Yesterday saw my annual trip to the Cotswold Wargames Day. Normally we've been blessed with lovely Autumnal weather, but this year Storm Abigail was making her presence felt, so it was a tad wet on the way up. This year the show moved from Northleach to Big Battles in Cirencester, a bespoke wargames venue. So after a rather bleary eyed drive up, I arrived an hour later to be welcomed by Andy and Derek who run the place. All was ready for the steady stream of fellow gamers to set up the tables.
My Game
Despite plenty of planning, in the end I was still painting a few units a day or so before the show, but at least managed to get enough done for a decent sized small game. My normal opponent was unable to make it, so some rapid changes were made to the scenario, which in the end worked out OK. I'll leave it to the annotated photos to give an idea of the game and some of the action.
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| An ImagiNations game set during the ACW, or at least that was the original plan. |
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| An overview of the table, with the Russo-Germanic forces on the left and the Italian-American ones on the right. |
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| The objective. |
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| Cavalry and mounted infantry. |
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| Russian troops. |
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| The Germans. |
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| Italian-American cavalry and mounted infantry. |
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| Plenty of colourful Italian-American troops. |
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| The view from the Italian-American side. |
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| Auld McDonald had a farm... |
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| Without an opponent, I finally got around to giving these scenarios a run out, despite having had the book for well over 10 years. |
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| The Russo-German orders. |
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| The Italian-American orders. |
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| The action underway. In the end, Dave Pike whom I'd not seen for well over 10 years, came to 'Billy No Mate's' rescue and promptly beat me in a fun game! |
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| Dismounted infantry hold the hill as the Italian-Americans advance. This contest lasted most of the game, with my troops finally breaking. |
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| A firefight erupts around the pond. |
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| The Italian-Americans come under intense fire at the farm. |
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| The Italian-American cavalry had no opportunity to move to exploit any open flanks. The Russo-Germans on this flank were in a great position a Turn or two on from this, to possibly move to win the game, but a Blunder led them falling back two moves! |
It was great to see Dave again and we spent an awful lot of time catching up and talking with other gamers and visitors to the show, all who seemed to enjoy seeing the game I had put on, the rules being used and showcasing 10mm figures too.
The Other Games
I tried to find some time to have a walk round the other games and to take photos of them, as there was so much to take in and enjoy as you will see.
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| A lovely 'Old School' Franco-Prussian War game, with some of the figures sculpted and cast by game organiser. Visually very pleasing on all levels. Keith Flint chose this game as his favourite and they won a £25 voucher from Pendraken, who once again kindly provided the prize. |
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| The Battle of St Gotthardt, 1664, French vs Ottomans. |
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| Dead Man's Hand game, which won the Stuart Asquith trophy and most innovative game from Chris Gregg. |
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| So much detail to be seen all across the table. |
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| The Battle of Ascalon during the Crusades. The rules were Lion Rampant. Lots for me to enjoy with my possible Crusades project in the offing. |
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| The Italian Wars game was very popular and frankly I think it hard to beat as a period fro sheer visual exuberance. |
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| All the figures from the collection of Roy Boss I believe. |
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| Paul James put on his usual BKCIV game, this time set in Russia in 1944. |
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| All Skytrex 1:200 vehicles, not something you see much nowadays. |
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| Keith Flint showcasing his Startline rules, Poland 1939. |
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| The tankettes have claimed an early kill from the above photo. |
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| Collecting the Pendraken prize for the FPW game. |
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| Two prizes for the Dead Man's Hand game. |
Post Show Thoughts
As is always the case, the day flew by so quickly, but after some seven hours of gaming and chatting, it was time to head home. A few random musings to round things off:
- The new venue great and Andy and Derek were great hosts, wandering around all day and chatting with everyone, which was lovely to see. From Keith's point of view he knows he has a gauranteed number of tables available, not something which was a given at the village hall, plus it will all be set up for him.
- I think visitors numbers were up, possibly as a result of it being in Cirencester rather than Northleach. Certainly from my point of view I spent a lot of time chatting with visitors compared to previous years.
- As always the show has a great vibe to it, feeling more like a bunch of friends getting together for a day's gaming, rather than your 'standard' show. It is good to catch up with so many gamers you've got to know over the years and of course see what they are putting on etc.
- It was nice to have plenty of interest in the game, from a rules point of view (BPII with Glory Hallelujah!), using the Programmed Wargames Scenario book and of course showcasing 10mm. I know Dave said it had re-ignited his interest in the ACW and BPII, with the possibility of him re-visiting a campaign he wanted to run before Covid put pay to that.
- I just wish I could have spent more time really having a good look at all of the games, as there was so much to see and enjoy, both figures wise, terrain wise, scenarios and rules. I suppose that is the only disadvantage of running a game.
- Being able to chew the cud with so many new and familiar faces was a real pleasure, which was something I think we all touched upon a being part-and-parcel of what makes our hobby enjoyable.
What Next?
Well I'm not sure to be honest! We did touch upon a few things at the show which I might post about later, but a bit of a break from painting for a day or so is in order I think. Certainly I'm not short of stuff to read nor ideas for games, I just need to wait until I feel what will flaot my boat next on the gaming front.
I hope you enjoyed reading the report and thanks for leaving a comment if you did!
TTFN.
