IPMS Show, Bristol

This morning I attended the IPMS Show held in Thornbury, just outside of Bristol. Originally this was just a model show, but over the past few years or so has included a wargames element, organised by Lincombe Barn wargames club. Normally we are away on holiday at this time of year, but having had our annual jaunt away, it was nice to be free to make the short journey to the show to see what was on offer. I always try and support my local shows, as it is a great way of showcasing our hobby as well as being a place to meet up and chat with friends and like minded individuals.

I'll come onto my thoughts on the show later, but first off a rather large selection of 'photos of 'stuff' that caught my eye, annotated where applicable:

A nice Felixstowe seaplane.

A rather effective diorama of some WWII Japanese troops.

A Japanese attack on a ship.

Soviet tank riders.

A lovely selection of planes.

A nice WWII diorama.

The British desert airforce.

Not my think, but a lovely model.

An Italian AB-41 armoured car.

Some big Cold War bombers.

A mix of Cold War planes.

A lovely Sdkfz 222.

A mix of landing craft.

Hobart's Funnies.

A very impressive Russian bomber.

Beautifully painnted 1/12th (?) figures.

A Brewster Buffalo, an old favourite of mine.

An Achilles M10 tank destroyer.

A well done seaplane diorama.

There's something nice about simple silver planes.

What were the Germans thinking?

Allied minerollers in comparison.

The mineroller on the left is, well ... mad?

A late WWI/Russian Civil War game set in Northern Russia.

A nice gunboat.

Scratch built seagulls.

The landing area.

Another scratch built seagull.

An Age of Sigmar game.

Warhammer 40K.

A Congo skirmish game.

To the Strongest.

Stalingradesque game.

A nice Russian church.

The Men Who Would Be Kings.

The unit cards were a distraction.

Siege of Vienna.

The Turks right by the Austrian defences.

The Turks arrayed for the attack.

Yet more Turks.

A simply splendid sight.

Rapid Fire Arnhem game.

Some very large British bombers.

A lovely selection of Polish armour.

More Polish armour.

A scratch built Draisine and armoured car.

A tankette just fitting on a truck.

A mix of scratch built and kit.

Another nice railway transport model.

A wonderful WWII Italian diorama.

A two man torpedo/submarine.

Some nice 1/72nd British armour and softskins.

An impressive array of German armour.

British late war tank development.

American late war tank development.

A nice German WWI plane.

A very, very nice Italian WWI plane.

A very well done WWI diorama.

A Wing Nut Wings Gotha.

A truly lovely model.

A very well done Tiger II.

A nice Whippet.

A good British WWII diorama.

A good mix of kit on show here, all very well done.

A D-Day diorama.

Not my think at all, but well made submarines.

I'm not sure of the plane is to scale...

A Verlinden style diorama.

Another one.

Show Thoughts.

In the end I spent nearly 2 hours at the show, having a good wander around. So what did I think?

• As a show it is very well laid out and spacious, now it is spread over 3 halls of a sport centre. The 3rd hall did feel a bit out on a limb and certainly had a peculiar smell to it, rather like kerosene. Everyone commented on it! It is well lit and with ample parking as they use an adjacent field as overflow.
• There is an awful lot of stuff to see and pretty much  everything and anything is covered. This year I felt there was more sci-fi, which is no bad thing, but it didn't interest me. Planes seem to dominate, but for tank lovers like me I'm well catered for.
• There is such a wide range of stuff that there is plenty to take inspiration from in our games, whether it be camo schemes, conversions or bits of kit you didn't know existed.
• The wargames B'n'B was quieter this year than previous ones, but I still managed to pick up an Osprey book. There are a mix of traders which are aimed squarely at the scale model market, but there is a great range of paints, brushes etc on sale for us wargamers.
• The wargames on show were a mixed bag, to be honest. Only a few seemed to being played and not all had info as to what was being gamed. This is a bit of a bugbear of mine! Some had really lovely figures on show, only to be let down by club average terrain at best. The standard and mix of games on show is improving but still has some way to go.
• There was an Art de la Guerre competition going on, but everyone seemed rather engrossed in setting up so I didn't want to intrude.  I did see Mark Fry and managed to say a quick 'hello' before he had to get on with his game.
• Overall well worth a visit and as always a chance to catch up with gaming chums and have a chat.