Friday, 8 February 2013

PAW 2013 Aftermath

Well my first Wargames show was great fun! PAW 2013 in Plymouth was a great day out, three of us went up on the train on a surprisingly bright and sunny day and got there about half an hour after the doors opened but the halls were pretty busy already.



Unfortunately in all the excitement this was the only photo I took, I was too preoccupied taking in the atmosphere! Reading comments from people who had been before I took a quick look around and then made a beeline for the bring and buy stand which already had piles of games and models for sale. I was really surprised by just how much 6mm miniatures had been put up for sale, bit of an Epic Armageddon fans wet dream... A few bargains were spotted and we picked up a few bits but to be honest we held back on the spending throughout the show, even though we thought we'd need to take more money it just got to the point where we picked bits up but thought "hey, this is interesting but do I really NEED it".



I grabbed a selection of 6mm models from Angel Barracks, been looking at these for a while and I'm also looking forward to the challenge of painting these up. Some plaster terrain from Smithee? Was going cheap and would fit in with 15mm, also found a copy of Test of Fire at Bull Run In the bring and buy, it's a simple quick to play game by Martin Wallace Based on the first major battle of the ACW. Plus it was fairly small and would fit in my backpack easily enough.

Games wise there was plenty of variety, bit disappointed I missed the Gruntz game (was on the Sunday) but it was good to take a look at Dreadball up close, surprised at just how small the players were! We didn't have the chance to stay and play all day but will definitely go back longer next year.
There were a few disappointments, a few of the traders were not there on the Saturday so very little 15mm scifi on offer, I was also a little surprised at just how few show "offers" we're available, although we were able to haggle over a few items.

Biggest pull of the day for my friends was Les's bit box, I kind of wrote this of before I got there but was surprised at just how much he had for sale, it was all GW kit but it was good to see all the Necromunda gangs again and even a few squads of Imperial Guard Pretorians at good prices. I held back but seeing these minis after all these years inspired me to pick up the Necromunda rule book again and have a good old nostalgic read through.

Overall it was a great day and we are definitely going back next year, it would be great to go to one of the big shows like Salute but because of our location it would cost us over £100 each just to get up there let alone how much we'd end up spending at the show! But then it's all in the journey and the experience. :)