Sheffield Triples 2013

A busy weekend ended up with me at the National Institute of Sports in Sheffield which was hosting the Triples wargames show. 

I have to say that in the years following the move from the old venue at the University this show has improved considerably.  More space and a brighter lighter venue make it a much more welcoming show and a pleasant experience.  The only down side is that the bar is not as friendly a place to visit and definitely seems "tacked on" as an after thought (the University had two good bars with comfy seating and a bar to prop up).

Having said that I thought the overall standard of games hasn't improved much from previous visits.  Many were good games but seemed to be lacking in atmosphere.  Having said that there three that stood out for me.

Unfortunately the first one has no photographs (I'm beginning to dislike my Samsung S3 considerably).  40mm Toy Soldiers being played just as Mr. Wells would have done with matchstick firing cannon and being presented by the British Legion.  Well done chaps and well played.

Next was the game from Ilkely Old School and their "Action in the Platville Valley 1763" all done with Prinz August semi flats (or semi rounds as you prefer).  Good looking simple game. 

My favourite game, and the one that everyone loved because I believe it won best in show, was that put on by the Brompton Bankers.  Toytown figures from Eureka (sold through Fighting 15's I'm told) using Hordes of the Things rules.

The figures were delightful and straight out of our toy chests  - British Guards in red with busby, cavalry on wheeled horses, simple painting but excellently executed.

The whole thing was a delight and the enthusiasm of the gentlemen putting it on was contagious. 

And for a change it showed that big spectacular games are not always the way to get to the heart of a gamer.  Presentation, enthusiasm and fun can prevail.

Talking to the traders as I went round it seemed that Saturday was a very good day for them, Sunday a lot slower.  Nothing unusual here since that seems to have been the way for a long time now and certainly the entire time that the show has been in its current location.  However, many of them also said that they would be there next year. 

The disappointing thing was that there were some noticeable absentees.  No Griping Beast.  No Front Rank. 

Overall I enjoyed the show much more than last year.  The atmosphere around the room seemed lighter, people were more relaxed and talkative, the hosts were great.  

So what did I walkway with?  Some brushes from the ever pleasant people at Coritanni, silflor and basing materials from Antenocitis Workshop and that was it.  No new shiny metal, no new projects in mind (there might have been had Fighting 15's not sold out of the Toytown range! - yes it looked that good), no new books. 

Flats

The first two figures are finished.  Representing Regiment Picardie from the Seven Years War with white facings, red waistcoat and yellow lace on the tricorn.

The pack as purchased contains six each of the above figures along with staff.



I have to admit that I really enjoyed painting these figures.  It taught me much about how my painting on other figures could be improved.  Until now I've never really understood the need to dilute paints to the consistency of single cream, but using a white undercoat and dilute paint I've found it easy and satisfying.  It helps of course that the figures are so simple and with little equipment.  Still it was easy to learn although not yet mastered.

Paints are a mix of GW & Vallejo.  Also a chance to use my new Kolinsky brushes (I was reluctant to use them earlier on figures that, in my mind, didn't deserve them).  Lovely.

The loft has proven to be a welcoming place today with the sun shining in through the open windows and the sound of birdsong drifting in.  The only downside was a peculiar mouldy sickly smell that pervaded the desk area.  After scrabbling round to make sure that there were no leaks or damp patches in the roof storage areas around the painting room I finally found the culprit.  It was the two pots of wash water that were sat on the desk.  Having been absent from the room for a while I hadn't done any housekeeping and cleaned them out.  As a consequence they resembled some experiment to create life.  Now that they're gone and a little breeze moves the air around it is a pleasant place to be.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Something Old, Something New

It's been  a long time since anything really positive was posted here I know.  Since the megalead game in March I've really been struggling with the hobby in general.  Reading magazines kept me in there but overall it's been a lot more down then up.

Hard to put a finger on the why really.  I could blame the pressure at work which has just got a lot easier now that we've got the certification process and major customer audits out of the way.  I could blame the Xbox and the cluster of games that have just come out making it more desirable to shoot bad guys than paint good guys.

But I think the main reason was the last batch of figures.  I don't like them and resented having to paint them.

What were they?

They were a box of Victrix 1809 French that I bought to boost my 28mm French Napoleonic division to twelve battalions from ten.  I found them awkward to put together and difficult to paint.  In the end I resorted to simple block painting and using Army Painter dark tone dip.

The current crop of "stuff" on the paint table.

Something borrowed - rebasing my Russians for the Great Northern War.  This is the fourth battalion I've rebased.  Behind them the "Something Old" - my old Elite figures French battalions receiving the plastic reinforcements, the last nine of which are to just to the right of them.

More Russians waiting to be rebased. 

Something new - in the header bar I blame my Grandfather for my wargaming habit.  As part of his legacy he gave me a number of handmade buildings that deserve to be used but have no figures to match their styling.  So inspired by a recent article in Wargames Illustrated, and in honour of his memory, I purchased some "flats" for the SYW.  The style and quality of these figures should marry well with the buildings that I cherish.

Something Blue - flags for the Russians from Wordtwister (aka League of Augsberg).  Seem a little big now but will be better on the final units.

The third battalion of Russian who wait patiently for their standard to be issued.

Today, with the dip drying on the last of the plastic from Victrix, I feel a lot better about painting and getting back to the wargames table.

Miniature Wargames

A real treat for the weekend when this hit the door mat on Saturday.

As a fan of Battlegames I was worried when the takeover (merger or whatever) of that magazine by Miniature Wargames was announced. We were assured that with Henry at the helm all would be well and we would like what we saw.

Well, I for one, do like what I'm seeing and I am currently enjoying reading the magazine. With the first flick through this feels more like Battlegames having the upper hand in terms of style, content and layout. The articles cover a broad spectrum of interests and are well written and enjoyable in the main. The usual suspects are there as you may have expected and they've all been given more space. The other articles are no less interesting and well presented and easy to read. It was also nice for Henry to acknowledge the magazines roots with the cover photograph giving reference to that very first magazine from Duncan.

So it's thumbs up from me for the first issue with Henry in charge.

Great War

Last night saw my Americans take the field whilst we tried to find a set of rules we all like and feel comfortable with.  I'll not discuss the rules here because they are under review and I don't want to establish prejudice.

For the purpose of trying the rules I deliberately adopted an unbalanced, although one could argue historically accurate, force of six companies of raw troops supported a company of hard fighting Marines and a HQ section.

Companies Able, Easy, Dog & Fox ready for the push.  Only Dog company survived relatively unscathed.  Able were pinned down quickly by the Germans and when Easy tried to relive them they came under heavy artillery fire and put faces in the dirt.   

Bravo and Charlie companies advance into what turned out to be a whithering hail of machine gun fire from a hidden German maxim.  

Fox company head for the town with the Marines on their right.  The Marines ran up the high street and took on a company of Sturmtruppen in the next building.  Fighting was short and bloody with the Marines being killed to a man and the Germans losing over half their strength. 

Fox company hole up in the town where they spent most of the game trying to prevent the Germans from capturing the entire town.

And just to show that I'm not entirely absent from the painting table, here a few shots of a little fun side project.  Hasslefree have a Weird WW1 line of models and these are the first of my Hobbits. 

Dubbed my one wit in the club as the "Bantam" platoon these are the first four.  Lewis gun and three supporting riflemen.

Two riflemen taking shelter in a drainage ditch.

A close up of the Lewis gunner.

I really like these figures and can't wait to get some more.  Also, now that Hasslefree have their Dwarfs out (Russians by any other name) there's even more incentive to get some!

The Big Game

So having whetted your appetite here are some photographs of the game.  If you don't mind (and I guess that you probably do!) I'll hold back the really good stuff for later because I think I might turn this into an article for one of the hobby magazines.

A view down the larger of the two tables used.  This table was 16ft x 6ft.  In the foreground are the French Gendarmes in red and stretching away into the distance are some sixty battalions and forty squadrons of horse.  Dotted along the table there are also thirty individual field guns.

The smaller of the two tables, this one being 10x6.  In the foreground is a small village garrisoned by two battalions of Spanish.  Behind them are over 100 squadrons of horse with some infantry support.

The center of the Allied line held by eleven battalions of English foot and some horse.  All these figures are from Marks collection and very nice they are too.

To the left of the English were some Imperial foot painted to a very high standard by Andy (it's his figures you see in the previous post) with more English horse in support.

 

Facing the English foot were a brigade of French guards (Francais & Suisses) along side some French line battalions.

The French guards had their right flank resting on the fortified town.  A garrison of three French battalions held the town with fieldwork to the fore.  The French wagon train was also present.

To the left of the town was the French Swiss brigade and the Gendarmes.  This marked the end of the large table and the joining point for the smaller of the two tables.

That junction was covered by the Bavarian foot several hundred yards away from the forward garrison of a defended village.  French horse then held the right flank with the regiments of the Maison du Roi in the second line.

The extreme right of the French was held by the massed Bavarian Kuirassiers and dragoons.

Facing that mass of French horseflesh were numerous serried ranks of English, Dutch & Imperial horse. 

Whilst there were more Imperial foot facing the small garrisoned village.

The game was played over some five hours by ten players.  In addition to the overall objectives given to each army, the individual players had three personal objectives (some easy and some difficult) and this helped in creating spaces and some unforeseen events during the game.

I apologise for the quality of some of the photographs but there are better ones to come and hopefully you'll see them in print sometime in the near future.

Again I cannot express my thanks to my fellow club members and those from further afield that braved the weather to make the day a great event. 

The Big Game prologue

Well we've played it and I hope that all involved enjoyed themselves.  I'll spend some time over the next few days writing a fuller report.  In the meantime a few thank yous:

Mark & Andy for the loan of the figures and for helping with the game

Mal for taking photographs (better than mine but destined for a different purpose)

Tim, Julian, Ray, Lee, Rob, Bailey & Steve for braving the weather and travelling across the country to play.

Guys I hope you had as much fun laying as I did organising.