So a great show that has left myself and Ade energised for future projects and plans. I had a great time painting a unit of Seven Years War British at Dr Mikes SMS clinic. We had a good old chat about the hobby and attitudes to painting. Another chap came along and joined in (didn't grab his name) but it's amazing how a common interest such as ours can have you chatting with strangers like you have known them for years. Later in the day Mike presented me with a unit of Union infantry that I had painted and left behind at one of his clinics at the Baccus Open Day 2 years ago which was a very pleasant surprise. You can rest assured they will take centre stage amongst my Union army as it grows in the near future.
By the wonders of modern technology, this is the unit in progress from the show two years ago.
I also managed to snaffle some time with Peter and discuss my Blenheim Blitz project which he seemed pleased to hear has been resurrected. He laughed at my plan to fight the whole battle in under and hour. I smiled and said "It WILL be done!" And so, though he doesn't know it, I take it as a challenge to make it so. I was please to hear that the official Reduced Battles team have plans of their own which I won't spoil here but I will say I can't wait to see what is coming up.
We also had a chat about the show scene in general and look forward to the Joy of Six show coming up in July.
We agreed many shows were stale and offered nothing different to ones we attended 20 years ago. I agree and certainly feel that they need to evolve and maybe begin to offer something new if they are to survive. I know of many shows that have fallen by the wayside over the years and it seems to be becoming the survival of the fittest as punters are voting with their feet and wallets. Triples a couple of weeks ago was a show not to be missed for many at the Stoke club ten years ago. Now however especially since the venue change, it's a hit and miss affair for me. This year was he first time in 2 or 3 years I have attended. Many of the games on show are the same old same old. I do appreciate the effort people put into putting several hundred (thousand?) 28mm figures on a table with nice terrain. But really I've seen it all before and it takes something out of the ordinary to impress me.
The Bruce Weigle game certainly did impress me. It probably had fewer figures on the table Han most games at the show but the landscape style terrain was a sight to behold. I have seen pictures of this around the web for years but seeing it close up was inpsirational.
Peter has big plans for the Joy of 6 show in the future with plans to keep things fresh and expand over the coming years into a real celebration of not only the scale but the hobby in general. I for one can't wait to see what he has in store.
Purchase for me consisted of some stock for my Blenheim game. Foot, horse and flags mainly to give me some figures to get the ball rolling. I intend to plan out the balance of the figures to purchase at the Phalanx show at St Helens in a couple of weeks time. I also stocked up on paint and brushes. I have probably over 200 paints in stock but you can never have enough. I do plan to get organised with my painted, inspired by Dr Mike who uses Vallejo which he decants into flip top lid bottles and stores in spiffing paint racks. Puts my storage system to shame. But I intend to change and get sorted as I am fed up with scrounging around looking for a specific paint wasting valuable time which is in short supply as it is.
I did sneak a couple of other purchases in. A box of 1914 French and a box of AWI militia from Baccus, just as a painting project. Nothing more. Honest. No plans for big armies with them. Yet, anyway :-)
More soon....
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