A quick trip up (must have been the nattering!) found us at the show by 10:30 only to find all the parking meters in the Rivermead car park were knackered... so free parking.. result!!
Downbeat show for me this year - maybe it was a touch of jet lag (?), but I found it very quiet.. overhearing the traders, they were saying the same, but that it had also been mental on Saturday and all in all the few I heard were saying it had been a good show for them.. quite surprised not to see Peter Pig there (looking at my old posts they sometimes only do the Saturday so it may be that was the case here), as I was going to take the opportunity to have another look at their English Civil War range but other than that there was a good turnout of traders... nothing took my fancy, so no goodies bought, so on with the games... poor year this year but in the time-honoured fashion, in reverse order...
Third..
A Napoleonic demo game (I think, as there was no one at the table to ask, all the time I was there).. not a huge fan of teddy bear fur for terrain, but the figures were pleasing, and I like the period..
Some information boards indicated that this was set during the war of the fifth coalition somewhere in Eastern Europe.. from memory this was a fictional encounter between Austria and Bavaria.
Not a huge fan of movement trays.. it implies the rules use figure removal to track casualties (who knows.. no one to ask...
) and I much prefer tracking casualties and leaving the figures on the table I spent so much time and effort butchering... err, painting..
This was the rules/lists/book they were demo'ing...
Second..
Not a specific club game, and not a demo, just two guys (Steve Deeprose and a mate apparently) who turned up to put a game on for the fun of it.. bravo.. Napoleon in Egypt.
I first saw this game back in 2013 [clicky] but it is still a fascination to me... if I was ever to start a Napoleonic project I think this would be it...
Love it.. so much colour
First..
I have no idea who was putting this on, but it was the stand out game for this years show in my humble opinion.. this was a Chain of Command game set in the the Ardennes/Battle of the Bulge, and presented by Earlswood Wargames Club... modelling of the very highest order...
Makes you feel cold just looking at it..
...what impressed was the little touchs.. and the fact they were actually playing the game, and having fun...
Superb... so a good show, but could do better on the demo game front..
Hello Steve, glad you had a good break, looks very nice :)
ReplyDeleteThat Winter landscape is amazing, so realistic, got to admire the commitment.
You mentioned having another look at the PP ECW's, I'm sure you have seen Kev's collection (Fat Wally), as it's linked from the PP website, the massed horse are stunning:
http://www.fat-wally.com/BasicBaroqueECW.html
Well worth a scroll through if not. He is also posting pics of new ECW stuff on the Peter Pig forum (Eye Candy section). Martin has released lots of new musketeer poses, marching, loading etc and Kev's pics feature lots of these and even headswaps using the separate heads packs!!
http://rulesforcommonman.uk/smf/index.php?topic=86.0
I'll be honest with you, I'm seriously thinking about ordering some myself, as a side project to my Flames of War stuff, they are simply so tempting and look so very 'paintable'.
Apologies if you have already seen the links, but wanted you to see them before you make your final choice.
Lee - they're simply superb - thanks for those links...
DeleteIf you'd arrived at 1030 on the Saturday, you'd have been parking about 2 miles away - a Leisure Centre on a weekend isn't the quietest place to try and co-locate a wargames show? Warfare is always very much a club show and it was hard to be inspired by many of the "demonstration" games - you certainly highlighted the best 3. I managed a few purchases but each show I go to now seems to emphasise how much my particular interests have diverged from what appears to be "mainstream" (not that many of my interests have changed in the last 20+ years!). I find I just pass by great swathes of the trade stands because they hold absolutely no interest for me.
ReplyDeleteJeremy - interesting isn't it... it does seem tat you go to show after show and it's a little like groundhog day.. same traders, same displays, same products.. I haven't made an impulse purchase in years, I do wonder if the model has to change for the shows to survive in future... what I have noticed is the increasing incidence of what I consider to be the major players not being at shows... if all the big boys are doing is delivering pre-ordered/pre-paid packages maybe they would be better off just offering discounted postage and defraying the costs off attending the show..??
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