Monday 20 May 2019

Partizan 2019

Despite saying I was not going to go to any wargame shows in the future after York this year I relented and volunteered to got to Partizan with Julian, Julian mentioned it first, it would be an opportunity to meet up with some people and it looked like there were a lot of actual games at the venue. I took a lot of flak from 'her indoors' for this foolish six hour round trip all on one day, I was also offended that this implied I was too old and doddery to do so safely, I offered to drive as Julian had a long day working on Saturday. I did not admit that by the time I went to bed on Saturday night I was not looking forward to the drive.

Julian arrived promptly and we set off and it was, for a change, a fine drive down in perfect weather, despite the harbingers of doom promising environmental Armageddon this weekend. I also managed to cut the journey to two and a half hours. We arrived a tad early but the queue was not huge and we only stood about for five minutes or so, the hall was very spacious and had excellent lighting, it was also very well attended but it was never crowded, you could get to the traders and wander around without a bother or hitting a backpack.

Bolt Action.
Chain of Command WWI
Russians v Ottomans, very nice layout.
 Right away I could see it was well organised, all the traders were set on the outside like a wagon lager with all the games in the middle, and to my joy there were a lot of these and although the odd dragon or green thing was in attendance most were historical, there was also a fair number of wargaming illuminati, Rick Priestly, Richard Clarke, Simon Miller, the Perry's, and Henry Hyde, there may have been more but I didn't recognise them.

The AWI game where nothing happened and no one seemed interested.
18th C game which was lovely, especially these figures and had a good talk with the owner.
Not quite sure what this was Swiss on one side and English on the other, but again engaged the public (me)
 The games on show were excellent, lovely lay outs, many of them quite large and with beautiful figures, I spent a bit of time at the tables having conversations about the games, only a couple were let down by the organisers apparent disinterest in discussing their set ups. I went past one lovely AWI game several times and bent over the table admiring the troops without anyone once engaging me in conversation, but this was made up for by others.

Edgecote, nice layout but I didn't get anyone to talk.
Different, Stalingrad, excellent discussion with the players on the game.
 I managed to meet up with both David Bickley and Phil Robinson who's excellent blogs I follow, both extremely pleasant gentlemen, I also found out that Phil had painted the Offensive Miniatures Waffen-SS which in part persuaded me to buy them. I also got a word with Simon Miller for whom I have drawn some scenario maps, another nice gent, he was helping run a huge 6mm Marston Moor game. I wanted to get a word with one of Helion's editors but he wasn't there however I talked to Andy on the stall and bumped into Charles Singleton (another editor) on the way out.

I was tempted to buy a Warlord Marder III, which is the early version with the open back but drew back at the last moment, one day, I also got some red paint and picked up two cans of Testor's Dullcote from Great Escape Games along with three more packs of tufts. I also got a good look at Empress Miniatures Volksgrenadiers, lovely models and perhaps a future enemy for my Russians when I get them.

So that's it, I lasted three hours which to be honest is enough for me at a show, no matter how good it is and Partizan was good and I will probably go again. Well done to the organisers and everyone who put on a game, great stuff.

8 comments:

  1. Cool photos George!! I enjoyed the show last year, hopefully we'll go up for The Other Partizan later in the year.

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    1. I was impressed by the level of the games and the number.

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  2. I also thought it was a good show (must have been fairly crowded because I didn't manage to spot you?) with some really good looking games. I can appreciate the time and effort put in even if it's not a period that interests me - I'm a sucker for well painted figures and realistic terrain. Unfortunately I thought the trade stands were a bit disappointing because it was mainly the "regulars". I have to admit, I enjoy the much wider variety of traders you get at Salute because I always find something I never knew I needed! I do wonder how/why some of them keep going - the likes of Wargames Foundry never seem to have many customers these days. But, a good day out and just about worth 7 hours' driving - thankfully there was cricket on the radio to keep me alert on the way home (probably doesn't work for Jocks?)

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    1. And I wore my sparkers badge as well, but it is easy to lose people at these shows, I went with Julian and 'lost' him for a good couple of hours. The trader situation was fine for me as I was there mainly for the games but I get your point.

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  3. Grand to meet you at last George and glad you enjoyed your first Partizan. The show completely eclipses the dross that is Salute, hardly a space fairy in sight! Hope to see you next month!

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  4. Glad you enjoyed the show. Pleased to meet you in person and have an all too brief chat, see you at the next one perhaps?

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    1. Thanks Phil. I may indeed go to the next one, definitely 2020.

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