A Day Out...

...at Partizan with Phil and William. 

We three 'Sad Beggars' spent a fine day attending the Newark Irregulars' annual Partizan wargames extravaganza on Sunday. Despite delays and detours, due to break downs and seemingly everlasting roadworks, we arrived in record time, parked up on the runway and joined the short queue for entry to what now must surely be considered as THE show for any serious historical wargamer. As is now usual it was crowded with gaming goodness for the delight of what I understand was its record attendance. 

It was William's first time at Partizan, although he has been with us to several WMMS in the past. I was a little apprehensive about how he would cope with the crowds, as I had been last year with Reuben, but I need not have worried. He was off like a rat up a drainpipe to the Warlord Games stand for a Bolt Action fix!

Somewhat relieved I left him to it and tootled off to do my modest shopping: four packs of figures for my Darkest Africa diversion and three paint triads from Wargames Foundry - very disappointed in a big hobby player having no show deals though; six for five packs of tufts from Great Escape Games; preordered, at a discount, 3mm bases from Warbases. That was it. William on the other hand bought three large boxes for WWII Bolt Action, several paints and weathering powders. I think he is leaving grandad behind...

The games: well of course very many of the expected standout standard, even some of the participation games! (For me they are a pointless intrusion - their absence would create more space to appreciate the display games and provide an area of social seating for we over 21's!) By now of course there will be many video and pictorial appreciations of the show available on line, I will limit myself to those which matched my interest or caught my attention ~

McPhearson's Ridge, Gettysburg 1863 - an ACW spectacular from The Bodkins. A group of outstandingly talented chaps who can be absolutely relied on to put on a superb show!

The Iron Brigade ~ lead by Kevin Calder, a good friend all the way from Aberdeen, with a beautifully conceived Samurai game replete with castle and numerous splendid group scenes and vignettes. I really liked the Koi water feature!

A second ACW game, Second Kernstown 1864 by Bramley Barn Wargames Club, visually pleasing but for the gaming aids left on the table. A no-no for we veterans of display games.

The Boondock Sayntes' Lucknow game, a visual extravaganza of a display game. I especially liked the destroyed building effects in the last photo.

The League of Augsberg's splendid game showcasing both Warfare Miniatures and the new revised edition of Beneath the Lily Banners by Barry Hilton.

An AWI game, Chatterton's Hill, 1776, by Steve Jones I believe.

The Back of Beyond! From the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers! I always love their tongue in cheek display games! So much to see and inspire!

A selection of quite superb building groups. The schloss and town were on the game by The Friends of a Military Gentlemen. I find these types of display something  I can aspire to, but sadly never reach. That's a major joy of Partizan though, it always leaves you with ideas for your own wargames table!

Another fine group of buildings, this time from the venerable Hovels range, on Simon Miller's game showcasing the coming Lust For Glory rules I believe.

Of course there were many, many more outstanding games; almost too many to take in and fully appreciate, at least for me. A case for less is more in my opinion. Others are free to disagree of course. One slight downside though, ventilation! Walking back into the hall after lunch I was struck sharply by the fug! Perhaps our collective noun really is a Stink of Wargamers?

It wouldn't be fitting to close without mentioning the other joy of Partizan, namely the chance to meet up and chew the hobby fat face to face with geographically distant friends. Too many to mention really, but meeting fellow Blogger SteveJ at last stands out for me. A shout out too for Dave O'brien, Matt Crump and the newly retired Aly Morrison. William's verdict on his first Partizan? When's the next one grandad? Torch passed on there I think.

Parts of William's WWII collection

I want to share a few pictures with you of some of William's WWII collection. He's our second grandson, you've probably seen him in the occasional picture in GHQ over the last 11 years. He's always enjoyed being in the gaming room and playing with grandad's toy soldiers, but in the last year or so he's moved on to making and painting aircraft, tanks and troops under the Bolt Action umbrella. I'd like to show you some of his work, remember he's only 11 so don't judge the odd error too harshly, our wonderful hobby needs the next generation of wargamers ~

British Paras using Warlord Games Bolt Action figures. 

Two Russian infantrymen in a bleak winter setting. I liked the understated white on their helmets.

German Fallskrimjägers, the "bad guys" as a younger William would have said.

Sherman Firefly tank.

German Panther. A very decent go at the camouflaged I thought.

A Sherman Easy Eight, like the others from Warlord Games Bolt Action stable.

Airfix Spitfire with D Day markings. I think he has nine different marks of Spitfire altogether!

Airfix Stuka dive bomber!

Airfix ME109. I hope you can find something you have liked and can say a few encouraging words for William. He was fully immersed in yesterday's WWII game in GHQ and is already looking forward to a game at Phil's next week. In the meantime he and his two friends are playing another game today. 

Some Thoughts on Hobby Value for Money

I received this extract from the 1975 Minifig Catalogue recently from Paul. It shows the price of a single foot figure as 8p! For context this arose from a discussion Paul and I were having last month about the cost of wargames figures and the increasing spread of the Blister pack at the point of sale.

The Bank of England compound interest calculator below shows that the buying power of 8p in 1975 equates to 65p today. So why are we paying over £2.00 on average for a foot figure in 2026? After all, a 16p loaf of bread in 1975 equates to £1.20ish in 2026, which strangely is about right using the Bank's calculator!

Are overheads like staff wages, heating, lighting, advertising rates, business rates and taxes disproportionately affecting miniture figure businesses? Or do we suspect that we are being ripped off? Perhaps we are, but then again perhaps we are not? Other factors may be the root cause of the £2.00+ figure trend.

 Consider the rather basic style of said 1975 Minifigs figure. Certainly lacking in fine details compared to today's offerings? No doubt though easier to paint, an important consideration when dedicated hobby time is limited by real life demands! Equally the Minifigs example comes from what I would call the Lost Golden Age when most wargamers aspired to build an army rather than merely a small group of figures.

Modern figure offerings can be ridiculously over detailed for a wargames figure, perhaps reflecting the rise of the game in a box {see my point above}where a single figure is not ranked with 20 or 30 similar comrades. So its probably fair to say that sculpting costs will certainly have risen disproportionately to inflation, time is money after all and the labourer is worthy of his/her hire certainly. The truth about pricing and value for money probably lies somewhere between barely covering costs and being ripped off, with each of us choosing our opinion based on personal circumstances and experiences.

Rather than focus on an issue we can't determine without full access to the facts, I'd rather turn to look at why wargames figures may have got ever more finely detailed to the point where some fine bits can barely be seen, let alone painted with a size 0 brush! As an almost 76 year old who confesses to being merely an average painter, though with 50 plus years experience, I struggle with the detail on some figures but not on others. Thinking about that oddity it seems the bolder and clearer detail of a Dixon Miniatures figure for example is easier to process than a Perry Miniatures figure. In both cases the detail is there, but the clarity and style of sculpting differs. Of course many will say that one figure is blessed by in-scale detail while another will happily accept bolder detail on another. Figures seen in close up, firstly in magazines and then in the ever present Web pages, have played a part in driving forward ever more detailed figures and ever more complex and layered painting styles. But in real life figures are seen from gaming distance,  some 3-5 feet I'd guess for most. At those levels more detail and layered painting are lost I'd contend. Painting to collector's standard or to the pro painted label have a part to play in this ever more detailed drive, but do they do more harm than good to the aspirations of we average hobbyists?

Coming to my final point, the rise of 50 figure 'armies', with attendant rules such as Sharp Practice or Bolt Action, has certainly contributed to the ever more detailed figure sculpt. If figures do not need to sit in seried ranks with identical comrades then sculptors can make free with action designs and myriad extra details. After all, only 49 more to finish my army...

As we all know we are far from an homogeneous group in our wonderful hobby! 

Different views are probably inevitable, after all we don't all share the same hobby starting point, history or club/group set up. Perhaps as a geriatric-in-waiting wargamer trends in the hobby have left me a straggler? And we all know what sorry fate often awaited those folk... Anyway, sorry for rambling on, well done if you got this far without dropping off to sleep.

'Ommer'ead '26

Last year Phil and I had decided we would give the Hammerhead show in '26 a miss and spend more time at WMMS. Plans, eh? Don'tyasjustluvem? With WMMS being laid to rest Hammerhead was back on our calendar. Plans were made for the day but then real life issues kicked in and Phil had to cancel. I was resigned to giving it a miss when Paul stepped in and offered a lift with his chum Tony! So promptly at 8.30am we three set of for Newark Showground! 

Under two hours later we joined the queue for admission, all quite speedy, and into the maelström that is any large, well attended wargames show. So three happy wargamers were amongst the crowds and off to shop! And to look over the games of course, remembering that all on show are Participation Games, you can join in! I must say most were crowded with enthusiastic gamers, in fact taking pictures proved problematic due to crowds of players and spectators. Here are a few samples for you to judge for yourselves ~

The Relief of Minas Tirith presented by the Boondock Sayntes. Some lovely modelling and painting on show.

Lust For Glory, latest rules set from To The Strongest

The Marlburian Period of course, with Monmouth in Flanders. I'd really like to go back to this period in GHQ but sadly doubt I will given issues of age, health and suchlike...

Rumble in the Jungle! WWII Skirmish gaming utilizing Peter's Paperboys terrain features and figures! Looked really attractive and of course a cost effective way to wargame. An important consideration in a time of a Cost of Living Crisis!

For Texas and Lego! The Alamo! Presented by Reveille using Lego figurines! My favourite game on show I have to say!

Hammerhead '26 was organised by Dave Ryan and his team at Caliver Books. As a visitor the show seemed well organised with a wide range of games and periods to savour and a host of traders eager to part visitors from their moolah! One perennial point about shows for me: an absence of casual social seating. As we all age this will become a bigger issue I think which organisers must address or loose customers. Beyond their control though is the issue of on site catering. At Newark Showground offerings are hardly appetising in my opinion. I saw one burger that looked like I could sole my shoes with it! Perhaps I'm too picky? My coffee was alright, though nothing to write home about.

Finally the obligatory Loot photo~

3mm MDF bases from Warbases, who else? A fully ladden ox drawn baggage set from Perry Miniatures via Dave Thomas for the Wars of the Roses project. Two Pro Arte Series 40 Sable Round brushes from ABC Brushes. Five blisters of various Natives from Wargames Foundry to expand the Heart of Darkness collection and provide some relief from Arthurians for all of us.

If I have sounded overly negative I'd like to assure you all that I had a grand day out. My thanks are due to Paul for organising the day for me and to Tony for kindly driving me from door to door! I felt so much more chipper than if I've driven myself. The games I thought were a distinct upgrade on last year's offerings. Besides those I managed to get a picture or two of there were many others of equal quality and all being played at one time or another by keen participants! I'm glad I went!

"The Deserving Poor?"*

As I mentioned in my previous post, there was more to report following the exchange, in Bugman's at Warhammer World in Nottingham, with Aly receiving my Late Romans in exchange for moolah; namely the receipt of what I have dubbed a further 'Red Cross package' of figures surplus to his requirements ~

The opened package on my painting desk, to give you some idea of the box's dimensions. 

The contents viewed from above. On first opening the box looked to be packed with many bags containing bare metal castings.

That proved to be only half the matter though. Hidden away beneath this veritable mountain of bare metal was a further box. On opening that second inner box 100 fully painted figures were revealed, carefully rolled into yards of bubble wrap! I felt rather as Lord Caernarfon or Howard Carter must have felt, I saw beautiful things! I am not often lost for words - ask my family or friends - but I was genuinely struck dumb! These figures had been painted I've been informed  by Mark Hargreaves of Over Open Sights. They are Empress Miniatures, formerly Tusuba, for the Russo-Japanese War. 

The painted figures alone have given me three Japanese battalions of infantry and a machine gun set, while for the Russians there are two infantry battalions. It seems now that I shall have a new project after all...

Two Russian infantry battalions.

Three Japanese infantry battalions together with a machine gun & crew.

Sorting through the myriad contents of the bags of bare metal castings was a complex task, as I know next to nothing about the history of the Russo-Japanese War,  the organisation of the respective armies, nor the figure range(s) themselves. As initial searching seem now to have revealed these include:

Russians ~ High Command; Field Gun & crew; Machine gun & crew; Cossacks - both mounted and dismounted; mules and mule handlers; a Band; casualties and medical staff.

Japanese ~ High Command; a number of infantry command figures; a flag sheet (which anoyingly I've misplaced!); mule, handlers and ammunition carriers; casualties; infantry marching and command - these latter might be Oshira figures, as they have separate heads and full back packs to add and are slightly larger sculpts?

Certainly this is all well beyond an outstanding gift you'd surely have to agree and a magnificent foundation for a new project for the new year! Now you see why I was lost for words...

As a postscript: there was also a large number of Perry Miniatures Agincourt range figures for my son Matt and, perhaps with evident serendipity, the Henry Tudor command set which saves me buying it as I'd painted Richard III, himself in an earlier Red Cross parcel! The Wars of the Roses project was not finished after all...

* The destitute deserving of help from their betters. A Victorian concept for those unfamiliar with it. Used in a lighthearted way of course.