Big Picture - Tiger 131

Today is Tiger Day and I'm in Bovington visiting an old friend. Tiger 131, the only working original Tiger Tank in the world. Its just been restored (for the second time) and should be in fine running order for today's display. 

Tiger 131 on display at Tankfest in 2010

Scars on the gun barrel and mantlet from the lucky shot that jammed the turret and disabled the Tiger. 

I'm also hoping to cross paths with another old friend while I'm at the museum. Richard Smith, the museums Director is an old work college of mine. We both worked in the same office at P&O many moons ago and it was quite a surprise when I found out that he now worked at my favourite museum. We met up at Tankfest 2010 and we've crossed paths on subsequent visits so it'll be good to catch up and say hello again.

All tired out

Day 1 of my BIG weekend is over and I'm utterly exhausted already. Today Ray and I went to the D-Day museum in Portsmouth then went on to the site of some embarkation beaches on the end of the New Forest. I've downloaded all my pictures but it will take a few days to sort through the mass and label them properly. In the meantime here's a taster!

Replica of the SHAEF wallmap in Southwick House

Tomorrow is Tiger Day at Bovington and its another early start. I'll try and get some pictures up as soon as possible but I suspect this weekend will take most of next week to recover from!

Feeling Better

I've been a bit under the weather for a few days so not a lot has been done on the painting front. A nasty stomach bug struck me Sunday Evening and has been trying its best to ruin my week. Fortunately it looks like I have finally got the best of the nasty single celled beasties and I'll be in good condition for my weekend road-trip.

I was feeling quite low yesterday but struggled on into work because I still had a load to do before my weekend off. When I got home there on my doormat was a little white envelope, and inside three tickets to Salute 2012. I instantly felt much better...take that stomach bugs!

PzKpfw VI Ausf E - Tiger

I'm heading off to Dorset on Friday in preparation for Tiger Day at the Tank Museum. My Brother-in-Law Ray and I have Premium Tickets so as well as getting to see the museums Tiger strut it stuff in the arena we also have VIP access to the tank and the restoration team. Needless to say we are very excited about this event and in anticipation I decided to paint a Tiger IE from the 15mm Flames of War range.

A Lone Tiger IE stalks the battlefield

This particular model is the Tiger from the Wittmann box set (GBX16) although I have painted it as a stand alone vehicle just for fun. It doesn't fit into my current Army List but I may give this beast a little run round the games table on it's own just to see how it does against a dozen or so Sherman's.

Close-up of the commanders Coupala

The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf E (Sd Kfz 181) known as the Tiger was feared by the Allies far in excess of its actual battlefield presence. Only 1,347 were built between 1942-45 with most of those destined for the eastern Front. Facing the Allied invasion forces in Normandy there were only three German schwere Panzer Abteilung equipped with Tiger I's.

Pz.Abt. 503 transferred to Normandy with 33 Tiger I's in early July 1944
Pz.Abt. 101 reached Normandy in early June 1944 with a maximum compliment of 45 Tiger I's
Pz.Abt. 102 was transferred to Normandy with 45 Tiger I, reaching action in early July.

In addition the Panzer Lehr Division had ten Tiger I's but its likely that a maximum of 8 were operational at the beginning of June 1944. So at most there were just 133 Tiger 's in Normandy in June-July 1944 and in all probability far fewer at any given time due to mechanical issues or combat attrition.

The Tiger rotates its turret towards another unfortunate target

The real reason for the Tigers formidable reputation (a reputation that made every German tank a Tiger in allied tankers eyes) was it's gun. The 8.8 cm Kampfwagenkanone 36 L/56 was amongst the most effective and feared tank guns of its time. It had a very high muzzle velocity (over 3000 ft/s when firing armour piercing rounds) which gave it a very flat trajectory which in turn made it very accurate.

The Tiger I was notoriously unreliable, although many of the early problems had been ironed out by the time of the Normandy campaign. Its real undoing however was its build quality and the price tag that went with it. In simple terms the Tiger used nearly double the manpower and material to build than the smaller more reliable Panzer IV. There is no doubt that the Tiger I was a formidable design but with only 1,347 built it would always be outnumbered by smaller cheaper tanks like the Sherman (58,000 built) or the T-34 (36,000 built).

Tiger IE passing the larger Konigstiger

Big Picture - Cloudships

I was looking through my old photo's and came across this picture of the Cloudships of Mars game from the 2006 Salute show at Excel. It was a participation game run by the South London Warlords and really made good use of the space available to them in their 'new' venue in docklands. This was actually the games third outing, having previously been been at Salute 05 and at Selwg 05.

Its worth taking a look at the South London Warlords pages for this game because there is loads of info available on the rules, the setting and the inspiration. This was one of those participation games that I look back at now and kick myself for not having taken part.

Wargames Illustrated - 294

My copy of WI294 arrived in the post yesterday. The latest issue of Wargames Illustrated is previewed on the Battlefront website but here are my personal highlights from the issue.

For a start I love the cover. You gotta love a Sherman. I think most people would agree with that (and if not, you need to see a shrink!). But if you are not a Battlefront fan you may find this issue off-putting as the main theme is the new release, Blood, Guts and Glory. There are two main articles linked to the theme, both of which I enjoyed because they are tank oriented! Personally I'm not about to rush out to buy this supplement but I did enjoy reading the articles. As always the Magazine is rich with eye candy and ticks all my boxes on that score.

Aside from the obvious FOW content there is also an interesting article on a new WWII Skirmish game designed with 54mm models in mind but can be adapted for 20mm or 25/28mm figures. This is an article written by the games designer so I'll be interested to see what other non-partisan reviews say about this new rule system, but at first glance it looks interesting.

This months issue sees the beginning of a new regular series by the painter Matt Parks. A regular spot for painting tutorials has been one of the things missing from this magazine over the last couple of years and I think its inclusion compliments the already established How to build... series. This first article is aimed at the basics but the scope for this series is huge and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes over the next few months.

Fire and Fury at Broadside

For a change I'm not talking about FoW but this time the Fire and Fury rulebook. I've played this rule-set several times with the Rejects but only recently bought the rulebook (I picked it up at Cavalier a couple of weeks ago). My motivation for this rash act? Posties Rejects are planning on running a display game at Broadside later in the year.

I don't think Postie has picked a historical battle to recreate yet but given his wargaming megalomania I'm sure it will feature lots of figures. The plan is to play test the scenario the day after Salute so we can iron out any problems, decide on last minute changes to terrain or Orders of Battle etc.. The Angry Lurker has also told me we will also be playing host to a couple of Canadian bloggers (Curt of Analogue Hobbies and Dallas from the Fawcett Ave Conscripts) who are coming over for Salute so I hope we put on a good game for them!

The first game I ever played with the Rejects was a fictional ACW engagement using the Fire and Fury rules. At that time I'd not really wargamed for years and I certainly hadn't seen or read this rule-set before. Despite this the rules for that first battle seemed straightforward and deceptively simple. Having now bought (and read!) the rulebook I can say the rules really are as easy as they seemed in that first game. Personally I don't think that's a bad thing as it means players can concentrate on the small matter of tactics!

I'll post more information about the Broadside display game in due course but needless to say I'm really looking forward to this.

Jolly Good Service

The Flames of War 3rd Edition Rulebook in Hardback was released on the 10th March and I was hoping to pick up a copy at the Skirmish show on the Sunday. I knew that my FLGS would be in attendance and that they usually bring plenty of stock to these events. Unfortunately they hadn't had their copies in so I decided to visit the shop a week later after their next delivery. But when I called in they still hadn't had the delivery and couldn't confirm when they would get it. They were apologetic but frankly didn't seem all that worried, perhaps because they still had several copies of the 2nd edition rules on sale!

This is the point my willpower broke down and I hit the Internet instead. I found several retailers selling copies online but in the end opted for one I have used several times before, Empire Game Store. Although they are based in Kings Lynn (over 100 miles from where I live) they are fast becoming my FLGS.

I placed my order about midday yesterday and less than 24hrs later I have the rulebooks in my hands. Now that's amazing service in anyone's book, and I didn't even have to pay for delivery! So this is a big shout out to Matt at Empire Games to say cheers and thanks for the truly amazing service!

Dead Cows!

Normandy 1944 and the drone of aircraft cannot drown the noise of 15 inch shells ripping across the sky towards targets inland. The Overlord invasion fleet is supported by 17 cruisers and battleships whose massive guns are now trained on land based targets. The thunderous noise of their bombardment rolls up and down the coast cloaking the land in dust and smoke. The shells detonate large minefields, knock out defensive positions and flip 40 ton tanks in the air like toys. The shock waves also wipe out whole herds of cattle in their fields leaving little or no evidence of what killed them.

The image of dead and bloated cattle in the fields of Normandy is one that crops up time and again in old photographs. Its also been used several times in war films such as Saving Private Ryan and the HBO series Band of Brothers. They have no in-game significance or special rules (at least not in FOW) but I decided to buy some as 'set-dressing' for my Normandy tabletop. These models are made by Peter Pig from their scenery range and cost just £2.60 for six deceased bovine's.

The traditional Norman cow is reddish brown and white, although there can be enormous variation in patterning from one cow to another. There is an excellent guide to painting these very models on the Model Dads Blog here.

The breed has its origin in cattle that were brought to Normandy by the Viking conquerors in the 9th and 10th centuries. They are dual-purpose cattle and provide rich milk for the French cheese industry while their large stocky frames mean they are also valued for their meat.

The Normande cow was decimated by the Allied invasion and almost died out as competing breeds were brought into the area after the war. However the breed has made a comeback and it is estimated there are now 3 million in Northern France.

Distractions and Prevarication

I'm easily distracted and need little or no excuse to prevaricate while working on a large project. Such has been the fate of my US Parachute Rifle Company. I started this project with a big fanfare back in November and it's still sitting unfinished on my desk! I've not been completely idle but I have found it harder to make progress with this project than I have to start new stuff. Indeed a whole succession of other projects have crossed my desk in the last few months.

I'm nearly finished a couple of minor projects and I hope to have some pictures of at least one of them up tomorrow. Then I really really ought to get on with my airborne Company. I'll be taking them into work one Platoon at a time in the hope that breaking the task down into smaller sections will make it seem less daunting. That's the Plan anyway, but as the old military axiom goes "no plan survives contact with the enemy"... or maybe in my case it should be "no plan survives contact with my lead mountain".

Big Picture - 48 Stars

This is the latest addition to the Newlyn Collection. Ray bought this U.S. flag at a collectors fair recently and I have to say its a lovely find. The 48 Star Flag came into being in 1912, with the addition of New Mexico and Arizona to the Union. It was official for 47 years, longer than any other U.S. flag, and was used during both World Wars. Eight Presidents served under this flag, the last being Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Ray in his Man Cave with his new flag

Ray's collection is growing all the time yet somehow he still fits it inside one tiny room. Either he has a secret stash somewhere else or he's started tunneling!

Error 404 - Game Not Found

Another Friday game night and another no-show.... sigh. The Delvers were due to gather tonight to continue our long (so long) standing 4e campaign. Its just occurred to me that if we keep going at this speed it is quite possible that we will have played a single campaign for the entire lifespan of this edition of the rules! Of course that's becoming increasingly easier as the period between new editions gets shorter and shorter...but that's another issue!

The cancelled game is unavoidable (the EvilGM is away on business) but it's damn frustrating. It's a bit late notice to throw something else together so the evening has sort of fizzed out. Of course the up side is that it is now 'open season' on the GM. He can hardly cancel at such late notice and not expect some pee-taking!

So it looks like I'll be sitting at home alone and twiddling my thumbs like Billy-no-mates...

Or I guess I could just get on with the half dozen painting projects that litter my desk.

What was I thinking?!?

I'm an idiot, and a cheep one at that. I've made a colossal blunder and the only positive is the fact that I didn't spend a fortune on it. None the less I'm miffed at my stupidity and consider myself suitably chastised by my failure. So what did I do wrong? I bought Games Workshop brushes instead of sticking with my normal Winsor and Newton series 7's. Uuugh...I feel dirty just admitting it!

"The Stupid, It Burns" by Ahren Paulson

Back in January I wrote about my Mobile Painting Kit which I had put together to use in work or when travelling for my job. When I used the kit on my last trip I took my trusty Winsor and Newton's with me but decided I really ought to buy a set of brushes specifically for my travel box. But I baulked at the thought of spending £50 on a new set of brushes and stupidly opted for a set from Games Workshop instead. After just a couple of uses I can honestly say they are utter cr*p, the worst brushes I have ever owned.

I've only had them a week and I'm ready to throw the lot in the bin. None of them keep a point and even the 'fine detail' brush is like painting with a wallpaper brush. After just a couple of uses hairs are falling out and those that are left are forked or splayed. The tip needs constant grooming to return to something resembling a point. Their paint retention is OK but the hairs are so loose most of the pigment seems to soak into the ferrule making the splayed hairs even worse.

I hate to say this about myself but I am thick, thick, thickity, thick. There's little else I can say about this other than to beg forgiveness from the gods of painting and make a solemn promise not to do it again.

Warhammer Warriors on the BBC

I wasn't going to post anything about this article on the BBC Website when I first read it this morning. It wasn't a great article although I have read more condescending or even openly hostile pieces many times. The tone of this one was just a little mocking, almost as if the author was embarrassed to realise she actually found she wanted to join in the game. I read it over breakfast this morning and filed it away under the heading 'mostly neutral'.

Warhammer Warriors by Samira Ahmed   

My mistake was to go back to the BBC site several hours later and read the comments that were being posted about the subject by readers of the BBC website. Many were positive and constructive and not all were by existing players or spotty faced teenagers. But there were also a significant number of posts that were distinctly aggressive and defamatory in tone. In fact I reported one comment to the BBC moderators because I felt that if the author had used the word blacks or Asians instead of wargamer's his post would have been considered racist, inflammatory and inciting hate crime. I'm glad to say the BBC agreed with me and removed the offending post... eventually.

Unfortunately there are still several others that I find equally offensive and there seems no end to the bile and hatred being poured forth from these commentators. This brings me back to a conversation I had with The Angry Lurker at Skirmish on Sunday. He recounted a conversation he'd had with another gamer who had said he'd rather admit to being a paedophile than 'come out' as a gamer! This is a very sad state of affairs indeed.

I'm not for a minute claiming that the mocking and defamatory abuse gamers come in for in some quarters is anything remotely like the affects of racism, homophobia or sectarian intolerance. We've got it easy by comparison. But that doesn't mean we can't learn from the experience of the Black or Gay community who have faced their demons by looking them straight in the eye and saying "I am proud of who I am, I won't go away, I will not be silent".

I've written before about my conscious decision to be clear and open about my hobby interests. Today for instance I have brought my mobile painting kit into work so I can get some jobs done in my lunch-break. I'm a Gamer, I am proud of my hobby, I will not go away and I definitely won't be silent!

Skirmish 2012

Yesterday morning I nipped over the QE2 Bridge south of the river to attend Skirmish 2012. This is a small show held in a Grammer School in Sidcup and while not big it is varied and interesting. Ostensibly a Toy Soldier show there are always several wargames and traders to keep things interesting.

I always enjoy the informal atmosphere which is why for the last couple of years I have been taking my youngest daughter along (got to get her training program started early!). We had a great time this year as there were some excellent display games to see and plenty of traders selling toy's rather than miniatures which means she was able to spend some of her pocket money. In fact by the end of the day she had spent more money than I had!

The other thing I like about this show is the opportunity to meet up with fellow gamers and bloggers. I met up with The Angry Lurker and Postie but I was also introduced to David Crook (A Wargaming Odyssey) and Bob Cordery (Wargaming Miscellany).

FoW 3rd Edition - First Blood

Ray and I got together on Saturday and had our first play with the new 3rd Edition Flames of War rules. Although we have played a couple of games with 2nd we haven't really had a chance to get them under our belt and play a proper full-on game. This session was more about play-testing and working through some of the rules as we knew in advance that we wouldn't have time for a full on game.

As predicted we didn't have a lot of time, due to the fact that were were also babysitting our youngest children (my wife, his partner and my eldest daughter having gone into London to shop for a Prom Dress!). For Ray and I most of the day was spent running around after and pandering to the little-uns so we probably only had an hour or so actual play with the rules. I'm not complaining though because the kids were very well behaved and actually are a pleasure to look after. Plus of course we earned ourselves a heap load of 'brownie points' to cash in next time we want a day out at a wargames show or vehicle rally.

In between feeding and playing with the rug-rats Ray and I did get plenty of time to discuss the game and the new rules even if we didn't get much opportunity to move models around the tabletop. We jointly looked through the opening chapters of the new rulebook and I think we both agreed that its design and layout is excellent. This was the first time Ray had seen the new rules and like me I think Ray felt that the new illustrations of the rules really do make learning them a lot easier.

I went to Skirmish a Toy and Model Soldier Show in Sidcup this morning (more on that later) and was able to buy a second copy of the mini-rulebook which I'll give to Ray. Hopefully this will encourage him to learn the rules independently and make running our first game a lot easier. I'm not sure when that will be though. Ray and I are going to Tiger Day at the end of the month and we may need to save up some more Points first..!

BLMA Prize Draw - We have a Winner!

Thanks to everyone that took part in BLMA's first ever Prize Draw announced on Monday. The response has been excellent and its now time to pick a winner from the list of entrants. Today I have my brother-in-law round to play-test the new 3rd edition FOW rules so I got him to pick the winner from a hat. And the winner is [drum roll please]...

  El Grego

• El Grego has several blogs but the stand out ones for me are The Pewter-Pixel Wars and Battles in 15mm. 

Please email me (BigLeeH at gmail dot com) let me know the address you would like me to send your prize sent to (you said in your post you favored the DVD... is that still your choice?). I'll get it in the post on Monday. Congratulations.

WSS 59

I picked up my copy of Wargames Soldiers and Strategy (issue 59) yesterday and once again I found myself thinking why am I not subscribing to this great magazine. I'm determined to rectify this situation because over the last year - since it relaunch - they haven't had a single duff issue.

One of the regular highlights of WSS is the column 'This Gaming Life' by Rick Priestley. This months article looks as the thorny question of ground scales verse figure scales. Its a subject that I suspect most wargamers pay very little attention to, but as a designer Priestley and his peers have clearly devoted much brainpower to the whole subject. How exactly can a game preserve 'realism' within the confines of a regular sized games table? The simple answer is it can't. The key it seems is proportionality, not scale, with a little bit of 'willing suspension of disbelief' thrown in.

Like Wargames Illustrated this magazine also goes in for themed issues and this month its all about Vikings! The themed section starts off with a trio of great articles - Guthrum and the Great Army, The Siege of Eoferwick and The invasion of Wessex and Edington - by the evocatively named Benedict Coffin. This is them followed up with a look at SAGA campaigns, a cool little Viking raid scenario (with a twist) and a review of suitable miniatures for the Dark Age era.

Bolt Action British Para Boxed Set 28mm

One of the other things I always enjoy about this magazine is the fact that they devote several pages to new releases. The format of this section is spot on as far as I am concerned giving a picture and just enough information to wet the appetite and allow the reader to dig deeper if they are interested. There are several releases reviewed in this issue that have my juices flowing and I'll be keeping an eye open for them in up-coming trade conventions.

Incidentally the magazines website has a new Wargames Calender online which is worth checking out (after you've checked mine, obviously!!).

There are several other great articles in this issue including The demon dip – cheating or a proper paint job? by Phil Hendry, Faces, Bases and Flags – painting the cover vignette by Dave Woodward and the column Up Front by Richard Clarke. I've pretty much read it cover to cover this month so I have decided to stop prevaricating and have just taken out a long overdue subscription.

FOW 3rd Edition: First Impressions

Well I've had my copy of the 3rd Edition rulebook for a couple of weeks now and I've read enough to get a pretty good first impression of the changes. For those of you that have been reading BLMA for some time you'll know that I'm not great at sitting down and reading rulebooks. I'm much more of a hands on player and learn best at the elbow of an experienced player. So the fact that I'm halfway through this book and still going strong says a lot about the ease with which this new books works as a training manual.

The general approach seems to employ repetition to get rules into the head of the reader. But the manner in which this is done maximises the learning curve and I'm rather impressed with the subtlety of it. Each chapter starts with a contents page outlining the sequence of play. Then there are the rules in detail with a summary page at the end of the chapter. But within each section the three layers of repetition are also used. There is the detailed descriptive text explaining the rule. Then there are summary boxes breaking the rules down into bite sized bullet points. The last element - and the moment of genius in my opinion - the new annotated diagrams (described by Battlefront as fumetti or ‘photograph comics’) which give a visual primer to important rules concepts.

One of the problems I have had with lots of rulebooks in the past is the tendency to have dry blocks of words detailing the rules. On more than one occasion I've found myself having read an entire page and at the end couldn't even remember what the subject was let alone the details. What Battlefront have managed to do it turn their rules into an audio-visual presentation which really does improve the learning experience.

These rules won't satisfy everybody however. There is a whole section dedicated to the basics of wargaming and for many old Grognards they may well find this section a little patronising. But my view is that existing or experienced players can just skip this section and move straight onto the rules. Personally I'm quite excited by this section because it gives me an introduction to wargaming FOW which I can hand to my Brother-in-Law Ray, (a complete wargaming n00b) to get him up to speed.

I've still got some the rulebook to read through but I really feel like I'm assimilating the rules easily. In fact Ray and I are planning on having our first hands on play with the new rules this Saturday. It won't be a full blown game (we are also babysitting at the same time! ...long story...) but more along the lines of rules play-testing session. Needless to say I'll report back on how we get on.

On Saturday I'll also be getting Ray to pick the winner of Monday's Prize Draw by pulling a name out of a hat. If you haven't entered yet you have just a couple more days to do so.

BLMA's first Prize Draw

One of the things I love about writing a gaming Blog and following similar sites is the feeling of community it creates and the friendships that this brings. Thanks to BLMA I am now a member of Posties Rejects, get to play a wide range of rules and periods. But I also love the fact that as a 'community' we not only share ideas we also sometimes share freebies! Last week I found out that I had won a book from The Blog with No Name and I was so chuffed with this little slice of victory that I decided to run a similar prize give-away competition for BLMA's followers.

The Prize: I actually have two prize's and I'll give the winner of the draw the option of which he/she would like.

Wellington's Victories by Matthew Morgan is a book of fascinating trivia about the lives of British troops between 1797 and 1815. It looks at every aspect of the soldier's life, from rates of pay and his life in camp to the small arms and artillery he used in battle.

British Tanks at War is a DVD produced by the Imperial War Museum and contains five films from their collection. These cover tank design, recognition and fighting tactics. Tank Battle shows how an armoured formation goes into battle. Ten Tips for Tackling Tanks on methods of attacking tanks. Spot That Tank is a 1942 AVF recognition film. Tank Patrol is a M.O.I. dramatisation and Birth of a Tank is a 1942 M.O.I film following the construction of a Valentine tank.

The Rules: If you want to be included in the draw its simple enough as there are only two rules:

1. You need to be a follower
2. Leave a comment at the end of this post.

I'll select a winner from the list next Saturday (the 10th) so if you're not yet a follower now is the time to join up and share in a chance of winning.

Battling on with 4E

The Delvers met up on Friday after a four week hiatus. We missed the last session because the Evil GM was away on holiday (shocking!). The rest of the group had decided to get together for a different game, but it was not to be. In the end I was too busy in work, and too damn tired to play and we called the evening off. I hate missing our bi-weekly game nights but its a reality we have all had to get used to. On the plus side it does mean that when we do get together we have a lot to talk about and the banter is fast and razor sharp. Last night was no exception with jokes (and some alcohol) aplenty.

Our party of adventurers encounter two Gargoyle sentinels which immediately sweep in to harass us with nasty claw and talon fly-by attacks. 

...then two Bulette burst from the ground and rampage through the melee, generally bringing chaos to the battle.  These beasts are tough as nails and very very angry. 

Our battle plan follow its usual path, with the Mage trying out some new moves on the enemy. 

The Gargoyles take a long time to dispatch because they don't stay still long enough to be killed. It was universally agreed that this was most unsporting of them. 

Inspired by the Mage the Barbarian also try's the combat stance universally known as "the Orthadontist"

We did eventually defeat the Gargoyles and Bulette but it took most of the evening to do so. So in game terms our party progressed about 10 yards further along on their quest. If we were disposing of the One Ring the story would have taken a dozen books, not three, to reach a conclusion!

I'm a Winner

Yesterday I found out that I had won a Book from fellow Blogger Ian via his excellent site The Blog with No Name. If you haven't visited Ian's site yet then I urge you to swing by an have a look.

The book - Crete: The Battle and the Resistance by Antony Beevor - is apparently winging its way to me now and I'm looking forward to reading it. The battle for Crete is a period of WWII that of course I know but actually have read relatively little about. Anyway this is just a big shout out to Ian to say thanks for the book and thanks for the opportunity to win it.

I may have to do something similar myself - some sort of prize competition - as the joy of receiving a freebie in the post is definitely a feeling I'd like to share. Let me think about it and I'll post more at a later date when I've figured out what to offer as a prize.