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| The LoA GNW game at Falkirk 2017 |
I cannot say the our preparation for the Carronade show in Falkirk was faultless. I spent about 90 minutes the night before the show looking out all the various components from the game we had run at Tactica. Terrain - check, buildings - check, troops - check (sure about that?... yep), trees - text to Toggy - check, rules - check, handout - oops I forgot that, never mind, we have voices, we can explain if anyone is interested.
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| Oi! Hilton, you muppet! where are the pikes for those Russkies? |
As we set up on the drizzly Saturday morning, laying out all the troops Toggy says - 'Where are the Russian standards and pikemen?' 'Oh, they'll be in one of those boxes' - but of course they were not!
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| I enjoyed doing these new Swedish cavalry command figures |
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| New officer, older horse type |
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| Nice - new cavalry officer new horse typre |
One of my occasional senior moments resulted in the Russian Army taking the field sans picque et drapeaux! I added an extra two feet of the table length from the Hamburg iteration of the game and this combination of extra space and the absence of around 50 troops gave the game some breathing space for manoeuvre which worked well in the end.
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| Theo attacks across the bridge |
We had lots of interest during the day and Theo Blakeney Edwards (aka General Wauchope from our 1692 campaign - lately confined to a monastery having lost his mind at Ripon) played a passable and aggressive Russian general.
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| Another new Swedish officer type on one of the older style horses |
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| Lovely new Russian dragoon flags on models painted by David Imrie 20 years ago! |
The Carronade show which now rivals/surpasses Claymore as the premier Scottish event has plenty of pluses. Good access for exhibitors and trade, good light especially in the larger gym hall, space, an efficient and helpful hosting club, a good selection of trade and normally, a very good standard of games. This year however there were a couple of chinks in the facade I thought, few if any within the control of F&DWC.
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| Westerhope - Prince August nostalgia - that IS a wargame! |
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| I enjoyed looking at this table |
The temperature and air quality particularly in the gym hall was uncomfortably sticky and fetid. You felt as if a good wash was in order. The attendance also seemed somewhat down - could be an illusion but we thought it was a bit quieter than normal. The standard of games had slipped a bit too. It is a never ending debate - reality and accessibility versus glitz and pzazz. Scotland normally does the wargaming bling extremely well with more than a handful of clubs able to pull something very special out of the hat but this year the feeling was of lots of ordinary club night offerings.
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| Kevin Calder's falling WoTR man at arms! |
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| And his fox catching a coney |
Imrie & Friends and Calder & Nicholson pulled off the usual quirky-spectaculars. As you drooled over the hundreds of lovingly painted models the boys wanted to focus on showing the onlooker their pride and joy - men falling out of windows, foxes, ducks and cats sitting astride log piles - yup, we love our little touches!
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| The Westerhope chaps explained their complex unit naming system! |
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| Tea light explosion markers which do not photograph well on an iphone |
Westerhope put on a nostalgic and very attractive SYW game with Prince August figures. It was adjacent to our table and I went back to it again and again. In gaming terms there as a very strong link between that game and our own GNW effort. 25 years ago my introduction to the GNW was via Prince August home cast figures just like these at a friend's house. These fantastic toy soldier games inspired the commissioning of the Warfare Miniatures GNW range.
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| Imrie and Co - heavy metal thunder from the 100 Year War |
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| He does put on a nice show that lad form Leven |
Toggy and I made a few decisions during the day. That was good. We talked to many friends and visitors. That was also good. The day went quickly and we had a nice afternoon out.
I have noticed an increasing trend for packing up early at shows.. I must say, I don't approve.
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| You did a good job on these Clarence! |
More from our Spring Tour next week when we visit Partizan for the first time in a couple of years - that will be nice!