Alan Martin RIP

Alan studying a losing position in a game of Blucher

My oldest friend and fellow wargamer Alan Martin died this morning after a long, and largely successful, fight against cancer. Alan and I first met at Primary School when we were about 5 years old, met again in Secondary School, started wargaming, and stayed friends ever since. By the time I got back into the hobby Alan was more into the painting of the figures and creating stunning terrain than actually playing games, but we coaxed him back onto the wargames table over the last year or so, and he also loved board-games and even D&D. Alan contributed items on creating wargaming terrain to blogs like Wargames News and Terrain and pictures of his figures graced several commercial rule sets. His greatest joy in his last year though was his Grandson, Harry, not yet a year old. I was glad to be able to say my goodbyes to him in person on Monday, and he'll be sorely missed by family, friends and fellow wargamers.

Alan DM'ing Dungeons & Dragons in Hougoumont

Alan and Nick walking the battlefield at Waterloo last summer