Hello Again! With the dust from the Partizan show now settling I feel it may be my turn to add to the glut of photos and videos from the show. It was not possible to get to all of the games during the day as I had to meet Guy Bowers from WSS and visit a few traders stands as well.
The first demonstration game I found was the offering from the Perry twins.
Details of the Battle can be found here. Whilst the battle appeared very linear on the table the there were a number of personality figures and vignettes with some assorted 'hangers on' all finely arranged.
Awaiting to enter the table was this lovely arrangement led by a Royal Navy officer. As I am in the process of researching a number of features on amphibious operations of the Peninsular War, the amphibious landing aspect of this table caught my eye. All either figures from the Perrys range or conversions.
Here is a seagulls, (?), eyes view of a jolly boat coming ashore. It is from the Perry range again, (here), but with the addition of a small, scratch built, cannon to the fore. The figures have also been converted and the barrels added. The boat was based on a acetate sheet.
Here are some further photos of the advancing duo adding to the British forces on the shore.
The French forces are arrayed further inland awaiting. In Kleber uniform, brown uniforms make a change to what we normally see on the wargames table.
This is a picture of the game later in the day. By now further British troops had landed and they were advancing to contact. The dry wadi through the centre of the board gave the French a strong defensive position to try and repel the British.
The French commander stood close by overlooking his troops. Some attendant 'helpers' obviously wanted to sell him something!
To the rear of the French forces supplies were easily available.
Lastly some bearers of burden carried the commanders ill gotten booty assisted buy two further officers. Overall a lovely game which showed of the sands of the desert very well and brought a lesser gamed part of the Napoleonic Wars to the fore.
Next up an offering from the Old Pikeys. Their Oosterbeek siege, part of the Battle for Arnhem.
Complete with two over flying Dakotas, German forces advancing from either side of the table and a myriad of Parachute forces including more jeeps than I have ever seen in one place before.
The Hartsenstein Hotel was very busy as German forces closed in. Unlike the resin version I once owned the tennis courts were not literally on the door step and even had German prisoners in it.
The building which had been converted to a aid post was very well detailed. The surrounding ailing was nice to see, something which was noticeable in some photographs of the battle.
Stepping back the detail was phenomenal with none of the dead space around drop on items that you normally see.
The advancing German tanks had their fair share of Beute panzers coming in for the kill.
Here are my last three photos of this game. I could have spent most of the show taking photographs of this game. A very good effort from these team.
Next up a recreation of the battle of Vimero. The figures used were 28mm. Overall the display was very eye catching, however I am not a personal fan of such tiny hex terrain. This game did add to the diversity of games and systems which were on display at the show. It also adds to the various rules which gave the individual a very good taster to the wargaming World.
Here is a close up of the high quality of painting. I took this picture as the rear view of French infantry shows the amount of effort has gone into these figures.
Derby Wargames Society provided a WW II Normandy game using 20mm figures. Although not as grand as the Oosterbeek game from the Old Pikeys it was still a great effort with plenty of AFVs on the table, all well painted.
The game included a town centre which resembled a more 'realistic' standard of game you may see on a normal club night. By that I mean versatile drop on items. Some gamers feel that new recruits to the 'long sustained poverty' that is wargaming may be daunted by seeing demonstrating games of a very quality rather than being encouraged to match or better these efforts. One must realise that these efforts are normally the co operative efforts of many gamers over a long period of time, (excepting Malcolm from the New Buckenham club whose solo efforts of D-Day Sword Beach and Pegasus Bridge is really a case of severe megalomania which medical science does not have strong enough medication to effectively treat yet!).
I believe that some of the building used were old Queens Hussar or Sentry Models, (?). I would appreciate if any one else could substantiate this please.
Some of the vehicles which caught me eye were these. It felt nice to see some damaged vehicles, although no use as fighting assets I do like to see some 'fluff' on the table
Another Normandy game was put on by the Paintingshed BlogSpot. These guys used a load of well painted vehicles from a number of manufacturers, some with a few subtle touches. One resin vehicle I asked about had some fine weave cloth glued to the resin canopy to simulate canvas.
I took this photograph and then cropped it further to show the small vignettes on the table. It was nice to see a command group as this area seems to be all too often omitted as it 'gets in the way' of the fighting, although it can affect the fighting so much!
I maybe wrong but this looks like a Piper L 4, find out more about it here. Otherwise known as a 'grasshopper' it was also a surprise to see this over the table than the ubiquitous Auster.
Here is the table over view which does look sparse for bocage but I am sure this is the break out into more open countryside.
Next up the fictitious invasion of the Sugar Islands. Using their figures I was interested in some of the figures who looked more civilian or non uniform for their potential to fit into any future ACW or Napoleonic naval skirmish or amphibious operations. I have these projects in development and will lead to magazine features in the future.
Here the overview shows a coast and small Island which offers a wealth of ideas for landings, assaults and skirmish scenarios. Not only for the historical periods I have already mentioned but the 'Pirates' games which seem to be getting more popular, (but this maybe because people like to dress up at shows rather that do the game?).
Other jolly boats approach the shore to disgorge its load of Kings troops.
Here are the figures I mentioned, more likely to be suitable for Napoleonics or AWI than ACW but they do look good!
Grimsby Wargames Society Provided a scenario from the Great Northern War, an area of history I am not familiar with but the figures looked spectacular. Here are some photos of the game.
Lots of flags and colourful units I can easily see why this was put on at the show!
I particularly liked the wagons.
The Lance and Longbow Society offered this at Partizan. Further details of the battle can be found here.
This game included an eye catching church which was very highly detailed. It also had a few extras in the church yard.
This lovely vignette stood out as well. I have just purchased a calvary from Brigade Games who were at SELWG last year. I am gathering a few various carts and wagons for a number of periods to skirmish game and these provided some nice ideas.
I wonder if this is a delivery or swag?
These individuals were a nice touch but I felt looked a little lonely where their mill had no other scenery around it. It was still a fine looking game though.
Here are some of the troops from the game, again very well painted.
This photograph shows what I meant about appearing a little lonely.
Here is the settlement complete with allotment and barn. Overall a nice appealing game with some good details.
The next game was a 28mm Chinese samurai game. One of the gentlemen at the table was getting worried I was taking some close up photos. Not because I was going to damage anything but he was concerned about me looking at his painting close up! He had nothing to worry about as the game was different to the other at the show and the pagoda stood out on the table.
The Chinese junk was something I had not seen before and was very impressive.
Here is the pagoda in question and was nearly 3 feet high! Complete with Geishas.
Desmond here was also threatening the junk. Either that or it was just a large garden ornament!
These figures had their own stringed bows which I felt was a nice touch.
I wondered if this group were also running off with ill gotten loot?
This battle also caught my eye. Using 20mm high figures this sculpted terrain looked very appealing to the eye.
Here is the terrain I have mentioned. Sculpted terrain can be rather limiting because if you use fences and walls which show what scale figures you want to use on it that then means you cannot use any other scale. I have some such terrain and have not included any these and my wargames club has used some of my sculpted terrain for 10mm, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm figures. If you only use one scale of figures anyway then this is arbitrary. This offering looks very well done indeed.
I liked the look of this scenery as well. Although 'Teddy Bear Fur' is like marmite to people from a distance is did look impressive. Some of this had been trimmed, (shaved?), and a few extra shades added.
This is similar to something I have been planning for a while. I have some resin cast ship hulls and they will be used for Amphibious Operations in the Peninsular War. However I hope to make the masts and rigging more realistic.
The water effect looked particularly good and the settlement had a lot of detail for the viewer.
Last, a delight for the eyes. The offering from the Chesterfield Old Boys had a wealth of detail and as they were using Impetus rules the bases were large allowing extra detail to be added to the units. From the seagulls on the castle and fishing boat to the people in the building there was never nothing to look at.
I did not get to photograph every game but stuck to the 'aesthetically pleasing' and those games that I have some interest in.
Otherall Partizan has kept up its reputation for providing some of the best looking games with this show. plenty of historical offerings in a light and airey venue with far better lighting than existed in the previous venue.
