Yesterday I travelled to Sunderland, well actually the Nissan Sports Centre near Sunderland, for the Border Reivers Wargames Show.
I took John and that itinerant figure painter to the stars, Dave Jarvis, with me.
As John kindly pointed out, this was only our second wargames show of the year, which in many ways is sad but not surprising.
This is the second year at this new venue, and I thought it had grown since last year, in that there seemed to be more attendees, more games and about the same number of traders.
I will be honest, it felt like one of the many wargames shows I would attend in the late 1980's early 1990's.
In some ways, that's not a bad thing.
The centre has a very good cafe, with decently priced food and refreshments. It also has a lot of tables to sit at and simply talk pants about wargaming etc.
A nice feature was the fact that the bring-and-buy was in the cafe. What was not to like about that?
Dave had completed his latest batch of Footsore Miniatures for me, so he naturally wanted his money but also wanted to enjoy the wargaming company.
John wanted to sell some of his lovely 'spare' painted units, and I just fancied attending a wargames show for a chat and a chat.
Anyone who organises a wargames show deserves support and perhaps their head checked. But without these individuals, wargaming would be a poorer place.
Interaction between wargamers is so important; otherwise, we go the way of so many other hobbies as they wither and disappear. Now Im not saying that is happening because it's very clear the hobby is alright, if not downright healthy.
But it is changing rapidly as we boomers, [ God, I detest that word] slip this mortal coil and are replaced by wargamers who had different experiences about how they entered this hobby.
And nothing wrong with this.
Im going to ramble a bit now, so I will apologise now.
One thing that is becoming more obvious is that the figure-producing companies I grew up with are going less and less to shows, or simply disappearing. Perhaps the owners are simply retiring, or perhaps, given the rapidly escalating cost of everything, they are simply not opting to attend shows. I totally understand this.
As 3d printing, plastics and resin grow, metal figures are proving to be an expensive purchase.
Listen, we have always complained about the cost of a metal figure, and I remember many figure producers arguing they were good value, which, in the main, they were. But now?
It's understandable. Hiring a talented sculptor isn't cheap. The metal and time aren't cheap. So then expecting these small companies to tip up to a show where they just might sell enough to cover their costs is purely selfish.
I think what Im attempting to say is, wargames shows and attendees will have to recognise that the big producers in wargaming are only going to appear rarely, if at all, at shows. Its economics stupid.
It means that shows will be more about games, exhibitions promoting new rules and systems, stalls selling wargame 'stuff', and sometimes a brave figure supplier who wants to show off his new range.
Big producers, the Warlords of this world, will probably only appear at one or two very large shows, which is fair enough.
Like I said the show yesterday felt like a show from the late 1980's, and that wasn't a bad thing, well, for me anyway.
Oh and ALL the games were very decent quality, so what was not to like.
And purchases? Three pristine Funcken books on the Renaissance period. I already own a set, but these were just too good to ignore. Dont ask why, but I just had to.
You cant take the wargamer out of me Im afraid.
