Partzan in the Park

Sunday came around and Windy, Fingers and me set off for our usual jaunt to Partizan, this year dubbed Partizan in the Park as the venue had been double booked and the show was to be held in a tent! I've never been a fan of tents so today would be interesting.
As usual the Newark Irregulars were highly organised and the lads were out directing traffic to park on the grass, fortunately it hadn't been raining and the grass was pretty solid. The tents were up and entry was pretty smooth, a smaller queue than previous years - were the punters staying away?

Small queue - that's a bonus.

 

Overview of the first tent.

 

First thing I saw as entered was the ever smiling face of Steve Jones, now I've known Steve for years and been a fan of his games for even longer. I've been following his blog- http://paintingshed.blogspot.co.uk/ and was keen to see his latest American War of Independence display game- Weitzells' Mill, as ever it was top notch, figures and terrain of the highest order, so much so that we've collectively decided to build some armies ourselves, Fingers went straight to the Foundry stand and came back with a slack handfull of British Grenadiers.

 

Next to Steve's game was James Morris' and Scrivs with their Battle of Keren game, the terrain has got to be seen to be believed. The game was on display at Salute earlier in the year but was no less inspiring by seeing it twice. James had explained the concept behind the game and terrain to me last year and I had doubted he could pull it off but the pictures speak for themselves- well done Mr Morris sir, well done!! Scrivs, as well as sporting natty facial hair also had a Bren Gun on display- nice.

 

 

Wandering further into the tents we were all impressed by the variety and quality of the games on show. Partizan has always been noted for the quality of games but this year seemed exceptional and nearly all the games had sculpted terrain and display quality figures. Personally when I go to a show I want to be inspired to buy something new or at least go home and get the paint brush out, today I was and, as I write this, I've got three new units on the painting table.

Following pictures are games that stood out, sorry I didn't catch all of their names-

 

League of Augsberg

 

 Simon Millers Romans

 

                                     

 

 

A good day out and although I wasn't keen on the tents I wasn't as anti canvas as I thought I would be, speaking to some of the traders, gamers and organisers they seemed to prefer the tent to the hall, easy access and more light seemed to be the order of the day. One thing that was noticeable was as the day warmed up there's still some people around that haven't got to grips with personal hygiene, come on people you know who you are, do us all a favour and get a bath!!!

Partizan two is on later in the year and I'll be back, the four quid entrance fee is well worth it.

New stuff purchased- plastic tokens from warbases, steel paper from Coritani, 12 Pancerni from Redoubt Enterprises and some more hedges from The Last Valley- top terrain.

 

I've finished the polish winged lancers I got from Warlord games at Salute, I'll get some photo's up soon.





Sheffield Triples

Well yesterday I attended Sheffield Triples with Windy, the first thing I remembered when we arrived was that I'd forgotten me camera so no pictures- I hate forgetting my camera, especially when I've charged the battery and put it on the worktop ready for the morning- old timers setting in early I think.
So here goes, a picture less description if anybody's interested. Firstly the parking charge, £5.00 a car, seems steep but after parking at Salute, not so bad. Another £5.00 each to get in, (£3.00 if you're an OAP-  not me yet but Windy had a giggle) and what do you get- well this year quite a lot. After the move from the Octagon a few years back this show went down in my estimation, no atmosphere, poor games and a sort of ' we're only doing it for the money' feeling. So much so that last year I didn't go. This year however, from the first smile at the door, I felt good being there and there was a genuine enthusiasm around the games

James Roach was in attendance with his Zorndorf game. I've met James on numerous occasions and have always been impressed by his knowledge about the subject and his painting style. His blog details his painting regime and the output is astounding, I would have thought the output of painted figures would mean they were 'average' at best- nope, not this bloke- detailed, shaded, well based and presented, top class.

Like a Stone wall put on a huge Seven Years war battle, excellent figures and terrain as always. To be fair there were quite a few good games on show, by good I mean well presented, nice terrain and decently painted, based and 'flagged' figures. There were a couple of basic games where the club terrain and 'three colour painting' figures were being used, presumably these games were floor fillers.
John Grant put on a Musket and Tomahawks game that I'd have loved to play in.

The trade was well presented with the big hitters in attendance, Dave Thomas, Foundry, Old Glory and Curteys, Dave Lanchester had a few quid off me as usual. Warbases were a there with an ever growing range of decent gear.

One noticeable thing was the abundance of well painted 40k very cheap stuff in the bring and Buy, it wasn't selling, probably because of Games Workshops' policy of rehashing their rules every couple of years, and at 50 quid a shot it gets expensive to keep up.

All in all a decent day out, some nice games and some 'required' purchases, I say required but as we all know if we don't support the traders they won't be there anymore. Was it worth the parking charge and admittance? probably, the people I spoke to presenting the games were all very chatty which I like, the trade was good, the premises is bland- can't be helped I suppose- was I enthused to go home and paint/game,- yes, due directly to the friendly attitude of the lads putting on the games. The final thing I always consider is - would I go again next year?- probably, but there are better shows around- York, Partizan, Fiasco & Derby to name four that are local to me.

PS after writing this I've seen James Roachs' Olicanaladsgames blog and I don't think I'll be attending Triples again. It was going to be either Triples or Partizan this year but we decided to do both, next year it'll just be Partizan. Please see James' blog for details.

Salute - what a day!

Well it's Saturday night and we're back from Salute, six hours after leaving the show and I'm still buzzing. Everything you could ever want from the wargaming world under one roof, mind you it's a massive roof!! The thing that sticks with me every year is the sheer size of the thing. This year the queue was in the hall next to the show hall- Excel is like a tardis- there must have been 2,000 people in front of us in the pre-paid line and we feared a long wait to get in but at ten o'clock the doors opened and we started moving forward, the line entered the hall at walking pace and were in in less than ten minutes, well done London Warlords/ Excel staff for excellent crowd control.

I was set to write a blow by blow account of our day but, to be honest the whole experience is just a blur. There's just too much to take in, games, displays, traders, painting completion. Below are some of the games I stopped to look at, only a few of the many that stood out, apologies to the organisers who put these on but I didn't get all the individual or groups names-

                                                                 D Day landing-

 

 

Fantasy skirmish game, beautiful set up-

 

Newark Irregulars, fighting up a hill, and what a hill!!!

 

Wargames Illustrated game run by Duncan MacFarlane-

 

Romans vs Celts-

 

Sci-Fi with flying boats, excellent display game-

 

 

Rob Brooms War and Conquest game-

 

 

There were also some companies with static displays showing off their wares-

 

These Dark Age buildings stood out a mile.

 

Apologies for the crappy pictures, I've a new camera and haven't a clue how to use it. What was I saying about oldies and technology??!!

 

Purchases- I got the new Rus I wanted from Gripping Beast although the Crescent and Cross book wasn't available due to printing problems however the figures were there in abundance and very nice they are too. I decided to wait to buy a full set rather than get it piecemeal.
A pack of Gendarmes for my Italian wars and a pack of drinking Landsknechtes for a bit of variety from Foundry.
I saw the metal set of Polish winged hussars from Warlord and couldn't resist, after closer inspection of the figures I'm glad I didn't, they're full of charisma and movement, I can't wait to get these on the painting table.

Things to look out for in the near future- new plastic Agincourt to Orleans 15th century figures from Perrys and the early Saxons from Curteys.

Rob Broom author of War and Conquest and Scarab miniatures supremo hinted he may put on a games day in the North, good news for us from Yorkshire and we'll all support it.

One thing that did stand out was the abundance of science fiction games and figures, there's some very talented sculptors around which can only be a good thing. After a series of discussions in the car on the way home we've reached the decision that games Workshop has priced 40k out of the market what with extortionate prices for figures and re hashing rulebooks and codex's much too often (personal opinions - no offence meant). The void left is being filled with smaller more user friendly companies producing a varied array of top notch games. Science fiction is not my bag at all but credit where credits due.

Overall conclusions- the hobby is flourishing!! there was an abundance of youngsters around, many new companies and new lines from existing established companies, all in all the future looks good.

One last thing - Redoubt Enterprises- I forgot how good some of these are, I say 'some' as a few of the earlier sculpts seemed flat and rushed. the new Pancerni displayed on the stand were SUPERB! If you haven't checked these out then I suggest you have a look if you're any interest in the Eastern renaissance.

A good day, well dione to all involved, even the £15.00 parking didn't spoil it.

Looking forward to Salute

It seems I've managed to upload a page- who says us oldies can't use modern technology :)

This week it's Salute and we'll be attending for the third year. By 'we' I mean me and my fellow gamers who shall be know by the following aliases- 'Windy Pete' the same Pete with the catch phrase "That's nice is it new- oops!!!", 'Fingers'- a top class painter even after his accident with a circular saw, hence the nick-name and Tom! Tom's our rules lawyer, he tends to grasp the principles of a rule set after just one read through, something that takes the rest of us weeks to get to grips with. It'll be an early start, 6:30am with just over a three hour trip, but if the show's anything like the last two it'll be well worth it.

Things on the 'to buy' list-
Gripping Beast, more Pagan Rus for my Saga warband.
The Crusades supplement for Saga, and hopefully a play test if we can get through the crowds!
Medieval Warfare magazine subscription from WSS, if you don't get this and you're interested in anything vaguely Medieval then you're missing a treat.
Warbases- modular buildings and plastic markers for WAB- these are things like Shieldwall, Veteran, Stubborn etc, ideal when the old memories going!!

Anything on Russian/Polish/Ottoman Turk warfare in the late sixteenth, early seventeenth century. After seeing the TAG Renaissance ranges for these I'm just about ready to pitch in and spend the next couple of years 'doing' this period. I just need a bit of reading matter, (Dave Lanchester books here I come) and to convince my gaming buddies to opt in and away we go. Got a bit side tracked there, something I tend to do on a regular basis.

No doubt there'll be loads to see and tempt the credit card but as it's the premier European wargames show I don't mind pushing the boat out a bit and loading up on goodies to keep the itch scratched for a while, well until Partizan.

I'll post my thoughts on the show and some pics, that's if I remember to take my camera, something I didn't do last year.

As I haven't got anything new done this week this a down table shot of a Pike and Shotte game we had with Robbie and John from Durham. Robbie's got a brilliant blog, go here-
http://independentwargamesgroup.blogspot.co.uk/
for a brilliant read.
More on Salute at the weekend.