Today – assuming I get this posted today! – was my first visit to Partizan at Kelham Hall, near Newark. The show has a good reputation but was one I have never made before. It’s a fair hike from Newcastle and even when I lived in Birmingham it was a bit out of the way, but this year the kids were away with their grandparents and my wife was happy to part with the car for the day so I went for it! I did have have various meetings and dealings planned but it was nice to do something different. So at 7.30 this morning I set off, picked up Ian, and headed down the A1.
It was a straightforward journey down and the venue was easy to find. Kelham Hall itself is an interesting building. There was plentiful parking and not too much of a queue to get in. £4 was fine and the concession for ‘reluctant spouses’ might apply if I can ever convince my wife to go!
There were two main halls and then a series of smaller connected rooms.
Although the show was busy it didn’t feel too cramped although in the main halls the space between games was a little cramped at the ‘peak’ times. Lighting wasn’t brilliant but that was more from a photo viewpoint rather than for general viewing. And there was no Bring and Buy. Which, based on the last few Bring and Buys I’ve seen, was no great loss! I’ll not comment on the food as the queue was always too long to tempt me to bother! A couple of apples in my bag and a stop at services on the way home substituting!
Demo Games.
These were many and varied and too many to mention all but were all of a consistent high quality and of the ones I stopped to chat at the gamers were friendly and enthusiastic. As I had arranged to meet (a thankfully fully clothed) Levied Troop from WD3 at the 28mm AWI game this was one I spent a little time at. A 28mm games by the Redcar Rebels it used the free John Bull – Patriots from The Perfect Captain. I’ve not tried these rules but they sounded interesting and the game looked lovely.
The other AWI demo game was from Peter Pig with their new Washington’s War rules and their new 15mm range. I’ve already got a copy of the rules and there are some interesting ideas. I quite like the extra and low ammo rules! Listening to the demo/participation games the mechanics sounded smooth and I look forward to trying these out.
The new 15mm figures from Peter Pig are very nice. I picked up a few at York earlier this year and grabbed a few more today, mainly the marker packs which give interesting casualty/ammo carrying figures, plus some waving women! Nice stuff anyway and I look forward to painting them.
I’m afraid I’ll be a bit slack here and just post a few pictures of other games as in not all cases did I make a mental note of what was what!
Couple of nice 28mm ancient games:
The new WAB 2:
Excellent 28mm Sudan game:
Society of Ancients
Wargames Developments:
Rather nice Wars of the Roses from the Perry Stable…
An excellent 15mm SF game run by a very friendly crew:
Some WW2 goodness:
And two more nice games with apologies for not having the details:
Traders
There was a good range of traders and being relatively south it attracts a few that don’t normally make the northern shows. I have a relatively narrow range of interests (which excludes the current plastic fad!) but it was good to see Baccus and the new Punic War and Spanish Napoleonic ranges. These figures are bloody lovely and if I didn’t have a commitment to Punic Wars in 15mm I would go for these! And I may still be tempted by a Lasalle Spanish army at some point! Peter has done wonders for the 6mm side of the hobby and is to be congratulated on some vey fine figures…
I suppose now I should get down to purchases. These were relatively minimal as most of what I came back with was from meeting people and trades! Apart from the Peter Pig AWI I also had a few packs of mounted militia and French from Lancashire games. I picked up a copy of Cold War Commander as I have the chance of picking up some 1/300th armies soon so may give them a dabble! And some MDF bases as the main purpose of the trip was to pick up 15mm Roman and Carthaginian armies from Mark (LOSH on the GdeB forums – who I have previously bought 15mm AWI from). These are mostly Xth Legion figures and very nicely done but are based for 6th Edition WRG so will need rebasing to fit in with my existing sets. He’s also brought along his remaining 15mm AWI so I picked up some more militia and hope to grab more in the near future. As I get these rebased I’ll post some pics but here are a couple of samples.
I’d also arranged to meet Brendan (RtL on WD3 and SM on TMP) to trade some OG AWI for Polly Oliver. It was good to meet the man in person at last, as with Timmo, and reasserts that WD3 is an excellent forum!
Finally I met with Rhys from Raise the Colours who has been painting some 6mm 1806 French for me and I picked up a finished unit and left him some cavalry to paint.
Conclusion
A bloody good show. Good venue, traders, games. Friendly atmosphere. And I achieved all I set out to do. I’d like to go again next year but whether the star, wife and kids will be in alignment again is too far away to tell!
Nice report and very useful pics as I didn't take any!
Remember there is another Partizan in September that may fit you schedule better.
Mike
There is not a lot of info. about the new AWI Peter Pig minis on the web. If you care to do a review, I'd be very interested in reading it.
Great pics and report, Andy – thanks for sharing. I haven't seen the AWI games anywhere else so far. Sounds like WD3 was out in force!
Best wishes
Giles
Excellent report, thanks for posting Andy. One year I'll get around to the two hour drive to Newark.
Will
Lovely review, and what a nice looking venue… if I didn't already have so many damn 25's already painted up then Peter Pig would be my scale/figure of choice for the AWI. Even without seeing them I know they going to be characterful, well statured miniatures… next to Black Hat they are my favourite 15mm manufacturer…
Cracking write up and photos, the next best thing to being there, thanks.
Thanks for the comments. Makes the effort of ignoring my wife for an hour to upload it worth the hassle! 🙂
Yes, the Peter Pig range is rather nice and worh a look. Apparently highlanders are next up, followed by Hessians. This has the makings of a very good range. I'll try and take some comparison shots with Essex, Freikorps, Old Glory, Lancashire and Polly Oliver.
I think I may actually paint some soon as a break from the 6mm stuff. They will appear giants in comparison!
Andy