I managed to set aside enough time this morning to visit the Skirmish Toy Soldier and Wargames Show in Sidcup. I try to go to this show every March and September, and I do not usually come away disappointed. Today was no exception, and besides having a good look around (and not actually buying anything!) I was able to have a long talk with David Crook as well shorter chats with Alan Abbey, Postie, Big Lee, Ken Smith, and Mark Ashby.
As I entered the school building that acts as the venue for the show, I saw that Armourfast were running one of their 'Build a Tank' sessions for children.
The kids get to build and take away with them one of Armourfast's model tanks ... for FREE(!). This is an excellent idea, and one it would be nice to see other wargames suppliers doing as well.
The rest of the entrance hall was taken up by two stands selling a range of toy soldiers and wargames figures and model vehicles as well as representatives of one of the English Civil War re-enactment groups.
The main hall was its usual bustling self, and I could easily have spent a lot of money if I had had it!
There were quite a few wargames on show, some of which were demonstration games and others were participation games. (If I get any of the names of the games or groups that were running them wrong, please forgive me. Signage of some of the games was not very easy to see ... so I did my best to work it out for myself.)
Assault on San Juan Hill (54mm Spanish-American War participation game): SELWG
Skirmish in the hedgerows (South London Warlords)
Operation Sealion (Crush the Kaiser)
Wild West Gunfight (Skirmish Wargames Group)
The road ends at Falaise: World War II North West Europe (136 Brigade)
Sharpe's Challenge (The Old Guard)
Weird World War II (Medway Wargames Society)
Warhammer 40K (Gravesend Gamers Guild)
Bolt Action (Hornchurch Heroes Gaming Club)
Warhammer 40K (Gamers Hub Wargaming Section)
Operation Harpoon (The Privateers of London)
This was yet another great little show to attend ... and I only wish that I had had more time and money!
As I entered the school building that acts as the venue for the show, I saw that Armourfast were running one of their 'Build a Tank' sessions for children.
The kids get to build and take away with them one of Armourfast's model tanks ... for FREE(!). This is an excellent idea, and one it would be nice to see other wargames suppliers doing as well.
The rest of the entrance hall was taken up by two stands selling a range of toy soldiers and wargames figures and model vehicles as well as representatives of one of the English Civil War re-enactment groups.
The main hall was its usual bustling self, and I could easily have spent a lot of money if I had had it!
There were quite a few wargames on show, some of which were demonstration games and others were participation games. (If I get any of the names of the games or groups that were running them wrong, please forgive me. Signage of some of the games was not very easy to see ... so I did my best to work it out for myself.)
Assault on San Juan Hill (54mm Spanish-American War participation game): SELWG
Skirmish in the hedgerows (South London Warlords)
Operation Sealion (Crush the Kaiser)
Wild West Gunfight (Skirmish Wargames Group)
The road ends at Falaise: World War II North West Europe (136 Brigade)
Sharpe's Challenge (The Old Guard)
Weird World War II (Medway Wargames Society)
Warhammer 40K (Gravesend Gamers Guild)
Bolt Action (Hornchurch Heroes Gaming Club)
Warhammer 40K (Gamers Hub Wargaming Section)
Operation Harpoon (The Privateers of London)
This was yet another great little show to attend ... and I only wish that I had had more time and money!
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Looks like a good show - must have been good to get away for a while.
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun. That wheat field with the removable sections in it looked like a neat idea.
ReplyDeleteConrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteSkirmish is an opportunity for me to meet and talk to lots of other wargamers ... and to look at potential purchases. In terms of sheer size it may not be in the same class as any of the bigger shows, but it more than makes up for it in other ways.
It was great just having the opportunity to do something that did not involve hospitals and the care system.
All the best,
Bob
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed myself.
A lot of the terrain that was on show was excellent ... and the terrain cloth used by The Old Guard was a masterpiece. It was homemade from a dappled cloth bought in Hobbycraft ... and it is as good as any commercial product I have seen.
All the best,
Bob
Nice report- how far north do you think you'll make it this show season Bob?
ReplyDeletecheers,
Pete.
Pete,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, for the foreseeable future I will be doing well to make it much further north than the northern edge of the M25! I have enjoyed going to Triples and Partizan in the past, but I doubt if I will be able to make it to either of them this year.
All the best,
Bob
It was good to see you at Skirmish. It was a nice little show and I'm glad to see it developing and adding demo games to the line-up. Nice photo's btw, especially the Operation Sealion one, I was so busy talking to the guys I forgot to take any pictures of their game!
ReplyDeleteLee Hadley,
ReplyDeleteIt was great to see you too. I only wish I had longer to chat.
Skirmish makes a nice contrast with the larger shows ... and is a lot friendlier. I think that the standard of games has improved over the time I have been going, and that this show's games were particularly good.
All the best,
Bob