Colours 2019 Show Report

It was 50/50 as to whether I would attend Colours this year, due to arriving back late from driving down from Edinburgh the night before. This is my favourite large show as the venue if nice, it's easy to get to and there is normally a good mix of traders and games on show, so I am loathed to miss it. SWMBO kindly did the weekly shop which gave me time get some energy together for what seemed like a short stop along the M4. So in the end I arrived at the show just after 11.00 am. 

People were already leaving with their goodies and it seemed a bit quieter than previous years, but maybe this was because I had missed that initial rush. I had nothing really in mind to see at the show, other than my usual chat with Leon of Pendraken and to see Bruce Weigle's game. I also hoped to see Walt of Commission Figurines and his 6mm MDF figures for a planned project. He is a top bloke and one of Dave's oldest gaming chums; in fact I think they started off gaming together at the tender age of 16.

So I spent the first hour or so just having a good wander to get and idea of what was on offer, peruse the book sellers and have a look at the games on show. I made a few purchases (more of which later) and then took some 'photos of the games that interested me. Apologies if I get any of the captions wrong, but hopefully they will be mostly correct.

A lovely looking ACW game, the Battle of Sharpsburg I believe.

Bespoke terrain that worked really well.

Simon Millar's 'To the Strongest' table was besieged with gamers, so hard to get a better show. Lovely to see the game being played though.

A Society of Ancients game.

A Sword & Spear game. As it was lucntime a lot of the games were on a break by the look of it.

A wonderful Napoleonic game.

Simple terrain on a mat, which worked really, really well.

The buildings were lovely.

A Samurai game using FogR rules?

I loved the log redoubt.

The scratch built castle was nice.

You can't deny that Samurai games look colourful with all of those back banners.

Bruce Weigle's game looking fantastic as always.

I managed to grab a quck chat, but he was busy all day.

Simple but very effective terrain en masse.

A modern game set in Afghanistan?

40mm ACW?

Not my thing but it looked great.

St Mere Eglise and Rapid Fire.

Wonderful buildings.

Another Ancients game.

A great looking Sci-Fi game, with a very Space 1999 feel.

The space station was a lovely piece of modelmaking.

Thoughts on the Show

• Despite being tired, I'm glad I went. I enjoyed myself, even though I wandered around in a bit of a daze so didn't get to take in the games as much as I would have liked.
• The show did feel quieter than previous years. I'm not sure of this was due to it being a week earlier and coinciding with students returning to Uni. The benefit of this was that generally it was easier to walk around than previous years.
• For once I didn't buy any books. I didn't see anything that interest me, which was a shame, as I always like to get at least one.
• I did take longer to look at the traders this year. Deep Cut Studios seemed to be doing a brisk trade as they had a queue at their stand. As in previous years MDF terrain in general was to be seen all over the show.
• Looking at the traders led be to buying some stuff from Pendraken as well as Commission Figurines. Seeing the stuff in the flesh really helps, so I must take time to do this more in the future.
• I liked the mix of games this year and wished I'd had more time to talk to those involved. 
• Of all the major shows, Colours is my favourite. I would like to attend some others, but frankly most are too far away to justify my attending them.

Cotswold Wargaming Day 2019 Show Report

Just over a week ago I set off early on a glorious Sunday morning for the nice drive Northleach in the Cotswolds, for the second Cotswold Wargaming Day get together. I arrived just as the caretaker was opening up, so perfect timing. Soon after fellow gamers started arriving and a flurry of activity saw the tables set up in next to no time.

I was involved in the set up and running of our game, so that I only had time for a few quick pics of the day as and when time allowed. However take a look here and here for plenty of pics and also a good overview of the day itself.

Haiti 1792 game using Sharp Practice II.

I loved the addition of the boat.

Stu was busy all day running the game and won the Stuart Asquith trophy, so well done Stu!

 

Last year Bruce did a lovely Battle of Britain game, this year switching to a bombing raid on Berlin.

Once again the planes were a joy to behold.

Lots of lovely German fighters.

A lovely SYW ImagiNations game using Spencer Smith's figures.

Another ImagiNations game with superb terrain and figures.

The windmill turned all game!

Raid on the Merville Battery using Panzer Grenadier rules.

An amazing Wild West town. So much detail to see.

A Mexican War game in the 1840's.

So hopefully that gives you an idea of the wonderful range of games on offer. Now onto our humble offering, which was the Battle of Kurudere during the opening stages of the Crimean War. This was a real old tussle, so much so that I took pics as and when I remembered, but hopefully you can get an idea of the action.

An overview of the table, with the Russians on the left, the Turks on the right. As before, we substituted French troops for Russians, Prussians for Turks. I will refer to the substitute names from now on.

The French troops deployed in and around two of the four objectives. The Minion Napoleon was in charge...

The Prussians on the Karayal, with the French just in view on the right.

Blucher, just for show.

Napoleon surveys his troops.

The Prussian 'Bashi'-Bazooks' (led by Yul Brynner according to Stuart Asquith) decide to take the attack to the French, whilst the infantry hold on to the Karayal. They catch the French cavalry in the flank...

... destroying a base which...

... leads to the loss of the French cavalry and the 'Bashi-Bazooks' exploit into the French rear, with the French mobile field hospital within charge range.

The French infantry are forced to attack the 'Bashi-Bazooks' ...

... who survive being fired upon and charged in the flank...

... leading to the French retreating!

On the Karayal, the Prussians attack...

... only to be driven off.

An overview in Turn 3. The Karayal is being fought over but the Prussian's are holding on. Prussian troops move to attack both French flanks.

Masses of Prussian troops arrive, but struggle to co-ordinate their movement and attacks.

A view from the French side.

Turn 4 and the French lines are bending back so as not to be outflanked.

Despite their best efforts, the 'Bashi-Bazooks' finally succumb to French cavalry. however the tied down 4 French units for around 5 Turns!!!

The Prussian hold the Karayal, with the French not having enough strength to take the hill.

The French under pressure on both flanks. After this the action really hotted up and I forgot to take any more 'photos.

End of the Game
By the end of Turn 7, both sides had fought themselves to a bloody standstill. The French still held 3 of the 4 objectives, but had lost 21 units to the Prussian's 27. The French centre had gone and both flanks were under severe pressure, but the Prussians didn't have the strength or time left to take Kurudere and Poldervan to give them victory. We decided that it was a moral victory to the Prussians, but one won at considerable cost.

Honourable mention must go to Glenn, who joined in the game around the half-way point and turned round the fortunes of the Prussians with his die rolling, as mine had been pretty poor for a lot of the game!

Thoughts on the Day
So in no particular order:

• As with last years show, this was a great day out which simply flew by. The venue is great and the whole atmosphere is nice a relaxed. All of the other gamers were great and friendly and we all spent a lot of time chatting. So a big thanks to Keith for organising this once again. I'm already thinking about next years game!
• There was a nice mix of games and periods, which made for a pleasurable viewing experience. Most I would venture are not what you would see at one of the larger shows, but I could be wrong.
• We had great fun with our game and Dave got lots of deserved interest and praise for his 6mm figures. We had lots of nice comments about how it looked like a large battle and the pleasant effect that massed 6mm figures gives. We may even have won over a few converts to the smaller scales...
• Our game really went to the wire and showed th replayability of the Bloody Big Battles scenarios. We both thought the Prussians would have a tough time, which they did, but their tactics of closing fast with the French to use their numerical superiority worked. As they closed, the French had to face to nearest threat, which allowed the Prussian guns to drive the French ones off, thus giving them a slight advantage.
• We won the 'Most Gentlemanly Gamers' award which we were very honoured to receive.
• I think the highlight of the show for both of us was having plenty of time to chat with Stuart Asquith, which both an honour and a pleasure. He seemed to really enjoy our game and was very enthused to pursue his current Crimean Project, so what more could one ask for?

So once again my 'campaign' season' got off to a great start and I can honestly say this has become my favourite show of the year. Next it is Colours and subject to having enough energy to attend the show after dropping off our daughter, I'll be heading along the M4 to Newbury...