BrisCon 24

I happened to be in Brisbane for work while this was being held; it would have been rude not to drop in!

British foot troops advance - war of 1812

The show was modest in size, had the usual AoS/Bolt Action/Team Yankee/Conquest (no 40k?) games going and while the contingents were smaller (12-18ish) they were having a great time. Being May the Fourth there was a large contingent of Star Wars Legion and Armada on the day.

Great to see a sizeable 6 table BattleTech tourney going too!

This great 6mm Napoleonic table that was unfortunately tucked away from the general traffic and didn't seem to get the attention it deserved

And as ever, the Infinity tables demonstrated some lovely non-grimdark techno futuristic terrain - inspiring for our forthcoming 5 Parsecs from Home project

Trader wise it was particularly good to see Fjord Serpent designer and maker Luke showing off his great game. 

The ship components for the Snekkja (medium size ship)

The 10mm Ships and crews looked spectacular on the table and he spoke to us about the next expansions - the first of which is focused on the current game, and then the next takes your Viking battles ashore! Sorely tempted...   https://fjordserpents.com/fjord-serpents/

And the bring and buy? Well, that Gallic/Celt Army I wasn't planning on building to oppose my Caesarian Army is now well on the way...

ShireCon 24

While lamenting the loss of our No 1 Wargaming apprentice (who regularly kicks our arses on the table, just to show what fantastic instructors we are), Slowpainter John and I attended ShireCon over the weekend. This is a small and relatively new show, at the same venue at MOAB held in late Sep). We also caught up some some locally infamous characters, including Frank showcasing his awesome "Blood on the Sands" gladiator game and experimenting with some new gladiators classes

Head Lanista Frank showcasing his great Gladiator game

Interestingly, there were zero traders, just games and a bring and buy. On offer was some Kings of War, a small 40k tourney, and a Blood Bowl 7s competition "The Outback Cup" 

A dozen or so BB coaches focused on their game

Some snazzy Black Orcs lead their team!

The Outback Cup - now in its fourth year (not counting COVID!)

This quick play "Grimdark Future" game was being demoed and had quite a bit of interest - basically a "not KillTeam", the basic rules and army lists are available FREE through the website here: https://www.onepagerules.com/games/grimdark-future-firefight

Some Old World action at play

Back to Blood on the Sands, it was great to see Frank running some new players through the game, as well as experimenting with four new Gladiator classes - looking forward to givng them ago. 

The Lansita's T-shirt says it all really... :-)

Frank also had samples of his new custom dice on show, as well as some mdf hex tile arena which really look the business

New dice!

The newly available mdf hex tile arena

I got a few small treasures from the Bring and buy, this "Legion A-A5 speeder truck" from the Star War Legion line, with a view to using it in 5 Parsecs from Home for my crew to boost around in. Now it needs a snazzy paintjob!

WARFARE 2023

A rare (and rapid) visit to the UK this week gave me a chance to attend the Warfare Show at Farnborough this week, which was a lot of fun.

A bunch of great looking games and tournaments on offer, as well as some great traders too.  Yes my bags will going home a bit heavier :-)

But best of all was the opportunity to people Ive been emailing, blogging and e-chatting with for years in person! 

First up was Jon from Ground Zero Games - I have been buying his models for over 30 years so it was fabous to meet the man behind the many games of Stargrunt, Dirtside and Full Thrust that I have enjoyed over that time. And yes I may have gotten some more Moongrunt goodies from him...

Then I met Ray amongst the Traders and had lunch with him, Lee and Postie which was wonderful. Naturally AHPC came up a few times, and the many faces behind the submissions over the years. Really lovely, genuine people are were exactly how I imagined them to be!

Last but definitely not least I got to meet Ashely from Paint it Pink blog (here) and her wife Susan - what a wonderful and erudite pair they are too, and we chatted about around a myriad of topics. They even gave me a lift to London after the show so the conversation could continue! I was thrilled to received a signed copy of Ashley's first mil-SF novel "Bad Dog", and a range of the old RAFM Heavy Gear models which she was kind enough to release from her model motor pool

Sure there was some great games and tables - I might post more about them later but as ever meeting fellow hobbyists in person was the best part of the day!

EDIT: I've posted the wonderful Cloudships of Mars pics at my other VSF blog here:

https://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2023/11/cloudships-of-mars-revisited.html

EDIT2: Ray has now posted some great pics of the show and its myriad of tables and games here:

https://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/2023/11/warfare-wargames-show-farnborough-2023.html

Turnip28: descent into madness

Its been a bit busy of late, as usual, with lots of travel, but we did get to go to the local show last weekend - Mother of All Battles, aka MOAB. Nice to have it back after 2 years of pandemic cancellations.  Caught up with lots of gamer mates, bought way too much at the bring & buy - none of which I will admit to regretting - and it was a welcome injection of hobby invigoration.

My first foray into Turnip28...

Over the last month I have been drawn inexorably down the twisted and strange path of Turnip28. It started as a laugh to annoy certain historically focused gamers who frequently decry the lamentable 'space pixies', but its really grown on me.  People cleverer than I have described Turnip28 as a "delightfully dreary setting" and:

Turnip28 is a tabletop miniatures game and setting developed by British artist Max FitzGerald. The world of Turnip28 is a combination of postapocalyptic with napoleonics and root vegetables, and it's "about turnips".  (From the fab Gardens of Hectate blog: https://gardensofhecate.com/)

Its not meant to make sense. Its mad.

Toady (Leader) Porthos d'arTurnip and his faithful roothound, Vloorti.
Yes, that is a bunch of turnips attached to his fancy hat

More broadly, I am trying to develop better creativity, confidence in kit bashing and modifying figures, and just using up spare bits from old kits which might go together well. I can also take a baggie of bits and some tools with me on the road - the ability to sneak in some hobby time here and there has been great.

Making the troops look miserable in this tepid and squelchy realm is a sign of success

Hobby skills speaking, its a chop and then slap-chop paint process, which focuses on texture and grimdark appeal. Thus, its quite liberating at the hobby desk and has been a lot of fun.

Just prior to completing the basing so you can see the detail - there are bits from all sorts of sprue in there, and 3d printed bits

The rules are free (and fun looking), there is a discord to chat in, and there are free STLs available here:

https://www.patreon.com/Turnip28

Expect to see more of this deranged insanity

MOAB 2018

Comrade James, The Lad and Slowpainter John

Over the last few years, MOAB for me has gone from ‘Meh’ to my favourite Con, and not just because its less than hrs drive away. Its really because it’s a great social day out with the club lads and hobby friends of games and conventions past.   This year was no exception particularly with my Lad Reilly AKA "Magnet" emerging from his HSC/Yr 12/A Level/ SAT exam preparations for a mental health day away the books and Comrade James drove 3 hrs from Canberra for the day too - awesome

Not a huge Con, but a fun one

After a great preparatory brekkie at a cafe to plan our assault on the trade stalls, we got into some nice table wandering followed by the finding totally unnecessary random treasures at the Bring and Buy.  Some nice looking tables too, including this awesome Star Wars demo game, played in and around this 3D printed Quasar Class Carrier with LED lights!

I also really liked this terrain, which I need to copy for my FIW table:

We then invested the afternoon enjoying an epic intro game of Gaslands - gorgeous table, total mayhem and you could tell by the cheering (and complaints from the DBAers!) which was the most fun game. Highlight- Reilly’s inevitable betrayal, this time of his godfather Comrade James! 

Mayhem at the 10 car start line!

James cant see this smile but I know what it usually portends...

The plan unleashed!

You're doing what to me now?

Yep, crash and burn dude!

Thats me crashed and burned on the gate pylon, with James burning on the track ahead of me

In the end all 10 cars were destroyed on the track, and there was much rejoicing by everyone.
A really, really well run Demo game with a friendly bunch of gamers - thanks guys!

And naturally, here is my pile of shame from the bring and buy- a bit of everything and all of them a bargain!

Which includes a new and fully pained (!) mid WW1 army of German Jagers for some skirmish gaming.