Just another short show report with some piccies. Myself, Daz and Wills took to the road this morning bound for the institute for sport in Sheffield. Always quite an irony for me as wargamers aren't the most renowned health addicts!
I went equipped with a list of items to collect, which in a rare instance I managed to stick to. The delicacies of the bring and buy, particularly the boardgame morsels, did not sway my head. I stuck to the plan and purchased mainly from Ground Zero Games. My collection of 15mm Sci-Fi is already a substantial force, however there are still gaps. The new Colonial Defence Force figures nicely meet some of my needs. They will provide the bread and butter troops of many of the scenarios in my head, whether it be future opponents of terminators, bug hunters, or just good old fashioned militia. When painted I will put a posting up. I feel quite positive about these miniatures as they are already organized, cleaned, based and under coated.
I also bought some Darghur aliens too, with some of Critical Mass Protolene Khanate wolfmen to provide some slave troops. A little more building and making required for these, so they are forming the second tier of enthusiasm at the moment.
In terms of the show I was a little disappointed. If my memory fades me, forgive the next comment, however I felt it was a little on the expensive side to go into the show. The cost of £10 for myself and Will (aged 11) seemed a little steep...maybe the venue has increased it's costs. Also the parking fee of £3.50 just added before you had entered the venue.
There was a good selection of traders as ever. The temptation meter was through the roof, with Spartan games Planetfall and Pendraken 15mm Dwarves just to mention a few. Whilst there was some good quality demonstration games, the overall number and breadth of games to see seemed less than the previous years.
We arrived pretty early and entered as the show had more or less opened, yet there did not seem as many punters as usual, this perception did not change as we left the show at about 1.00pm. There was a benefit as we were able to browse the stalls at ease, without the usual rugby scrum. The growing trend of skirmish gaming seemed prevalent alongside the usual bulk buys to flesh out full size table armies. The concept of small sized forces at premium prices does have a certain allure. Less painting needed, smaller table sizes and quicker games allow for the scatter-minded, blunderbuss approach to dabble in many periods.
The Triples has always been part of my visit calendar, and will continue to be so. Maybe it's my nostalgic rose-colored spectacles, however my fondest memories of the show remain at the University venue, with a Cornish pastie in one hand and a rather bulging other hand clutching onto two foot terrain squares...ah, those were the days!
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