Back from 'oop north'!

Well, I'm back from our trip to Scotland! Quite an eventful time it proved to be too: a violent storm; emergency hotel room change when the roof leaked; and Sue's bout of illness, all failed to spoil our break, though they did try hard! These minor inconveniences were more than compensated for by good company, good weather, fine food, a ride on a steam train, visits to historic houses, a Bond museum, a few excellent drams and of course, Claymore 2016!
To the main business then, the SESW club's annual show, Claymore, held at Edinburgh College on the first Saturday of August each year. One of my favourite shows, as I think you will know by now, and always worth the travel and expense in my view. I get to meet many friends from outside my area of the country and see games by groups who don't sadly often venture down our way, which means I see new things, meet new people and get new ideas. In short, a great way to recharge my elderly batteries! With meeting good friends, seeing all the new games and shopping of course I don't have time to photograph everything I see. Plus, my photographic skills are pretty average on the whole, so some pictures are better than others. Anyway, here are a few images of games I liked and enjoyed, which I hope I have correctly attributed this time! Starting with my good friend Kevin Calder and Peter of The Iron Brigade who staged a fine 28mm ECW game. These talented chaps always put out fine looking games, characterised by wonderfully painted and detailed terrain, buildings, figures and wonderful little vignettes. Judge for yourself anyway ~

Next, another 28mm game by Dave Imrie and friends from Claymore Castings, a characterful WWII game full of incident and action to inspire any visitor to greater things ~

From my chums Dave O'Brien and Barry Hilton of the League of Augsburg a fine Williamite Wars game featuring a river crossing showcasing both Warfare Miniatures castings and the considerable skills of the chaps in converting, modelling and painting. Always a pleasure to see them and their games ~

Another interesting game which took my fancy was the Falkirk & District club's Boxer Rebellion 1900 game. I'm not usually a fan of hex terrain, but somehow I didn't really notice it on this expansive offering ~

Some other games now which I just did n't have the time to explore in detail, but which never the less impressed me greatly. A Late Roman/ Arthurian game by Supreme Littleness Designs ~

Tyneside Wargamers' Battle of Cannae 216BC on a large table using the very little chaps looked most impressive

There are plenty of Participation Games at Claymore if that is what attracts you to attend an event. I could n't find a good photo of the LeucharsVeterans Custers Last Stand, but here is Glasgow and District's Pancho Villa's Gold. Both games looked great fun and attracted many participants over the day ~

And lastly, from Kirriemuir Wargames Club, the Battle of Gaugamela sporting a wealth of information for the casual or interested visitor~

What's missing from my report? Well, no photo of the 'loot'. I bought a steam gyrocopter from Ironclad for my Blandings games; some WWI  British cyclists from Dixon Miniatures for the VBCW; some civilian artillery crew from Reiver Castings, again for the VBCW; some Litko 'Disordered' markers from Figures in Comfort; some brushes and a resin tree stump from Coritani; and lastly, some 25mm round MDF bases from Warbases! Not the last of the big spenders by any means, but The Other Partizan is only two weeks away, so I squirreled away some cash for that too! So, that's my take on Claymore 2016: I'm already looking forward to 2017's show. If you have n't been and you fancy a trip I would always recommend this show to you. Now, off to Phil's for a WWI bash!