A few weeks back I ran into an old friend of mine, Neil Hamilton from the On Thin Ice days, down in the games basement of Travelling Man. Neil played bass in What Hope Remains a great band from the North East with whom On Thin Ice shared many stages, tour vans and nights of mischief. Anyhow, turns out that the lad is now involved in gaming too with Warmachine/Hordes being his tipple of choice. He mentioned that his group Leeds Warmachine would be hosting demo games at Leeds Wargaming Club FIASCO event which was being held October 27th at the very appropriate location of The Leeds Armouries. I figured it was just down the road so I’d go take a look.

I didn’t really fancy going alone so I rang around the rest of the local crew but everyone was busy with other stuff, couldn’t be arsed or had no money so I decided to head down on my jack jones.

The event was held in a hall adjacent to the actual Armouries, I believe this could be the now renamed Saville Hall. Anyway, there were plenty of people buzzing around generating an encouraging hubub. Dominating the foyer was a massive gaming table, I mean this thing was huge. It was kitted out with desert terrain and some gentlemen were engaged in what appeared to be an epic colonial African conflict.

Traitor scum unleash hell on the Empires stoic defenders!

I dont really know what I’d expected Fiasco to be like, but my first impressions were that it was a way bigger show than I’d anticipated. There were stalls running the circuit of the room with an abundance of varied gaming tables scattered throughout. The whole place was a bustling hive of activity, gaming and conversation with every stall offering varied wares and providing something of interest for everyone. It was a stark contrast to my recent trip to GW’s soulless Games Day Event, who true to form seemed more interested in shoving product down your throat than actually engaging with the community that supports them.
Like Stevie mentioned in his SELWG review a few weeks ago, beyond the spare parts stalls and some musty old codex’s/rulebooks here and there the GW presence at these events is sparse, which i’m absolutely fine with. I will say however that there were a group of guys who had an excellent 30k/HH table set up with some beautifully painted Emperor’s Children with (Fulgrim at the head) teamed up with some equally impressive Iron Warriors laying siege to an Imperial fortification. I’m sorry i didn’t catch the name of the club that these chaps represented but I was really impressed by the standard!

Midlam’s old school dwarven rogues

Midlam Minitaures stall initially caught my eye as they had an L shaped stall full of boxes of old rulebooks and expansions for Ravenloft, Call Of Cthulhu, Rogue Trooper and the like. Whilst having a good old rummage through the bins I chatted with the chap behind the stall and he mentioned that they were clearing out all the books and material from other companies in order to focus on their own products, I glanced up and immeditaley noticed their own range of  beautifully painted miniatures on display. The design of the miniatures stirred some nostalgia in me, great poses across a broad range of fantasy standards. Minotaurs, dwarves, undead etc. Their sculpts are full of character and dynamism and I purchased a package of their Dwarf Rogues on a whim simply because I liked the models so much. Older gamers might appreciate the vintage style of these models, put me in mind of the early Citadel dwarves from the 80’s. A couple of the other lads in the crew have since seen Midlam’s stuff following my reccomendation and been raving about it too, brilliant designs at reasonable prices from an independent company, that’s what Corehammer likes.

There was a shit ton of people representing the historical aspect of wargaming, far outweighing the fantasy or Sci-Fi element. Despite it being a side of the hobby I’ve very little experience with I still found the stalls, tables, level of detail and genuine military knowledge absolutely fascinating to behold. Something I’d definitely like to explore a little more in the future I think.

I was keen to pick up some terrain and scenery for use in my own small games on the kitchen table at home and there was no shortage of dealers and manufacturers willing to help you out. Ranging from the very modestly priced hills and cairns that I picked up from the good people at Wargames Tournaments to the more expensive but beautifully painted and constructed custom terrain available elsewhere, I was spoilt for choice!

I sought out the demo table hosted by members of Leeds Warmachine group to take them up on an earlier invitation of a demo game. The guys were very welcoming and after my interest was piqued by the Circle Oroboros models they’d brought along I accepted Amric’s offer to walk me through a beginners game. I was completely unfamilar with the world/fluff in which Hordes/Warmachine is set so I was going in as a complete noob. What followed was a bare bones dust up between Amric’s Trollkin and the Circle Oroboros that I selected to try out (purely because i’m a bit of a nature boy). It was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed the skirmish style of play and the different game mechanics than I’m used to and also the fact it didn’t require an abundance of models to get started. What really impressed me was the guys at Leeds Warmachine’s willingness to get folk involved, their patience for new players and the infectious enthusiasm they clearly have for the game. Their attitude was very refreshing and completely totally sold me on Hordes, so much so that I’ve signed up for their slow grow Journeyman League in conjunction with Patriot Games so expect future reports on that!

Zinge Industries flexible resin rules (shit pic sorry)

Zinge Industries based out of Doncaster had a small booth showcasing their custom accessories for futuristic war gaming. The two guys running the table were clearly proud of their wares and the projects they’re working on looked impressive, particularly their soft wire power cables and flexible resin bullet belts and ammo feeds. The material remains flexible which is perfect for converting and customisation of heavy weapons operatives and as bolt on  additions to vehicles. The other product they were justifiably stoked on was the Basius Basing system they have developed in conjunction with Wargames Bakery. I had a good look at the promo kit they had brought along and it’s awesome. Basically it’s a highly detailed, themed stamp pad which you can use with modelling putty or green stuff to make textured bases for your own models. I was really impressed at such a simple and cost effective idea and will definitely be investing in a couple once they hit the market. No more cork board for me! I managed to snap a crappy picture of the demo model they had on display which made great use of the flexible resin material, but please check out their website for more info.

Zinge’s awesome basing moulds!

As I continued my circuit of the room I couldn’t help but notice the impressive Bolt Action presence at the event. Not only did Warlord Games show up with a huge product stand but there were a number of large and beautifully laid out Bolt Action tables with demonstration games in progress. The guys at Total Battle Miniatures had a very impressive table with a Nazi occupied village as it’s central focus, with train tracks, fields and grassland surrounding it. They kindly offered to talk me through the game in progress when I mentioned that I’d just picked up the rulebook and some Afrika Korps the week before. Once again the enthusiasm the hosts demonstrated for their game system of choice was infectious and a pleasure to be around and only reinforced my feelings that I’m going to have a lot of fun with Bolt Action once Boardy get’s his Paras sorted.

Total Battle Miniatures Bolt Action table

By this time I was pretty much done for the day and after picking up some nice new brushes I was out of cash anyway so I decided to get off. Stopped by Travelling Man in town on the way home to pick up the Circle Oroboros army book for my Hordes project and a copy of the latest issue of Lobster Johnson. Ideal day, will definitely be attending FIASCO next year!