The Troll Cave

My wife is a very generous and understanding woman. Well, she would have to be to marry me in the first place, but recently she proved it all over again. For the last two years or so we've been doing a lot of rearranging to accommodate having children. We are now a family of four in a very small two-bedroom house. It doesn't leave a lot of room for a 'stuff' intensive hobby like wargaming.

However, knowing that I need just a little bit of 'my own space', my wife and I agreed that I could have the cupboard under the stairs as my personal wargaming domain. (So long as I share it with the hoover). Thus, I give you the Troll Cave!

Okay, it's not exactly a 'games room'; you could not hope to play a game in it. In fact, it is only because I am rather a short individual that I can stand up in it, but it provides me with most of what I need. The central feature is a butcher's trolly. This is a wonderful little piece of furniture which is the perfect height for me to work on miniatures while standing. It's where I do all my planning and prep work (actual painting usually takes place on the kitchen table). The trolly also has two cabinets for storing equipment and miniatures to be painted, and a wine rack which is perfect for holding cans of primer and sealer and the like.

Next to that is a short set of drawers which holds gaming accessories, as well as few other odds and ends. Beside that is a shelf which contains several miniature cases, terrain, and some larger models. Yes, that is the Glaurung sitting on top. I am hopeful that its new place out in the open will soon lead to some further adventures.

Hiding deep in the corner, behind the hoover and my back pack are a couple more boxes of small terrain bits and miniatures.

Currently on the wall, I've got a white board, where I keep track of things to paint (and read), a bulletin board that holds my collection of enamel pins, my ENie award, and the little plate from my 'Best Softball Pitcher 2016' trophy (I broke the mostly glass trophy). There is also a framed, colourized photograph of my ancestor Col. James McCullough dressed in his Confederate Grey, and a post card from the Bodleian library reproducing Tolkien's painting of Smaug. I really need to get a copy of my photograph with Colin Baker up there as well.

Sure, I dream of a big gaming space, and maybe one day I will have an actual game room, but at the moment, this is all the space I need, and it is more than I should really ask for. My wife really is a generous and understanding woman.