Hurrah!! At last a wargaming show to go to..... With the demise of Colors this year I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to this one.... 😀
DG and I have been coming to Warfare for years now, and it's always been a favourite - it's a fairly small show, and it it's held in a sports centre where they use all of the halls and even the squash courts to host competition games, display games and traders... the only bit they don't use is the swimming pool on the side.... now there's an idea.....
So what are my thoughts on this years event? Well I enjoyed it immensely, but if I was going to guess I'd say the traders might not have been quite so happy with the Sunday as I heard they'd been with the Saturday... Warfare is primarily a competition weekend - they host a huge number of games in the competition hall, and I think it is probably only that that keeps this event at 2 days - probably a day too long for the trade hall.... Peter Pig were only there for the Saturday (which was a shame as I was hoping to do some business with them!) and I wonder if that trend will accelerate next year... shame really - as I like the relaxed vibe you get on a Sunday...
So what did I buy? Just this...
...which is basically the supplement detailing rules for vehicles for the WWII Skirmish rules I use... mine for a whole fiver... one of the advantages of playing non-fashionable rule sets is that the rules and supplements are always more reasonably priced! I bet if it had been Bolt Action it would have been five times as much... (B.t.w. DG and I had a game of this on the Friday that I'll post later, so finding this at the show was serendipitous to say the least)
So - as is tradition - what about the games I hear you ask?? Well I thought this years show was a little light on demonstration and display games - and I think back 3 or 4 years to that huge Blenheim game, and before that all the games put on by John Tuckey definitely a step down this year.....
So in reverse order ...
In fourth, this was a 45mm western game out on by the Skirmish Wargames group, who always seem to put on a big eye catching game even if it's in a scale that doesn't particularly interest me... nice table though, and nicely converted/painted figures... Plains Indians take on a small part of frontiers men/prospectors holed up in a circle of rocks... looks they're waiting for the cavalry to arrive!
Next, "Action at Salem Church May 3rd and 4th 1863" which was put on by the Newbury and Reading club using home grown rules though I did see a copy of Esprit de Corps on the table as well...
...this was a demonstration game, but the participants were happy to break off and let me know what was going on - basically three divisions of Confederates all arrived at the same point, at different times of the day, to take on a Union force already ensconced...
Not particularly standout, but a nice table, lots of well painted figures, the players were having a good time - what's not to like...?
So in second place there was this offering, titled "Falkirk Muir 17th January 1746" put on by the Border Warlords and using rules from a new book [clicky] they were selling on the day written by Martin Hackett (he wrote a fantasy wargaming book I think?? Post edit: He did...
)
Apparently the real battle took place during the the Second Jacobite Rising, and was the last Jacobite victory in battle....
Lovely terrain and scenery - a very good looking table, with lots of background information on the battle.. very impressive...
I loved the depiction of the quarry....
DG and I have been coming to Warfare for years now, and it's always been a favourite - it's a fairly small show, and it it's held in a sports centre where they use all of the halls and even the squash courts to host competition games, display games and traders... the only bit they don't use is the swimming pool on the side.... now there's an idea.....
 |
| Competition types... against all the rules of rationality they seemed to be enjoying themselves as well! |
So what are my thoughts on this years event? Well I enjoyed it immensely, but if I was going to guess I'd say the traders might not have been quite so happy with the Sunday as I heard they'd been with the Saturday... Warfare is primarily a competition weekend - they host a huge number of games in the competition hall, and I think it is probably only that that keeps this event at 2 days - probably a day too long for the trade hall.... Peter Pig were only there for the Saturday (which was a shame as I was hoping to do some business with them!) and I wonder if that trend will accelerate next year... shame really - as I like the relaxed vibe you get on a Sunday...
So what did I buy? Just this...
...which is basically the supplement detailing rules for vehicles for the WWII Skirmish rules I use... mine for a whole fiver... one of the advantages of playing non-fashionable rule sets is that the rules and supplements are always more reasonably priced! I bet if it had been Bolt Action it would have been five times as much... (B.t.w. DG and I had a game of this on the Friday that I'll post later, so finding this at the show was serendipitous to say the least)
So - as is tradition - what about the games I hear you ask?? Well I thought this years show was a little light on demonstration and display games - and I think back 3 or 4 years to that huge Blenheim game, and before that all the games put on by John Tuckey definitely a step down this year.....
So in reverse order ...
In fourth, this was a 45mm western game out on by the Skirmish Wargames group, who always seem to put on a big eye catching game even if it's in a scale that doesn't particularly interest me... nice table though, and nicely converted/painted figures... Plains Indians take on a small part of frontiers men/prospectors holed up in a circle of rocks... looks they're waiting for the cavalry to arrive!
Next, "Action at Salem Church May 3rd and 4th 1863" which was put on by the Newbury and Reading club using home grown rules though I did see a copy of Esprit de Corps on the table as well...
...this was a demonstration game, but the participants were happy to break off and let me know what was going on - basically three divisions of Confederates all arrived at the same point, at different times of the day, to take on a Union force already ensconced...
Not particularly standout, but a nice table, lots of well painted figures, the players were having a good time - what's not to like...?
So in second place there was this offering, titled "Falkirk Muir 17th January 1746" put on by the Border Warlords and using rules from a new book [clicky] they were selling on the day written by Martin Hackett (he wrote a fantasy wargaming book I think?? Post edit: He did...
)Apparently the real battle took place during the the Second Jacobite Rising, and was the last Jacobite victory in battle....
Lovely terrain and scenery - a very good looking table, with lots of background information on the battle.. very impressive...
I loved the depiction of the quarry....
..but the winner for me this years was a demonstration game for a new set of rules, "To Defy a King" [clicky] - it may only have been a demonstration game but it was exquisite..
LOVE the purple regiment - very vibrant colours...
Man... I am so close to an English Civil war project....
The representational scale is ideal for me as well - no more than 6-8 units a side...
Lots of cavalry.... someone did a nice job on those horses!
...and that was it for another year - next show will be 6 months time at Salute... well done the Reading team - another good show.
So, Steve, did you purchase a copy of those ECW rules? It appears to have been a lovely game. Below are links to my two posts showing my Royalist Foot Units:
ReplyDeletehttp://ecwprojectjeff.blogspot.ca/2014/09/first-ecw-units-finished.html
http://ecwprojectjeff.blogspot.ca/2014/09/six-more-ecw-foot-units.html
-- Jeff
Hi Jeff... they were £30 (so over 55 Canadian spondoolicks!) .. a little rich for an impulse buy - the production (as always these days) was lovely, but it just makes rules too expensive to pick up on a whim... The project will start, but unlike the ACW project I need to find my rules first, and these may be a strong contender from what I've read so far...
DeletePS.Thanks also for the Wiki URL - excellent and stored...
PPS. I've been watching your ECW units "arrive" with envy..
Very nice report Steve. I do like ECW and regret having moved on two armies over the years. May need a revisit sometime in the future. Great photographs mate!
ReplyDeleteCheers Carlo... I need to find someone who does a good range in 20mm... I may even go old school with Les Higgins... PS.Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of "Sands", hope the sales are going well...
DeleteSteve,
ReplyDeleteI know that you like researching unit histories and such . . . so here is a link to an ECW wiki that (if you follow links through several levels) gets down to the sort of information that you crave:
http://wiki.bcw-project.org/start
So explore, sir . . . and go ahead and dive into it . . . there is a great deal of the British Isles' history in this period . . . and it is colorful and fun to research.
-- Jeff
Well, the show is spitting distance from Caversham Bridge, of ECW fame. When I lived in the South this was my annual day out, along with Newark, The Napoleonic Fair and the Lords Test. So thanks for a very nice report that shows what I missed, the bring and buy was always quite good too. They worked out that if you put the stall in a square and people walked around the OUTSIDE rather than the usual inside there would be more space. A giant evolutionary step that other shows are still unaware of.
ReplyDeleteJohn
John - good to hear from you... the evolutionary step has gone backwards slightly, as one of the sides is now anchored on a wall - so there is an unsightly scrum at each corner.... :o))
DeleteSome excellent looking games Steve, love the 45 Rebellion game!!
ReplyDeleteRay - it was very nice - loved the blue regiment in trews...
Delete