Insomnia is Magic!

Been awake most of the night, I just couldn't settle. Got a few things on my mind and I just couldn't shut down and go to sleep. I eventually gave up about 6am and now have a very fuzzy headache. Fab.
By the way... did I mention my fabulous daughter on TV? Last summer she took part in the Twenty Twenty production of The Sorcerers Apprentice. The format is a Magic School for 12 children who are competing for the title of, you guessed it, The Sorcerers Apprentice. Sarah (pictured below in the centre of the group standing on the steps) made it to the final and had two great weeks learning magic in a country house in Worcestershire.
I haven't mentioned it until now because we were sworn to secrecy by the production company but the series has just ended so I'm not giving away any secrets now. Anyway I just wanted to say well done to Sarah for doing so well.

Kebab with Slaad & Ganesh

Its been a while since I last wrote about my D&D groups current 4E campaign. Illness and work commitments mean we haven't got together for a game for seven weeks. Far too long in anyone's book but unavoidable non-the-less. Normally the Dagenham Dungeon Delvers gather in, well Dagenham. But this week we drove down to Reyleigh to play at another members house. Our intrepid party of adventurers was last seen in a Kobold infested underground palace. Looking into an adjacent room we could see what looked like the leader of the Kobolds lounging on a divan and surrounded by half a dozen guards. In the face of established logic we split the party and attacked from two sides...

Ouch is the best way to describe how the fight started. For a few brief rounds it didn't look good. Then suddenly the battle turned with the Eladrin Swordmage leaping into the fray and dishing out some "pure awesome". And all while his player did a sketch of my Dragonborn character.

Of course there were some moments of doubt during the battle and our GM does get a kick out of pointing out our mistakes...This is what is technically known as an "oh s**t moment".
After the battle we had a little chat with a long dead King, looted his desk and pocketed a few trinkets. Strangely we were not interested in looting the 200 year old silk bedclothes from the kings room.

The game ended with us standing before a large set of double doors and realising that an entirely new set of enemies lay beyond it...enemies that are almost certainly going to be badder than the Kolbolds, and enemies that were unlocking the door as we stood around wondering what to do.

Review of Salute 09 - Pt 4 Traders

Over the last few days I have been writing about the great display and participation games on view at Salute. But of course this is only half the story as far as this show is concerned. Salute is an important event for many traders and this year - given the stormy financial climate at the moment - must have been an anxious one for many of them. If there is one thing that is a constant in the tabletop gaming industry it is that companies come and go. Many manufacturers or games designers have risen briefly, out shone everyone else, and the faded away. And this is during good economic times. So with the credit crunch biting almost every sector at the moment I guess I'm not alone in wondering who the victims will be within our hobby over the coming year.
Despite the pessimism it seems Salute was a roaring success from a traders point of view. Some traders reported their takings up by as much as a third which is very reassuring. And when I talked to retailers at the show I got the impression they were having a good days trade. Indeed much of the anecdotal evidence I have read or heard from Salute seems to suggest spending was generally 'up' on last year. Certainly visitor numbers seemed strong, especially while standing in the scrum that was the queue before the show started!

This anecdotal evidence seems to be backed up by a survey in Miniature Wargames magazine (Issue 312) which reported that 65% of respondents expected their hobby spending to increase this year with only 19% saying they expected spending to drop. I think my own spending at Saulte was on par with last year but I have spent more online and at other events in the past year. So I expect my spending will go up, credit crunch or not.Even that much maligned behemoth of the industry, Games Workshop, seemed to have no shortage of visitors to its display tables and trade stand. Incidentally I saw a LOT more children at this years show, and not all of them were clustered round the GW stand. This is a trend I have seen develop over many years and it is a strong indicator of a mature and healthy hobby.Overall I was reassured by Salute that our hobby is not about to collapse. No doubt there will be casualties but (and i'll stick my neck out with a prediction here) no more than in a normal year. And when you consider the cost of playing a tabletop game compared to say boozing it up down the pub on a weekend, then our hobby is positively cheep. And maybe (trying to find a positive spin in the midst of economic Armageddon) the credit crunch will actually benefit our hobby.. forcing people to find cheaper pursuits at home rather than down the pub or at a nightclub? Maybe, maybe not...but it whatever happens its going to be an interesting year in tabletop games.

Review of Salute 09 - Pt 3 More Displays

Yesterday I looked at some of my favorite participation games from Salute 09 and started to look at some of the Demo Games. Today I'm going to talk about some of the most impressive armies and displays at the show. One of the things I have always liked about Salute is the quality of the display tables and the armies featured. Everywhere you look there is eye candy and I doubt you could find a better advert for our hobby.


This table was the The Siege of Okamoto-Jo by Oshiro Model Terrain. This was a 28mm fictional battle set in the Japanese Warring States Period (戦国時代 , Sengoku Jidal). This was a time of political intrigue, social change and constant military conflict in Japan that lasted from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Another impressive display table that caught my eye was Siege of Tenochtitlan. This was another 28mm battle this time run by La Grande Armee and based on the 16th Century Conquistador siege of an Aztec town.

I enjoy all historical periods and genre's (as can probably be seen from the wide range of pictures I post) but I defy anyone not to be impressed when they see a well painted Roman army. Julianus at Ozogardana was a 25mm Ancients battle run by Uxbridge Wargamers and featured Late Romans versus a Sassanid army.

Tomorrow I will talk about some of the traders at Salute and reveal what I bought (and didn't buy) at the show.