The Sneak of Paphos

A long, long time ago, when I was but a lad, I used to collect wargames magazines. In those pre-internet days this was the main way of keeping abreast of what was going on in the wider world of wargaming and each magazine was eagerly scoured for ideas and inspiration. With the onset of the digital age, wargames magazines seem to have become less relevant and it’s easier and quicker to get ones ‘fix’ via the internet. It also became apparent that I was disappearing under a mountain of paper, consisting largely of magazines that I no longer read. So, five or six years ago, I decided to just get rid of them. However, being possessed off the ‘collecting gene’ I couldn’t bear to ditch all of them, so kept only those that contained something potentially useful (probably only about 20% or even less).

One magazine article I did keep was my favourite ever article – I think it was in ‘Wargames Illustrated’ but can’t seem to lay my hands on it at the moment. The aforementioned article was entitled ‘The Sneak of the Sudan’ and was a humorous account of two friends' exploits wargaming the Mahdist revolt. One of the themes running throughout the article was how their friendly rivalry and attempts to outdo each other led to a sort of arms race, resulting in the building of gunboats and the secret painting of armies when on holiday – aka chalet painting.

The Mahdi - the original Sneak of the Sudan?

The idea of the two gamers egging each other on still makes me chortle; that is until I realised that I have been the subject of a ‘sneak’. So consider this. About this time last year I was happily painting 28mm Napoleonic figures for my Sharp Practice project. Then I went on holiday and came over all ‘Bronze Age’. Now this wasn’t helped by a certain person who shall remain nameless, but we shall refer to him as Uriah, challenging me to paint up an army by Easter. Well Easter has come and gone and I did in fact paint up 2 armies, although the second one is not quite finished. So it’s back to the Napoleonics then? Hmmm…………..not quite. I’m now painting Late Romans for a Barbarian Conspiracy campaign; suggested by a certain Uriah no less.

The Sneak of Paphos

To make matters worse, whilst I paint up the required figures, Uriah has suggested we try out ‘The Men Who Would Be Kings’ colonial rules – and jolly good fun they are too. So far we have had about 3 games set in the Sudan; can you see a theme here? Uriah has also shown how the required forces can be assembled fairly cheaply using a combination of 1/72 scale plastics and 20mm figures. Not only that but he also pointed out that Newline have a summer sale on. So here I find myself, the day before I go on holiday, having just ordered myself a 20mm starter force for the Sudan. OK I may be weak willed but what sort of sneak would take advantage of that?