“Warfare" Showcase 2024

"Warfare, is one of the largest [wargaming shows] in the country."

With "Warfare" traditionally being the last of my local wargaming shows for the year, I decided to once again make the hour-long trip to the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre and see what goodies were on display. This year I was particularly excited by the Wargames Association of Reading's claim that the organisers were "welcoming several first time traders", as this is precisely why I like to physically attend both events and stores as opposed to just ordering online.

Some of the models on show by "Full Metal Miniatures" which caught my attention

Furthermore, I hoped some potential 'new stuff' might help lessen my unease at the rise in entry price to an initially off-putting £12 - something which has not gone without criticism from other hobbyists I know. I totally get that the Conference Centre is a rather splendid venue with plenty of facilities, and resultantly comes with a significantly high cost. However, a good two-thirds of the Main Hall were rather disappointingly unused, and that was despite the fact that the majority of the Tournaments were also being held there. Indeed, I ultimately left the building with an uneasy feeling that my entry fee was probably funding the twenty-two competitions taking place more than anything else.

The small Novus Mallum tabletop by "Enviro Games", and part of "Rapier Miniatures" Ancients display

To make matters worse though, parking at the venue was arguably a bit of a disaster, due to joining a long, slow-moving queue for a space. In the end I gave up waiting, and simply drove further along the access road to another turning where there were plenty of spaces. I was admittedly already a bit grumpy from the drive, as despite entering the recommended postcode into my satellite navigation, the route provided took me to one closed-off gate after another, and it was only after spotting a tiny rectangular Warfare sign attached to a lamp-post that I finally saw Gate A. Later on, I was not surprised to overhear one of the club members talking about how poor the parking had become, and when I left I couldn't help but spot many a car precariously positioned at all sorts of odd angles on a variety of grass verges and escarpments.

This "Crossover Miniatures" display formed part of the "Pendraken Miniatures" booth

Setting such quibbles aside, the show itself was a bit of a triumph, with several of the promised 'fresh faces' taking a heavy toll upon my wallet. There were also some rather splendid displays by some of the show's usual stalwarts - such as "Pendraken Miniatures" showing off all the splendid-looking super-heroes and villains from "Crossover Miniatures", and "Baccus 6mm" almost tempting me with plenty of wonderfully painted World War Two armour and infantry.

Part of the "Baccus 6mm" stall, and a glimpse of Shepway Wargamers' participation tabletop

I was also taken by several of the participation games, and spent quite a while chatting to a chap from the Shepway Wargamers about his awesome scratch-built "Warhammer 40k" lite tabletop. This impressive Imperial Guard verses Chaos conflict had been specifically set-up to help get new players into the rather hefty "Games Workshop" rule-set, and resultantly had had its numerous stipulations stripped right down to their basics to encourage attendees to simply throw some dice.

A rather splendid-looking Battle of Alexandria 1801 game using the General d'Armee rule-set

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering my spending at "Colours" 2024, I splurged most of my meagre funds at the "Sarissa Precision" stall on "The Silver Bayonet" - coming away with both the Spanish Unit and the Egyptian Unit boxed sets. I was going to leave it at that. However, I then saw a blister of Army Deserter Bandits, and thought it would be rude not to pick them up too, especially as I could always incorporate the unscrupulous soldiers into my other warbands as a Veteran Hunter or plain Infantryman, should the fancy take me.

"Athena Miniatures" range of Franco-Prussian War and Post Apocalyptic figures

Easily this show's biggest surprise for me was stumbling upon "Athena Miniatures" and their characterful range of Apocalypse Survivors. I was initially attracted to their stand in the Discover Hall by their fantastic Franco-Prussian War figures, and was thinking about picking up a small sample to test paint prior to visiting the company again at next year's "Beachhead" 2025. But then its fiendish owner directed my attention to a number of British civilians "dressed in cold weather gear armed with a variety of weapons" who were apparently "ready to do battle with Zombies or Aliens or whatever has brought about the apocalypse!"

Some of the models by "Conquest Games", "Parkfield Miniatures", and "Disdain Studio"

Coupled with a number of hand-sculpted "heroic British squaddies", some additional riflemen wearing NBC suits, as well as a ton of Russian Spetsnaz Special Forces (to act as the obligatory bad guys), and I simply found this all too much to resist. So ended up leaving what I thought was overall a very successful show with twice as much metal in my shopping bag as I had originally intended. Now I just need to paint all this stuff up before February next year, when I start attending wargaming events again...