This post is rather late to the party but maybe the quantity & quality of the pictures adds to the existing body of out takes from this wonderful show. Apologies to all the splendid people who staged these games, I have no idea who you are.
Tony & I headed off to Newark & here's what I saw & liked, not complete by any means, just what floated my boat on the day.
Napoleonic goodies.
Up first unsurprisingly is a good old big battalion Napoleonic game. This one is a Franco Spanish encounter in the Peninsular. Possibly Ocana?
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| This is all right up my street. |
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| Old Guard 12lb foot battery. |
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Elite minis Spanish dragoons - outrageously colourful.
Front Rank command vignette - sound familiar? |
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| Portuguese dragoons, manufacturers as above. |
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| An unattended mule train. They can presumably smell the fruit over the wall? |
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| Superb flags. |
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| The centres close across the dry riverbed. |
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| Chasseurs a cheval - uber dynamic Elite Minis again. |
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| French battalions, note the companies are all mixed up. God that messes with my OCD. |
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| French & Spanish dragoons slug it out. |
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| Close range firefights/possibly melee - you decide. |
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| These are excellent & right up my street - a wargaming luxury. |
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| Thematic scenery, very Peninsular. |
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| Engineers of the Old Guard with wagon. Who needs these planks & a barrel in this battle? |
AWI - Very nearly a new period thanks to this...
This wonderfully presented game is set across a creek, luckily the scenery didn't overpower the superbly painted models, sadly I didn't take any pictures of the Redcoats.
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| Hessians I assume? |
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| Farmer Sam takes one for the Rebel cause - poor sod! |
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| Sharp shooters down by the creek. |
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| Look at those massive cabbages! Joking aside this kind of thing makes a battlefield live along with the civilians. |
Beneath the Lily Banner.
I have assumed this game involved Barry Hilton, maybe it didn't! Great use of teddy bear fur, amazing back bases to the artillery & wagon trains which make such games really pop. Once again a luxury in terms of cost, playing space & painting time.
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| Excellent composition & attention to detail. |
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| That mud looks very sticky - get your wellies on gents! |
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| Note the faded crest on this one & the bag of feed on the reverse - great details. |
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| So much to take in on a relatively small table, the redoubt didn't do it for me though! |
The Battle of Midway.
This game grabbed me with both hands & still hasn't let go! In my youth we played Avalon Hill's Flat Top - basically a massively complex game of Battleships involving carriers in the Pacific.
Here we see opposing USN & IJN carrier groups on separate tables with air groups flying between them with bombs & torpedoes. The models, which don't move, are all 1/700 waterline kits with Tumbling Dice planes. The rules are homespun - it all looked amazing to me. Don't be surprised if you see something like this here in the next 10 years!
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| Scratch one flat top. |
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| The Enterprise is hit. |
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| Japanese cruiser. |
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| Another IJN cruiser with burning carrier. |
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| Kaga ist kaput! |
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| Soryu - Another IJN carrier ablaze. |
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| USN cruiser in trouble. |
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| USN destroyer, either the table isn't flat of the base warped - both are disappointing my OCD! |
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| USN cruiser. |
Staying with a naval theme...
These are on the way later this year from Warlord Games. Napoleonic Naval gaming could float my boat. Sails of Glory just didn't but if these ships can be built with an easy sail/rigging solution and the Black Seas rules are engaging I'm all in.
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| Plastic! Quid for scale. |
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| Plastic. Resin light house I assume. |
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| Resin hull with either metal or plastic bits to come - intriguing. |
28mm WW2 - Possibly Bolt Action.
More teddy bear fur. WW2 is where many gamers of my age, (early 50's), got started so the desire to play it again with modern toys is very attractive. That's partly why Bolt Action, FOW, COC etc do so well commercially I suspect.
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| Brilliantly practical scenery. |
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| The coal yard. That Churchill is stuck though! |
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| Possibly the best road on Teddy Bear fur I have seen. |
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| Dug in German mortar team - nice. |
To the Strongest.
This superbly presented game simultaneously interested me and put me off the rules. I'll just appreciate it for what it is for now.
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| Spectacular. |
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| There were loads of very well painted Britons. I love these massive bases. |
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| Valuable assets worth fighting & dying for - sheep & womenfolk. |
Odds & sods.
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| Excellent props, liquid & vinyl plus a whip... |
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| Best dressed gamers? I think so. Note early RAF/RFC air support. |
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| Another brilliant WW2 townscape, not sold on the hex thing though. |
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| A very British Civil War. |
The Odd & the Sod - you decide who's who.
A great day out was had. We ran into lots of old chums, Rich, Scrivs, two James's, Andy Grubb & others too. We even picked up some new scenic bits, more of which later. This was an inspirational show I recommend you attend if you haven't already - unless geography prohibits you!
Hope you find something here to aspire to as well. Best wishes,
Jeremy
