A quick wish

Hi everybody,
                     Welcome, welcome, welcome, especially if you are new here.

I would just like to wish all of you in net land and game land best wishes, may  you and your family and friends stay safe in these perilous times.

Keep your distance and stay safe out there. May we see each other in happier days.

Thanks to all of the gamers, bloggers, vloggers and podcasters that keep pumping out great content for the rest of us, whether it is painting models, terrain magicians, tabletop battlers, club mates, reviewers, manufacturers etc. We appreciate all that you do to keep our spirits up, even if we do forget to hit the like button occasionally.



Ivor Cogdell

Quiz Question 11.04.2020 - Update 07.02.2026

Star Trek Discovery DVD Price change

Hi everyone,
                    I was (note: was being the operative word) going to buy season 2 of Star Trek Discovery on DVD the other day (9 April 2020) on Amazon, but when I checked the price, I found it had leapt from £22 to a staggering £28 GBP. Any ideas why this is so? Have they added more content, such as trailers for season three, if there is one? Is it because Picard Season 1 has aired in the UK? If you know or at least have another idea, I would love to hear from you.

 In the comments below, if they will let you or at

ivorcogdell @ hotmail.com

Many thanks and stay safe indoors,

Ivor Cogdell

Update

One of my spies suggest "It could be because season 3 will be shown on tv soon and they see it as a chance to up the cost." We are not saying that is correct; it is just a theory.

But if you know different.....

Ivor Cogdell

7 Feb 2026 - I have just bought Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard on DVD (Finally), and it still comes to £19 in the UK. Rippoff.

St Edwards Wargame Day

St. Edwards School Wargame Show

Pictures from Dec 1 2019.

Hi everybody,
                      Hiding on one of my hard drives are pictures of December 1st 2019 at St Edwards ? School Wargame day. Here they are for your delectation. Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather, as they say and did not have chance to gather any notes as to who was who, but they might give you some idea of some of the fun that was taking place.

These were "Battle Mechs" From Circle Battlegroup, Based in Stocklands Green (My club.)

A second table of our Battle Mechs.

Possibly WW II Bolt Action ?

"Gaslands"

Possibly Roman / Greek ?

Fighting over a Temple ?

"Commit the reserves Charrge!"

All pictures are Copyright (C) Ivor Cogdell 2020.
These photos were taken on an EE Alcatel One Touch PIXI".

There you go, I hope there was something of interest there for you. Also at the show were assorted vendors, thanks for coming..Thanks to all the organizers and vendors that took part. Unfortunately I was unable to go to the WMAA day in March 2020, so these are the last of my show photos so far. Who knows when the next one will be ?

 Stay safe everybody.


Ivor Cogdell..

Thoughts on - Very Nasty Phishing - Updated again.

Hi all,
        I spotted a nasty scam the other day (7th April 2020) on my mobile Facebook page. It was supposedly an advert from Netflix, offering three months free tv in response to the Covid 19 virus. I thought Yaaay, good on them, I can watch some nice movies that I have missed.

Scrolling down, it asked me to enter my bank details for verification purposes. This is where I saw a red flag and got suspicious. Just to be on the safe side, I contacted Netflix by PC chat line, a very nice chap named Lucas who informed me that they were doing no such offer and that it was a scam.

The dirty rotten scoundrels, trying to get our cash in such a very despicable way. I'm just very glad I double checked it, loosing money is bad enough, but having money stolen from you, well that cuts to the bone. The company was based in Cyprus.

Report any scams to - Phishing@Company name. or phishing@gov.uk.


18 November 2020 UPDATE - The latest couple of scams I have come across are phone ones - 

1) - A robotic voice from an "internet Company" calls you to confirm a bill of £350 going out of your account-"Please press one on your keypad to speak to a Supervisor".   If you do this they can automatically get to your account and take money out.

2) - A variant on this one is that it claims "Your internet has been compromised by a virus and we are going to cut off your service."Please press one on your keypad to speak to a Supervisor".

3) - Another phone scam was a caller stating "Your PPI claim has been approved. You are owed £xxx." They will then try to get your bank details so they they can take money out of your account, not put it in.

In these or similar cases, just put the phone down and disconnect the call.

In instance 3) - Phone your bank to let them know that you have been targeted by fraudsters so that they cacn give you advice and track the spread of the problem.

Please spread this around to all of your friends and family so they are not duped by them.

Stay safe out there everybody, be alert for the scammers.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts on - Creative Commons Publishing.

Hi all,
         As you may have seen in the "Thoughts on _ Merry Christmas" post 26.12. 2019, I have been writing a home brewed Sector map setting for the Role Playing Game "Stars without Number" (C) Sine Nome Publishing (TM) and Kevin Crawford, it is also compatible with Traveller etc.
          I was pondering publishing it under a creative commons licence on the DriveThroughRPG (TM) website. It runs to about 14 A4 pages and does not contain any artwork.
         If anyone has done any small scale publishing before, I would love to get their input.

ivorcogdell "at" hotmail.com

Many thanks,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts on - HBO TV Show "Avenue 5" - Updated twice.

Avenue 5

Hi all,
        I have just suffered through the second episode of "Avenue 5" by HBO, starring Hough Laurie. In my humble opinion, this show is a waste of airtime, so far. The plot is as follows- A luxury space liner doing an 8-week tour of Saturn has a disaster and will be coming home the long way, which will take 3 years, fair enough. But, what sort of a spaceship name is "Avenue 5" ??? The costumes and interior sets are good and the spacecraft looks cool.
           It seems to me that the scriptwriters would not notice a good gag if it bit them in the leg. I have seen the first two shows and both have been unmitigated disasters. My first reaction when the first show ended was "Is that it ?" If you have read some of my previous articles, you know I like my sci-fi nice and crunchy. .Individual plot bits held promise, like the fake captain who is as useful as a chocolate teapot and the old grizzled astronaut.

I hope the show improves, for the cast's sake, but so far, it is nowhere near "The Orville" standards, let alone Space 1999 or "Firefly / Serenity", so another six chances to redeem themselves, fingers crossed.

Rating 1-10. That's being generous.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I will update this as the show goes along.

Update -  4th March 2020.

It's now about show 5 or 6 and it's not getting any better. There has been the odd smile along the way, but nothing to shout about. Certainly, a failed space shot that deserves to just drift into the blackness and be forgotten.

Update - 8th April 2020.

This is very strange to say, even in these strange times, I did quite like the last couple of episodes that I watched of the show. I was not expecting that at all. I suppose all the madness had finally come together and gelled.
Revised 3-10.


Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts on - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (No spoilers). (Updated -16-01.2020).

Hi everybody,
                     I was holding my breath on the way into the cinema, as I was not exactly enamored with the previous two offerings from Disney in this franchise and had avoided watching the trailers for the film to avoid spoilers. In case you are holding your breath too, you can relax now, this is a good one and is well worthy of being in the collection.

 It finally sews the threads of the plot together, I think most of the long term fans will approve. The graphics and special effects are superb as always, with lots of new aliens to spot here and there among the crowd. There is another robot for the youngsters to cheer on, as well as the usual gang, but they may miss some of the plot points in the story. It is a certificate 12A

 This closes the chapter for most of the original cast, so Disney can take us where they will and develop the storyline how they please, but I hope they do keep faith with the fans. I saw the 2d version of the film, but I plan to see the 3D version too.

Review 5/5 - For seeing sense and coming back to their roots.

"May the force be with you, always."

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. - The new trilogy does not suit everybody, one of my other mates has refused to watch the last couple out of disgust.