Colours 2023 - A Test Of Endurance & Stamina

Yesterday I took my annual trip to the Colours wargames show at Newbury racecourse, which I always see as the start of the wargames season for me. It was forecast to be the hottest day of the year and so it proved to be! Normally it is a question of do I need a light fleece or something a tad more substantial on the clothing front? This time it was how little can I wear whilst maintaining decency and not being confronted by the police;)! So read on for an overview of the show etc.

The Heat

You could not escape the fact that it was unbearably hot in the venue. Even when the doors opened just after 10.00am, it was already hot and stuffy on the ground floor with no breeze at all. On the top floor it was even worse. Everyone was suffering and needing to take repeated breaks outdoors to try and cool down, rehydrate etc. It was actually giving me a headache on the top floor and I know how to cope with heat, having lived in Nigeria for 5 years, but even so, it was a test of endurance the whole time I was there. I had planned on spending a good 4 hours there, having a good browse and a good look at the games on display. As it was I managed 2 1/2 hours and sadly whizzed round the games due to the heat. How the poor souls putting on the games coped I'm not sure.

Attendance

The show seemed well attended but not as busy as previous years. For once you could walk relatively easily along the ground floor where most of the traders are, without feeling like you are on the London underground during rush hour. The same on the top floor where the display games were. Even the B'n'B was busy but not three deep as is often the case.

I had a good chat with Leon and Adele from Pendraken Miniatures and to them lots of people seemed to be browsing, but not buying as much as before. We wondered whether the cost of living crisis, the recent jump in fuel prices and the hot weather put people off from coming. Certainly driving down, the M4 was busy West bound with families heading for the coast to enjoy the last of the Summer weather.

Books

I always like to buy a few books at the show, but once again I was amazed at the difference in prices for the same books, depending upon the seller. Anita's Books is always my first stop as her and her husband are always very friendly and they have a good mix at very reasonable prices. Paul Meekins comes next with a very comprehensive range but it is hard to have a good browse as his stand is always busy. Helion & Co had another good display, but I can buy their books at Paul Meekins one floor below for £10 - £25 cheaper!

Traders

There was a good mix as always, with Warlord Games having a big stand for once, which I don't remember from previous years. As mentioned above, they seemed to be busy but how many sales were being made is another matter. I just wished I'd been able to browse more which was my plan, but the heat put pay to that:(. I did manage to check out Brigade models as I was contemplating buying some of the airships for my Xenos Rampant games and is was good to see a few of them in the flesh so to speak. They were bigger than I'd imagined, even with rough sizes given on their web pages. H&R, Newline Designs and Baccus were on my lists too but hopefully iy will be cooler next year and I can spend more time checking stuff out. Just don't tell SWMBO;)!

The Games

Well enough waffle from me and onto the photos. No surprise that I had to whizz round taking photos in batches and then having a break to recover, so they are a tad rushed but hopefully you will get an idea of what was on offer. There was only one no-show, which was the Delhi 1803 game that I was looking forward to seeing. Hopefully I've got the right games against the photos as the show guide doesn't quite match the games...

Op Caravan - Barce, Libya 1942.

Peter Pig - Macedon - Conquerors & Kings.

TFL - Cannae - Strength & Honour.

Peter Pig - PBI- Factory Fight WWII.

I loved this game and wished I could have spent more time taking it all in.

TFL - Bonsai Bonkers.

No prizes for guessing the rules;)!

2nd Mantinea 362 BC - DBMM rules.

Breakthrough to Leipzig 1813.

Vietnam Skirmish.

A stunning Vietnam game. So much time and effort has obviously gone into making this game.

Saga - Samurai Skirmish. Another game with lots of attention to detail and much to admire.

A Gladiator game.

A Star Trek game.

Rolica, Portugal 1808.

To the Strongest - another Mantinea game.

LRDG raid.

Nagashino 1579?

The bamboo fences were a nice touch.

Rapid Fire.

Game of Thrones.

A mix of Mortem et Glorium games, inclusing the Pacto variant.

Isandlwana in 28mm using Bloody Big Battles rules.

The Haul

I feel the heat limited what I might have bought, which is probably a good thing given SWMBO reaction to what I did buy!

A mix of pre-orders from Pendraken (Russian WWII) and so ACW packs for some core forces to expand my Imagi-Nations forces, but more on that another time.

A steal at only £6.00! I remember this as a kid and have been after if for a while, really just to read and get some ideas from it for possible future games.

As with the above, excellent value for £5.00, both from Anita's Books. Perfect for uniform ideas, obscure conflicts and forces, such as the Andean Liberation Army. Never heard of it before and I doubt many people have.

Final Thoughts

I was glad I went even if it was a test of endurance and stamina whilst there! I was happy with my purchases and it is nice to not only support the traders there but to treat oneself now and then. Normally I would get inspiration from many games, but I simply could not spend the time I would have liked to looking at them for rather obvious reasons. When I got back in the car it was a toasty 37C! 

At least the weather is due to cool down to near normal temperatures by tomorrow, so I can get back to painting my 18thC Indian force as it's about 5 weeks to the show. Progress is going well but I need to keep my nose to the grindstone!

TTFN.

An Indian Summer

With meteorological Autumn having arrived on 1st September, my mind always seems to switch back into gaming mode as Summer has finished. However after a rather iffy July and August, there is something of an Indian Summer happening here in Blighty, both literally and metaphorically speaking.

Normally at this time of year the temperatures cool and we get the odd nice spell of sunny weather on occasional heat, which we appreciate all the more knowing cooler weather is on its way. Not at present as we are having a heatwave with each day 28C (82F) or more and tropical nights where it will not drop below 20C! So it is rather too hot during the middle of the day to do anything, but at least gaming related activities can continue at a push.

Generally I've always painted in the evenings, to give me consistency of light and when the kitchen is free. But with the current heat and my wife back at work in school, I've taken to painting in the early morn, before it gets too hot. Also I've found I'm much more alert and so find it easier to do the work that requires a bit more concentration. So on average I've been able to complete a unit each day, spread over 3 sessions, so not as to tax my old brain and to keep it fun and not feel like work. This equates to main colours blocked in, then details added and overall wash applied, followed by highlights and lacquer. Some recent work can be seen below:

Ottomans masquerading as mid-18thC Indian Sepoys.

Simple white clothes with colourful headgear to make them pop. I even painted their moustaches, thanks to the simple brilliant ABC Brushes I bought recently! Flags yet to be decided upon but they will be colourful.

One of four Light Cavalry units ready for higlights and lacquer. One unit will be painted as per a Light Infantry unit colour scheme so that they can be used dismounted for future ImagiNations games.

Dave was up in Bristol this week and so popped by for a few hours for a catch up, which was nice. We ran through my thoughts on using Honours of War for 18thC India and tweaked a few things here and there. It should be fun and with elephants, camels, loads of cavalry and rocket troops, it will be a bit different I'm sure! Fingers crossed I'll get some trial games in in advance, once I've broken the back on the painting front. I'll post our amendments here and on the HoW group when i've got a spare moment or two.

This weekend I'm off to Colours, which really does mark the return of the wargames season for me. Normally the weather is OK and hopefully warmish, but it's forecast to be 28C and so will be considerably warmer inside the building, which is South facing and fully glazed on that side! I've a few pre-orders to collect and will have a browse to see if anything takes my fancy, normally a book or two. There appears to be a good mix of games and for the first time, they are running some simple intro games for kids, which is a grwat idea. How long I last there due to the heat remains to be seen, but I hope to be able to take my time and have a good wander round.

TTFN.