Every show is something of a cornucopia for wargamers, and the WMMS is no exception, despite various "gaps" in the trader line up, but what exactly did I buy? Read on!
I went with a list of stuff I "needed" (henceforth "NEED") and had vague intentions of sticking to that list. A lot of stuff below was definitely "not on the list" (henceforth "NOL") however!
First up is a book I found on the always-useful and enlightening CALIVER BOOKS stand. For those who cannot read or understand German, the title translates as "Flags and standards from the time of the 30 Years' War, part 4". This is definitely "NOL", but could well have been a "NEED" had I known about parts 1 to 3!!! It is chock full of colour plates of artists' renditions of various flags, this volume covering Saxony - towns, areas within Saxony and individual colonel's regiments, including cavalry and dragoons. I have a paperback booklet covering this area in some detail, but this volume is more conclusive, covers far more options and is in lovely technicolour!!! I still have several regiments-worth of figures to paint towards my own 30 Years' War collection, so this purchase will certainly help that process when the time comes. Now I just have to find volumes 1, 2 and 3...
Pure indulgence and definitely "NOL". CALIVER BOOKS supplied the book, PENDRAKEN the figures. I blame watching "The Charge of the Light Brigade" twice over the past couple of months. I also blame my desire to fulfil my megalomania to get seriously into wargaming the mid-19th Century. Quite why I am not concentrating on Austrian 1859 or 1866 (I have figures for both!), Piedmontese-Sardinian for 1859 (again, I have figures), Prussian for 1866 or 1870 (yep, you guessed it...) or my 10mm ACW collection (which has grown in metal terms but has still not been started in painting terms) is something of a quandary. One to watch. I am unclear on rules for this era too. I have a set by Ray Lucas entitled "Voice of the Guns", I have "There Are Your Guns" by Dennis Williams, I have Principles of War", I have the set by Neil Thomas in his book on wargaming the 19th Century, I have "Regimental Fire & Fury" (which I will be using for ACW and 1859/ 66 when I finally get started on those) and no doubt one or two more options lying around somewhere. Perhaps RF&F will convert to the Crimea too? But can I be bothered with all those markers to go with it???
My usual visit to MAGNETIC DISPLAYS (very definitely on the "NEED" list) yielded the customary purchasing of steel paper and magnetic sheet. I also needed some brown Basetex, some more 25mm diameter round bases and some more grass to texture bases with, so tick, tick, tick and all on the "NEED" list. I also added a pack of 60mm round bases pending the creation of some 28mm command vignettes for one of my growing collections. Missing from the shot is the matt varnish I picked up from them, or, at least, paid for. It did not seem to make it to the bag they gave me and certainly has not come home with me...
More pure indulgence, but on the "NEED" list. My desire to wargame the Austrians in various eras was missing a biggie, namely the Seven Years' War. I still do not have any figures at all for this conflict, but thought buying this might spur me on in due course. CALIVER BOOKS were again kind enough to supply me with a copy.
And indulgence does not come any deeper than this! OAKBOUND STUDIO were making their debut at the WMMS show (at least, I had never seen or heard of them before), but chatting with the chap on the stall and seeing some of their product in the flesh convinced me this was a good buy, though certainly "NOL". I bought the "Secrets of Shandisholm" sourcebook, the "Barrow Ring Burning" campaign book, got a little tool for use with their house rules (the light brown thing that looks like a crown) and a box of Spriggans to start me off. Many years ago when I was but a teen and heavily into RPG's, I was getting away from the usual Vikings/ Medieval vibe and checking out Celtic folklore, reading the Tain etc. This is it. If only this had been around in my mid-teens, I could have died happy!!! I have been reading the sourcebook and my initial enthusiasm is still very high almost a week later!!! I heartily recommend you check the website out (www.oakbound.co.uk) and I cannot wait for their forthcoming post-apocalypse rules "Factious Waste". In addition to Spriggans, they do such worthies as Phooka, Wulven (werewolves to you and I), Fae Rades (nasty faerie-types who like to manipulate the world and its denizens) and the book is littered with pictures of Warlord Celts and Gripping Beast Irish. I have figures to use for this already!!! Bonus! And not only does the website have the house rules as a free download, but they also feature in the sourcebook, so you can start playing straight away! This game should be up there with "Frostgrave" if not higher.
Definitely not an indulgence and on the "NEED" list were some reinforcements for my FIW project. MAGNETIC| DISPLAYS furnished the Indian canoes and Redoubt the various figures. I bought more Rangers, some Colonial Militia, some Indian civilians and a French artillery piece with crew. Unfortunately, the man seems to have given me a mortar instead. However, that did at least spark interest in what I might do for a future show game, interest piqued by watching "The Last Of The Mohicans" again recently...
And, last but not least, and another definite "NEED", are a couple of reinforcements for my Mordor Orcs. I have been looking to add Trolls to their ranks for some time and toured the usual suppliers of secondhand figures, as well as firsthand ones, to no avail over the course of several shows. Then I saw the drummer on such a secondhand figure stand (whose name sadly escapes me) and, duly bought, I asked the chap if he had any more, as none were on show. Returning five minutes later, he had found me a metal figure representing a Mordor Troll Captain, we agreed a price and away I went, happy and joyful! I knew those 60mm bases from MAGNETIC DISPLAYS would come in handy!!! And I got both figures for less than I would have got a brand new one from the GW webstore! To top it all, Nephew Paul insists he has another one going free, so I could be breeding trolls for a while yet. All I have to do now is find some ancient article on how to paint them...
And so concludes the tale of the WEST MIDLANDS MILITARY SHOW, 2017. I by no means got everything I was looking for (I was desperately looking to add Reiter to my fledgling French Wars of Religion collection, but TIGER MINIATURES brought none to the show and FOUNDRY were not there at all), which probably explains why I came away with Crimean War Russians and a book to boot on that conflict. I had to spend the money on something! Smoking pockets syndrome...
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