Off to Colours on Saturday... one of the hottest days of the year, so a long-ish, hot drive complete with queues on the motorway. Newbury is a bit of a nightmare with side roads closed near the race course. I spent a lot of time going round in circles trying to find a route to the correct car park and was hot and stressed by the time I arrived. So much so that when I walked into the busy main hall I had to immediately turn round and go and sit outside for 10 minutes while the mild panic attack subsided (not just brought on by the event... there are some work and family things which are adding to the stress).
One of the Newbury club members said they'd had a lot of complaints about the lack of clear directions on their website... to be fair the roadworks aren't their fault but a heads up would have been handy
I usually think the stereotype of sweaty wargamer smell is a bit of a myth but it certainly wasn't on Saturday! Given the heat and humidity and the crowds it was a bit inevitable I guess...
The show itself was ok... I think a combination of the heat and my mood meant I was a bit underwhelmed. I only took a couple of photos even though there were some good-looking games there (including a particularly nice Vietnam game which I failed to photograph), so here are my very limited snaps...
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| Great looking 2mm Strength and Honour game |
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| Nagashino 1575 by the Newbury club |
I had a nice chat with Mark Backhouse, author of the Strength & Honour rules and picked up some painting tips for tiny figures. My haul from the show was also fairly modest...
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| I got this for a fiver in the bring & buy... I'm a big fan of the Steve Jackson Games metagame series. |
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| 2mm Roman troops... this is a bit of an experiment but I think the effect looks great in games like Strength and Honour |
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| Teenie-weenie legions |
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| I've heard lots of good things about these so another set of rules added to the collection |
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| A decent discount on some paints |
The show was very hot. I thought the Games Cafe was a waste of time and show space. The trader mix was ok, but just that, ok. There did seem to be less of a crowd this year attending, but I could be wrong. There also seemed to be less demo games, those that I saw were of very high quantity mostly. The B&B seemed less busy, which in this shows case is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI could actually get tonthe front of the bring and buy without too much use of elbows!
DeleteA decent haul Alastair, I wanted to go to the show, but couldn't make it, maybe next year?
ReplyDeleteIt was still a decent day out but it felt much more of a trade show this year
DeleteNice to see you Alastair. I’m sorry it was such a challenging day. Pleased you enjoyed the Strength and Honour table though. Mark
ReplyDeleteI managed tonsort myself out.. the heat and some family stuff caught up with me. A cup of coffee and a sit down helped! Good to have a chat...I've invested in some paint pens and will have a go at the 2mm figures shortly.
DeleteI have to say I was a little disappointed by the show this year. Staffing at the show seemed to be at an all time low. Lots of traders, but most selling nothing that I wanted to buy. I thought footfall was down in previous shows. The B&B was quite quiet compared to past shows. Demo games were definitely down, some being run by traders. The games cafe seemed a bizarre decision by the organisers. Chris
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