Today, we went to the new incarnation of the old Smoggycon, Battleground. This is now held in Stockton - on - Tees, at the University of Durham Queens campus sports hall.
The new venue is larger than the old hall, and the lighting is not too yellow, which makes everything look better to my poor old camera!
Still, on with the pictures I took...
The new venue is larger than the old hall, and the lighting is not too yellow, which makes everything look better to my poor old camera!
Still, on with the pictures I took...
Pendraken miniatures, who kindly sponsored the show, was my first stop.
As usual, they had nice displays of their 10mm figures...
...together with some nicely painted ones to whet your appetite!
The Durham Pals were here again...
...with their lovely WW1 period equipment.
Dang! - there is always a punter ready to get in the way of the camera!
The Pals are always ready to interact with the public and perform period weapons drill etc.
Iacta Alea est's Bionicle wars game.
Strange and colourful!
Games and Gums - exotic snacks for the hungry shoppers!
Colonel Bill's.
Nice models!
As ever, I was tempted to get some of the lovely 4ground buildings they sell!
As ever, I was tempted to get some of the lovely 4ground buildings they sell!
Our lads, and their WW1 strategic game depicting the opening moves of the Schlieffen plan in 1914. That's Pete on the left with Craig and Frankie.
Ah, the B.E.F. have arrived!
All the games had these excellent signs, which saves asking 'what battle is this?'
In this case, Durham wargamers impressive 54mm Waterloo game!
These figures looked really colourful and dynamic.
The French centre.
..And of course, Hougoumont, or is that La Haye Saint?
Guess who?
CMG, with the wargamer's perennial problem, looking for figures in dense terrain!
Dave Thomas's huge display, lots I wanted, but my money was being saved for other projects today (sigh!)
(sigh!)
(sigh!)
Ah, Figures in comfort, another thing I should get for all my toys!
Is that 'Tron' on the left here?
Ainsty castings (nice) and their friendly staff.
Gateshead gaming (and Ainsty castings on the right)
Warbases.
they always have interesting stuff!
Midlam Miniatures, honestly, I did ask before taking this picture!
I am always tempted by more X-Wing minis!
Another stall I had to visit to pick up figures for my friend Ian, who wasn't well enough to attend.
I was especially taken by their gorgeous 'Tsu Shima' Japanese pre-dreds!
Worley books. I was looking for some painting guides, but didnt have time to look properly. there were a lot of book sellers at the show.
Warlord games. They sell a lot of very tempting stuff!
Baccus' 6mm stand.
Wargames Emporium.
Anyone want to build Hadrian's wall?
I had a good look at this stand! Who would sell the 'Sails of Glory' ships cheapest?
MTFGs stand. They always have a great range of kits on sale.
Caliver Books. Great company, they have a huge range of things, only a small selection appears at shows!
You just want to rummage, don't you!
Hawk wargames, I haven't seen them before I don't think, but they seem very friendly and have a lovely display.
After a chat, they kindly gave me a copy of their 'Valhalla' dark age skirmish rules to try. I will report back on this blog when we have tried them!
Northumbria games.
They are always worth visiting...
...and I found the cheapest SofG ships! My wallet left here rather lighter!
Eagle figures, they do a nice line in metal 7 years war figures.
Operation winter storm - a lovely looking game, by Monty's Wargaming world.
Redcar Ironbeards, like it says on the sign!
A nice 15mm 1945 Eastern front game.
Seen these before, but they are nice!
Great Northern war Russians.
Their dreaded Swedish opponents. A 'Beneath the Lily Banners' (which I like) - - game.
An Old School, Spencer Smith 7YW game, ah, this takes me back, and yes, I am that old!
68th DLI society, and their Kreigspeil game.
Generals and Kings nice looking 20mm WW2 game.
Lots of burning T-34s!
Independent Wargames.
I have always had a soft spot...
...for Italian wars Renaissance armies!
Malifaux's Gothic Horror, cum Wild West game.
Beanie games, demo-ing X-Wing.
Beanie games again, a very competent young man selling media related stuff. I picked up a nice 'Game of Thrones' mug from here.
What were these guys up to?
Ah, 'In Her Majesties name' - looks very nice!
Crucible of lead- and their Sons of Anarchy game.
Border Reiver's Vietnam game. Quite impressive! (Airfix F4?)
Gotta love them 'Slicks' (Huey UH-1)
Graham's Wuerkshoppe
Northumbrian painting services..some nice scenery here.
Dashing Dice's nice looking game.
Dashing Dice's trade stand.
Dashing Dice's attractive game.
Dashing Dice's attractive game.
At the end of my visit, I went to my favourite terrain retailer, 'The Last Valley'
I got some of these roads with the last of my money!
I love these trees!
He does nice fields too!
The proprietor!
More of his lovely river sections and bridges!
After this, I went with Lawrence to the cafe, for lunch and then home!
I thoroughly enjoyed this show, it seemed well organised and run, and the selection of traders and quality of the games was very high.
Well done everyone!
I will definitely be back for Battleground 2015!!!
Excellent and thorough report. The signs on the games were a help! A good show and looking forward to next year!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the pictures and the report, much appreciated, and I'm glad you enjoyed the day.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of points on the queries in your pics:
- The 'Not sure' trader is a 50/50 split I think, Gateshead Gaming on the left and Ainsty Castings being the upright silver racking in the right hand half.
- The 'MBM?' pic is Dashing Dice's trade table, to go with their Witchfinder General display game.
- Cozzmic Cakes were unfortunately unable to attend, the owner was rushed to hospital early last week. The replacement stand was Games and Gums, a local shop in Middlesbrough who stock a variety of board/card games and American candy!
We'd like to thank everyone who came along on the day, whether visitor, trader or gamer, it was a great day and we'll be back again on Sat 28th November 2015!
We're all a bit sore from the tables today, but we'll get a show report done and up on the Pendraken forum very soon!
Cheers!
Thanks Leon, and well done for the show! - thanks for all the hard work you all put into it!
DeleteThanks for your caption help, its all updated and corrected now!
No worries, we had a great day as well, I really enjoyed it and it was worth all the effort!
DeleteSigh, my stand didn't make your pics 😪 but it was a great show and a great day.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. I took 97 pictures in total but found 5 were awful! - blurred or de-focussed, I fear yours may have been one of those as I thought I got everyone!
DeleteGrab me next year, and I will give your stand the attention it deserves!
It WAS a good show, wasn't it!
OH My.... I am sitting here stunned by all the pictures. Here is the Detroit area we really don't have that vendors showing up at Game Conventions. Warbases is my go to people for bases.. They provide excellent service. Thanks for the great pictures again. Now I will go to my room and cry.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gary, I think we in the UK forget we live in a kind of 'Wargaming Central'. We are truly spoiled by the number of clubs and manufacturers we have over here!
Delete