On Saturday just gone I made my annual pilgrimage to Claymore 2015 in Edinburgh. As ever, a
well organised and attended wargames show organised by South East Scotland Wargames Club.
With plenty of free parking at
the venue - Granton Campus, Edinburgh College - and spread over two large calls
with a varied mix of traders and demonstration games it's always a pleasure to
visit.
I've mentioned in previous posts that, for me at least,
the main focus of my attendance at wargames shows is perusing the trader
stalls, often using it as a chance to actually see products 'in the flesh' that
I've seen online. It also provides opportunities to see products that I may not
have previously encountered.
I often find my old, rusty brain cogs going into
over-drive when I've unexpectedly come upon some wacky miniature, building or
terrain piece whilst rummaging in a stall; 'Hmm, I
could use that in... ' or 'that would
make a great...' is the usual reaction.
And inevitably another project idea gets chucked on my 'one day' list.
It's also a chance to meet up with fellow gamers and
'faces' not so local that I've met at other shows. To catch up on news and have
a general chin-wag. There's something endearing to watch groups of gaming mates
excitedly revealing their latest spoils to their peers. Me included.
Of course, a big part of these shows are the numerous
public participation and demonstration games organised by traders or clubs.
From large scale Napoleonic battles to frozen fantasy wastelands. From
intricate dungeon crawls to air and sea clashes. It never ceases to amaze me at
the level of dedication, game design, painting
and modelling skills on display at these shows. It's a great advertisement to our
hobby and demonstrates that creativity is very much alive and well in the video
game and app generation.
As my focus is primarily with the traders I rarely participate
myself unless it's a game that I'm seriously thinking out buying into. Otherwise
there's the temptation to come away with an overdraft and a dozen new systems
after being seduced by some fantastically impressive custom set-up! Although
this year I did find myself playing a few games of WW1 Wings of Glory mostly because
I was wanting to garner tips from more experienced players.
The booty
On the booty front, as with the last couple of shows I've attended, I've been very restrained. In fact I only had two definite purchases in mind, both from Gripping Beast:
The booty
On the booty front, as with the last couple of shows I've attended, I've been very restrained. In fact I only had two definite purchases in mind, both from Gripping Beast:
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| Macbeth can now lead my Scots SAGA warband. I doubt he'll look like this after my paint job. |
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| ...and Macbeth has brought along a band of Mad Monks! |
Its then a matter of seeing what catches my. I usually
fall for something. From Pulp Figures:
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| Courageous Mountaineers! |
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| Mad Scientists! |
And finally, from Lead Adventures, a VSF Steam Robot which has already made it to my paint table!
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| WIP: Steam Robot "Jager" M1 - coz' my IHMN company is light on weaponary :p |
Deadwood Weekend
As my reader will know, I'm a big fan of Dead Man's Hand
and I'm a member of the friendly Facebook group, Dead Man's Hand - Wild West Adventures. A UK meet has been mooted for a while but at
last things have come to fruition with 'Deadwood Weekend' at ZoneOut in Doncaster.
Saturday 3rd to Sunday 4th October. I'm a 'definite
maybe' at the time of writing and if I get the green light I hope to bring my
town 'Obsession' along with me. Yee ha!
So that's your Scots War Chief! A fearsome fella, indeed! I've also been eyeing up those monks...can't decide between them or the Wargames Foundry ones.
ReplyDeleteWell, he's an optional warchief that will allow me to use the relevant 'Heroes' rules. I've been using a standard warchief up until now. Both are on foot but I'm thinking of adding mounted versions to my warband ;)
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