ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Britcon 2022.

Greetings… 

At the weekend I popped into Britcon…

It’s it’s first time in Nottingham and I am always happy to support a local show…

https://www.bhgs.org.uk/britcon.html

I actually ended up going in on Saturday and Sunday as I was in town on both days and not that far from the venue… and it was free entry 😁.

It wasn’t mobbed but it wasn’t dead… which would also describe the town centre… 

With the weather being uncomfortably warm I think most people stayed at home or in an air conditioned pub…

There were plenty of people playing in the various tournaments and the Too Fat Lardies had some excellent display/participation games on the go.. 

The trade wasn’t on a par with some of the bigger shows but there was certainly enough there to please this little butterfly wargamer…

Here are a few pictures I took of the Lard Workshop… 






A fine selection of games…

Did I buy anything ?

Of course I did… 

Books ?

Yup!…


No real reason for buying these other than they are interesting subjects… I have now read both of them and they pretty much do what they say on the cover…

One of my favourite games systems… so of course I was going to get this… it looks pretty good as well.

Did I buy any toy soldiers?

Yup!

Now here is something nobody would have expected… even me 😱


Yes… 15mm… the scale of the Devil…

https://www.forgedinbattle.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=197

I’ve always had a hankering to do Carolingians and play Ancients/early Medievals using reasonably big armies… but I only have a 5ft by 7ft table…

The Forged in Battle range is very nice and the figures are lovely and look very easy to paint.

So I thought why not. 😁

I am looking forward to getting this started so hopefully I will get a couple of test figures painted soon… 

And I will naturally have to buy some more books on the subject… 😁

Next time I will hopefully have some toys to show you… also something new and possibly unexpected.


All the best   Aly



33 comments:

  1. Thanks for the show recap. 15mm is the scale of the devil? I think not!

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    1. Thank you Jonathan…
      Of course I jest…. My sculpting really career started with making 15mm figures for Mikes Models…

      All the best. Aly

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  2. I was tempted to pop over but decided to keep my powder dry until Partizan. Some fine purchases there, I shall look forward to seeing your new toys painted and the post on something unexpected.

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    1. It was a good little show…
      I ha ve now cleared some space to take some pictures… so all will be revealed soon..ish.

      All the best. Aly

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  3. Some seriously good looking tables on display there Aly! As to your books, the first two could have been bought by me....a whole book on Napoleonic camp followers....really??! (Not that I have not had a plan to paint up the mistress of Marshal Massena, Henriette Leberton, who reputedly dressed in a hussars uniform! I even found a figure by some obscure manufacturer!)

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    1. It was a good show Keith…
      Yes I did think about you when I bought the camp followers book…
      It’s very good…

      All the best. Aly

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    2. Hahaha....my reputation proceeds me! Gringos 40's is the manufacturer by the way...they call the figure Claudette!

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  4. Oh ! I must get a copy of the new Lion Rampant !

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  5. Books, figures, games! What's not to like? In weather like that you deserve a medal though!🏅

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    Replies
    1. I think if it was a few degrees cooler it would have been more comfortable and a bit busier…
      Well worth a visit though…

      A ll the best. Aly

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  6. The event looks interesting from your photos. Was there only historical modeling and wargame or even something dedicated to fantasy?
    We are particularly intrigued by the gaming table in the fifth photo: Romans against ... someone else? (from the photo we cannot clearly identify the identity of the armies).
    As for the books, we'd like to know what sources the women camp followers book was based on - let us know when you've had time to read it.
    And finally... tiny Carolingians against tiny Lombards: we can already imagine your game table crowded with cavalrymen, but we don't envy you for the task of painting at that scale!

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    Replies
    1. I only saw historical games… but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t fantasy…
      I think the ancients game was Rome against Carthage…
      The camp followers book used a lot of original art and descriptions as reference… which is something I like to see…
      I am looking forward to painting some tiny people… but I will finish what is sitting on my desk first… maybe 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  7. The advantages of living in the lead belt 😁 this show is on my list for next year. I’m glad you’ve been tempted by the 15mm ancients- I sold all my 28’s and started again in 15’s it looks so much nicer 😁

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    1. It was well worth the visit Graham…
      It would be nice to see it getting more support…
      The 15mm figures are lovely… I like the idea of having space to manoeuvre cavalry style armies…

      All the best. Aly

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  8. I quite like the small, regional shows ("conventions" here in the US), so long as they don't reach to try and be something that they aren't (if that makes any sense). I can see dropping to 15mm to enter into the fascinating Carolingian era...that butterfly can easily flit to the 6mm blossoms if you're not careful :)

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    Replies
    1. I am very fond of local shows Ed… if they accept what they are they will thrive… the biggest mistake they make is trying to complete with mega shows…
      I think I will enjoy painting 15mm… but any smaller… seems… well… too small…but that of course depends on the subject…
      Never say never 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  9. Replies
    1. It was a lovely day..or two out Mark.

      All the best. Aly

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    2. Great collection of eye candy there Aly…Mike’s Models, now there is a name from the past!

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    3. It feels like a lifetime ago Mark… I’m not sure I could make anything that small now…

      All the best. Aly

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  10. Interesting Aly and nice to get to a show the games look really impressive. Books of course….15mm ancients that’s a surprise ! Interested to see how you paint and base them 👍

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    Replies
    1. It was nice to have a show so close to home…
      I have a couple of the figures undercoated to do a paint test… I will probably paint them in my usual style… and give them a matte finish.

      All the best. Aly

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  11. Lovely looking games, nice books, I was looking at one of them the other day as osprey have a sale on until the end of August, trying to resist my annual Osprey purchase! The tiny Carolinigans look good even though I'm a one scale gamer, also not sure I can see to paint that small!
    Best Iain

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    1. I am not very good at resisting when it comes to books Iain…
      The figures are nice clean castings so I am hoping they won’t be too much of a strain on the eyes…

      All the best. Aly

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  12. Excellent choice of minis, I'm currently painting some 15mm Huns as a distraction from the Bronze Age project. Forged in Battle also have a Summer Sale on...20% off....just saying ....lol

    Cheers

    Meic

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    Replies
    1. They are indeed lovely looking toys…
      I think I will wait until I have finished these before I buy more.

      All the best. Aly

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  13. The Lard board looks great That NWCF Osprey book looks interesting...
    LOL I didn't know there was a book on them!

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    1. There were indeed some nice looking games from the Lardies…
      I was quite surprised myself when I saw the Napoleonic Camp Followers book … it’s a interesting subject though.

      All the best. Aly

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  14. Always good to support local events. Now that you have a reference book for them, I look forward to seeing some camp followers. If you were doing 54's I seem to recall that Sanderson had some lovely possibilities....there must be some 25/8's out there somewhere....

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    1. It was a nice little show… I shall certainly go to the next one.
      I am sure that there are suitably figures available for camp followers… Perry Miniatures come to mind…. It would be nice to start adding some none combatant vignettes to my collections.

      All the best. Aly

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  15. I've got a nice collection of 25mm Citadel Carolingians I'll sell you if you come to your senses...In truth I am playing in a L'Art de la Guerrs tourney in January and was really hoping it was 15mm, but turned out to be their bigger cousins, so now I am frantically prepping more figures and emptying my wallet to get a few I still need!

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    1. I used to have a nice collection 25mm Citadel Carolingians as well… 😁
      I shall see how I get on with the 15’s

      All the best. Aly

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