Commerce raider...

An interesting day out today with my first ever visit to Penarth to attend the "Crusade" show...

You may remember that my regular wargame opponent DG moved to Wales some time ago, and mentioned that his "local" show (though it takes even him a couple of hours to get to) is in Cardiff and did I fancy going?

Three hour drive each way aside, it was a bit of a no-brainer, one, it was a good opportunity to have a chinwag with DG face to face - catch up on news, next steps for the campaign etc. etc, and two, it's a long time since "Warfare", and still some way to go to "Salute"!

Either way, 06:00 this morning found me in the dark, getting into the car, and heading for the principality...

The day was good, the show was fine, and it was good to see DG and have the aforesaid chat - shame the bar wasn't open as I'd promised him a beer! Will have to wait for "Salute" for that.. either way, Crusade is held in a Leisure/Sports Centre so the setup is very similar to Warfare. A much smaller show though, I would say that the trader area was probably half the size of the Warfare show, but nonetheless respectable, and it was good to have a rummage about...



Highlight of the day for me was to see the new Warhammer Historical production "Trafalgar", which allows you to fight naval battles in the late 18th early 19th century ie. the classic sailing era covering off the battles from the War of Independence through to the 1812 War with America (and probably later).. as you'd expect the book is absolutely full to the gills with fine pictures - I was interested to see that in a book of about 150+ pages though the rules only take up 30! The rest is scenario's, fleet lists, a bit of history, and modelling tips - wish the Warhammer guys gave us the opportunity to dump the bits we didn't want! At £20 though it's pretty typically priced these days, and I've promised myself a copy at "Salute"... a new project perhaps??

Two favourite games at the show - if I really had to make a choice, and I guess I don't, I think this one probably shaded it for me:

This game was set on the Eastern Front, and had some gorgeous modelling - it made you reach for the scarf and gloves just looking at it! I particularly liked those Sturmoviks!

The game was presented by a group called "The Escape Committee" and was titled "Battle Before Moscow 1941"..

My other favourite game was this one - a jaw dropping effort put on by the Skirmish Wargames Society..

all those figures were 54mm and as you can see in the close up shot, exquisitely painted...

a top notch effort, with loads of work...

..but they put them in this really dark corner of the hall - hence the flash...