Monday 8 June 2015

Women love a man with a big package. So do I.

Here is a tale that you will tell your children, and mightily bored they'll be! (Did you see what I did there?).

I've been expecting a package from Front Rank.

I tracked the package being picked up from Front Rank. I tracked it going to the Coventry Depot. I saw it move to the NW sorting office. I saw it go to Leeds. I saw it go to dispatch and be put on a van for delivery. I waited in certain expectation. The van turned up and the posty brought a small package to my door. 

I said, immediately seeing that this package didn't weigh enough to have £2000+ of lead in it, "Where is the other package?" 

"Other package?" said the posty.

"Yes." says I "The other package I am tracking and that should be on this van."

The posty went to his van and brought back a check list. He looked down the list and said "Ah, yes. Is it a heavy package with HEAVY written on it?"

"That would be the one. So you have it then?" I said hopefully.

"No." he said "I have such a busy run this morning, and I'm so pressed for time, that I decided to put it on the next van due out this afternoon." 

Honestly, you can't make this kind of thing up. The words "But you're bloody here anyway!" went through my mind - thankfully, being British and used to disappointment, they didn't fall out of my mouth.

To top it all, the package didn't come on the next van because the driver took it back to the depot because, you've guessed it, he ran out of delivery time. 

The package arrived safely today, late but better late than never. It was a heavy one. In fact, if you want to know how much £2000+ worth of figures weigh (I haven't counted the figures), they weigh 28 kg.


I've checked the order and, as far as I can see, everything is tickety boo. Well done Front Rank, not so for Parcel Force. I've contacted Front Rank to tell them to reclaim postage.

So, some pics.


 The package. It was a hefty one.
 The Peninsular British, first sort.
 The Portuguese, first sort. Lonely looking chaps.
 The Seven Years War finishing order - mostly Austrians - mostly cavalry.
The Peninsular French.

Well it's in. Now the hard part starts - painting it all. 

SYW first, I think, otherwise it will not get done. A bit of backbone, stiff upper lip, British spunk, Olicana oil required (squeak). 

SYW first, SYW first, SWY first........



13 comments:

Rog said...

What a tale! Well, all is well that ends well. I´ll be waiting to see those Portuguese chaps! Greetings from Portugal :)

Solo wargaming-on a budget! said...

Good to see you receive such a monumental order! Thats the biggest (wargames) package I have ever seen!

Phil C said...

great "postal service" story line - we all suffered similar headaches with our postal service.
Fantastic sight of figures! you certainly will be busy with your painting projects - any free front rank figures for making out a huge order?

all the best!
cheers,

Dave Huntley (sheepman) said...

I thought I had a problem with the old lead pile, it's one of those times when your both excited but a bit daunted at the same time.
Dave.

warpaintjj said...

Wow! I just received a 5kg package of figures costing the same but they were painted! This lot look like a mountain in the, selves, good luck painting them, I shall follow the Peninsular project with special interest, any idea which rules you'll use yet or will you write your own?
Very best wishes,
Jeremy

Gonsalvo said...

OMG, I am in awe of the size of you package, James! The Front Rank one, of course. As long as the missus is happy with the other, all's good! :-)

Seriously, the post title had me cracking up, and the price tag made me wonder how many years it would take for me to spend that much on wargaming!

With almost 6,500 painted Napoleonics of my own. it will be a while before even you can catch up to me there... but from now on, I'l be looking over my shoulder! :-)

Mikko Asikainen said...

I doubt I can refer to my unpainted miniatures as the lead "mountain" anymore after seeing this.

Nikephorous said...

Welcome to the new world order. Prices climb exponentially and of course service plummets in a directly inversely proportional fashion. Alec will always look after his customers and his service has always been topnotch. Not so much the delivery "services". Try living in the Antipodes. I would kill to receive service as bad as yours!! :-)

carojon said...

Great stuff James, nothing like having a big box of figures to give you added impetus to get stuck in. I look forward to seeing the units rolling out.
All the best
JJ

Carlo said...

Now they look like a lot of work! Great whenever a package arrives, especially a "BIG" one. Good luck on the Peninsular project.

rct75001 said...

Isn't that a lot of fun and excitement - getting them all out of the boxes. Love seeing them all lined up like that and then the dread of realisation sinks in.

Will love watching you do a project from scratch.

jmilesr said...

Now that's the way to start a project - overwhelming weight of firepower! My hat is off to you, Sir!

David said...

That is an impressive lead pile! I'm looking forward to seeing the project unfold.