Even though it has been ten years since this grumpy old wargamer has worked in the world of retail, I have been on the odd occasion still been accused of being a little bah humbug at Christmas. I do however still get excited about one day of the year as much as Christmas, the wargame show.
Now my readership is across the globe so British readers, bear with me for a bit. In little ol' Blighty here most wargamers would agree the biggest show of the year is in London in April, Salute, hosted by the South London Warlords. My personal favourite of the year however is a little show called Colours, this year on the 15th of September, hosted by the Newbury and Reading Wargames Society. https://www.nrwc.org.uk
This is nowhere near as large as Salute but still a pretty impressive collection of traders and gamers all squeezed into Newbury Racecourse once a year in September. I guess it being hosted in my home town is one of the reasons I love it (No sweaty train journey for me, just a light stroll across our little market town.) But it is more than that. A lot of the traders have been coming for years, as have I, so although we don't know each other, they are as familiar as friends and some even remember my face. Turn out is always good and the entire event is run by volunteers from the Society, a small team of people who do a sterling job every year.
The day is not just about shopping, I have made friends with fellow wargamers at Colours and the day is also an excuse to get together with some of them. We may not spend the day together (some are not as enthusiatic at getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the front of the queue as me) but the group trip outside the show to have lunch together in a local pub is also a highlight. (I shan't tell you what pub, it's a closely guarded secret I shall keep so that I don't have to wait longer to get served.) Venues for wargame shows are notorious for having food venders that could be described as slightly pricier than a grumpy old wargamer wants to pay, so our secret pub trip is always a delight. (more money to spend on toys!)
If you are going to a wargame show that doesn't have a handy pub and you don't want to pay for overpriced coffee and danish to keep you going, here is a first for a wargame blog, a recipe. I made these bars for a trip to birmingham for Games Expo and I can confidently say, they kept my energy levels going all day. Making them the night before a show is best.
Ingredients
1 cup (220g) of dates
1/4 cup (84g) maple syrup (make sure you don't buy maple flavour)
1/4 cup (64g) of crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (112g) of granola cereal
1 1/2 cups (135g) of rolled oats (porridge oats)
Chuck it all in a big bowl, get stuck in with your fingers and mix it together into a dough. Form into bar shapes (or if you are not particularly good at this, they look like turds.) Place on a sheet of greaseproof paper and stick in the fridge overnight. In the morning wrap each one seperately in tinfoil and stick them in your lunchbox. Don't forget to take your Thermos of tea or coffee too. Provisions sorted!
Just like Christmas, the days leading up to a show are spent in preparation. Colours has an always popular bring and buy stall, so I always spend some time going through my boxes of toys to clear out anything I haven't used in a while and hopefully get some pennies for. The show runners take a percentage of your sales but renting a whole racecourse for a day isn't cheap and its a guaranteed customer base, so worth paying. I regularly come home with a few pennies from selling off unused models.
The other preparation is scouting out the traders. I do this for Salute as well, going through the list of traders and perusing their websites, maybe even making the odd pre-order for collection (the best way to guarantee you aren't disappointed by something selling out.) On this note, I have compiled a handy list of hyperlinks for you of traders that are expected at Colours. The list is on the Societys page but without hyperlinks. I made this list for my own reference and so thought I would share. I hold no responsibility for these traders being there, or for any I have missed, I am just working off a list of names from the Society webpage and then googling as best I can to find a live website for the company. I have also ommited some sites that seem to not be as secure as my browser would like, so for the sake of internet safety they have been omitted.
https://shop.ancient-modern.co.uk/
https://www.baccus6mm.com/
https://blotz.co.uk/
https://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/
https://www.colonelbills.com/
https://www.conquest-games.co.uk/
http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/
https://www.davidlanchestermilitarybooks.co.uk/
http://www.deepcutstudio.com/
https://eaglefigures.co.uk/
https://em4miniatures.com/
http://www.empressminiatures.com/
https://firepowergames.com/
http://glenbrookgames.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/
http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/
http://www.gringo40s.com/
https://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/
https://www.grubbytanks.com/
http://www.hamandjam.co.uk/
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.hystericalgames.co.uk/shop
http://www.tinytintroops.co.uk/Instant_Armies.htm
https://www.kallistra.co.uk/
https://www.magistermilitum.com/
http://www.magneticdisplays.co.uk/
https://newlinedesigns.co.uk/
http://www.parkfieldminiatures.freeservers.com/
http://www.paulmeekins.co.uk/
https://www.pe2collectables.co.uk/
https://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/
http://www.productsforwargamers.com/
http://www.rapierminiatures.co.uk/
https://www.secondthunder.com/
http://www.shqminiatures.co.uk/Sitefiles/main.php
https://badsquiddogames.com/
http://www.tumblingdiceuk.com/
http://www.wargameterrain.co.uk/
https://www.sarissa-precision.com/
https://warbases.co.uk/
https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/
https://store.warlordgames.com/
https://www.westwindproductions.co.uk/
https://artofwarshirts.co.uk/
http://www.abcbrushes.com/
https://barwellbodyworks-shop.com/
http://www.battlezone-miniatures.co.uk/
https://www.debrisofwar.com/
http://daveswargames.tictail.com/
https://elitewargamesandmodels.com/
https://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/
http://www.gamesofwar.co.uk/
https://www.helion.co.uk/
https://www.krmulticase.com/
https://lancerminiatures.com/
http://www.lastmanlastbullet.co.uk/
http://www.lesleysbitsbox.co.uk/
http://www.propworkshop.co.uk/oakbound/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/
https://www.possessedgaming.co.uk/
http://www.sgtsmess.co.uk/
http://www.tablescape.co.uk/
https://www.ehgaming.com/last-valley-scenics-wargame-scenery-terrain/
http://www.tigerterrain.com/
Phew, that was an effort.
Apologies if they are incorrect, if it wasn't pretty obvious I had the right site, I have just left it out. Please refer to the Society site for the official list.
There are some new names I don't recognise here, but very briefly, these are of note:
Bad Squiddo, go see Annie for realistic, clothed (I know shock horror!) female miniatures, take her some dandelion leaves for her Guinea pigs too.
Lesley's bits box, if you are looking for that obscure old GW miniature, go ask Lesley, I don't know where she gets her stock, but she works miracles sometimes.
KR Multicase, why spend all that money on toy soldiers and not store them safely! They do custom cases for so many different things, even 00 scale railway (I know, apparently some people like trains.) if they don't have what you want, it may be worth asking, they may be working on it for the future.
Deep Cut studios, if you don't have a mousemat gaming mat for your table, buy one now. It is worth the investment, they are also really good for putting down on the table for card gaming, I know some of you out there like to play a bit of Munchkin sometimes.
Anyway, so I'll see you there...
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