Warfare

It seems only fair that having moaned about the downside of Shows in a previous piece I should offer an after action report on my experience at Reading Warfare. It’s an eclectic mix – neither balanced nor unbiased – that no doubt says more about me than the show. But hey, its my blog

First I should say thank you to the organisers. I appreciate that pulling one of these things together takes a lot of commitment. I alluded  earlier to the accusation ‘If you think you can do better....’ well, I couldn’t nor would I want to. You have my admiration. It goes without saying that the good cause – Parkinson’s UK – has more than just admiration.

Second, the catering at the ‘bar’ was every bit as grim as I had anticipated.  My cup of Nescafe was not enhanced by the addition of two micro pots of long life chemical mix and the byzantine till arrangement (I wont go into detail) was not one of best practice. The staff in attendance were a testimony to modern youth.

For the first time in a long while I was able to access a bring and buy stall. I didn’t bring or buy anything as the prices seemed to be rather optimistic/unrealistic depending on your point of view. I thought it was meant to be a jumble sale and I would be reluctant to spend large sums of money on items here. Isn’t that what eBay is for?

Foresight junior said to me before we reached them ‘I like the demonstration games the best’. I’m not sure why some people do them.  There is a sliding scale of enthusiastic shouting to the all too prevalent morose silence. If the demo involves two introspective 50 somethings playing a game without talking then this is the show for you. It’s hardly inspiring. I went up to one table (and I’m not making this up) and asked which battle was being played. I got a one word answer and the demonstrator promptly walked off. Now there may have been many different reasons why he would do this – perhaps he was going to be sick after having had a cup of coffee – but if someone shows interest then surely thats the point of going to all the trouble of setting everything up. But it was not unique – lots of clubs do it. If someone comes and stands by your table then presumably they have a passing interest in talking to someone even if its just to say ‘nice figures’ or some such. I did laugh though.

The traders were as ever the most entertaining part. ‘Dont buy these now’ one told me. ‘There’s a 20% discount in December’. And I would have bought them there and then! The saga figures looked nice – its the LBM shields that sell them really. A masterpiece of rebranding by Gripping Beast, I bought a pack and found the same figures that I bought about 7 years ago. And why do the Vallejo displays never have Iraqi sand or Light Grey on them. You’d think traders would bring extra. And does anyone else think that Warlord are expensive?

We were there for an hour and a half and the afternoon cost me about £100 all in. We came away with products from Perry, Artizan, GB, Victrix, Rendra and Vallejo. Driving home through a grey and gridlocked Reading listening to England lose at rugby I vowed never again. But I said that last year and the year before that........

French

Following on from the earlier post on the Carabinier I've been pottering around with a few more figures. I thought that I would aim for a firing line Battalion and in order to get some variety will mix in some metal figures. I have yet toget these so its a long term aspiration especially as I've been doing a lot of commission work recently so time is a factor. However once you get into the swing of Napoleonics they are not as daunting as they seem.

Anyway, here are the Carabinier Company for a French Light Infantry Battalion. I'll base them up when I can.

 

Spike

I'm curious. There was a significant spike of hits on the blog yesterday. The stats don't appear to indicate why this might have been although my previous blog entry seems to be the cause. If anyone can say why the sudden rush occured I would be interested to hear.

And in complete contrast to the above.......

I was standing in a queue this morning and the man behind said to his friend 'Have you seen the Times this morning? There's a photo montage on JFK. Some great shots'.

Well, it made me laugh.

Why?

It's the rather dramatically entitled Warfare show in Reading next weekend. Foresight junior is keen to be there and as it is reasonably local we'll go. However I vow that every time I go to one of these things it will be the last. I should add that I'm not singling out this particular event rather my thoughts relate to all such shows or extravaganzas.

First its the cost. When all the peripherals such as travel, food, entry etc are taken into account then there goes the best part of £50 before a single figure is acquired. It's not the recession - I'm happy to do my bit - but when the alternative these days is to sit comfortably in front of the internet and examine new figures on screen at maximum magnification then it seems a poor exchange. And notwithstanding postal charges these days then delivery times are extremely good. Most of the stuff I order arrives within a couple of days.

Second is the catering. I do not go to a show for the culinary experience but frankly most catering outlets set the bar at a very low level. Do chefs hate wargamers? They must do as some of the rubbish I have eaten over the years betrays a psychological scarring that requires urgent assistance. I guarantee that next weekend I will be sold a cup of Nescafe instant that calls on me to add milk from a one litre container that is virtually empty and surrounded by a sea of brew-kit debris. It will not be cheap either. Let me be clear. I am happy to pay for a good product. I am not happy to pay for crap. I once attended a modelling show in Austria where the food stands were light, bright, cheerful, apppetising and alluring. And guess what? They were doing a roaring trade. Families were laughing and eating and looked as if they wanted to be there. Compare and contrast, as they say.

Third is the environment. I've been uncomfortable in many parts of the world but the morose and cheerless gloom of shows is an experience all of its own. Its not the crowdedness, the odour or the backpacks and what I really like about wargaming is the cottage industry rusticness of a business that resolutely refuses to reward enterprise. Let Foundry be a warning! No, its the fact that any show can turn even the most charming of surroundings into a mud strewn barn within an hour of the Q buster doors opening. Look at Newbury racecourse for an example. Or the Excel Centre in Docklands. Actually I'm just joking with Excel. A bit of mud adds interest to that environment.

Fourth, its the games. I will illustrate the point with an anecdote from last year. Junior was keen to play a game so we pitched up at a table ready for a quick bit of fun. Despite the obvious enthusiasm of the hosts we found ourselves lost in a convoluted scenario that in its quest for realism had long since lost sight of the fact that we were both confused and bored. And it seems so rude to just walk away. After we had extricated ourselves Junior looked at me and said 'I didn't understand a word they said'. I had to agree. Conversely can I just put in a good word for the Isandlwhana game we played a few years ago. Quick, fast, simple and over in 10 minutes. What more could you want?

So, am I being unfair? Possibly and I await the 'why dont you do something about it' feedback. But please dont start me on the bring and buy.

Carabinier

I'm gradually accumulating a range of spare figures and parts from all the new plastic figures out there. Some useful, some less so but you never know. The Perry French line box has half a dozen skirmishers which it seems a shame not to make the most of. However the fact that there are only 2 basic torso/leg variants mean that making a full unit of these figures is a little challenging no matter how many ways you attach the head and arms.

Nevertheless I thought that I see what I could come up with. This first chap is a Light infantry Carabinier with one arm from each of Perry and the Victrix Guard Grens sets. I am sure there are issues over cuffs and such like but frankly I'm not that fussed. I'm working on some others and would be interested to hear if anyone has any links or ideas over conversions of the torso model I referred to above. I've got my GW greenstuff and liquid greenstuff stood by so all thoughts welcome.

 

Warlord

My son has a box of Warlord German infantry which I hadn't really looked at until recently. I'd seen a number of critical comments on the 'cartoon' style of these figures so I thought I should check them out for myself. Et voila, a late war stormtrooper:

He's not finished yet. I still have the base to do and you can see that the varnish is still wet but hopefully you get the idea. He's a bit 'Normandy' in appearance but I could not tell you whether the assault rifle is an anachronism or not. If so, apologies to the purists.

Regardless of the paint finish, what a great figure. Assembly can be fiddly but that's what modelling is all about eh? After numerous slender, Perry waifs the chunky style was very welcome and the detail in every part of the figure was tremendous. As for cartoony, well, I know what people mean but frankly I would say this. Apart from the elite painter surely for most of us the three layer finish is designed to create a unit that bears reasonably close scrutiny whether in the display cabinet or on the tabletop. If you start to single out solitary figures then the cracks will start to appear. Three layers is in itself a cartoon style and if the figure provides a supporting template then so much the better.

So hats off to Warlord for creating a well defined and hefty figure. The rest of the box looks pretty good too but the thought of all that splinter camouflage leaves me a little nervous.

If I won the lottery then my figure of choice would be Elite miniatures. They can be pretty rough and ready in places but the final effect is fantastic. They look like they mean business.



 

Napoleonic Swiss

Finally finished! Painted to represent the 4th Regiment during their time with the Emperor. They'll be on eBay soon but if you would like to own them before then, then please drop me a PM. I should say that the Eagle is missing from the photos but is sitting on the painting desk waiting for the varnish to dry.