So back from Salute after a very busy weekend. Oh, and a busy Monday catching up with the hundred or so emials and orders.- Not everyone goes to Salute it just seems that way ..
Only a 2 man crew this year and we almost didn't make it thanks to the horses on the A1. Missed us by inches- seriously I could have strokes its bloody ears if I'd had the van window open. I could certainly see its teeth. Poor buggers- all 3 of them were scared witless- not that horses have many wits to start with.
We avoided 'em by inches.
The rest of that Friday was mostly uneventful- Got to Ex-Cel unloaded and set up. Drove to our hotel checked in did the SSSS thing as you do then went for a pint and some dinner- first pub- where we have eaten previously- Kitchen closed. Second pub - where we have eaten previously- kitchen closed. Not only are we having no fun we are starving to death Jim and I . Finally found an Indian restaurant so staved of the pangs... eventually
Next morning Dawns so giving ourselves almost an hour to drive the 8 miles or so to Ex-Cel off we set... first half no worries then we find the Bloody idiots who organise this sort of thing have closed the A-13 or at least the bit of it we need. so it takes 40 minutes to travel the next mile.
THEN many of the approach roads to Ex-cel are dug up with blokes in hard hats moving very slowly so the time we set ourselves is ebbing away and finally we make it to the stand ith abouit 10 minutes to spare... PHEW!
Of the show I've little to say since I saw NONE of it far far too busy. My overall impression was that there seemed to be fewer games that past years but this may simply have been due to the fact that my route to the Gents didn't pass many games. The only "trade" I spoke to were the delightful ladies on the Miniature Wargames stand whose appearance made a very refreshing counterpoint to the hot and sweaty masses .....
By the end of the day with all that physical activity lifting bins and leaping from customer to customer Jim and I knew we had put a shift in . So, back to the hotel - more traffic mess- by 7 pm the dinner etc and Drive home on Sunday.... Nice.
There were apparently complaints form some traders about the Warlords organistion this year.
I'd like to go on record that as far as I was concerned it all ran like a swiss watch No bother ...
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Friday, 8 April 2016
Games at Salute
Perusing the Salute guide in the current MW I've already mentioned the 190 traders- now to the games- there are 86 listed.
Of those some 40 are loosely historical. with a good number of periods represented including 2 battles of Hastings .... and games in various scales though 15mm is a bit under represented out side WW2 and modern.
Again we have the minor phenomenon of many of the sci-fant games being run by companies rather than clubs.
I think this speaks rather to the limited nature of sci-fant gaming than anything else as - from the list only the Warlords themselves seem to have got out of the samey-gamey mould with their sci- fant games- not unusual for them at all. They do put the effort in .
Perusing further we find a game basedon Wacky Races- the 1970s cartoon- well late 60s when I watched it. - How is that wargaming? Now don't misunderstand it has a place at Salute which has not been a WARGAMES show for a good few years but rather a gaming event with some wargames in it.
Why does this bother me I hear you ask?
Well it doesn't- except that I won't get to see any of the games as I'll be working.
Of those some 40 are loosely historical. with a good number of periods represented including 2 battles of Hastings .... and games in various scales though 15mm is a bit under represented out side WW2 and modern.
Again we have the minor phenomenon of many of the sci-fant games being run by companies rather than clubs.
I think this speaks rather to the limited nature of sci-fant gaming than anything else as - from the list only the Warlords themselves seem to have got out of the samey-gamey mould with their sci- fant games- not unusual for them at all. They do put the effort in .
Perusing further we find a game basedon Wacky Races- the 1970s cartoon- well late 60s when I watched it. - How is that wargaming? Now don't misunderstand it has a place at Salute which has not been a WARGAMES show for a good few years but rather a gaming event with some wargames in it.
Why does this bother me I hear you ask?
Well it doesn't- except that I won't get to see any of the games as I'll be working.
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Brushes finally moving- well a little anyway ...
It has been a thin time for getting figures painted recently-.Work has seen to that . Busy busy and YES gentle reader after a day filling orders and casting and sundry other toy soldier related jobs you get sick of the little lead gits so often do not feel like picking up a paintbrush to finish off some of your own gear.
However here are a few pics of some recently finished- and some re based- 40mm Wars of the Roses. Eagle eyed readers may note that I recently added 6 new figures to this range. 2 Archers and 4 more Men- at Arms- the latter fully plated up so to speak so that the range now has around 30 different figures in it.
I now have around 70 of the models finished with more to come- but around half still need re- basing on those natty wooden bases from Warbases- the ones he does not call "Flames of War" bases at all no indeed. I don't use 'em for that popular but patronising rule set anyhow so don't care.
As usual I don't make armies- or even smaller forces to fit rule sets as this narrows and limits possibilities within a given period. Period being far far more important than the opinions of a rule writer- unless on those rare occasions when he knows his period. So I'm looking at Tony Clipsom's set "Foray" here though the easy option of Lion Rampart- medieval free medievals may get used for a quick simple and possibly brain free starting point.
As for other happenings - well Salute beckons so I doubt I'll get much more painting done soon.. Ah well if you can't take a joke ......
However here are a few pics of some recently finished- and some re based- 40mm Wars of the Roses. Eagle eyed readers may note that I recently added 6 new figures to this range. 2 Archers and 4 more Men- at Arms- the latter fully plated up so to speak so that the range now has around 30 different figures in it.
 |
| the beginnings of the Percy contingent.. |
 |
| More men under the Percy banner, |
As usual I don't make armies- or even smaller forces to fit rule sets as this narrows and limits possibilities within a given period. Period being far far more important than the opinions of a rule writer- unless on those rare occasions when he knows his period. So I'm looking at Tony Clipsom's set "Foray" here though the easy option of Lion Rampart- medieval free medievals may get used for a quick simple and possibly brain free starting point.
 |
| A couple of lost blokes in FdwardIV 's livery find their way into the Earl of Northumberland contingent. |
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Goin Going Gone ....
I take it from some of the comment I heard and read that a lot of chaps didn't think much of Triples this year. I know some traders had a torrid time.
I was not one of them.
I was not one of them.
Old Glory UK had its best Triples for at least 3 years
Mind you things were not that rosy in other parts of the venue. With a couple of notable exceptions the games were awful .
Most of the games were either
A Unintelligable.
B Small - and virtually invisible from less than 5 feet away- even if they were in "28mm" - silliest of these was what looked like a WW2 game- I saw Russian AFVs on a3 feet by four feet table
C crewed by blokes who didn't want to talk to you or indeed not crewed at all ..
D run by traders wanting to sell you their latest fantasy/sci- fi skirmish.
Oh Dearie Dearie me.
The exceptions were however not like that.
There was a 6mm game which frankly I should have taken more notice of- the terrain was lovely likewise an Ancients game which looked pretty good
A large Napoleonic game in the centre of the main hall looked excellent with loads of troops and a band of enthusiastic players.
And Best of all the Grimsby clubs fantastic Dutch Wars Naval game- the quality of the model ships was stunning. The work and effort that had gone into this project was immense..
Google Sheffield Triples 2016 for images of this and some at least of the other games on various other blogs.
However the quality of the "Good" games at this show is not my major point here. I expect other bloggers have given the Triples organisers a kicking but there is only so much that they can do. If several traders don't turn up how is that the organisers fault?. If the games turn out to be crap how is that the organisers fault.
Perhaps other blokes find these 3 foot by 3 foot minigames acceptable- some must, as there are a hell of a lot of them about these days. They even sometimes call it "skirmish gaming" perhaps to differentiate themselves from we of the "hardcore"!!!! However consider- these games are by their very nature limited- limited space limited number of units so again by its very nature they are tactically limited too. That means limited in terms of gameplay- repetitive and ultimately little more than a dice rolling contest so after half a dozen or so games must pall and- to a decent set of working braincells become boring so why are they supposedly so popular- I simply can't work it out nless wargamers are thicker than I think they are ....
The idea for some seems to be that show games should be the same as "club night" or even "dining table night" but surely a "show game" should be something a bit special to show what we CAN do not merely what some do do as it were. I've heard the argument that a really well displayed game can put people off and it has some value but consider with that attitude the Motor show would never have had E-type or Aston- Martins only second hand Mondeos and. London Fashion Week would be run by ASDA.(That would be Walmart for chaps across the pond )
However Show gamers are volunteers so organisers have no control over what they do. Though you might make a large exception when games are being run by commercial outfits who are also trading at the show,. Spartan games for instance had 2 or 3 small tables running various of their "games" at Triples. They and others of course do this at other shows too. Are organisers now so short of games that they let these chaps in free? I don't know. But it makes you wonder. Is"hardcore" wargaming dead then or at least unwell or uninterested in the bigger picture. Or has the bigger picture simply become much much smaller and more introverted and dare I say it Juvenile?
Now as we know most of the club demos or PP games are run by volunteers- sometimes they have sponsorship. For Instance I have and sometimes still do sponsor show games but IF I do I want some input into what is happening. I always had that input with the Stonewall group .. Obviously I can't speak for other outfits but it does make you wonder how things are organised these days. . I know of Railway modelling groups for instance who EXPECT expenses from the organisers of one of their shows for turning up and running their layouts. Never heard of that at one of our events in over 30 years- though at Derby at least the winners of the various prizes received small cheques.
So the question must be what is the incentive to put sometimes years of effort into a show game- for the commercial outfits it is obvious but for clubs? Will we see show games taken over by commercial minigames and therefore the visible face of the hobby become narrower ?. As the definiations of what "miniatures wargaming" actually is changes on an almost weekly basis- always to the detriment of "hardcore" historical wargaming (or so it often seems to this admittedly biased observer)
Riddle me that one dudes?
And Best of all the Grimsby clubs fantastic Dutch Wars Naval game- the quality of the model ships was stunning. The work and effort that had gone into this project was immense..
Google Sheffield Triples 2016 for images of this and some at least of the other games on various other blogs.
However the quality of the "Good" games at this show is not my major point here. I expect other bloggers have given the Triples organisers a kicking but there is only so much that they can do. If several traders don't turn up how is that the organisers fault?. If the games turn out to be crap how is that the organisers fault.
Perhaps other blokes find these 3 foot by 3 foot minigames acceptable- some must, as there are a hell of a lot of them about these days. They even sometimes call it "skirmish gaming" perhaps to differentiate themselves from we of the "hardcore"!!!! However consider- these games are by their very nature limited- limited space limited number of units so again by its very nature they are tactically limited too. That means limited in terms of gameplay- repetitive and ultimately little more than a dice rolling contest so after half a dozen or so games must pall and- to a decent set of working braincells become boring so why are they supposedly so popular- I simply can't work it out nless wargamers are thicker than I think they are ....
The idea for some seems to be that show games should be the same as "club night" or even "dining table night" but surely a "show game" should be something a bit special to show what we CAN do not merely what some do do as it were. I've heard the argument that a really well displayed game can put people off and it has some value but consider with that attitude the Motor show would never have had E-type or Aston- Martins only second hand Mondeos and. London Fashion Week would be run by ASDA.(That would be Walmart for chaps across the pond )
However Show gamers are volunteers so organisers have no control over what they do. Though you might make a large exception when games are being run by commercial outfits who are also trading at the show,. Spartan games for instance had 2 or 3 small tables running various of their "games" at Triples. They and others of course do this at other shows too. Are organisers now so short of games that they let these chaps in free? I don't know. But it makes you wonder. Is"hardcore" wargaming dead then or at least unwell or uninterested in the bigger picture. Or has the bigger picture simply become much much smaller and more introverted and dare I say it Juvenile?
Now as we know most of the club demos or PP games are run by volunteers- sometimes they have sponsorship. For Instance I have and sometimes still do sponsor show games but IF I do I want some input into what is happening. I always had that input with the Stonewall group .. Obviously I can't speak for other outfits but it does make you wonder how things are organised these days. . I know of Railway modelling groups for instance who EXPECT expenses from the organisers of one of their shows for turning up and running their layouts. Never heard of that at one of our events in over 30 years- though at Derby at least the winners of the various prizes received small cheques.
So the question must be what is the incentive to put sometimes years of effort into a show game- for the commercial outfits it is obvious but for clubs? Will we see show games taken over by commercial minigames and therefore the visible face of the hobby become narrower ?. As the definiations of what "miniatures wargaming" actually is changes on an almost weekly basis- always to the detriment of "hardcore" historical wargaming (or so it often seems to this admittedly biased observer)
Riddle me that one dudes?
Friday, 18 March 2016
More Modern Mayhem
Not really a battle report but simply a qucik not to point chaps at the report of our last modern Game- last weekend in fact. see here
http://tantobieinternettattler.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/plus-one-for-buying-umpire-pint.html
which give a full report of a fine scenario set up and run by Andrew the Tekkie using my 15mm collection.
The report is a good read too.
Now back to work- Sheffield Triples beckons ....
http://tantobieinternettattler.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/plus-one-for-buying-umpire-pint.html
which give a full report of a fine scenario set up and run by Andrew the Tekkie using my 15mm collection.
The report is a good read too.
Now back to work- Sheffield Triples beckons ....
Sunday, 21 February 2016
Wargames Illustrated no 341
On Saturday morning the latest issue dropped on my doormat. Now I don't subscribe and I don't - currently - advertise in this mag Some of the reasons will become apparent.
The "Special subject" for this issue is the Duke of Marlborough so I expected to find info on John Churchill and his campaigns- well I did , sort of ,but very diluted and lightweight even by magazine standards- now I don't expect a full detailed biography but I do tend to expect -in a magazine for a supposedly literate audience- more space given over to actual text than pictures. A bit less obvious product placement might be nice too.
Once past the Marlborough articles- which were all pretty short and two almost identical Flames of War pieces on the Pacificwe had more than enough fantasy - Oh dearie me a long article on various takes on Mad Max- and violent car racing games- how is that a "wargame"?? - but of its type well done and some stuff on Frostgrave - which is yet another identikit skirmish game. However that is not to the point . My problem with this mag is not what is contains- thats a matter of taste but how it is presented. WI does not speak to its audience it shouts at them. Its style is very White Dwarf- though perhaps not quite as loud- a couple of WW1 articles were in there too but once again had the same "corporate look" as all the other pieces- even down to the presentation of the models. Though the piece on the Siege of Kut wasn't bad at all . Its getting harder and harder to tell one Mafia outfit from another. Once you get past the eye candy and product placement there IS some readable stuff there. Most notably a piece on Ospreys "En Garde" - which being a one time fencing enthusiast- still have my 17th century swords- repros of course -interests me rather more than somewhat. One I'll have to pick up - the lad had read the manuals but again I had to get past the samey -gamey look of the piece to get to the rather useful meat within.
Perhaps WI just needs to turn the amp down a bit so you can hear what they are saying above the white noise of the eye candy .....
The "Special subject" for this issue is the Duke of Marlborough so I expected to find info on John Churchill and his campaigns- well I did , sort of ,but very diluted and lightweight even by magazine standards- now I don't expect a full detailed biography but I do tend to expect -in a magazine for a supposedly literate audience- more space given over to actual text than pictures. A bit less obvious product placement might be nice too.
Once past the Marlborough articles- which were all pretty short and two almost identical Flames of War pieces on the Pacificwe had more than enough fantasy - Oh dearie me a long article on various takes on Mad Max- and violent car racing games- how is that a "wargame"?? - but of its type well done and some stuff on Frostgrave - which is yet another identikit skirmish game. However that is not to the point . My problem with this mag is not what is contains- thats a matter of taste but how it is presented. WI does not speak to its audience it shouts at them. Its style is very White Dwarf- though perhaps not quite as loud- a couple of WW1 articles were in there too but once again had the same "corporate look" as all the other pieces- even down to the presentation of the models. Though the piece on the Siege of Kut wasn't bad at all . Its getting harder and harder to tell one Mafia outfit from another. Once you get past the eye candy and product placement there IS some readable stuff there. Most notably a piece on Ospreys "En Garde" - which being a one time fencing enthusiast- still have my 17th century swords- repros of course -interests me rather more than somewhat. One I'll have to pick up - the lad had read the manuals but again I had to get past the samey -gamey look of the piece to get to the rather useful meat within.
Perhaps WI just needs to turn the amp down a bit so you can hear what they are saying above the white noise of the eye candy .....
Friday, 19 February 2016
Miniature Wargames no395
A copy of this has just dropped on my mat. First impressions are interesting. There is a lot of stuff in it- even leaving aside the Hammerhead show guide- I don't attend.
The on -off on off "Anti -figure Crusade" sort of continues with various chaps telling you how hard it is to actually use figures in a game and how" Ooh my back hurts" and how - for some- plastikrap is now "the norm"- well no it isn't its too fragile and too bloody fiddly and frankly makes our precious time even more scarce. Also have not personally found any 28mm plastics I actually want to use.
However moving on this does not stop the mag being pretty full of stuff to read. I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones- the TV series is rather good if a bit graphic in parts but the books are turgid and overlong. Sort of Tolkien having a really bad acid trip .Nevertheless the article has some nice stuff in it- explains well what the author is after and if Westeros is your thing for a lightweight skirmish game then there it all is but again as a limited skirmish game with "mechanisms" ... Some tasty figures though.
Neil Shucks column is as always worth reading - even if I gnash my teeth the while- as the "Anti toy soldier" view is shown again. Apparently toy soldiers put people off wargaming . Now I can't say he's wrong here however much I prefer the toys to the games but boardgames simply have no bloody style and mostly bore the arse off me. There is nothing to look at while Jeff is fiddling about with his counters. There is no SPECTACLE so why bother.To repeat Mr Dutres phrase
"Its about the figures"
It is the toys that separate what WE do from the counter pushing introverts huddled around a small board sipping horlicks .....(yes I'm being waspish but board games are just so unappealing on the whole- I hate monopoly too)
John Tredaways column contains an examination of Beyond the Gates of Antares- and its not the sycophantic drivel I've seen in other places but a reasoned piece with some actual thought.
All in all the mag IS a bit fantasy - heavy this month - no bad thing in itself even though I don't do Fantasy but there was a nice little piec on WW1 air combat- though 1/600th is far far far too small a scale for such an individualistic period and yes we do some of those in 1/100th- well they look the same to me anyhow !
So a decent mag with some interesting stuff in it just not all to my taste.
The on -off on off "Anti -figure Crusade" sort of continues with various chaps telling you how hard it is to actually use figures in a game and how" Ooh my back hurts" and how - for some- plastikrap is now "the norm"- well no it isn't its too fragile and too bloody fiddly and frankly makes our precious time even more scarce. Also have not personally found any 28mm plastics I actually want to use.
However moving on this does not stop the mag being pretty full of stuff to read. I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones- the TV series is rather good if a bit graphic in parts but the books are turgid and overlong. Sort of Tolkien having a really bad acid trip .Nevertheless the article has some nice stuff in it- explains well what the author is after and if Westeros is your thing for a lightweight skirmish game then there it all is but again as a limited skirmish game with "mechanisms" ... Some tasty figures though.
Neil Shucks column is as always worth reading - even if I gnash my teeth the while- as the "Anti toy soldier" view is shown again. Apparently toy soldiers put people off wargaming . Now I can't say he's wrong here however much I prefer the toys to the games but boardgames simply have no bloody style and mostly bore the arse off me. There is nothing to look at while Jeff is fiddling about with his counters. There is no SPECTACLE so why bother.To repeat Mr Dutres phrase
"Its about the figures"
It is the toys that separate what WE do from the counter pushing introverts huddled around a small board sipping horlicks .....(yes I'm being waspish but board games are just so unappealing on the whole- I hate monopoly too)
John Tredaways column contains an examination of Beyond the Gates of Antares- and its not the sycophantic drivel I've seen in other places but a reasoned piece with some actual thought.
All in all the mag IS a bit fantasy - heavy this month - no bad thing in itself even though I don't do Fantasy but there was a nice little piec on WW1 air combat- though 1/600th is far far far too small a scale for such an individualistic period and yes we do some of those in 1/100th- well they look the same to me anyhow !
So a decent mag with some interesting stuff in it just not all to my taste.
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