My ‘local’
wargames group (DDWG) held their annual show, Attack, this weekend. I attended both
days and helped out with the show set-up and clear-up. It is surprising how
much effort is required by volunteers to put on an event such as this and I don’t
think enough credit is given to organisers who enable wargame shows to
function. It is not simply a money generating event but a labour of love and gaming
enthusiasm.
I have
attended Attack for many years and it remains one of my favourite shows, and I’m
not just saying this because I’m a member of DDWG. There are a good number of
traders covering a wide range of interests. They seem to have enough space for
punters to view their products without the pushing/shoving encountered at other
more trade orientated shows (e.g. Salute or Colours). The quality of the demo
games is more varied as well; there are a few outstanding eye-catchers but there
are more games that are achievable for ordinary gamers. These games could be easily
be set up as playable club games at a regular Sunday afternoon meeting. I
really like this; eye-candy games are inspirational but I come away thinking
that such games could not actually be played as a game. They just would not
work.
There are
also a decent range of participation games that attract a good number of
visitors. This year appeared to have a higher proportion of SciFi games, which
did not appeal to me but did seem to excite younger gamers, which is a positive
for the hobby. There is a healthy competition aspect to the show, and I must
congratulate my friend, Graham, who won the FoW competition using his Russian
tank company. Personally I just don’t get FoW, but all the gamers seemed to be enjoying
a friendly competitive event, and the quality of the armies on display was
excellent.
Finally
there is a good Bring & Buy stall. Again, not too crowded. It is possible
to actually see the items for sale and the prices seem more ‘reasonable’
compared to my other favourite B&B event (Warfare in Reading in November).
I managed to sell my 15mm Samurai army, which I painted years ago but had
remained in the box because it was superseded by my purchase of a 28mm Perry
Samurai army. Unfortunately my 6mm C19th armies did not sell, although club
members manning the stand did report considerable interest. I will take them to
Warfare and try again. The sale of my Samurai actually covered the cost of my
purchases at Attack, which are shown below:
I bought
Machi Koro from the B&B stand. I discovered this game at Games Expo 2016 (see
earlier blog post) and was really chuffed to get this great game at a discount
price. I purchased a few Wild West buildings from 4Ground and I plan to write a
review about this game setting in the near future. I got a box of AWI militia
to augment my Musket & Tomahawk forces, plus a sprue of Napoleonic
Portuguese infantry for Sharp Practice. I was also tempted to buy a couple of sprues
of ECW foot for Donnybrook. I did consider buying the ECW ‘The Kingdom is Ours’
rules after watching the excellent demo/participation game put on by the rules
author. I held off because I’m not sure about the sizable order dice holders
required for each unit/commander, and I tend to play larger games in 15mm. I
probably will change my mind and purchase a set when I attend my next show
(Colours in Newbury).
Finally I would thoroughly recommend Attack to
all wargamers out there. Devizes may be off the beaten track but parking is
free and entry cheap. If you want a less frantic, less pushy, more relaxing and
friendly kind of show, then Attack is well worth attending. Sunday is definitely
the quieter of the 2 days.
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