Monday 3 February 2020

Vapnartak 2020

Well yesterday was the start of this years wargaming campaign season marked by a visit to Vapnartak staged at York Race course.
 Because I wanted to offload some of my wargaming ephemera we arrived early expecting to queue prior to a mad rush to book a bring and buy table. I was very pleasantly surprised that the organisers from York Wargames club had recognised the issue of the last few years and completely changed the set up for their table top sale.
 We were allowed in straightaway, that is 09.30 and sent via one of the lifts to the new location for the sale. The club have designated a whole floor to the tabletop sale, and after paying a £1.00 for half an hour I was allowed to set up ready for the 10.00 opening.
 The tables had plenty of room and there was ample space for punters, result.
 I found I sold a lot of stuff prior to the show actually being open, so even though I paid a princely £2.00 for an hour I stopped selling ten minutes before my allotted time.
 So well done York Wargames club for making their bring and buy a very pleasurable experience. Only one gripe and that was a box of lovely painted buildings I had sold prior to the opening were up for sale again with another wargamer at very, very inflated prices. Clearly I was too naive/ generous in selling them to someone I thought wanted to wargame with the buildings. My own daft fault I suppose.
 So how was the rest of the show?
 Busy, very busy, but strangely pleasant to walk around.
This is the first time I have never examined the demonstration games at a show, hence the paucity of photographs. Between doing some buying and a lot of time gabbing and setting the World to rights I didnt get to check out what the games were like.
I was impressed by the small participation games on the top floor which were very well set out and looked interesting. I didnt really circulate on the ground floor where I could see four large games which looked okay as I was too busy doing a deal with Tree Fellas for some hills and fields.
 I examined a few new traders selling their 3d wares which is going to become very common and hopefully cheap, they are very good in the main.
 Overall impressions were that the games were an afterthought which is a bit sad but to be honest I can see them disappearing in the next couple of years to make way for even more trade, because between the excellent tabletop sale set up, the popularity of competition and participation games and the large number of trade stands something will have to give.
 I can state I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Its probably because of the fact I found offloading my spare stuff very stress free, or it may have simply been the buzz around the show as wargamers emerged from their Winter hibernation.It was great to get the gossip from various wargamers I talked to although I wish the organisers would stop letting the Westerhope hoi-poloi into the show. Talk about lowering standards.
 On the retail front I picked up two lovely ACW painted regiments at a decent and fair price in the tabletop sale and somehow managed to buy even more brushes and paint.
 So thanks to York Wargames Society for making the start of the wargaming season a very pleasant experience.
 Only complaint, just the usual lack of soap use by some members of the fraternity.



12 comments:

  1. You had a grand day by the sound of it Robbie. Here the KO will be in March with WMMS & Hammerhead, though a trip to Foundry last Thursday might count as a preface to the season?

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    1. Did it was aa vvery pleasant day. Whats not to like? Loads of toys,new things to look at an bumping into old and new wargaming acquaintances.

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  2. Robbie,you ungrateful!-I offered you a melted biscuit and a cup of coffee from my flask,what more do you want??
    johnc(Westerhope "hoi-poloi")

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    1. Only you would bring your own flask of warm tea, there is absolutely no shaming you.

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  3. Sounds like you had a successful day. The Bring n buy was much better. First time i actually got to see what was on offer and got a couple of bargains.

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    1. It was much better Neil and well thought out, the group did well re jigging things. Im certain next years will be even more successful.

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  4. Hi,I am glad you liked our changes on the table top sale. We decided an improved service to the hobby was better than the cookie cutter competitions we had previously. Apart from one trader who likes the mezzanine floor with the games on for their stand (they had to pull out this year) we have no intention of changing that floor to retail. It is best suited to gaming with all the light coming in. Also adding 10 or 15 new traders risks diluting the spend and that would be detrimental. We like nice demo games, we prefer participation games as that's one of the best ways to get people dragged along by their gamer family to have a go. The show had a good buzz, good numbers of visitors and some really pretty games. The 10mm Eastern front was smashing.
    Nathan
    Vappa lead

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    1. Well done for the changes, the whole show seemed much more pleasant to walk around and the table top sale being moved was a great success.

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  5. Sounds like you had a great time and a good show!
    Best Iain

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    1. I did Iain,
      I like wargames shows no matter how big or small.Its the kid in me I suppose, new sights, new toys shiny things, for me shows have the lot.

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  6. Good to see you being really quite cheerful and up-beat on Sunday. I enjoyed the show overall and the chance to have a natter with lots of friends and acquaintances and even spend some money.

    The invitation to The Burrow still stands.

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    1. Thanks Colin, I did enjoy the show but that was probably because the table top sale was stress free.I cant believe I didnt get around everything, it shows how slow Im getting. It was good to bump into everyone even though I never seem to have much time to set the wargaming world to rights in such a short space.I was impressed by your adoption of Dave Browns rules, they have lots of positives. Dave clearly put a lot of effort into them to make them feel right.

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My 6mm Napoleonic set up.

My 6mm Napoleonic set up.
Austria 1809.

Austrian Hussars

Austrian Hussars
Hinchliffe figures

Austrian Grenzer

Austrian Grenzer
Austrian Grenzer

Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2013
Smoggycon 2013

Smoggycon 2012

Smoggycon 2012
Smoggycon 2012

Smoogycon 2009

Smoogycon 2009
My French getting another beating