The Workbench, November 2017

Introduction

It's been a while since I did a workbench post (June 2016, to be precise), so I thought it might be time for another.  Have I completed all the models which were present then?  Is the area less cluttered than 17 months ago?  Let's find out...

The Workbench

Nope, it's even less tidy than before, if that's possible.  I even have the leaves of the desk extended and covered with models, as well as piles of boxes and other stuff down the sides.

Let's take a closer look at some of these ongoing projects...

On the left are a couple of boats (a steam launch and a sampan) for Pulp and/or colonial games.  On the right you can see the ponies for my final six Strathclyde Welsh warriors.  After I've completed them, I'll have a basic 4 point Strathclyde warband for SAGA and will therefore be able to play them in a game.

The paint station is covered in a huge mix of different models, all part-completed.  Amongst other things, you can see:

• A ducking stool (and Puritans to man it); this will be used in witch-hunting games.
• Some members of my Frostgrave "red" warband.
• Various figures for my Hordes of the Things "Barbarian" army, including more foot warriors and a wooly rhino (in the small, black box).
• Some of my son's Warhammer 40K Tau models: a missile turret and a battle suit.
• Part of a relic/mecha from Relic Knights (also in the black box).  The large circular base for this is partly visible in the bottom right of the picture.

To the right of the paint station, but still on the desk, is a box of Relic Knights figures.  These are Star Corsairs and are a mixture of very nice and quite awful poses!

On the right-hand leaf of the desk you can see my long-promised generator model.  I'm thinking that this is more 20th century (so, Pulp or Spy-Fi) rather than futuristic, but who knows?

Behind that is another of my son's Tau models, plus a cardboard space fighter and another cardboard model (a refuse truck) on which the glue has failed; the components are all falling apart and I haven't yet decided whether it's worth trying to rescue it.

Moving on, here is a pile of 3 sci-fi "colony" buildings, partly painted.  I really must make more progress on these.

Finally, this is an MDF building (minus the roof, which hasn't yet been worked).  It's going to be a colonial trader's or missionary's house.  I've ordered some fur fabric with which to "thatch" the roof; hopefully that won't take too long once I have the material.

Conclusion

I really need to finish some of these models, if only so that they can be put away and not take up so much room on my desk!  The thought of having so much incomplete stuff was so depressing that recently I couldn't face painting.  Instead, I spent much of last weekend building some Saracen heavy cavalry to start a new SAGA warband...

Zomtober 2017, Week 5

<==  This way for Week 4

Introduction

Thank goodness: it's nearly over!  This is the fifth and final week of Zomtober 2017; I've really struggled to motivate myself to paint enough models this month.  Here's the final entry at least - I made it after all!

Last week, I showed a survivor who was, in my view, not dressed appropriately for the apocalypse.  This week, I have another survivor who isn't taking it seriously, though for a very different reason, I suspect...

Freya vs. Female Army Zombie

So, today's duel is between a woman called "Freya" and a model of a female soldier turned zombie ("Female Army Zombie", henceforth "FAZ").

Freya is harnessed to a flame-thrower and holding a gold cigarette lighter; it seems as if fire is very much her "thing".  At a casual glance, she appears to be dressed in a wet suit, but closer examination (especially of the placement of zips on the upper chest) suggests that it is some form of fetish wear.  This assessment is reinforced by the inclusion of pink platform boots and elbow-length gloves.

I cannot see that this is appropriate wear for any situation beyond a handful of bedrooms, let alone as survival gear for the zombie apocalypse.  The inclusion of flame weapons (which as everyone knows aren't good for anything apart from being mauled by burning zombies) suggests that Freya is - how can I put this delicately - a bit of a wacko!

FAZ is a Mantic "Plague Zombie"; I've showed at least one of these before in a Zomtober duel.  They're technically sci-fi models, though I've shaved off most of the protruding spikes and excrescences which were bursting out of the figure.  This isn't the greatest model I've ever painted and it only has a very simple paint job.  Still, FAZ should do as a "disposable" horde opponent.

In contrast, Freya is an old metal figure from Wargames Foundry's "Street Violence" range.  If I remember correctly then she was a promotional figure entitled "Hot Whacks"; I've no idea whether the model is still available or not.  It's taken me many years to paint Freya, not because she's especially difficult but rather because I had difficulty in deciding how to do the job (just what colour should a gimp suit be?)

Conclusion

As ever, the question is this: who wins?

Personally, I think that Freya will turn FAZ to ashes, but I'm not sure that she actually cares whether she wins or loses.  Indeed, I rather suspect that Freya intends to go out in a blaze of glory, fulfilling some half-imagined immolation fantasy in the process.  It's the first time that I've ever felt that a human in one of my duels might actually not wish to be a survivor!

Zomtober 2017, Week 4

<==  Week 3 is here

Introduction

Zomtober - is that still going?  I feel as if I've been posting these articles like, forever!  Ah, well - there's no rest: here's another Sunday and so I owe my readers another zombie/survivor duel...

Danny vs Men-In-Blue Zombie

Today's pairing is between a very newly-completed survivor named Danny and a newish build of a zombified agent from the Men-in-Blue organisation.

I've hinted at my Men-In-Blue agents before in a couple of posts (one of which was a Zomtober duel some years ago between a MiB female agent and a zombie.  Sadly, I cannot remember which article and I can't be bothered to look, so if you want to know then you'll need to find it yourself :-) ).  However, I've never really explained what type of organisation MiB might be.  The truth is that I don't know myself, yet!  I've painted up 2 live agents so far, plus a zombified ex-agent - but without much of an idea as to what they do...

Men-in-Blue zombie (MiBZ) has got a gun in his right hand.  However, he doesn't appear to know how to use it.  Indeed, he seems to have only just noticed his left hand for the first time; it's clearly engaging a lot of his very limited attention.

On the other hand, Danny is dressed for a day at the beach, or maybe for a visit to Disneyland or a sports match.  His sandals, tee shirt and shorts don't suggest to me that he is particularly likely to survive zombie fighting for long.

Then again, he's picked up an assault rifle from somewhere - and he has a water bottle as well.  I've mentioned before the importance of having good access to hydration during the apocalypse, so maybe Danny isn't as helpless as he looks?  Or maybe he just got lucky with the gun and the sports bottle?

Both of these figures are out-of-the-box builds of Warlord Games plastic kits.  Danny is from the "Apocalypse Survivors: Men" set that was previously owned by Wargames Factory, whilst MiBZ is from the new-ish male zombies set.  The man is on the base which came with the kit, whilst MiBZ is mounted on a resin base from Escenorama.

Conclusion

The final part of each of these duels is always the same question: what happens next?

My 2c worth: they're both pretty rubbish at their jobs: MiBZ is too busy staring at the five wiggly appendages on the end of his hand and Danny, despite lucking out in obtaining a gun, just isn't prepared for the fight of his life.

All other things being equal, I think I'd give the win to the man because he has the greater intelligence and dexterity.  Even if only slightly...

Onward to Week 5 ==>

Zomtober 2017, Week 3

<== Week 2 is here

Introduction

Right, I've just returned from a week's holiday in Kintyre (it was muddy!) to find that I owe another Zomtober post.  Is there no respite?

At least this time I had prepared a couple of figures in advance to present as this Sunday's zombie vs survivor duel, so that's not a problem.  Of course, there are 2 more weekends yet to come in October this year; I still have to paint up some models for them...

The Duel

This week's confrontation is between an unarmed survivor named "Lee" and "Orange Boilersuit Zombie" (OBZ).

Lee is a short, thickset man, dressed in denim dungarees and a white tee shirt with strong, thick-soled work boots.  He could be from almost any manual trade.

Judging from his actions, Lee knows a bit of Kung Fu - or at least he thinks he does.  Perhaps he is indeed an expert, but I suspect from his slightly ungainly posture that he's more of a Jackie Chan fan than the real deal.

OBZ is a straightforward zombie in a brown boilersuit; he might have been an electrician, mechanic, plumber or similar artisan when still alive.  But why is he handcuffed - and what happened to the rest of the person to whom he was thus shackled?  Also, all the skin has been torn from his face, leaving just a grinning skull.  How did that happen?

The zombie model comes from Warlord Games' male zombies frame; he's mounted on an Escenorama resin base.

Lee is from the slightly weird Golgo Island range, specifically from Character Pack 5.  These are available from East Riding Miniatures, at least in the UK.  He's on a simple, home-made base.

Conclusion

So, what happens next?  If Lee is smart enough or lucky enough then he'll use his steel-capped boots to crush OBZ's kneecaps.  He can then run away (or walk, indeed) without being pursued.  However, if Lee has delusions of grandeur and believes that he can emulate Chuck Norris then I fear the worst for him.  If the zombie catches him then I think it'll end badly for the man.

Of course, if Lee really is a kung fu maestro then he'll kick the cr*p out of the zombie!

This way to Week 4 ==>

Zomtober 2017, Week 2

<== Week 1 is this way

Introduction

I've had to plan ahead for this article, since it's school holiday time here and some of the family (including myself) are away from home.  So if this post appears on the second Sunday of October, 2017 then I'll have set up the schedule properly for my Zomtober entry.  Otherwise you won't see it until much later and I'll be annoyed with the technology...

Ice & Snow

This zombie/survivor duel is a bit of a departure for me.  Always in the past, I've presented modern, Western figures for my Zomtober articles.  However, just this once, I have a medieval setting instead.

The story goes something like this: a lost traveller is battling his way through a snowstorm in an attempt to find shelter.  It's growing dark and the wind is howling; flurries of snow are swirling all around.  The man sees movement in his peripheral vision; is it just the wind howling or is it something more sinister?  He draws his sword hurriedly and calls out "Who goes there?"

Both of these models are official figures for Frostgrave, in case you hadn't already guessed.  The swordsman is a plastic henchman; he's the first miniature that I have completed for my "red" warband.  The "blue" warband was finished quite some time ago and can be seen here: Blue Warband.

The zombie is one of the special objectives from the Ulterior Motives expansion.  All the other objective pieces are static terrain; I described them here: Ulterior Motives.

Personally, I like the swordsman a lot.  The Frostgrave plastic kits are very adaptable and can be built into some excellent models.
I'm less certain about the zombie; the figure isn't particularly well sculpted or cast.  It's acceptable, just not a really good model.

So, who will win this fight?  On the face of it, the swordsman should be able to chop the zombie into little chunks quite easily.  But what if he's cold and tired?  His sword might slip in his chilled fingers, or his boot fail to grip on a patch of ice.

Even if he wins this encounter, he might lose all sense of direction during the melee and end up wandering until he drops from exhaustion.  And what if the zombie isn't alone; there might be further horrors lurking in the snowstorm...

This way for week 3 ==>

Zomtober 2017, Week 1

Introduction

Would you believe it?  This is the 5th year running that I have participated in Zomtober (see here for rules and a list of participants).  As a quick reminder, here are my previous efforts:

• 2013 Zomtober
• 2014 Zomtober
• 2015 Zomtober
• 2016 Zomtober

Abbie vs Generic Male Zombie

"I'm not scared of you, mister!"

 As ever, my Zomtober presentation is a "duel" between a survivor and a zombie.  In this case, the survivor is a little girl named "Abbie".  I'll call her opponent "Generic Male Zombie" (GMZ for short), because I cannot think of anything particularly unusual to mark him out from the crowd.

GMZ is a plastic model from Studio Miniatures (at least, the body and arms are; I'm not certain that I didn't take the head from somewhere else).  His tee shirt has been decorated with a home made decal.  The figure is mounted on a base from Escenorama.

Abbie is a metal model and I really cannot recall where I obtained this miniature.  She has the look of a figure from Foundry Miniatures, but could just as easily be from somewhere else with a similar sculpting style.
In fact, I wasn't even aware that I had this model until I was looking through a box of part-painted figures a few weeks ago, with a view to finishing off some old projects for Zomtober.  No, I really don't remember her at all...

So, who will win the duel?  Abbie seems confident - defiant, even - but I don't think there is a remote chance that she could win a physical contest with GMZ.

Is she aware of the danger and taunting him?  Perhaps (trying to be charitable here) she is trying to lure the zombie away from another survivor who is in trouble?  Or is she really so sure of herself that she sees no danger here?  Playing "chicken" with the undead doesn't seem very sensible, but not running away if/when he lunges for her would be truly disastrous!


Week 2 is this way ==>

Claymore 2017

Introduction

Last Saturday was the date for Claymore, one of the 2 large wargaming shows in Scotland that I try to attend each year (the other is Carronade, held in Falkirk during May).  As is my custom for several years, I took my middle son (A.); he's turning out to be very keen on gaming days!

It's about a 2 hour drive from Helensburgh to Edinburgh.  I don't enjoy it much, but it must be tolerated if we're to have such a day out.  'nuff said.

Arrival

We reached the Edinburgh College venue some 20 minutes before the official opening time.  However, we were able to walk right in; plenty of folk were already there and we were by no means the first visitors.  It's nice not having to queue!

The first thing we did was to buy some tombola tickets from the SSAFA charity stall that was near the front entrance.  Of course, all of my tickets were losers - which I didn't mind at all as I regarded the small amount of purchase money as a donation anyway.  A. then defied the odds by winning on 3 of his 4 chances.  The prizes were mostly books on obscure subjects that will probably not be of much interest to us, but if nothing else this good fortune set us in an upbeat mood for the rest of the day!

Game 1: Relic Knights

We encountered Relic Knights at Carronade earlier in the year and enjoyed the game very much.  The Glasgow Games Group (G3) were back again; this time demonstrating the new, not-quite-released (?) 2nd (or is that 1.5th?) edition.  Would we like another game?  You bet!

So, I took some Star Corsairs.  I had an evil pirate chief and his mermaid cypher (familiar), a fallen knight and some scurvy underlings.  Oh, and a large energy cannon!  Our goal was to raid the planet; our objectives were an arcade game and a chocolate-vending machine.  Hmm, I think I might have aimed for something a little higher myself - but everyone has to start somewhere.

A. was defending; he had a poser hero (come on: anyone who wears a trench coat over a bare chest is a poser, even if it's a white trench coat.  Or they're a pervert, but that's not a line I wish to follow...)  He also had a couple of gals with big spanners, a bunch of street thugs and a very annoying princess dressed in a white skirt along with her rabbit-like cypher/familiar.  His goal was to reach the communication towers and call for help (what - don't they have mobile phones on this planet?)

• My knight flew over a building to try to ransack the coin box from the arcade machine, but he was stymied by A.'s thugs.
• The cannon gained a good, solid hit on the enemy princess; when the smoke cleared she wasn't there any more.  I hadn't killed her, though; she'd merely been whisked away to safety by her cypher.  Still, A.'s forces were a bit more circumspect after that!

• My cannon scored several more crippling hits, but didn't quite wipe out the enemy street thugs (the last model in the unit was left on 1 hit point)
• The pirate chief strode forward and took out the poser in the white trench coat with a single attack.
• Princess Malya shot my fallen knight in the back and felled him.
• After scoring 1VP for stealing some chocolate from the vending machine, my raiders traded blows with the pit crew.  I came off worse and lost my unit, but the cannon got revenge by obliterating the victors.
• The last remaining street thug moved round the back of the secondary communication tower and spent 2 turns calling for help, despite my mermaid/cypher's repeated psychic attempts to dislodge her.

The final turn was really nail-biting and could have gone differently if my pirate chief had been able to reach the comms tower and interrupt the call for help (he was 1/4" too far away).  End result: 4VP to the Cerci Speed Circuit (defenders) and 3VP to the Star Corsairs.  A. steals a win from under my nose!

Game 2: Fury

Another game that we had seen at Carronade 2017 (but hadn't been able to get close to) was Fury, put on by the Leuchars Veterans.  They've run some very entertaining games in the past and I was keen to give this a go.

For anyone who hasn't seen the film ("Fury", of course), I'm not going to give too much away.  Suffice it to say that we had 4 Shermans versus 1 Tiger I, facing each other across a mostly-empty field.  Not really a good position to be in..

The Shermans were distributed randomly; I was given control of the mighty Fury whilst A. had the lowly Lucy Sue.  We charged forwards as fast as possible, laying down as much smoke as we were able.

The Tiger manoeuvred in a strange way and we ended up forming a firing line behind it at very close range.  I managed to set its engine alight before the other 76mm-armed Sheman blew the turret off.  Total casualties to the Americans?  Lucy Sue lost a track and could only turn right.

We came away from this game feeling slightly dissatisfied.  The models were beautiful; the premise for the game was reasonable and it flowed quickly enough.  However, something didn't quite gel.  Perhaps the movement rules were a bit too fluid and predictable, whilst the shooting rules were very random (requiring a series of high rolls to achieve anything much - not even much less for the Tiger!)  I don't regret participating - far from it - but it could have been better, I think...

Interlude

We ate our lunch outside in the courtyard, where there was plenty of seating and a little bit of occasional sunshine.  Having brought a packed lunch with us, we didn't have to wait in queues or suffer the indignities of show catering (though to be fair, I didn't even look at what the on-site canteen was selling.  They might have changed from the all-chips-and-pies fare they had on the last time I bought anything there, several years ago).

Game 3: Indonesia

The East Neuk Irregulars put on a small game with custom rules, based around a section of SAS troopers in Indonesia trying to reach a remote rendezvous in the 1960s.  This was a very lightweight affair, but quite fun all the same.  A. and I each took a squad of 4, but we decided to take different routes through the jungle.

• One of my men fell down a ravine and was lost.
• My remaining 3 men slaughtered quite a lot of local wildlife (one very dead pig, plus a clouded leopard which tried to attack me).  Note that I scared off the Orangutans; none of them were hurt.
• I lost another man in a firefight with Indonesian militia and a third to an ambush.

A. looked to be doing better for much of the route:

• A native guide led him into a militia patrol, which he managed to evade.
• One of his men succumbed to snake bite.
• Another man was lost in a firefight with militia.
• At the last moment, A. lost a third man to an ambush.

So, by the time we reached the opposite corner and the helicopter arrived, both squads had been reduced to 1 man each.  Hardly a resounding success, though apparently the record in this game is just 2 survivors from a single squad.  Hmm, I think it may be a bit heavily weighted against the SAS!  Ah, well - at least both of us escaped.

Homewards

We finished relatively early, in the mid afternoon.  After chatting to some old friends, both A. and I felt tired and I had a long drive home as well.  Perhaps more to the point, we'd done some shopping and played some games.  There weren't any other participation games that we were itching to try, so we decided to quit while we were ahead.

Loot

Obligatory loot list:

• Spray varnish (I always get this at shows now.  Since Royal Mail decided that they wouldn't carry aerosols, the only other option is a courier.  I'm not a big fan of courier firms delivering to domestic premises; they are expensive and seem to make quite a lot of mistakes).
• Arab heavy cavalry.  A. wants me to start a Saracen warband to oppose his fledgling crusader force for The Crescent and the Cross rules.  I haven't really got the free time to do this right now, but I bought some figure anyway...
• Some Pulp victims.  Who doesn't need a model of a woman tied between 2 stakes, about to be sacrificed to a volcano/giant ape/dinosaur/whatever unless the hero can reach her in time?
• 3 tombola prizes, still with the tickets attached: 2 books and some eau de toilette.
• The current edition of White Dwarf.  I'll flip through it before A. spirits it away.
• Purple paint.  Because I need some purple for a couple of current projects...
• Some certificates, rulers and other freebies from various participation games.

And there we have it, another year, another Claymore.  Time well spent.

Carronade 2017: Mixed Feelings

Introduction

As is my habit in recent years, my son (A.) and I went to Carronade yesterday.  This is one of the biggest wargames events in Scotland, possibly even the largest.  It's held in Falkirk every year, sometime near the middle of May.

So, Saturday 13th May, 2017: the day was overcast and showery (quite a relief after 3 solid weeks of warm sunshine!) and therefore seemed like a perfect day to be indoors at a show.  A. and I travelled by car (the journey from Helensburgh takes about 1 hour and 25 minutes) and arrived some 15 or 20 minutes ahead of the official opening time.  Not to worry, though - the doors were open and we walked straight in.

As in the previous year (see here), the entrance "tickets" were small MDF plaques; these should find a useful second life as bases.  Of course, I haven't used the 2016 ones yet, so I now have 4 of these MDF tokens...

Games

We wandered the halls for a while, intending to find a game to play.  Straightaway we felt that the atmosphere of the show was subtly different from before, though.  It seemed that on the one hand it was much more crowded and on the other hand none of the participation games were well manned (and often we felt blanked by the hosts; they weren't exactly encouraging us to join their games).  Was this all my imagination?  It's possible: I was tired and maybe a bit cranky, so I might have seen issues where there really weren't any.  In any case, I should stress that this didn't apply to all the games uniformly; just some.

Game 1: Dragon Rampant

The first game we played was "Conan and the Princess", put on by Glasgow and District Wargames Society.  The game was played using the Dragon Rampant fantasy rules and the scenario was something like this: an evil priest (he had a name, but I forgot it) has captured a princess (she had a name too...).  Conan the barbarian and Hadratus the wizard have been tasked with rescuing her; the king has even provided some troops to assist.

So, we'd simply stroll up to the castle walls, look fierce and receive our rewards, right?  It didn't quite work that way.  My horse archers (I was playing Hadratus) and Conan's bowmen were very reluctant to move over the river.  Consequently, my spearmen were a bit isolated when they were ambushed by a pack of giant hyenas.  Although they gave as good as they got, the spearmen panicked and fled (snake eyes!).  The remnants of the hyenas were atomised by Hadratus, who turned out to be a dab hand at zapping spells.

Conan and his boys were pestered by a giant snake which slithered in and out of cover.  The men hurt the monster considerably, but repeatedly it ate the odd footman before being driven off, only to return a few moments later.

Further up the road, demons leaped out and slaughtered my horsemen, before following up into Conan's archers (off-picture to the right) and slaughtering them too.

The remnant's of Conan's group (after the snake had finally vanished) were zapped by the evil priest.  This was too much for the big man and he ran away.  Thus the assault party was reduced to just Hadratus, who was running up the road, pursued by the pack of assorted demons.  At least he then made it up on to the ramparts to confront the evil overlord, where he was thoroughly outclassed and minced.

So, we didn't rescue the princess after all.  Oh, well - at least Conan survived...

Game 2: Devil's Run: Route 666

Our second event was a short demonstration of this post-apocalyptic car racing/fighting game.  The game was hampered considerably by the fact that it was on a small, end table in a main thoroughfare; it was busy!  In addition to being cramped, the (single) demonstrator kept having to stop to answer questions from passers by; this disrupted the flow of play considerably.

We each took a car and did a 1-lap race around a short circuit.  There was relatively little mayhem, mainly because A. had chosen the fastest (but lightest) car; he raced ahead early and it proved all but impossible to catch up in order to ram him or otherwise interfere.

The models for this game look very nice indeed.  However, what we saw of the rules seemed uninspired and flat.  Of course, caution should always be used in such situations: a convention game may well have been dumbed down or used an "introductory" variant of the rules.  Or indeed, in our very short acquaintance with the game we may have misunderstood or missed some subtleties.  But I won't be racing out to buy this one...

Intermission

We had to go outside for lunch; there was absolutely no seating space available indoors and there were queues waiting for the few chairs and tables.  This was quite welcome anyway; it was becoming quite hot and stuffy inside the premises and even though it was spotting with rain outdoors, we ate our packed lunch in relative comfort.

Once back inside, I picked up a pre-order from Colonel Bill's stand (definitely an easy way to shop and with a 10% discount for show collection as well!).

Game 3: Turf War Z

Another zombie game?  There are so many sets of such rules available already - and I think a newcomer would have to be very special to displace All things Zombie and Zombicide.  Well, this one advertises itself as a game about gang warfare in a post-apocalyptic city - with zombies.

A. took a Latino gang (near side) against some other guy's policemen (far side).  The rules for this game seemed very old-fashioned (compare attacker and defender's skill to get a "to hit" number, then roll "to wound" for each hit).  This didn't feel a million miles away from old skirmish games such as Combat Zone or even Warhammer 40K.  We also felt that the zombies didn't really add anything much to the scenario.

I did like the buildings on the table, though...

Game 4: Relic Knights

For our final game of the afternoon, we took on a demonstrator at Relic Knights.  As soon as A. saw this anime-styled table, his eyes lit up and we couldn't just pass by.  The rules and figures are by Soda Pop Miniatures (probably better known for Super Dungeon Explore) and are obviously very heavily based on popular Japanese comic styles.

A. (with me advising) took the Cerci Speed Circuit faction; these are a bunch of adventurers/adrenaline junkies/racers, as far as I can tell.  We were up against a group that claimed to be some kind of space knights or paladins, but they had dull red armour rather than bright shiny stuff.  I reckon they weren't quite the good guys they claimed!

The game is heavily based around a small number of heroes; squads of minions support them but don't achieve anything much in their own rights.  Game play is via a deck of cards; each character has a number of special abilities which need cards of the right colour in order to activate.  From that point of view, it reminded me very slightly of Malifaux, though it seemed much easier to understand.  There was definitely a sense of the main characters pausing every so often in order to build up to some stupendous move, attack or psychic power!

Although the main plot for this scenario was about espionage, we only made a single attempt on an enemy secret (they made none on ours).  Instead, we finally won quite convincingly when the hostile leader was held up by our pit crew squad and then counterattacked and beaten by our sword-wielding, showboating second-in-command (with the white hair and cloak).

[Once we were home, A. has been looking up Relic Knights on the Internet.  This is the first time I'm aware of him taking such an interest in something we saw at a show].

Homeward Bound

The journey home was something of a trial.  Firstly, the rain was torrential; this reduced visibility and the surface water made driving stressful.  On top of that, the police had closed the road through Gartocharn; I'm guessing that there had been an accident, but don't know for sure.  This meant that we had to take a 40 minute detour around the Kilpatrick hills.

Finally, as we were crossing the last hill on our return to Helensburgh, we encountered a bad accident, with at least 2 smashed cars, 3 or 4 police vehicles and a couple of ambulances.  Fortunately for us, the traffic in our direction kept moving, albeit slowly, and we weren't held up for long.  We didn't see any obvious casualties, but it was clearly not a very good day for someone...

All in all, I was somewhat tired by the end of the day.

Loot

Not a lot of loot, really:

• Some varnish (always need that; it beats paying courier fees to have it delivered to home since Royal Mail/Parcel Force stopped carrying aerosols).
• A pre-order of some more Darkest Africa figures (Livingstone and Stanley, a lady in tropical garb and her maid).  Also, a 17th century ducking stool which will be useful in Witch Hunter scenarios, I think.
• Some 50mm "pill" bases.
• Another set of "Nightfolk", mainly for fun.  I might end up using these as a whimsical warband for Frostgrave.
• Finally, the MDF show tokens, which will be used as bases for something, eventually...

Conclusion

Both A. and I felt that Carronade hadn't been as good for us this year as it had in previous years.  The high school in which it is held seemed very hot and very crowded.  A friend that I spoke to suggested that this might be because the Triples show isn't being held this year and therefore at least some folks from the north of England might have decided to visit Carronade instead and swell the usual numbers.  I don't know the rights and wrongs of this, but it sounds plausible.

In addition to physical discomfort, we felt that too many of the participation games just weren't very inviting.  Maybe my memory and mood are playing tricks on me, but it seems that in the past all we had to do was look vaguely in the direction of a table and we'd be invited to sit down and take part.  There were several games this Saturday that we would have liked to try, but we just couldn't get the hosts' attention or otherwise gain access.  Not all the games were like this, of course.  In particular, the Fury game was so popular that we couldn't even see it past the ring of spectators at the end of the afternoon!

So, final conclusion: tiring and slightly disappointing.  I hope for better next year.