Battlegroup North (Yorkshire Air Museum)

We were away visiting York for the last week and once of our scheduled visits was to the Yorkshire Air Museum. This coincided with the Battlegroup North exhibition which features a whole load of military vehicles, living history people, demonstrations and so forth. On of the features of the day is a mini wargames show, which I was very keen to have a nose at.

Here are some piccies:

The view across the hanger

Tank battle. Not sure what rules were used.

View along the table of a Pegasus Bridge game. Using Bolt Action.

There were lots of military replicas on display as well as the games.

All the games (as far as I could tell) were participation, which was great.

A game of Rapid Fire

Some decent ruined town terrain

Attack on an airfield. Great blimps supported by wire poles which gave them a 'bobbing' effect!

Close up of the ruins mentioned previously

Alas, I don't recall much about this game. Looked good though.

The replica bomber.

So, what you had was several good looking WW2 participation  games. The exception was a WW1 skirmish dealing with Rommel's exploits in 1914. I'll have to read up on that! I wouldn't really call it a wargame show as we know it, but if you had a child who could participate in some of these games I think a lot of fun would have been had. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and the people putting on the games seemed to approach the whole thing with a smile and sense of fun.

There were no real traders to speak of, but the one standout was partially captured in my last picture. MTFG Hobbies appear to have a very large range of unopened GW blisters and boxed games from the 90s! I searched the web for them when I got home, but they do not have a website and the only email address I found in an online directory didn't work. If anyone knows anything about them I would love to find out more!

All in all it wasn't worth making a specific trip for (especially as entry to the whole day was £10 per adult), but if you had happened to be there it was worth a look.

EDIT: 'Fozman' was the chap running the 'airfield' game. He posted the description on TMP and I am duplicating it here:

"The Battle of Britain ran during the Summer & Autumn of 1940 and that is the setting for our game…

At a remote airfield somewhere in Southern England new airplanes for the RAF are being tested & evaluated as are captured German ones. In addition, some light bombers are being converted into fighters to help in the night war against the Luftwaffe, and, to help in the evaluation of early radar, there's even a new advanced radar installation on site… the German High command is aware of this and has decided to launch an airborne assault to not only put the base and installations out of commission, but also set back the development of new fighters for the RAF.

You, the public will be playing the dastardly German Fallschirmjäger, whilst we will be taking the part of the plucky Brits. 

Can a motley assortment of Dad's Army, the Scouts, a local army detachment recently returned from Dunkirk and Doris the NAFFI lady beat off the best that the Luftwaffe can bring to bear?
Only time, lucky dice roles & us cheating unashamedly will tell!"

I didn't explain at the start that my wife actually took these pictures. I didn't intend to blog about this, but she expected I would so took photos! That's why I didn't make note of who the games belonged to or details of what they all were about. If anyone else wants a description added to any of these photos, please let me know!

The Wargamer Show 2014

The Wargamer Show was held today and I'm pleased to report it was jolly good fun. I didn't manage to make it last year, although I did the year before, and this was the first year at a new venue, which made it much more convenient for me to attend. Hurrah!

I was going to ride over, but I'm a bit groggy with cold at the moment and didn't fancy keeping an eye out for icy patches on 6mph country roads on my motorbike, so opted for the car instead. I only mention this as I arrived at about 11 and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of parking available. The venue itself was large enough to accommodate a show the size of The Wargamer Show and also had a canteen area available, although I didn't sample the food on this occasion.

There were a good selection of games put on by local clubs and plenty of traders. I had to seriously resist starting a few new projects! People were friendly, but I didn't feel well enough to engage too much with them. I was probably a proper grumpy sod!

Alas, I didn't feel up to taking pictures like the last time I attended, but I decided to take a few snaps of my haul, which I was very happy with!

I always find I don't have enough lichen for my table, so I picked up a bag of this, along with some flock as I am running dangerously low.

The always excellent Products for Wargamers were present and I had to seriously resist filling my bag up with goodies. But as I enjoy supporting them, I did at least manage to buy a couple of patches of rocky ground. Suitable for most of my projects and therefore an entirely justifiable purchase!

One of the traders, Magic Geek, I think, had a small selection of boardgames for sale, so I took the opportunity to add a little game to my collection. I've wanted the Space Hulk cardgame for a while now, so clearly it was fate that brought us together today!

Surprisingly, I had to search quite a bit for paints. Not that there weren't plenty available, but the trend these days seems to be for them to come in those pots where you drip them out into a palette. Now, while that is fine in principle, I'm not a big mixer and just like to dip my brush into the pot itself and get on with things! I've not heard of this particular brand before, but needed some browns, greys and a green for my FIW project, so picked up a few.

I've been resisting 4Ground for ages now, but finally succumbed! I took a look at their 15mm range and picked up a block house, some timber buildings and some snake fencing for my FIW project. Upon closer inspection, it appears the timber buildings are intended for Eastern Europe from 1700 onwards, so slightly the wrong continent... But as I don't see myself playing with anyone who will call me out on inaccurate wooden architecture I don't think I'm too bothered. I'm not enjoying the through of assembling the snake fencing, but the chap I bought the set from specifically mentioned they were good and told me they were easier to assemble than they appeared, so we shall see!

Finally, another fortuitous find. Though it has been a while (i.e. years) since I worked on my Starship Troopers project, I was chuffed to find the only two source books I am missing from my collection in a second hand book box, and in almost mint condition! Excellent!

So all in all a great show and a good haul!

Wargamer show

Last Sunday I popped along to the Wargamer Show (http://wargamershow.tripod.com/) to see what it was like. I have been going to the Guards Club for quite some time now and know the show organiser, but this was my first chance to go along and I would have missed it entirely had Paul not reminded me at the club last week...

The Venue
The show was at the Great Barr Leisure Centre in north Birmingham, a location which unfortunately put the city exactly between me and it, so it was a fair drive over. On the plus side, parking was ample, spilling over from the Leisure Centre into a school playground. The show itself was in a large sports hall, which was filled with stalls without feeling too cramped, so points for that in my book. Food and refreshments were provided, although I did not sample them.

Traders
There were several traders as one might expect, along with a good sized bring and buy. It seemed that quite a few stalls were selling second hand figures and books, which worked out great for me as I was able to pick up several bargains. My favourite find, though, was a first edition hardback of Flashman at the Charge, in almost mint condition, for £1. Nice! During the morning I spent at the show, I made several circuits of the hall and picked up something each time. So the traders were pretty good as far as I was concerned!

Games
There were several games in the centre of the hall and, pleasingly, the majority of the people running them were happy to stop for a chat, something I have not always experienced at shows.

My 'game of the show' award (for looks at least!) goes to the Shrewsbury Wargame Society's AWI game, which was shockingly impressive. The terrain took 18 months to prepare and included amazing details including a scarecrow, washing line, fish in the river and an owl in a tree. My pictures, alas, do not do it justice.

The Guards Club had a large game of Hail Caesar (28mm) and a WW2 North Africa (20mm) game on, both of which appeared to be jolly good fun. I find that, while it is good to have the opportunity to see impressive display games, the Guards' games were quite indicative of what one might see at a club night, and therefore what a 'regular' gamer might play. So kudos to them for that. In fact that is part of the reason why the WW2 game won the best game award at the show.

Bonus prize for 'most figures on the table goes to this Napoleonic game:

Finally, an unfortunately blurry group photo at the Bring and Buy. From left to right: Paul's daughter and photographer for the event, Paul - event organiser and a most decent chap, and Maurice - custodian of the Bring and Buy and a jolly good fellow too.

My only regret is that I didn't take more pictures! I got a bit carried away with all the fun of the show and didn't even take a decent one of the whole hall. I guess that just goes to show how good it was!

All in all, the Wargamer Show was a highly enjoyable event and I certainly recommend it. I suppose to fend of accusations of bias I should offer a couple of points of critique, but the only one I can think of is that the website could do with more than a little bit of work. But I guess as this is my blog, you'll just have to put up with my opinion. If any of you were there, I'd be interested to hear your point of view.

I look forward to going again next year.