What an odd title you may think ? Is he going to tell us which side of the great "Double One" debate he is on ? Nope I am going to tell you how I spent my Sunday .
I have no idea how the demographic of my readership is laid out , so I am going to assume not everybody will have had the pleasure of attending a Wargames Show , Wait, What ? I hear you say , a show about Wargames ? exactly that !
In the Uk for the past 50 odd Years there have been a lot of Wargames shows up and down the Country . Basically a lot of Wargames manufacturers , Traders and Clubs get together in a venue and showcase Wargaming. There are trade stands for you to part with your cash in exchange for Toys, paints , brushes and a whole myriad of Wargames supplies, there are Club display games and participation games for your visual delectation but for most people the attraction is to spend time with like minded folk in a large group in a congenial atmosphere.
The Wargames Show used to be ( pre internet) the best place to view , compare and purchase your little Soldiers , you could actually look at the models in the metal and get an idea of how they would fit into your army. You could peruse the paints available to you and compare colours live without having to guess from a picture and you could actually handle terrain pieces to see how they fit into your table plan, Now I can hear you saying that you can go to your Friendly Local Games Store and do that , but does your FLGS stock all the lines from a wide range on suppliers ? or just what they can fit in the shop and can Order in the rest ? At a wargames show you can browse a wide range of suppliers and even get show discounts over and above the usual one from a shop as you are buying direct. Although there are not as many wargames shows on the circuit as there were in bygone times , there are still quite a number and no matter where you live in the UK there will be one relatively local to you.
Not only are Wargames shows a great place to buy new toys , they are also a great place to gain inspiration to buy new toys. the Clubs and Manufacturers that put on Demonstration Games and Participation games put a lot of effort into making their games visually appealing and fun to play. There is also the opportunity to try out new games genres and aspects of the Hobby you may not have even known existed.
It is a great way to see how other people wargame outside of the KoW Community , there is a lot of great online stuff you can browse to help you to improve your hobby skills and you can get a lot out of interacting at Tournaments , BUT there is a lot to be said to seeing something you like at a show and asking how it is done , I guarantee that , at least some of the time, you will learn something new that you can apply to your hobby , be it a new way of basing , a different approach to painting or even just a colour you had never thought of using. The guys that take part in these shows have a wealth of experience spanning decades and are more than happy to share. There is something about looking at a table of beautiful scenery and well painted models that cannot help but motivate us wargamers :)
The Wargames show is also a fantastic way of growing your Club or Gaming group , if you have a local wargames show then get in touch with them about putting on a Demonstration of Kings of War or even just have a table with models on Display and the name of your Club/Group. even if you don't get anybody interested immediately , they will have seen you playing or showing the models and all Wargamers appreciate a game with nice models and KoW is all that :)
So if you have a local Wargames Show , please support it , go , spend some time and maybe some cash , talk to fellow wargamers from all different aspects of the hobby and , who knows, you may gain the same feeling of inspiration I Always do when I come home from an event like this , fired up to try and push the envelope of my Wargaming Hobby just a little bit further. I may even have inspired myself to get back onto the Demonstration game circuit with KoW so keep an eye out at shows and You may see me strutting my stuff next to a table full of Miniatures .
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