wrecking his wargaming life.

We also visit the drive-through and order a skeleton-bone mocha from Starbucks, the American Civil War Painting Catastrophe Waitress flirts with us all, we risk everything by entering into a pretty heavy covenant at a "Shield Reveal" party, reanimate the debate as to whether underfloor heating (rather than roads, or wine) was Rome's greatest legacy to the world, then there is a quite disturbing session in which we all wave our ball bearings at Adam, the recipe of the week this week is that old favourite, Essex Spaghetti, and it's time to saddle up and go all Lock-stock-and-two-smoking-barrels-down crazy as we tune into a new crime series, The Rise of the Sarf London 'Oplite Gang (to you chief) before finally Admiral Disco (or should that be "Le Disco" ?) makes an unwelcome appearance in Andy's Quiz

• Get your own Mega Mega Paint Shaker !
• Dan Beattie's Brandy Station Osprey book

(these are affiliate links - buy stuff through them and I get a teeny little kickback)

A dichotomy of a week this time as the by-now standard issue 7-pack of contributors accidentally engage in what in retrospect feels suspiciously like a sensible, nuanced and (sort of) well informed discussion about the merits and drawbacks of properly proportioned wargames figures, most notably 28mm Perry plastics and Mirliton 15mm metals during their reviews of the last weeks paint-table antics. 

That high point is quickly left behind though, with a delve into the prevalence of camels in early medieval England, considerations as to whether glue that doesn't stick is worth buying, a treatise on the economics of rescuing semi-dried paint tins, a tip-toe into unattributed US Paratrooper formations of the Indian Ocean periphery, a heated argument as to whether Skeleton Bone is the best colour for painting skeleton's bones, a chat about self-impaling techniques for both metal and plastic spears gets quickly spiked before we look into the idea of permanent rebasing as a way of life and finally round things off with a slipper-based bout of personal introspection interrupted only by a short diversion in which we bounce some small rocks and stones off of Peter's Gorilla-glued together hair helmet. 

We also have a surprisingly lengthy conversation where we try (with partial success) to tease the meaning out of the last two paragraphs on page 58 of the L'Art de la Guerre rulebook before diving straight into our by-now two regular features, Andy's Quiz and I'm Sorry, I Think You're an Arse

Tamsin's book recommendations:

• The Path of Infinite Sorrow - The Japanese on the Kokoda Trail
• D-Day New Guinea: The Extraordinary Story of the Battle for Lae and the Greatest Combined Airborne and Amphibious Operation of the Pacific War

(both are affilate links, so I get a small kickback from Amazon if you buy anything after clicking them) 

This weeks L'Art de la Guerre List Building Podcast is another episode in our "unloved matched pairs" sequence, featuring the Later Crusaders of Richard the Lionheart, and the Ayyubid army of his erstwhile opponent Saladin.

These two very different lists bring some astoundingly chalk and cheese-like capabillities to the tabletop. The headlong aggression of the Crusading knights in the Later Crusader list is tempered by the solidity of their stoic spear and crossbow-armed infantry, while the forces of Saladin can easily make full use of the entire width (and depth) of the playing surface with clouds of fast moving horse archers which serve to harass the enemy whilst always hiding the potential for a rapier-like counter-thrust from their wild Berber lancers. 

As is now habitual we also trot through the history of these armies, consider what to look for when undertaking a campaign of figure purchasing to assemble them in 15mm, and wrap this all up neatly around a discussion of how to design, deploy and use 6 very different lists (3 Later Crusader, 3 Ayyubid) from this intriguing historical diptych.

All 6 of the lists discussed are available on the Madaxeman ADLG Wiki, and this podcast can also be viewed on YouTube where you will be able to see the lists as we discuss them as well as a carousel of potentially relevant figures too. 

• Later Crusader
• Ayyubid Egyptian

Not one, but two whole brand new features slide onto the wet pallette of natter this week as the team extend their normal discursive discussion of painting and online shopping in a pair of new directions.

Padding out the timeline more than most features is a sometimes insightful but often meandering chat in which we all discuss how the concept of morale has evolved during our wargaming lifetimes from it's literal beginnings to its mostly abstracted present expression.

A whole new theme tune also hits the airwaves and heralds the debut of "I'm Sorry I Think You're an Arse!"

Dubbed "the antidote to informed discussion", this new regular feature will see one of the regular team putting forward a proposal to fix something which has been bugging them in the wargaming ecosystem for ages, after which the other panellists sometimes-brutally pick the theory apart, and decide whether there is indeed a a case that the correct response to the proposal is a polite but firm "I'm Sorry, I Think You're an Arse!" 

Of course there is painting chat-plenty too, with the Osmonds nearly getting a rare namecheck as we talk about Tiny Horses, the Ottomaniazation of artillery carries on apace, Winged Hussars appear in such countless multitudes that a murmuration of Hussars becomes a distinct possibility, a quick spot of "Is that a catcus on your head or are you just the punchline to a joke we haven't worked out yet?" happens, an excitingly erudite internet-fuelled dive into analyzing the difference between frilly epaulettes, piratey parrots and just a bit of flash fills some time, and we chill to the thought of dope smoking musketeers in the Battle of the Boyne, go green at the thought of a load more 10mm WW2 goodness and, of course, there is Andy's Quiz.

This week also features a pretty solid post-credits blooper roll or two, so whether you listen to the end or just skim through it, we will still end on a high note!

• 10mm WW2 British
• Epaulets on Spotify
• Dutch Police 
• Hussar!

"Nice beret sir!"

The Ancients Britons together with the Caledonians, Scots, Irish and Picts are armies that many wargamers will keep a special place for close to their hearts, but also which they will keep an equally special place for securely tucked away in the storage drawer as a result of their often underwhelming reputation on the tabletop.

In this Army List Building Podcast the regular team try and pick the juicy bits out of these two L'Art de la Guerre army lists 98 & 99, and in the process manage to come up with surprisingly varied set of approaches to help make viable and interesting lists from these oft-overlooked historical classics. 

We also take a quick jaunt through the history of the period, discuss the merits of the individual troop types which make them up, and speculate on why the lists have been organised as they are in the book. 

The army lists in this Podcast all appear on the Madaxeman website in the ADLG Wiki, and a video version of the podcast is also available on the Madaxeman YouTube channel complete with photos of relevant 15mm figures.

With all seven particiants now itching to "jab and go" (or, possibly just "itching"), the third Lockdown sees the Lockdown Podcast series lumber into Episode 63 territory as the complete suite of contributors yet again step up to the painting microphones.

This week's range of eclectic topics cover the full gamut of land, sea and air (but without air) as we discuss whether anyone has actually played Cruel Seas more than once, decide if Victrix' Shermans might not actually be "too good", take great care when Googling for "flocking videos", plug ourselves firmly into the debate as to which static grass is best for low voltage application, run out of entirely new ways to spell Landsnechts, try to avoid rejoicing too obviously that Tamsin is getting back on the painting hobby horse, debate whether Baccus 6mm ACW are more detailed than Warlord's 13.5mm troopers, go back in time to an era before spray cans existed, build a fully functioning cowboy village out of purple teddy bear fur, and try to teach a number of relatively small children just how life affirming immersing oneself fully in a bath of pro-Polish Swedish death metal can prove to be in later life.

• Sabaton - Winged Hussars
• Little ships on Madaxeman
• Luke Towan's terrain channel on YouTube
• Geek Gaming Scenics on YouTube

A classic "matched pair" of armies in this week's L'Art de la Guerre List Building Podcast from Madaxeman.com as I'm joined by regular guests Richard & Dave to run the rule over these two famous medieval behemoths. 

Will it be massed longbowmen who come out on top, or will the flower of French Chivalry (and Joan d'Arc) catch the list-makers eye as we delve deep into how to make these armies into not only Crecy-winners but proper world-beaters as well.

There are 7 different lists going under the microsocope this week, all of which as usual can be found in the Madaxeman  ADLG Wiki and also on the accompanying YouTube video which has plenty of pictures of figures as well. 

We also delve into the history around these armies at this pivotal point in the creation of both France and England. 

The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ (King Henry, Act 3 Scene 1)

The only wargames podcast to tell you all you ever wanted to know about waterfly larvae returns with a springtime  Easter (Not All That) Special episode in which we execute the usual discursive tour through a multitude of topics, asking all of the key questions including;

• Just how much are plastic figures nowadays?
• Who makes the best Byzantines and why is it Aventine?
• Are two packets enough to count as a new range?
• Salute! Where to go, How to get there, What to buy, and most important When to roll up at the door

There's also a taster for the French Competition special edition Podcast coming soon, lots of chat about gaming in the Roman Pond, a 3 month-long 3D printing odessey, the return of the wooden horse, tourism in Caen Castle, the lack of updates for the audio guide to the Bayeux Tapestry, a chat about whether Cataphract Camels can restore your mojo, and we also find out what exactly happened when Don Juan, Admiral Nelson, and Octavia walked into a bar.

As usual, some of the stuff we talk about can also be found on:

• Tamsins Blog
• Madaxeman.com

In this weeks snow-tinged smorgasbord of wargaming and painting chitchat the team wrap up warm in their eskimo boots to cover topics as diverse as painting horses, working out the best rules mechanics for simulating uncontested airport construction on Indian Ocean Islands, toss out a rare wargaming-related namecheck for Canadian songstress Shania Twain, take in some single file wargaming with Osprey's latest title "Deep Jungle B-Road Warfare 1939-45", stage a vaguely useful segment on painting WW2 German tank cammo in 10mm scale, look far too deeply into Zvezda Zwiehander flag painting and how best to combine it with undercoating strategies for the undead, argue fiercely over the best paint to use for tank track colours of the Wermacht, witness a fleeting return of the gold undercoating strategy, untether the MicroSol / Microset debate from reality, decide to let Adam's wife resolve the timeless Hobgoblin or Spitfire debate and chunter on for far to long as to whether weather rules are worth bothering with in wargames rules.

There is of course also Andy's Quiz, and, more importantly, Andy's Quiz Music as well 

• German Cammo Painting
• Cyrus Mobile Towers 
• Dave's Instagram 
• Leave feedback for us on iTunes
• Shop for Microsol & Microset on Amazon UK
• Shop for Hobgoblin beers on Amazon UK  
• Shop for Spitfire beers on Amazon UK
  • (these three are affiliate links)-

With UK Lockdown III in full effect, and seemingly due to continue well into March (at best), the Lockdown Podcast team are reassembled in a sequel that no-one was clamouring for.

Fear not however - in the 6 weeks since December 11th (when the last Lockdown Pod was published) the intrepid 7 have gained absolutely nothing in terms of insight, polish, erudition or knowledge worth sharing, and so this landmark 60th episode of the Madaxeman Podcast carries on pretty much exactly where the last one left off.

In this week's new year smorgasbord of wargaming irrelevance we share the shocking truth about Lord Cadbury's little-known role as Charlton Heston's stunt double during the Spanish Reconquista, speculate on how much more popular chess might be if only someone would increase the "luck" element of the game, reveal the surprisingly shallow depths of knowledge we all possess in relation to South American riverine warfare in the 19th Century, debate whether the Landesnechts dressmaker used an Excel spreadsheet, and - most importantly - talk at quite some length indeed about Yorkshire Puddings.

There is also the return of Andy's Quiz, including some month-old answers and some fresh new questions, the regular painting and gaming chit-chat, and a well-worth-waiting-for "out-take" to listen to after the credits roll. 

We're here every week - until someone lets us out. 

• Dredd vs Death on Wargaming Girl 
• 15mm Hoplites and stuff on Madaxeman

The first Byzantine (or perhaps the last "Roman") list in ADLG's roster of armies is one which covers some of the Empires greatest victories, and which spans the career of one of their greatest generals, Belisarius. 

But despite that historic success the Justinians are often overlooked, especially when set against other, later Byzantine lists which can be stuffed with many more interesting wargamer-friendly exotic troop types! This video podcast seeks to redress that balance a little, digging into what on the surface can look like the slim pickings of choice in the Justinian list. 

As usual I'm joined by Richard and Dave as we look at 4 separate Justinian lists, all quite different in their utilization and design, as well as delving into the military history of this "last of the Romans" army before finally taking a quick trot through the many different options for buying the right figures to build your own army on the tabletop. 

This podcast is also available as a video podcast with images of Byzantine figures on the Madaxeman YouTube Channel, and there is also a pre-set battle featuring two of the lists available on Tabletop Simulator that you and a friend can play them against each other and compare them in action yourself! 

The lists featured in this video can be found on the Madaxeman ADLG Wiki.

Featuring highly on anyone's "first army to collect" shopping list, the Camillan and Republican Roman armies always seem to flatter to deceive.

The legendary Legions provide a powerful core to the army, but the relative paucity of support troops and the seemingly unavoidable need to go infantry-first in any design can make these challenging lists to construct and play with succesfully.

This ADLG listbuilding podcast helps you face that challenge head-on as I'm joined again by Dave Saunders & Richard Case to look at 3 different ways of constructing, deploying and playing each of these two lists, as well as having a quick canter through a bit of their history as well.

All 6 lists are posted on the ADLG Wiki on Madaxeman.com, and the video version on YouTube also features loads of photos of Roman figures in 15mm from the Madaxeman Photo Gallery.

Despite being very much the textbook Classical era warrior, Hoplites often suffer from being the baseline 'man with sharp stick' troop-type who's battlefield capabilities underpin a vast array of far more interestingly-armed and equipped infantrymen in the troop-type taxonomy of ADLG, and indeed in many other previous rulesets as well. 

This ADLG Listbuilding Podcast seeks to pan for gold amongst the broken pottery shards of Greek military history, and in so doing possibly tease out a few different ways of cooking up interesting and viable Hoplite-led army lists to use when playing ADLG in the Classical era.

Regular contributors Dave & Richard are here to take up the challenge as we set ourselves the task of building an array of different lists, all featuring a minimum of 12 Classical-era Hoplites, as well as discussing a bit of the history (real and "ancients-gaming") of the archetypal Hellenistic warrior.

This video is also available as a Video podcast (with pictures of figures) on the Madaxeman YouTube Channel.

(Museum Miniatures 15mm Hoplites from the Madaxeman Photo Gallery)

Pulling together a Classical Indian army list for L'Art de la Guerre is often seen as a rather formulaic exercise, with a widely held view that there is only one real way of cobbling together, deploying and using the army.

This Madaxeman List Building Podcast, with regular contributors Dave & Richard, looks into whether it is possible to blow that set of cliches wide open, helping you pull together a number of different, interesting Indian lists, and discussing how to use them to play proactively on the tabletop under ADLG rules.

The team also discuss a bit of history behind these lists, and talk about some of the places you can buy relevant figures in 15mm

This Podcast also exists as YouTube video with loads of photos of Indian figures.

Having snuck in a bonus army-themed podcast last week our half-hearted festivities are now brought to you as Episode 55. in possibly the least festive "Wargaming Christmas Special" ever committed to a digital recording medium.

This week the intrepid band of coughing witterers open a suitably disappointing set of conversational presents from under the podcast tree. The surprise packages include The (literal) Army of Cheese, whether running machines with ashtrays were ever a thing (outside of that one episode of Minder), if faking malingering illness could become the next competition circuit, just how dangerous is electrostatic wet grass, does it really count if you buy a whole army by accident, the fall of the Damned Dynasty, how much gravy should you have when taking Sunday lunch with the Pub Landlord, who wants a tank gift, and (in what could end up being a new gameshow segment) Who's Gaff Is It Anyway?

On the Festive theme, we also recommend for you over the next few weeks:

• Other Podcasts to listen to
• Computer Games to maybe buy at Christmas 
• Which websites are managing to survive in the age of Facebook & Twitter 

This week Andy's Quiz is also all about Going Down - a rare double-entendre in the only gaming-themed podcast that still manages to ease gently into all of those crevices.

We'll be taking a break now until the new year (unless we all get really bored once London gets put in Tier 3), but watch out for a random smattering of army-themed secials on Podbean and YouTube which may yet emerge from between the sprout-stained pages of the Radio Times over the next couple of weeks.

In this special one-off Podcast episode I'm joined by Dave Saunders and Richard Case to chew over one of the classic Successor armies - the Seleucids.

In the pod we chat a bit about the history of the Seleucid dynasty, why they seemed to end up with quite such a good collection of toys in their armies, and then consider as many as 8 different options for putting the list together.

Unfortunately we did have some recording issues with this one, so the sound is a bit spotty in places and it also ends a bit abruptly, but there's still plenty of list-building chat and playstyle suggestions for you to get your teeth into and help you get your own top- of- the-line Successor army onto the table. 

This podcast also has a video version to watch on the Madaxeman YouTube Channel.

As the festive vaccination season looms large in the minds of wargamers around the world, the podcast team are back with all of the usual painting, gaming and Gallic techno-driven military themed obscure general knowledge to fill your early December weekends and evenings as well as another honest to goodness actual discussion about a topic which seems to be on everyone's Christmas list, why are wargamers more obsessed with the price of a figure than the quality? 

There's also a quick diversion into airbrushing, a cough-assessment section (no, not like that..), a fairly comprehensive listing of those world museums displaying collections of "stand alone" military legs, many admissions of accidental purchasing, and a lengthy almost-feature on how to make an old rusty skip look like an old rusty skip using hairspray and fake rubble. 

• The Rusty Skip Tutorial on Tamsin's Blog
• 15mm Figure Prices downloadable pdf
• 25/28mm Figure Prices downloadable pdf
•  

With the UK gripped in a weird interim world of pseudo-lockdown the entire team reconvene again this week to chat through the usual mix of painting and gaming, before running riot with a freewheeling exploration of the different basing techniques they all deploy to try and make their figures look better than they really are from "wargaming distances".*

As well as enticing talk of flocking and slathering on gritty emulsions there is a potentially dangerous liason with the entire concept of Assyrian Relief, a rare and unusual mention for Nigella Lawson, further consideration as to whether size actually isn't everything when it comes to tiny toy tanks, a diverting foray into YMCA with the Imperial Roman Artillery Corps before ending with a bit of "oh la lah" to the Sound of Music in Andy's Quiz.

This weeks episode also comes with a mini-video teaser snippet, which can be accessed on the Madaxeman Video Channel

*  Apart from Tamsin, of course. 

After a lengthy hiatus almost all of the podcast team return for a daffodil-sprouting episode at the very start of March 2023. 

Despite the absence of any badger-related content, we do manage to cover shopping expeditions (online and in real life), take a diversion into discussing the merits of Siocast/Warlord Resin/"I Can't believe It's Not Called Airfix" plastic figures, get into a bit of Spartacan slap-chop via an azimuth spray disaster, go all Judge Dredd, barely mention cricket nets, explain to Adam what he's been missing all this time as a sidebar to the great "Amos vs Drummer - Who's The Expanse's Greatest Ever Character (and why it's obviously Drummer)" debate, talk about castles in Spain and why the second most successful Berber invasion of the Iberian Peninsula landed in Valencia instead of Alicante, have a peek at Andy's trophy haul and (eventually) learn how he ended up out of pocket after accidentally buying his own birthday presents from his wife.

And there's a return for Andy's Quiz, with a brand new Two Ronnies-style twist this week as we accidentally give you the answers to the questions from the episode before last.

As usual the stuff we talk about can be seen here:

• Tamsin's Blog 
• Spartacus Painted
• Xativa Castle
• Sonic Sledgehammer's YouTube Channel (yep, that's who we meant!)

In this week's podcast the full team trot out again onto the pitch for a wholesome kickabout that starts with a rapid application of nail varnish, moves seamlessly onto (in possibly the closest we've ever come to a proper review) the merits of small plastic tanks, floats a long ball out to the right wing under somewhere between 2 and 3 bars of pressure, crosses it back into the middle to yell "Margaret!" in a note-perfect tabletop recreation of the Pirate Memory Game, nod it into the 6 yard box with a bit of ADLG:R and ends up slamming it into the back of the net whilst gardening at sea in an entirely unusual addition to Andy's Quiz.

As well as all this nonsense we even have time to fit in a lengthy and lateral-thinking discussion of a topic that most other wargames podcasts covered several weeks ago - Are Big Battles a Thing of the Past? 

Next week we aim to raise the bar even higher (although our aperture will probably remain unchanged at 0.2mm) with a chat about basing techniques.

With the half-century now achieved the regular team opt to celebrate this milestone by completely forgetting to plan anything different at all to the usual chat about what they have painted, what they might be thinking of painting, and dad-dancing along on Zoom to Andy's quiz music.

This week the topics covered include a far deeper delve into the world of miniature trowels than many independent observers thought possible, contemporary fashion trends in Wurttemburger collars and cuffs, the use of biological agents as strippers, how discounts at Victrix can cost more than they save, whether 8 units of legionaries are too many, what might happen if the Franks are ever finished and if the world is truly ready for painted badger shields in 15mm.

In addition, this week's episode includes an "in memoriam" section in which we share stories of our CLWC clubmate and long-time wargamer Clive McLeod, who sadly passed away last week at the too-early age of 64. Clive's family have suggested the British Heart Foundation as a suitable charity for those of you who knew Clive and may wish to make a charitable donation in his memory.

• British Heart Foundation Donations page 
• Tamsin's 15mm "Infamy Infamy" Leaders
• 28mm Arab Cavalry on Madaxeman.com
• Get 20% off everything at Victrix by ordering using this link

With a proper Lockdown sweeping the UK, the Madaxeman team return after a 2-week boiler-related hiatus with a typically rambling episode combining painting chat, Andy's Quiz and a barely in-depth look at the history behind the Late Imperial Roman army, and which are the best manufacturers to choose when cooking one up on the tabletop. 

In between these vitally important topics we also cover the ethics of using an elephant brush on a horses' ass, how to wargame the long-awaited Schwarzenegger-Dredd crossover movie, how Dave blagged his way into UCL by claiming to speak fluent Barkerese, we hand out some freebies from Martin at Vexillia, and finally the much-trailed Australian Love Egg expose is, erm, exposed.

Welcome back to Lockdown - especially as you do now know that you have got nothing better to do than listen to this podcast whilst painting figures that you'll not deploy until next Spring. 

Links to items mentioned in the Pod (available on the Madaxeman Podbean page)

• The Black Guard on Madaxeman
• Urban Carnage on Wargaming Girl 
• Dave's Late Romans on Instagram
• Armies & Enemies of Imperial Rome on eBay (affiliate link)
• Charlemagne in the THS universe

Inbetween the all important haberdashery and specialist scissor purchasing news this week the full team manage to sneak in another unstructured ramble to try and answer your key questions of the day, including whether Not the Nine O'clock News comedy sketches are still relevant, the ins and outs of International Fighting online, how Tier 3 Socially Distanced Competitions work in an age of free tea, why everyone is going to be going Aechemenid-mad in the new year, do Monster Munch baps count as a full meal, will we all be getting Osprey's latest "Polish Beret vs German Feldcappen" release, and of course there is also Andy's Quiz with the big reveal of his "privates" questions from last week.

There is also a freebie on offer this week courtesy of Martin at Vexillia. The question is embedded in the podcast somewhere, so if you manage to make it that far (and know the answer..) please send in your answer to podcast@madaxeman.com for a chance to win a great set of game tokens posted to you free, wherever you are in the world!

• The NTNOCN Hi-Fi Shop sketch
• Tamsin's week of painting
• Madaxeman Video battle report

Those Books on the Wurttembergers

• Fearless and Loyal: A History of the Wurttemberg Army 1792 - 1815 (David Zumsteg)
• Swords around a Throne (John R. R. Elting)
• With Eagles to Glory (Gill John H)

(These 3 are Affiliate links. If you click them and buy something I get a teeny kickback from Amazon)