Tag: Recon 2021

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new additions wargame shows wargaming

Supply Chain 2021

My hobby has again been sustained by a supply chain. In my case 2021 has seen my ebay activity trail off while I have increased my buying with a few hobby companies.

Thank you to everyone (in no particular order!)

  • Cronwallis – ebay supplier from Oz who provided some rare 1/72 plastic figures for my Fauxterre Napoleonic Mythical Realm. Also I secured a supply of Russian Napoleonics who will see life as my Milan Guard – one day!
  • Model Hobbies supplied a lot of Napoleonic 1/72 figures and many Waterloo 1815 figures for my Wars of the Italian Unification project
  • Black Forest Hobby were a source of some hard to get figures and rulessets
  • Other ebay suppliers included ms-plueth (dutch/belgians), model148 (for peninsular war types) and rasweetrampwp who provided some WW1 belgians which I morphed into Neapolitan Chasseurs circa 1860.
  • buchunversum supplied a very valued book – Funcken 19th century army uniforms with german text – britain/prussia/france 1815 to 1850. Crucially it shows the evolution of french and german uniforms from shakoes and breechs to pickelhaubes, kepis and trousers.
  • SHQ provided 20mm metal napoleonics
  • Hannants provided numerous 1/72 plastic figures mainly for my mythical napoleonic armies
  • Caliver books provided invaluable titles for my new interests in european wars between 1848 and 1866. The Schleswig War of 1848 was probably my most satisfying buy – I just did not expect such a gem of a book. (see lead image for details). America in Algiers circa 1820 was a complete surprise!
  • Irregular Miniatures have supplied some very useful 20mm figures for my Italian and French forces fighting over Rome in 1848 and all Italy in 1859
  • Warrior Miniatures have provided 25mm troops for what will be my Fauxterre post Napoleonic forces
  • Wargame Vault supplied me with “A Gentlemans War” skirmish rules in pdf format.
  • Perry Miniatures provided their Carlist Wars ruleset
  • Paul Meekins Books supplied a 100 year old copy of a trilogy on Garibaldi’s wars
  • Games Lore supplied 5 Parsecs from Home sci fi rules

On the high street I bought figures and kits from Antics in Plymouth and Monk Bar models in York while Wonderland of Edinburgh supplied many sets of 1/72 figures including Crimean era

I managed just two shows where the following traders provided some excellent material.

  • Pendraken for bases
  • Colonel Bills for 20mm WW2 metals
  • Dave Lanchester Books who have provided some really excellent source books most recently on 19th century sea warfare and Vichy France at War
  • I have written up about Fiasco 2021 traders here and Recon 2021 show traders here.

Operation Hight Street

For some extra fun I have tried where possible to run my sideshow WW2 wargame project by buying in person at shops/traders. It has not been easy. Yet I have bought quite a bit of material from those few trips I did manage.

So I hope our hobby suppliers continue to prosper and provide us with figures, scenery, rules and other materials to enable us all to enjoy a hobby that lets you escape into your imagination.

Thank you

Categories
wargame shows wargaming

Recon at the Double part 2

Having done a quick tour of the show in my last post, this post gives a little flavour of the Lance and Longbow Society game.

The imaginary battle of San Giovese 1499 allowed two roughly equal forces of infantry and cavalry to fight for control of land around a priory.

Left Flank of the French line with Imperialists almost mirror image in the distance
The strong right flank of the French

Using modified Lion Rampant rules to handle base elements rather than single figures the game was run against the clock (60 minutes). In theory both sides had a slightly stronger right flank although in both games I joined the outcome was decided by total losses rather than a flank being swept away.

Pike and Militia with Crossbows in front – typical infantry fare in the Italian Wars. The game uses 6 sided dice with distance measurement. Nice and simple.

Essentially 2 or 3 players per side were assisted by an Umpire.

These were good and quick games to play, face to face and in a relaxed way.

So thanks to the Lance Longbow Society for running this game.

victory conditions were simple – an essential element for enjoyable participation.
Categories
wargame shows wargaming

Recon at the double

After a two year break I attended Recon in Pudsey (between Leeds and Bradford), run by the Wakefield Wargamers. In between I have managed to visit just one other wargames show – Fiasco (last month).

The show was using the same main hall plus first floor, although I think the HOTT competition was not in a separate room
With free parking and bar with hot food plus good road access and Pudsey rail station nearby – the Pudsey Civic Hall works well for a wargames show

Recon is what I guess people would regard as a regional show. This type of show is essential for the hobby to function. This year despite all the problems with COVID and an Autumn show congested calendar, the show was fine. Numbers were probably down – not a surprise, there were plenty of games available to play and a variety of traders. The bring and buy was a lot quieter and that is the indicator that tells you footfall was lower than in previous years.

Durham war gamers put on a large 28mm Vikings and Saxons game – visually attractive with longships beached up.

KB Club showed off smaller scale 1/144 modern warfare on hex plus a sci fi starships game.

6mm was on show with James Mitchell’s Sudan game.

The Lance & Longbow Society put on a 28mm Italian Wars game.

I had some good buys at the bring and buy as well as Dave Lanchester books. More on that at the end.

The other traders were a good mix selling figures, scenery, paints, brushes and rulesets as you would expect. I picked up Anarchy by Chris Peers published by Pen & Sword from “The Little Corporal”. Given, I was tempted there by Wargaming for Grown Ups Spanish Civil War rules – it was a surprise purchase!

Iron Gate Scenery had a good display as did Baccus 6mm and Eagle Miniatures 28mm.

I bought an FT17 by Hat from a trader who it appears was a late arrival so I cannot name them! They were between tables 20 (MaideinUK 3D printer) and 21 (Blastwall – mainly scenic).

A bit battered by they were on my list – I lean towards pre 1939 tankettes rather than 1944 behemoths.

My other purchases were all books

At the bring and buy – two bargains – The ECW Helion book looked brand new and was half the list price, while you don’t see much on the Spanish Amercian War – a current and unexpected interest in ironclads drove this purchase
I am always after old rule books to see what ideas I can reap (lefthand from the bring and buy at 50p – righthand from Dave Lanchester Books – excellent condition veteran copy). Both these might have irrelevant core rules nowadays yet they do have a lot of ideas on the peripheries like logistics and communications.
My current WW2 flavour is french armies and this double pack I picked up from Dave Lanchester Books.
Little Corporal provided the “Anarchy” while this “Vichy” number came from Dave Lanchester Books
A definite coffee table book as they say.

This last book was a pure indulgence. Having really enjoyed Ironclads I could not resist this book which deals with south amercian wars in the late 19th century. The paintings are fascinating and all the more interesting for being watercolours. Again Dave Lanchester Books was the supplier.

This South American war is one of those crossover wars where old and new technology combined for a moment and then continued on their respective journey.

A very good day out so put it in your diary for 2022.