Delaques and scratching that RPG itch

ooof! Due to dealing with "them" who never go to sleep i've not had much time to get any gaming or much painting done this week, although I did get round to finishing of a quick paint job on the rest of the Delaque gang:

With the rest of my time i've been able to look in to scratching that RPG itch again, a looooonnggg time ago I walked in to model shop while on holiday and used my pocket money to buy a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Basic, the Red Box, never really quite sure of what I was getting but fascinated and curious all the same. From there I went on to the Expert box and some other RPG's such as Runequest but i never really "got" them and so just let them fade away. Since then I keep wondering and going back to see what is on the market and taking a peek but never taking the plunge, until now, knowing I wanted to get in to something again and having friends mention they were interested in trying something I went looking for a starter box for a new system and found......just how hard it is to get one!

My first try was the Pathfinder beginners box, looked like a good bet with rules/maps/cardboard figures of every character and monster, the perfect package to get it to the table quickly but no, it's unavailable from every games/book store in the UK! Paizo have mentioned on their forums that distributors should be getting stock soon but no dates.
Secondly I thought why not go back to the good old Red box, i'd seen it on the shelves of my local waterstones last year and although some strange things were being said about 4th edition I want to try it for myself, but again it's out of stock everywhere in the UK and the odd one appearing on ebay is fetching up to four times the original value!!
Finally i'm a big fan of Will Wheatons tabletop series on youtube and on one of the recent episodes they were playing Dragon Age, after some research I found it has a beginners box set as well, but alas it too is out of stock everywhere! I did find one store with a copy but after ordering they refunded my money as it was a mistake :/

It's a bit crap really for anyone wanting to get started in RPG's when publishers cannot get their product out to those wanting to buy it. Anyway, I downloaded the quick start rules for Dragon Age and they look pretty good to get a session going :) Still looking for the experience I had all those years ago I came across Labyrinth Lord, a so called retro clone based on the original red and blue basic boxes, the rules are available to download for free or to buy a printed book with illustrations. It's a good read and has all the old charm of the dungeons bashes years ago and it's compatible with all the old basic modules available on the market :) definitely excited to try a game out with a group of friends over a few drinks!

In other news something very exciting happened this week! ok, perhaps not that exciting and probably downright boresome for anyone reading this bit look, look!

Is it not just the most exciting thing to happen in wargaming this year?

:) previously I had no heating in my little hobby room but now with this beauty it's going to be used all year round. Good stuff.