When the web was young one man stood for all that was good and proper and British!

And his name was .......................

Major General Tremorden Redderring.

I discovered The Major General's site about an hour after first logging on the the internet - probably from the local library - something like that, it was a long time ago. I fell under the spell of that eclectic eccentric at once, and remain there to this day. What makes the Redderring so good is that it is clear from the outset that he and his mates are also having loads of fun. Their games take place in a fictional late 19th Century colonial setting - Ouragistan, and vary from game to game from "straight" Colonial gaming to some rather more VSF (Victorian Science Fiction) - Steam Punk before we knew what that was.

In many ways he reminds me forcibly of Richard Clarke of Two Fat Lardies fame - he likes to tell a story with his games. Actually it was listening to the Lord of Lard on a recent podcast that made me look up old Rederring again, as Rich was musing as he does about the difference between the beautiful staged photos in our War Games magazines, compared to the stuff on our table. Clarkie is no mean brushman himself, but as he said, we shouldn't be put off because our toys are pedestrian compared to the stuff in the magazines.  And he has a point. The Major General was firmly in the "good enough for the table" category too (some stuff was beautiful) but also him and his group of friends who he played with also shared a lot with TFL  they have vision and style. They also liked to "go large", something we seem to be in danger of losing in a world of a dozen figures a side on a 3x3 table.

Sadly the Major General's site is no more, but thanks to the amazing scientific advances and the Mackintosh Patent Galvanic Analytical Engine you can still find a facsimile preserved here HERE , frozen in time from 2006.

Have a look - you wont regret it, but you will need your stiff upper lip and pith helmet :-)

What is even more surprising is the Major General is in fact an American named David Helber. Who would have thought it? I'd like to take the opportunity to thank him for the inspirational stuff he produced (and also curse him because as a direct result of his damned games I still have a box of bits that will one day become an HM Landship but til then is taking up storage space in my loft). Fine chap.

and I hope he doesnt mind me pinching the portrait ............