All about my Warfare 2013

Tim (madaxeman) and I had agreed for a pick-up on Saturday morning. So, at precisely 7.15AM, I saw him arriving down my street. I was already outside, in the cold, while my family was still comfortably asleep. Anyway. After 45min of driving along the M4, we arrived at Reading to pick Simon and Dave up. We then drove to the Leisure center and went for a little walk to have a nice breakfast at the Gorge ( it was so huge I didn't eat anything before dinner).

Tim (madaxeman) et moi avions convenu d'un covoiturage le samedi matin. A 7h15 petantes, je le vis arriver dans ma rue. Chapeau la ponctualite. J'etais deja dehors, ma petite famille dormant encore. Apres 45min d'autoroute, nous arrivames a Reading pour recuperer Simon and Dave. Puis direction le lieu de la convention pour garer la voiture, et direction le cafe pour un petit dejeuner veritablement pantagruelique.

At 10AM, the doors opened to the public and I went in. When walking down the alleys, I had the impression it was less well attented than last time. As I expected, the demos didn't really catch my eyes, Warfare being mostly a giant supermarket and about tournaments, but still, a good number of them looked interesting, and some really nice:

A 10h, ouverture des portes. Comme je m'y attendais, les demos etaient tres inegales at loin d'etre toutes attirantes, mais certaines m'ont bien plu visuellement. Il faut dire que Warfare est avant tout un supermarche et un lieu pour les tournois. J'ai toutefois eu l'impression qu'il y avait moins de monde. Bon toutes proportions gardees bien sur, car cela nous ferait rever en France.

I talked to people here and there, and finally bought more or less what I wanted: some Peter Pig minis to complete my Longstreet army, and some Biblical Essex for another project. But shhhhh. All in all, a good day. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Jugula ;)

J'ai passe pas mal de temps a discuter de-ci, de-la, et j'ai trouve en gros ce que je voulais, des Peter Pig pour terminer mon armee Longstreet pas commencee, et des figs Bibliques Essex pour un nouveau projet. Demain, je vous dirai ce que j'ai retenu de Jugula. A +

100£ Are you serious?

This is exatly what I told myself when I looked into my wallet after Warfare. I had 100£ at the beginning, and almost nothing left after leaving... Damned sellers! Anyway, this what I bought, nothing too fancy as you will see.

Fisrt, the supplement for Hail Caesar, and some flocking material

some brushes and rocky outcrops

a warlord figure for my Viking Warband, from Gripping Beast

And many, many 15mm minis from Essex... for my next Art de la guerre army.

J'étais parti avec 100 livres en poche pour Warfare, et bien, j'ai pratiquement tout dépensé. Je me suis concentré sur quelques achats: du matos de soclage, le bouquin de listes Hail Caesar, une fig Gripping Beast pour ma warband Viking Saga, et surtout de quoi pratiquement terminer une armée ADG, objectif en 2012. Voili voilo les amis. quand même, l'argent brûle entre les doigts...

A Warfare experience 2

French version below.

After my last post about the joy about being in such a beautiful conv, full of sellers, let's talk about today's subject, the gaming tables. For those who don't know Warfare, it's really tournament oriented, as you can see:

There were many competitions, essentially FOG, but the flames of war tables looked good.

So, I must say I was a bit disappointed by the demo games. Maybe I'm too used to see such lovely tables from reports from Crisis or Salute. Anyway, here are the best shots I took. I'm soory not to show you more, but my camera had trouble adjusting. Damn...

First, the best table, in my opinion: jungle fight during WW2:

Then some Ant/med:

A nice big 54mm Black Powder Napoleonic game:

An other one in 15mm:

There were many others, but the pics are blurry. Sorry. One last table caught my eyes: Sage, at the Gripping Beast stand. Though not the best by far, I stayed there to watch a game (unable to play, too many people), and I understood the rules perfectly. Yay! One warband coming for 2012. See you tomorow for my investments in wargaming ^^

 

Comment résumer Warfare? Excepté les vendeurs, c'est surtout une convention de tournoyeurs. Il y avait une de ces affluences aux tournois, c'était impressionnant. et FOG renaissance semble pas trop mal marcher là-bas. Les tables Flames of war étaient loin d'être dégueues, avec des idées à prendre pour faire de beaux scénarios. Et les démos dans tout ça? Ben regardez les quelques photos postées. On est très loin d'un Crisis ou d'un Salute, ou même de nos petites conventions françaises. La qualité n'est pas toujours là, mais on pouvait trouver quelques petites beautés, comme une grande table 28mm dans la jungle, avec combats entre Japonais et Hollandais. J' en ressors un peu déçu, je pensais voir mieux. Mais à 40minutes de chez moi, je ne vais pas faire la fine bouche, j'y ai passé du bon temps. Demain, la suite avec ce que j'ai acheté.

A new experience, Warfare

Hi fellas.
First, hello to Sub-Radar-Mike, my 50th follower!


I know Warfare was last week-end, but I didn't really have the time to post. Anyway, as a French gamer, I always wondered what a wargame show could look like on this side of the pond. Well, after 26minutes in a train (I like British Rail btw), I arrived at Reading.

First shock for me, it's well indicated. I was quite early, so I sat and had a small breakfast. I just love British breakfasts...

When the bell struck 10AM, a whole new world appeared in front of me: shops by the dozens, gamers, demos... I must say I was impressed.

There you had enough stuff to start a long life full of projects...

GZG... Please, no...

 Peter Pig... No, no nooooo

 Pendraken... Please God, don't tempt me like this...

Magister Militum... I'm such an humble man, please spare me...

And then... I succombed...Warlord Games you devils!

... essex miniatures... Strike two

Fortunately for me, God sent me an angel... Nicolas, the editor of the French wargame magazine, Vae Victis:

And what could 2 Frenchies do when they meet in England? They sit, drink coffee and talk about wargame... And he proposed me to write an article. Good idea.

Well that's it for now, I still need to sort out the pictures I took. I'll talk later about the tournaments, the demos and the stuff I bought.

Salut à tous amis francophones. Le week-end dernier avait lieu la convention Warfare à Reading, banlieue ouest de Londres. Comme vous pouvez le voir sur les premières images, c'est du lourd, et oui j'ai kraké, j'en parlerai plus tard. Franchement, si on est un amateur de tournoi, c'est un incontournable. Et que dire des marchands... Je suis reparti avec une bonne dizaine de projets en tête, et avec la carte de visite de Nicolas Stratigos, redac chef de Vae Victis... Ben ouais, 2 Français à Reading. Franchement, ça m'a fait plaisir de le voir, et lui tout autant. on a beaucoup parlé wargames, des tendances en Angleterre, des projets avec les fabricants, mais là, je dis rien. Franchement, Nico, ce fut super sympa, et la prochaine que tu traverses le tunnel, on se fait un Burger King quand tu veux ;) A très bientôt pour la suite de mon petit voyage en banlieue.