Monday 17 July 2017

Show Report - Attack 2017


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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