Partizan, Part the First

Today I was at Partizan in Newark. We arrived around 10:30 and there was a massive queue waiting to get in. While we were waiting I did some business with an eBay re-seller of my acquaintance and sold a rather large and very old Wars of the Roses army that'd been lurking under my table for 20 years! It saved me the hassle of putting them up on eBay myself and I probably did as well out of it as I would have if I'd done that.

Anyway, on to the show. I took rather a lot of photos so the 'report' will be broken down into two posts. First impressions were very good. In summary there were lots of high good quality games, several that were outstanding, and the place was bustling with punters. The hall was well laid out (well I thought so) with enough space to get between games and traders with my walker.

 * * * * * * *

My two favourite games are shown first. Graham of Cran Tara Miniatures put on an excellent game in 28mm set in the War of the Austrian Succession which was showcasing his extensive range of lovely figures. I might have these photos out of order but the game was a colourful English vs French engagement and looked outstanding. The terrain was very well done, with painted teddy bear fur (no teddy bears were hurt in its production I am told). 

Probably my favourite game by a whisker, and that only because I am 'into' the French Revolutionary Wars at the moment and just love (a) the Egyptian campaign and the British invasion in 1801, and (b) Perry's wonderful range of figures. It certainly gave me a few ideas for my French and English armies. (I am NOT going to  get into this campaign!) The game was put on by the Perry twins and looked like the English were going to be hard pressed, but I suspect they would have sent the French columns reeling back at some point, as long as they were able to deal with all that French cavalry.

Another excellent game was Dave Docherty's of the Old Guard Wargamers Sudan game using Peter Gilder's old rules. There were thousands of Dervishes and Fuzzie-Wuzzies appearing all over the table and homing in on the beleaguered British zariba, complete with railway train and observation balloon (I want one!). The balloon was made out of a polystyrene sphere from Hobbycraft and the netting that onions are sold in. very effective it was too. All the figures were extremely well painted and the terrine looked great.

Now I've never seen such a visually appealing naval game as this one, portraying the Naval battle outside the Russian naval base of Port Arthur on 9 February 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, put on by the Derby club. Port Arthur was very nicely modelled and the ships (1/600 from Old Glory I think) were gorgeous. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this war, especially the naval side, and did have the fleets in 1/2400 many years ago. 

I had been looking forward to seeing Steve Jones's depiction of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the start of the American Revolution. I follow Steve on his blog and love his figures and the way he presents his games. The terrain and figures were of course superb. I must get my stuff on the table again sometime soon.

That's the end of part one. There are more photos of some dazzling games still to come as well as my overall thoughts of the event and an admission as to what I didn't realise I needed till I got there and just had to buy! (And thanks Robbie for grassing me up to Katherine who asked me, "Who's Mark Allen - she knew already as she has met him, and what does he do?" I had been seen buying some painted figures off him!).

Partizan this weekend

I'm being taken off down to Newark tomorrow to be in situ for Partizan on Sunday. Now, having just been up to Carronade last weekend I am sure that everything I forgot to buy, especially those items I didn't even know I'd forgotten about, will be there for me to spend my pension on. Again, I'm taking a fair bit down with me, primarily a 30 year old Lancastrian 28mm Wars of the Roses army that I'm selling to an eBay re-seller, but also some other stuff I've sold in the last week. Of course there are things I expect to be returning with, but I am keeping quiet about that, mainly because I don't yet know what they'll be, apart from a couple of .......

 The main reasons for going are to get an eyeful of what I hope are some especially good games, to catch up with some of my geographically dispersed Wargames chums and to spend a pleasant weekend away with the missus on a spa break weekend :-)

I will of course present a full report (of the show and NOT the weekend) together with photos as soon as I am able.

Splendid Vauban style gateway.

My mate Stuart of 'Captain Jack's Locker' made me the gatehouse seen above for my Vauban fortress.  I didn't like the doorway that came with the set as it is just a door in a wall; very boring, unlike this rather grand construction!

I guess that now I have no excuse for not pulling my finger out and actually getting the whole thing painted. I just need to decide on a colour scheme......

Carronade, 13 May 2017 - show AAR

It was Carronade in Falkirk on Saturday and for the first time I was able to attend. We arranged a long weekend based in Stirling which is only 20 minutes from Falkirk, booking into the lovely and very well placed Royal Highland Hotel, just 200 yards from Stirling castle.

So, on arriving at the event the very first person I bumped into was Falkirk club member my old friend Douglas Thomson, whom I'd lost touch with when he moved away from the NE for a job in the Far East. Then we had a long chat with David Bickley and Phil Robinson, and I was able to unload a large bag of Eureka French Revolutionary War figures that I'd picked up for him at Salute after we put in a joint order to get round the postage and customs charges and also get a 20% discount for buying, between us, more than AUS$300 worth of goodies. I dropped a box of figures off at Northumbrian Painting Services, a company I cannot recommend enough in terms of the quality of the finished product and importantly value for money. Doing the rounds during the course of the day I pretty much wore my voice out chatting to loads of friends and acquaintances, many of whom I don't see from one wargames show to the next but are able to almost pick up a conversation where we left it the last time we'd met.

Katherine had arranged to meet up with Dave Jarvis as she's going to produce a new "all singing all dancing" website for him to support his figure painting business. She has a great deal of experience in marketing, promotional stuff and website design and now she's a lady of leisure offers her services for free to a select few. She even maintains the sites once they're up and running.

I took a few photos during the course of the day, but had to resort to using my phone as my camera chose to die on me right at the start of the day! I should have checked the battery I suppose. I have to say that in my opinion the quality of the games was very good. There were some outstanding games, and many that it was clear that more than a little effort had been put into putting them on. Didn't see much in the way of 2' x 2' boutique games and the vast majority were the staple of what a good wargames event should be, i.e. 'proper' wargames. There was no show guide or map so if I've wrongly attributed anything I do apologise.

 This first shot is of my old club the Durham Wargames Group, and their 42mm Spanish Civil War game, put on by Conrad Cairns. There are more photos of this game later but for me this was one of two stand out games at the event, based on my criteria of visual impact, visible effort (just about everything was scratch build by Conrad) and tidiness. Not a cup, can of pop or piece of paper in sight!

 I think this game was by the Falkirk Club. Italians v Greeks and British in the Aegean I think. I liked it anyway, although the table edges were a bit cluttered.

 These three photos are of an excellent Wars of the Roses game. Some beautiful figures, some very nice terrain items and an excellent church complete with some unfortunate person being defenestrated from the top of the bell tower.

 A WW2 Staligrady-type game, with lots of action and flashing lights.

 A 'proper' war-game staged by the guys of the Westerhope Wargames Group. All the figures are 42mm Prinz August home casts and they are gorgeous! I had a long chat with a couple of the players and for them, and for me, this is what gets my juices going, a big game, a visual treat, glorious colours and loads of shiny toy soldiers. More flashing lights too!

 This next lot are of the GNW game put on by The League of Augsberg group, Barry Hilton (very distinguished looking with his goatee) and pals. Lovely figures, some smashing vignettes and probably the best artillery battery I've seen on a wargames table. 

 This was a big 18th 6mm game. It looked good but for the life of me I can't remember what it was and who put it on. 

 More shots of the best game of the day for me, Durham's SCW game in 42mm. All the buildings have been scratch built, as was the armoured train and the vehicles were all conversions or scratch built. All of it by Conrad, who would get my 12 points for enthusiasm and focus, especially as he dressed for the occasion as a Socialist militia man!

This was a really very nice AWI game but one thing spoilt it for me. The figures were well painted and stood out, the terrain was colourful and looked good, but the table edges were such a mess, with cans of Irn Bru, water, Mars bars and all sorts of stuff cluttering the table. (I edited out the can of Irn Bru in the last photo as it kind of spoilt the look of the fort, although the Mars bar had to remain).

Overall this was a better show than the last one I attended (Salute) if only because I preferred the standard of the games. It was an excellent day out and definitely one for the calendar next year. I didn't buy much and actually left with less figures than I arrived with! A few more 1790's English, some sailors off Grubby's Miniatures for my frigate, some Perry sailors hauling on ropes, again for 1799, and a few bits of terrain.

Next week, all things being equal, I shall be going to Partizan. Can't wait.