Partizan August 2018..

 The image says it all really. Military modelling at its best. Beautifully painted figures, beautifully made and painted terrain that has to be an inspiration to anyone who has an interest in military history, wargaming and anything related to model soldiers. Partizan Wargames Show at its best.

 Im a bit late with my review of last Sunday's show at Newark, but I have been away for the last few days so couldnt write a review. So before I talk about the show lets have a look at the eye candy.

 The Louisiana Tigers from Ian Smith and Friends 40mm extravaganza. Ian reckoned he painted this unit and who am I to disagree although Shaun Bryant reckoned he painted them. Anyway whoever did paint them made a wonderful job on the castings.

Tony Runkee is the expert for painting Confederate butternut uniforms for me. He has tried to show me how he does it, but I can never get anywhere near his quality.

The Chuckle Brothers reincarnated. Ian barely listening to Shaun as he tells him who did what at their fantastic display.

 There were some excellent and inspiring display games at Partizan, as is to be expected at this show. I thought the Winceby, English Civil War game was an inspiration for any ECW wargamer.

Barry Hilton, who must be one of the hardest working wargaming combo's per se, was displaying his GNW figures showcasing his new rules and also his new Turkish range.

 Dave Docherty and friends exhibited their wonderful Sudan game. The game just keeps getting bigger every time I see it. Top quality painting yet again.

 Graham Cummings and leigh were not only running their SYW game they were also looking after the Crann Tara stall, so they were a tad busy. Graham was on hand to show me his latest project, the Saxon quick firing 6pdr gun. No wargamer should ever complain about the hobby because we are truly in a golden age when every conceivable thing is available.

Wargaming has come a long way since I used ground rice on my terrain boards to make them look like they were covered in snow.I thought this World War Two game showed off winter battlefields perfectly. The correct shade of white and some brilliantly painted buildings to complement the look.

 As is now the tradition, there were a large number of participation games and to be honest they all were of a very high standard but the following two games caught my eye. Lego type soldiers with great looking model tanks and very simple rules. I thought this game would be perfect for schools and apparently relatively cheap to create.

Again a great participation game with some brilliant Play Mobil type figures.

 Im no tankie, but do like to see a well painted machine on a wargames table.There were some great examples on show at Partizan.

 Being of a certain age its great to see a 1/32 scale game, and the Panther was a real pleasure to admire.

 As I have said I know little about tanks, but I thought the camouflage on this one was brilliant and a really tidy looking game.

My attention was drawn to the wonderful town. The centre piece was really well painted and they were lucky I didnt walk away with it. 

 A Lord of the Rings battle using [I think ] To the Strongest rules. I may be wrong, but it looked very good.

 And finally Simon Millar's display which was a static one showing off his Macedonian phalanx and wonderful war elephants. Over the top? Yes. Inspiring? Definitely.

 Sp what was the show like? I thought there were some very good games to stand and drool over. Was I inspired? Definitely.
Wargames shows need to inspire to be classed as a success for me and I thought there were enough games that created that inspiration for me. It seemed quieter than previous ones, but then it is in the height of summer, but it was still pretty busy. Although I didnt have specific buying wants I still managed to make a large dent in my wallet buying figures I dont need, so all in all a great show.
 It was good to mix with wargamers I rarely see and nice to put faces to the blogs I follow.

I think Ian Smith should have the final word as he usually does anyway, except he seemed otherwise engaged trying to negotiate a crisp......