Gentlemen,
Recently returned from a few hours touring the various battlefields on display (in use, being set up, or being torn down) at Little Wars 2018. This is a 4-day historical miniature games convention (though there are other genres present as well), that has been going for 34 years now. I like to go in order to get ideas as well as see what's happening in the hobby. When the discretionary income is available, I will make a purchase or three. (The prices tend to be rather steep, however.) And when I have the time or when an advertised wargame is irresistible, I will spend several hours rolling dice and proving how skilled (or unskilled - usually) I am as a general in a chosen period of history.
My focus this year was the L'Art de la Guerre tournament. I figured I would hang out around the designated tables, watch the games, and listen carefully as the opposing generals moved their troops, calculated their modifiers, and rolled their dice. This was an open tournament, so any army in the rule book was allowed. I saw the 2nd round of action. There were just three tables. On one, there were Mongols facing off against Medieval Scots (I think). Lots of lovely pike units with even lovelier standards. Spoiler alert: the Mongols were defeated. On another, there were Romans facing a different Scots army. Yet more pikes along with some horse and highlanders, I think. The Romans were thrashed. On the third table, there was a Classical Indian army (chariots and elephants) advancing against a Late Roman (I think) force. There were Romans and Goths on one side. The Indians won. I had to open my mouth and ask about the elephant rout rule when one of the nellies was destroyed. Turns out my question was appropriate but not appreciated by the Roman general, for the elephants routed into one of his wounded units, breaking it. (Ooops.)
Lots of games going on. Lots of gamers - in all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages, though the majority were older caucasian males - in attendance. A very good venue. (Being local certainly sways my opinion.) The Vendor area was spread over two separate rooms. It appeared to me that concerns other than historical were being catered to or promoted. There were re-enactors, a painting "school", and a war college.
While browsing, I was stunned by the price tag on some of the product. Boardgames for 65 dollars?! Stumbled across a Hail Caesar rule book with a tag reading 48 dollars. (Glad I bought mine when I did and for quite a bit less, thankfully.) Was surprised to see a very good quality copy of CHARGE! and How to Run A Wargames Campaign. These were available for just 40 and 50 dollars, respectively, if the sticker shock hasn't affected my recall.
Anyway, and to conclude, a pleasant interlude walking around the tables, seeing who is doing what, being around like-minded or at least people with a similar interest or interests, and making a Christmas list that will never (unless I win the lottery) be realized.
Absolutely final note before I get to the attached pictures . . . Saw an advert for a new company. Evidently, I can have a scan of my head made or done and "transform myself into a gaming miniature for only 25 dollars". There were a number of choices: Roman centurion, Dark Age warrior, Norman knight. Had to chuckle to myself, imagining a 28mm version of me in Roman armour wearing spectacles!
Picture A: This was a lovely and very large game featuring 11th or 12th century Christians and Muslims. The rules being used were Triumph!, which have not come out yet.
Picture B: One of the several model elephants spied in a container of elephants. This was at a vendor booth. Apparently, the team was selling finished ancient figures. There were a lot of figures, and all beautifully done, at least in my estimation. The prices left me gasping for breath though.
Picture C: A close up of one of the ADLG games. The Scots are on the left. Are not the standards simply gorgeous? Some miserable Mongols can be seen on the right of the photo.
Picture D: Another photo of the plentiful painted miniatures. This time, it is Roman cavalry. Very pretty.
Picture E: An ancients scenario being set up. I thought the Roman fort and tower were cool. There was also a native village. I believe this was set in Ancient Britain.
Picture F: Another shot of another ADLG game. Here, Scots on the right (lots of pikes!) face off against some Romans. The legionary foot had missile support. (Fat lot of good that did 'em!)
I hope the pictures came through OK. Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Chris
p.s. Several attempts to attach the pictures have not proved successful. Keep getting an error message re size of file. Also see that I am limited to 4 attachments per post. Sorry!
Thanks for that Chris
Chris, a suggestion: try using Paint or something similar to reduce the size of the picture. Also just attach one thus-shrunken pic to a post and see how that goes.
If you like email the pics to me. I'll bring them down to a manageable size in Photoshop and then insert them directly into your post via Imgur.
Email address: justinswanton@gmail.com
You may have to send more than one email as the attachment limit for Gmail is 20MB I think.
thanks for taking the time to write this review and interesting to see what is happening over the other side of the pond
Sorry again gents for the difficulties. If I had a blog of my own, this would not be a problem.
It seems to me that I've been able to attach or embed photos to previous posts. Hmmm.
I will take Mr. Swanton up on his kind offer. Thanks for the assistance.
I would imagine that there will be a number of posts on different sites (TMP springs immediately to mind), that will offer some additional insights.
It would be interesting to conduct an "experiment" and secure funding so that a British wargamer (with experience in shows on that great island) could travel here and visit two or three smaller shows, while a Yank went over there to do the same. I wonder what their impressions and thoughts would be?
Chris
Quote from: Chris on April 29, 2018, 02:44:16 PM
It would be interesting to conduct an "experiment" and secure funding so that a British wargamer (with experience in shows on that great island) could travel here and visit two or three smaller shows, while a Yank went over there to do the same. I wonder what their impressions and thoughts would be?
Chris
what a great idea :)
Quote from: Holly on April 29, 2018, 07:03:13 PM
Quote from: Chris on April 29, 2018, 02:44:16 PM
It would be interesting to conduct an "experiment" and secure funding so that a British wargamer (with experience in shows on that great island) could travel here and visit two or three smaller shows, while a Yank went over there to do the same. I wonder what their impressions and thoughts would be?
Chris
what a great idea :)
if somebody secures funding I don't think there'd be a shortage of volunteers ;)
Quote from: Jim Webster on April 29, 2018, 07:10:48 PM
Quote from: Holly on April 29, 2018, 07:03:13 PM
Quote from: Chris on April 29, 2018, 02:44:16 PM
It would be interesting to conduct an "experiment" and secure funding so that a British wargamer (with experience in shows on that great island) could travel here and visit two or three smaller shows, while a Yank went over there to do the same. I wonder what their impressions and thoughts would be?
Chris
what a great idea :)
if somebody secures funding I don't think there'd be a shortage of volunteers ;)
me, me! I said it first ;D
At the acknowledged risk of taking this thread in another or different direction, it is interesting to look at back issues of the glossies (Wargames Illustrated, Miniature Wargames, and the like) and compare their coverage of shows to what I have seen in person when attending Little Wars. Granted, my sample of shows is very small - as I only attend Little Wars. But there seems a "divide" between the larger or better-known shows and the smaller conventions.
To be certain, I understand and appreciate "horses for courses". At the recently toured LW event, I saw a wide variety of games and periods on display. These ranged from ancients to Star Wars and places in between. The terrain varied from basic (a piece of green felt cut with scissors representing woods - I guess) to rather carefully modeled pieces or displays. I also noted a wide variety of playing aids - from casualty markers to status markers to other materials used by players and umpires. Again, depending on one's view, philosophy, or position, these can either clutter the table or serve as part of the game and process. (Should I even mention the iPhones and related equipment, the soda cans, fast food containers, QRS, and the like?)
Based on what I've seen, I would venture a guess, offer a hypothesis (testable of course and subject to refutation), that the British and European shows are a bit nicer or cleaner than what is usually put together over here. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally speaking . . .
I seem to recall that there have been cases where an editor or high-level administrator from one of the British glossies has come over here for one of the major events and offered his thoughts and observations, but this counts only so far. I am suggesting an "experiment" involving an "average" historical miniatures wargamers.
Kickstarter? GoFundMe? Ideas only. I doubt that it would garner much attention or gain a lot of traction. Perhaps there is another way?
Chris
QuoteBased on what I've seen, I would venture a guess, offer a hypothesis (testable of course and subject to refutation), that the British and European shows are a bit nicer or cleaner than what is usually put together over here. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally speaking . . .
This may just be a sampling issue. The glossies tend to focus on the big shows in the big gleaming venues with the stunning display games. The only show I get to at all regularly is Recon, which is a small local show held in a community building (called a civic hall, but not as grand as that sounds). It's grubby and crowded and cluttered, parts of it are rather poorly lit and it has a rather run-down 70s decor. This is not a criticism of the guys from Ossett - they are doing a decent job with limited resources - but just a corrective to the idea that all UK shows are big and shiny.
Quote from: Erpingham on April 30, 2018, 01:12:03 PM
QuoteBased on what I've seen, I would venture a guess, offer a hypothesis (testable of course and subject to refutation), that the British and European shows are a bit nicer or cleaner than what is usually put together over here. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally speaking . . .
This may just be a sampling issue. The glossies tend to focus on the big shows in the big gleaming venues with the stunning display games. The only show I get to at all regularly is Recon, which is a small local show held in a community building (called a civic hall, but not as grand as that sounds). It's grubby and crowded and cluttered, parts of it are rather poorly lit and it has a rather run-down 70s decor. This is not a criticism of the guys from Ossett - they are doing a decent job with limited resources - but just a corrective to the idea that all UK shows are big and shiny.
yes, sports halls with dubious lighting feature heavily on the show circuit :-[
Been to quite a few of those over the years. Salute on the other hand.......
Quote from: Holly on April 30, 2018, 04:20:48 PM
Been to quite a few of those over the years. Salute on the other hand.......
Salute is one I've always missed, just the sheer cost and hassle of at least one overnight stay in London etc etc
Back in the day before the congestion charges I used to drive it from south Wales. After that I would take the train but fares have gone through the roof so haven't been for a few years now
Quote from: Holly on April 30, 2018, 04:26:42 PM
Back in the day before the congestion charges I used to drive it from south Wales. After that I would take the train but fares have gone through the roof so haven't been for a few years now
with us it's very much an overnight stay needed :-[
how far is it for you Jim?
Quote from: Holly on April 30, 2018, 04:41:56 PM
how far is it for you Jim?
six hours by car, given the state of the M6 or, according to google, slightly under that by train, about 5hrs 40m, so you really have to stay over the night before.
Going home I have to be at Euston about 6pm, any later and I arrive home about 11am Sunday!
And don't even think of coming home on the Sunday, some of the trains from Euston take six hours and involve bus services as well because of engineering work
ok, thats quite a journey!
I sent pictures to Justin to see if he could post them.
Guess it was not possible.
Perhaps next year.
Chris