This weekend, my local club (Devizes) held its annual show, ‘Attack’.
I feel this is the quintessential ‘old school’ type of show; a good but limited
range of traders, plus a decent number of demo/participation games that are not
too flashy and, on the whole, are achievable by many gamers, both at home and
at club meetings. In addition there were a range of friendly, well attended
competition games and the overall attendance was not too crowded, so getting to
see and speak to traders was not a chore.
On the purchasing front I managed to buy most of what I
planned, plus a few impulse buys. I was surprised that there was not a
dedicated Flames of War supplier considering the sizable competition being
held. Luckily the early war models I wanted were available on a stand selling
3D-printed models (Vector Designer Maker) at a fraction of the Battlefront
prices. They looked surprisingly detailed and the range was extensive. I have
no previous experience of 3D-printed figures so was keen to try them out. The
base model looks rather garish (red plastic), and needs some trimming
and tidying up with a sharp modelling knife. I next washed with detergent, dried and under-coated with
black primer, which covered OK. I look forward to painting them up and
comparing them to other resin and metal models. My first impressions suggest
that 3D-printing has a bright future in the hobby, and as technology improves
and costs fall I can see gamers purchasing files and printing at home!
The B&B at Attack is always excellent, not too crowded
with a good range of objects for sale. This year I managed to sell a few odds
and ends, and the money raised covered all my purchases. In fact at the end of
the show I was slightly in profit! I managed to chat and catch up with many
friends, including Graham, who was over from Belgium and playing in the FoW
competition (he came 6th, a bit disappointing for him). Most of my
time was spend viewing the games on display. The games that stood out for me at
the show included:
A large 28mm WW2 Sword beach assault using Rapid Fire rules
(Exceterford Wargamers(?)). This not a set of rules I particularly like, but
the landing craft and DD tanks etc. were a joy to see. There was a FIW skirmish
game using 42mm ‘toy soldier’ style figures (DDWG, Clive). This was a truly ‘old
school’ game and the extraneous vignettes (e.g. pumpkin field, fish eagle,
moose etc.) really bought life to the game. In addition, the large WW1 Wings of
War game that is a regular feature at the show was impressive, as was a 54mm NW
Frontier game, which was also nicely modelled. The was a nice 28mm ECW game
(Last Chance Wargamers) and a demo game for a set of ECW rules (Bicorne
Miniatures).
At the end of the weekend I spent a couple of hours helping
to clear up. I think attending gamers should more appreciate the amount of
effort the organising clubs put into holding such a show; it is not simply a
money raising endeavour but requires an enormous amount of planning and work by
club volunteers. So, my thanks go to all fellow DDWG members and I look forward
to next years show!
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