Wappinshaw

Phoenix Club - plans for 2012

2012-01-14T00:13:00.001Z

Happy new year.

A poll of Phoenix club members revealed a wide variety of periods and styles in mind for 2012. Those with multiple mentions including Force on Force and Saga.

The club runs a communal game on the first Tuesday of each month. If you were thinking of popping down to see us that would be an ideal choice as you can be guaranteed to get straight into a game and meet some of the club members.

The next such game will be on Tuesday the 7th of February and will be 1/3000 WW2 Pacific Carrier fleets.

March to May will be a three month long set of linked scenarios on the Russian Civil War, which will be a new one to almost all of us. June will see us back in the Pacific for a Midway anniversary game of Check Your Six.

Hope to see you.

M.

Gearing Up

2011-10-25T18:32:00.002+01:00

The Wappinshaw crew are now gearing up for the drive towards Wappinshaw 2012. Just 8 months to go!

If you are a trader who didn't come last time and would like to, or a club in a similar position, please get in touch.

2nd of June. Same venue.

Claymore Pictures

2011-08-06T20:13:00.002+01:00

Below are some pictures from Claymore - which took place in Edinburgh today.

Here is the Small Hall

and the Main Hall

Let us selfishly start off by looking at the game put on by the Phoenix club - in conjunction with the Society of Ancients. The game was Magnesia.

The Phoenix club has a dedicated team of Tactica 2 players. This game is perhaps bigger than one they might play on a Tuesday night - but not by much!

The Romans.

The Seleucids

Paul explains his embarrassment at only putting on a skirmish game

Starters Orders!

Billy makes some last minute adjustments

Have at it!

A forthcoming attraction is the new set of skirmish rules for the Dark Ages - Saga. These boys strongly connected to Gripping Beast.

The heart of the game seems to be the faction sheets. You need to roll the symbols to enact the ability/event

And the demo game itself

I was given a release date of early Sep for those. Apparently it is the special dice which are holding everything up!

GDWS had a great looking Sharp Practice game. Much looting.

I detected a more than usual number of renaissance games in the sample. There was an ECW game from East Kilbride.

Dunfermline had a 40K game

A non-GW SF game was one called City of Prosperity. I missed out on the hosts - could it be Antenociti? Mutants rather than zombies. Very popular participation game this.

Border Reivers had an AVBCW game - good use of industrial landscapes

I think the only C19th game of the day was a Crimea game from Tyneside

The only FoW game of the day was by Falkirk and District

RAF gamers were running their Great Escape game again.

Phoenix Club member George was having a lot better time than this pic might suggest.

If I was a guard at Stalag Luft, signage like this might make me suspicious!

Kirriemuir were running their Dark Age raiding game again

Durham brought us an Eastern European renaissance game in 40mm

Independent Wargames Brigade - all one of him [plus family] brought a distinctive Chinese game

There was a second AVBCW game - I missed the production team behind this one

A second game I failed to note the ownership of was a Battle of the Nile game

The other ECW game of the day was by Iron Brigade. Some lovely details on this one.

The League of Augsberg pulled their usual trick of bodging together some terrain at the last minute :)

Personal damage for the day wasn't too bad. A copy of the BP supplement - Last Argument of Kings and a copy of the Force on Force supplement for Afghanistan.

Thanks to SESWC for the show and all the clubs and traders for making it an enjoyable day out!

M.

Claymore on Saturday

2011-07-31T11:32:00.001+01:00

Claymore in Edinburgh is this Saturday coming - 6th August. I'm looking forward to it and have a medium sized shopping list.

As an aperitif, here are a few pics from the show last year

More at: Claymore 2010

Wappinshaw 2012

2011-07-27T00:46:00.000+01:00

There is now a confirmed date for Wappinshaw 2012.

It will be held on the 2nd of June at the Royal Concert Hall Glasgow - the same venue as this year.

If you are a trader or club wanting to put on a game, please contact us using the email address to the right.

What is next for Wappinshaw?

2011-07-01T23:11:00.001+01:00

Wappinshaw 2011 is now a couple of weeks behind us. We're currently reflecting on the experience and thinking about next year.

When we're ready, we'll anounce a date for Wappinshaw 2012, and then we'll begin the process of getting traders, gamers and punters onboard again.

Thank You

2011-06-05T18:48:00.002+01:00

On behalf of the Phoenix Wargames Club I'd like to say a big thanks to all the people who came along to the show yesterday, the traders and the clubs and other organisations who put on games and displays.

I'd also like to thank the staff at the Royal Concert Halls for their excellent work which helped make the day go smoothly.

Not forgetting the work put in by our club members organising and running the show.

Thanks to everyone.

Pictures from Wappinshaw

2011-06-05T03:27:00.003+01:00

Wappinshaw 2011 was held on June 4th at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Here are some pictures and a few comments.

Firstly, let us address what seems to be the key issue in contemporary wargames show delivery management - the catering! See 'Should shows only serve heathly food?'

The Royal Concert Hall is blessed with a large refectory serving a good range of food and drink. Drinks weren't cheap, but the food was reasonably priced and of good quality. Seen above is one of the healthier options. Below one of the slightly less healthy options.

As an alternative to charging entrance fees next year, the committee is considering placing a 10 pence surcharge on each bacon buttie sold. We'll be able to retire on the revenue by mid-afternoon. No pictures of those - they didn't last long enough for a photo to be taken and were possibly too obscene for younger readers to see without parental supervision.

Above is the hall about ten minutes after we got access at 0800. The venue had done all the table set up for us and there was a small crew to help with the unloading. That seemed to go rediculously easily thanks to the sufficient manpower, flat route and short travel distance. I'm fairly confident loading went the same way, but I had withdrawn by then owing to fatigue.

Below an image of the show in full swing.

Punters started arriving just before ten. The peak flow was perhaps around 1100 but we were still selling tickets after 1400. Given the city centre location [the venue is at the top of Buchanan St, which is right at the heart of the best retail area in Scotland and between Argyle and Sauchiehall St] many of the punters took the opportunity to nip out for other shopping before coming back. There was a good buzz about the hall all day - it was pretty busy but not too crowded - possibly helped by the above point. The proportion of participation games meant that there was plenty to do.

We're not sure about numbers but the take on the door was very pleasing and I think has surpassed all our expectations. Plenty of first-timers we think and a good number of junior gamers helped by the central location and excellent public transport links.

We were let down by a couple of traders - no names - a shame that as money was certainly being spent. Someone got my Sassanid army off the B&B at a bargain price.

We do need more and better signage on the front entrance - we'll look into that for next year.

Onto the games!

Glasgow has at least four wargames clubs. Two of these meet on the same night in adjoining buildings - Phoenix is one and G3 the other. They play a wide variety of games - including many popular SF and fantasy systems. Below some images of their Spacehulk 3d game - very popular with gamers of all ages all day.

Glasgow and District had an interesting game based on Operation Jericho - the bombing of Amiens Prison in 1944 by Mosquito fighter-bombers: Wiki: Operation Jericho

All three Glasgow clubs put on participation games - the Glasgow Wargames club had a lovely mat under their Full Thrust game.

Kirriemuir brought us a Viking period skirmish game. Kids were into this one in a big way.

Arty-farty reflected shot via mirrored ceiling

SEWC brought us a 15mm Wild West game - 'When is the Cavalry Getting here?

Dumbarton Wargames Club - who I think are quite a new outfit - had a Warhammer game - the Siege of Warrensburgh. Fabby skeletons and other undead.

Colonial gaming was present thanks to the Gourock club and Magersfontein 1899. Wiki: Battle of Magersfontein My apologies to them for my camera skills failing whilst taking pictures of their game.

AVBCW made an appearance. Is it just me that sees the Border Reivers subtext to games organised between Carlisle and Glasgow?

Plenty of vehicles in this one. I believe they were using the the new Brigadier 38 rules? My copy arrived last week but I haven't got round to comprehending them yet.

You don't see many Korean War games. A conflict due a re-examination by historians and wargamers? Falkirk brought us one in 20mm with a massed Chinese attack - 'The Imjin River'.

Some great scenery in this one.

Last but certainly not least was a Back of Beyond skirmish game from the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers/Greenock - 'The Riddle of the Sands'. The first half of the game took place above ground and the second half in the catacombs - complete with Raider-esque traps!

I'm sure Euan will be posting in the near future to warmly thank all of the traders, gamers and punters who came to make the day what it was - which in my opinion was a very positive experience for all concerned. I hope you liked the pics!

Michael/Midpoint.

Wappinshaw Parking Options

2011-06-02T22:53:00.003+01:00

The nearest car park is the Buchanan Galleries car park, right next to the venue.

There are also further multi-storey car parks at Concert Square -5 minute walk - and Cambridge Street - 10 minute walk.

Cheaper surface parking, with no height restrictions, can be found at Cathedral and High Street. These are a 15 to 20 minute walk.

Full information, including links to maps, can be found at the City Parking web site here:

http://www.cityparkingglasgow.co.uk/ParkingLocations/AllCarParks/

See you on Saturday.

List of Clubs

2011-06-01T20:45:00.001+01:00

Here is a list of the games we have confirmed for Saturday. Games marked with a [P] are public participation games. Don't be shy!

League of Extraordinary Kreigspielers / Greenock - The Riddle of the Sands - 1920s Back of Beyond skirmish adventure [P]

Glasgow and District Wargames Society - 15mm WWII bombing raid [P]

Falkirk District Wargames Club - 20mm Korean War

Gourock Wargames Association - 15mm The Battle of Magersfontein 1899

Dumbarton Wargames Club - Warhammer Fantasy - Siege of Warrensburgh [P]

SESWC - 15mm Wild West game 'When's the cavalry getting here?' [P]

Kirriemuir Wargames Club - 28mm Viking Raid 'A Norse, a Norse, my Kingdom for a Norse' [P]

Glasgow Wargames Club - Full Thrust

G3 Gaming Club - 28mm 3D Space Hulk

Dumfries Wargames Club - 28mm AVBCW

List of Traders for Wappinshaw

2011-06-01T20:31:00.003+01:00

Outpost Wargame Services
Pendraken Miniatures
Colin Worley Books
Under The Bed Enterprises
Jamiesons Models
The Dragon and George
Graham Robertson Books
Friendship Models; Warbases
Central Wargaming
Rif Raf Miniatures
Static Games
4A Miniatures
and [fingers crossed] Solway Miniatures

There will also be a Bring and Buy market.Please note that due to illness Warlord Games are no longer able to attend. Drat!

Also in attendance will be:

Sealed Knot
Games Workshop painting tuition area

Venue Directions for Traders, Gamers and Punters

2011-05-31T23:00:00.002+01:00

The venue for Wappinshaw this year is the Royal Concert Hall at the top of Buchanan St in the very heart of Glasgow. This is a significant upgrade for the show in terms of venue - and in terms of cost-of-venue - but we hope it will be worth it.

The venue is moments away from Buchanan St tube station and five minutes away from both Queen St and Central Stations. The main city bus station is over the road to the rear.

If you are a punter, go straight in through the main entrance. The show will be in the hall directly opposite. Disabled access is round to the side - please follow directions and/or email the Wappinshaw address in the sidebr if you think you might need help.

Here is our hall. Power is available if you request it in advance.

For parking - please skip past instructions for traders/gamers to the last picture for info on the Buchanan Galleries carpark.

Traders and gamers will want to approach the building via the entrance off Killermont St. The entrance to the carpark is just next door to John Lewis and opposite the bus station.

Buzzer on the right of the gate to get access. Do not arrive before 0800 - we won't have access before then and neither will you!

Here is a picture of the unloading bay. Level into the hall. There will be a team member on the door and the venue is supplying staff to help with unloading and reloading. From bay to hall is ten yards. Once unloaded, you will be required to move your vehicle from the venue carpark.

There is also an entrance to the Buchanan Galleries carpark on Killermont St. Note max height for vans.

More parking info here: http://wappinshaw.blogspot.com/2011/04/wappinshaw-2011-parking-in-buchanan.html

Hope to see you on Saturday!

7 Days and Counting

2011-05-28T18:02:00.000+01:00

It is now one week until Wappinshaw, the Glasgow Wargames show.

Pictures of the venue for visitors and traders to be posted on Wednesday. A final listing of games and traders on Tuesday - we've had a couple of changes in the past few days and I'd rather put up a correct list later than one which won't be accurate earlier.

14 days and counting

2011-05-20T19:43:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Philadelphia.

Carronade now behind us, it is fourteen days to Wappinshaw. Next week the crew will visit the venue to get the logistical arrangements on a more ordered footing and also take pics to share with traders and guests - the hall, and entrance/unloading areas etc. We'll also stick up the definitive list of traders and games very shortly.

More pictures from Carronade

2011-05-09T08:33:00.002+01:00

I've now had time to edit and upload my full batch of pictures from Carronade this past weekend. Half a gig of images - my camera is quite powerful. Editing generally consists of cropping and/or rebalancing colour. Click on the image for size/download options.

The set of images I uploaded on Saturday afternoon consisted of those I was most immediately pleased with - so if your game didn't appear then it is down to my bad camera management and not your efforts. The full gallery contains images of most of the games at Carronade - but I didn't take any upstairs, nor of the Phoenix club game itself [Kadesh].

If you see your game below or in the full gallery, you are of course more than welcome to the images - contact me for the full sized versions if you can't get them from Flickr - and thank you for your efforts.

My personal favourite was the game presented by the Iron Brigade - the Relief of [checks spelling] Hapibutpur. I've been reading about colonial warfare a lot recently, and I've been a fan of Flashman for quite some time. I've also recently received a copy of The Sword and the Flame, which may send me over the edge. I liked the quality of all the components of the game, the detail of the layout and the dynamic feel that can be seen in the images.

Most shows usually have a naval and aerial game or two, and Carronade was no exception. Gourock presented Forcing the Dardanelles.

The AWI is a conflict that has a small but devoted following in the UK. SESWC presented Guilford. Whatever happened to the 'd'?

The upswing in interest in early 20C conflict hasn't just been the parallel milieu of VBCW. The Russian and Spanish Civil wars are being seen more often at shows and in magazines. Aberdeen brought us a RCW game.

My perception was that there was a higher proportion of fantasy and SF games this year. I thought the standard of these as a subset was as high as I've seen outside of a GW event. Dunfermline put on a Warhammer 40K game.

DWARF had the other GW classic - WFB

Wigan also had a SF game, and I'm fairly certain it wasn't using GW rules.

Kirriemuir had a Dark-Age participation game. I was very impressed with the amount of detail on show for a participation game.

On a technical level the Independent Wargamers Brigade came up trumps. On a personal level the context of the game wasn't as immediately appealing to me as the IB game, but I know others feel the opposite.

Most pics of that game were included in the set contained in the last posting - so here is one from the same boys at the show last year

My second favourite game of the show - based on my own peculiar prejudices - was the VBCW game by the Border Reivers. Gamers of this milieu are really developing how industrial and urban settings are shown in a wargame.

I think I'm right is saying there was only one Napoleonic game at the show? It was a goodie anyway - League of Augsburg

The full gallery available here: Carronade 2011 - All Pics

First set of pictures from Carronade

2011-05-07T17:15:00.001+01:00

I got back from Carronade about an hour ago. I took about 170 pics and I've quickly sorted and edited through the batch and uploaded the set below. More to follow in the next few days. Click to enlarge/go to original file on Flickr.

Firstly, the venue. Carronade is spread over two main rooms, two minor rooms upstairs and a hall connecting everything together. Here are a couple of pics of the main halls.

One of the main halls

And the t'other

And now onto the games.

Border Reivers - The Affair at Elswick

AVBCW has been simmering below the surface for some time now. A chat with the lads running this game revealed that there is an 'official' set of rules in the works.

The Independent Wargames Brigade were there with their Oriental game - The Battles of Ordos

The RAF Wargames Association were running a participation game based on the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III

The League of Augsburg were displaying another game using the Republic to Empire rules. This time Borodino

The Iron Brigade always put on a good game. This time it was the Relief of Hapibutpur.

More to follow soon. Whole initial gallery at Best pics from Carronade 2011

Carronade is tomorrow

2011-05-06T02:12:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder that Carronade is tomorrow [Saturday].

Wappinshaw four weeks tomorrow!

Carronade warm-up - picture galleries

2011-05-02T06:00:00.018+01:00

As mentioned in the previous post, Carronade in Falkirk is on this week. I thought I might show some of the pics I took last year.

Galley of my best pics: Carronade 2010 - best pics

And a second gallery of the ones with less artistic credibility - a reflection on my camera handling - not the games themselves: Carronade 2010 - less than perfect pics

Carronade is on in a week

2011-04-30T14:37:00.000+01:00

Carronade - the wargames show in Falkirk is in 7 days. 7th of May.

A link to the Carronade webbie: Carronade 2011
This has been a great show the past three times I've been. Hope to see you there.

Warlord Games - trading at Wappinshaw

2011-04-24T12:18:00.000+01:00

We're pleased to be able to abbounce that Warlord Games will be trading at Wappinshaw.

Warlord Games

We're certain that as well as very many sets of their plastic figures and other toys they will be bringing plenty of copies of their new Ancients ruleset Hail Caesar. We're hoping that there will be a demonstration game of Hail Caesar amongst the mix of games that we have on display.

New Logo?

2011-04-23T14:30:00.000+01:00

The Glasgow Phoenix logo was looking a bit auld. I thought a redesign might be nice. Given my low level of artistic ability I did the best I could - please see a couple of possible new ones below. Comments welcome. Built using PowerPoint! Original at the bottom for comparison.

Show at capacity for traders

2011-04-22T19:08:00.000+01:00

Wappinshaw is virtually at capacity for traders. If you were hoping to trade at the show but have not yet formally expressed an interest then please do so ASAP using the contact email address.

Wappinshaw 2011 - traders expected

2011-04-20T10:35:00.000+01:00

Here is our current list of traders expected to attend Wappinshaw 2011 - subject to change.

Bear’s Den Miniatures

http://www.bearsdenminiatures.com/

28mm figures, 15mm figures, 40mm figures.

Outpost

http://www.outpostwargameservices.co.uk/

28mm figures, 15mm figures, 1/3600 and 1/200 Naval, books and rules.

Pendraken Miniatures

http://www.pendraken.co.uk/

10mm figures, 28mm figures, buildings and terrain.

Gateshead Gaming

http://www.gatesheadgaming.co.uk/

Second hand figures, dice, games, accessories, wargaming supplies.

Colin Worley

New and second hand books.

Under The Bed Enterprises

http://www.underbed.co.uk/

20mm figures and models, 15mm figures and models, 28mm figures, books and flags.

Xyston Miniatures

http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Xyston/

15mm ancient figures, 28mm historical personalities, 1/600 galleys.

Jamieson’s Models

Model kits and accessories.

The Dragon and George

Board games.

Graham Robertson Books

Second hand books.

Friendship Models

http://eshop.friendshipmodels.org.uk/

Model kits, components and miniatures.

Warbases

http://www.warbases.co.uk/

Figure bases and accessories, buildings.

Central Wargaming

http://www.freewebs.com/centralwargaming/

Model kits, 28mm figures, 1/300 aircraft, rules, buildings, figure storage cases, wargaming supplies.

Solway Crafts and Miniatures

http://solwaycraftsandminiatures.webs.com/

VBCW books, flags, wargaming supplies.

Rif Raf

http://www.rifrafminiatures.co.uk/

28mm figures, rules, buildings and terrain, rules, basing materials, brushes and paints.

Static Games

http://www.firetank.net/clients/a1comics/frameset.htm

Wappinshaw 2011 - Parking in the Buchanan Galleries

2011-04-20T10:14:00.000+01:00

Buchanan Galleries Car Parking Information

The 2,000 space car park opens at 7.30am on Saturday morning and is open until 11.30pm.

Car park entrances are on Killermont Street and Cathedral Street.

Please note the maximum height of vehicles entering the car park is 2m.

Prices - one of the best hourly parking rates in Glasgow city centre:

    * Up to 1 hour - £1.30
    * Up to 2 hours - £2.60
    * Up to 3 hours - £3.90
    * Up to 4 hours - £6.00
    * Up to 5 hours - £8.40
    * Up to 7 hours - £12.10
    * Up to 9hr - £15.00
    * Up to 24hr - £25.00


Disabled parking

81 disabled spaces, which are spread across levels 2 - 5 of our car park.

Wappinshaw 2011 - date and venue

2011-04-20T10:06:00.000+01:00

Wappinshaw 2011 will be held on the 4th of June at the Royal Concert Hall Glasgow. See bottom of page for map of venue location.

The show will be from 10am to 4pm. Entry fee is £3 for adults and £1 for under 16s.

Wappinshaw 2011 - Contacts

2011-04-20T09:59:00.000+01:00

To send the Wappinshaw team an email, please use this address. It will be checked everyday: wappinshaw@yahoo.co.uk