Carronade 2018 - show review

Another Carronade has been and gone and from the feedback received from all concerned it has to be rated the best one yet!

We constantly look to improved and addressed a number of issues raised in 2017, most notably the choke point in the central hall, which helped us continue to enhance the experience.

It was a beautiful day which probably had a negative impact on numbers so we were very pleased to hold attendance at last years levels.  There were definitely fewer youngsters and it may be that some visits were shorter than normal but the trade still did very well as did the flea market.  Painting competition entries were marginally down and some of the participation games only really took off in the afternoon but these were minor niggles.  I was particularly gratified when a seasoned wargamer, veteran of many shows around the UK, stated that this was the best show he had ever been too! Ever! he emphasised.

We have a small team that pull the show together and the machinery is now working pretty smoothly.  There was also a great response from other club members turning out on Friday night to set up and staying behind on Saturday to reset the halls and tidy up.  Well done to all concerned.

I managed one PP game run by the East Neuk boys and set in Iraq during WW2.  The aim of the game was for a team of motorcyclist to escort the young crown prince in his staff car to the safety of a British base.  Must derring do and unlikely feats of bikemanship were encouraged.  Great fun - I missed the very last move but I think we managed to escort the young lad to safety.

A short break then show committee debrief and we will then start planning Carronade 2019.  Hope to see many of you there

Games 48

 Rules played 20 New 8
Places played 8 New 0 

Gaming update

Since my last post I have upped the gaming tempo playing the following






Wings of Glory (WW1) x4


Algernon Pulls it Off  x3


DBA 3.0 x3


Necromunda x2


Corvus x2


Irregular Wars


Check Your 6!


Washington WC House WW2 Naval


Malifaux


Guns at Gettysberg


King of the Battlefield


Bolt Action


Chain of Command


Sword and Spear






So that is 23 miniatures games and in addition I also played a couple of board games as well.




A highlight was a trip to London where I managed to fit in a game on each of my free evenings.  Thanks to Central London Wargames Club and Gavin McKenzie in particular for taking me through a game of King of the Battlefield. Loughton Strike Force were also gracious hosts and it was very interesting to take part in a playtest of the second edition of Guns at Gettysberg in a multiplayer gaming including the author Dave Brown.  I will certainly be looking forward with interest to the final version. I must also thank Gary for helping me get too and from the venue.  Two cracking clubs that I hope to get back to again sometime.






The Falkirk annual trip to the Scottish National Museum of Flight was a great day out with lots of participation in our Wings of Glory and Bolt Action Tank game.  The key to these public events really is to keep the rules as simple as possible.  A number of visitors went away with details of the rules so we may have planted a few seeds there.


Last, but by no stretch of the imagination least, is Carronade, the annual show hosted by the Falkirk club.  For my sins I am on the organising committee and am pleased to report that, to coin a phrase, it was our best show ever.  More visitors, games, traders, flea market tables sold and painting competition entries.  Including visitors, people putting games on, traders and club members we must have had best part of 1,000 people attending which was great.  There is going to be a spread in August's Wargames Illustrated so keep a look out for that.
Hopefully I will start to up my posting count over the next few weeks.  I have still not fixed the problem which has made it impossible to attach photos - if I can get that done it will give me more incentive to post regularly. (edit)  Getting the spacing right also seems to be a pain

Glengoyne, Carronade and Wartime Experience

Last weekend was indeed a memorable one.  Mick came over from Switzerland brining goodies in the form of Whisky, Chocolate and 28mm Indonesians and British.


On the Thursday night the figures for the Indonesian Confrontation were on the table, although the scenario was the first one from the Classified Force on Force book set in the Pacific in WW2.  As usual it took us a little while to get our heads around the rules but it was a fun game nonetheless and great to get the figures on the table.  Some Old Pultney was consumed.


Now Mick knows his whiskey but had not visited a distillery before soon the Friday we took a trip over to the Glengoyne distillery.  It is quite a small one which means that you can get up close and personal with the equipment and the tour was very interesting.  We then had time for a side trip to Loch Lomond before heading over to the school to help with the Carronade set up followed by going out for a meal and a little more whisky before bedtime.


Saturday was an early start with more setting up to be done.  There were unfortunately some issues with the flea market which meant that I spent a good part of the day looking after that with the help of my wife who gamely stepped in as well which was a great help as she is much more organised than me by nature.


The demand for flea market tables exceeded the supply so we will be looking to see if we can fit more in next year.  I did manage to get round the show and talk to a few people.  It had a fantastic buzz this year which lasted all the way to closing time at 16:00.  Most of the traders had had a good show and certainly the feedback from the public on various forums and blogs has been very favourable.  We got 612 through the door which is a record for us.  We were all pretty knackered after the show so we had a quiet night, although it did involve whisky again.


My purchases were fairly modest being the rules and accessories set for Wings of Glory WW1 from Northumbria Games, the new Dux Brittaniarum supplement from Wings of War and a British mortar and crew from Commando Miniatures.


On Sunday we went over to the National Museum of Flight where we were taking part in the Wartime Experience event for the second year running.  We put on Wings of War and a 1914 Through the Mud and the Blood game both of which were well received, as was a Bolt Action Normandy game put on by SESWC.


I am not so used to dealing with young kids so it was a bit of a challenge for me on the Wings of War table but I still enjoyed itas did they and their parents.  A pleasant surprise was that Brian put in an appearance  - he had not been able to make it to Carronade.


Another long day. I had bought a tasting set of 3 5ml bottles at Glengoyne so we had a proper tasting session on the Sunday evening, with Mick giving me some helpful pointers.


Mick flew back on the Monday morning flight and I must say it had been a memorable few days all round

Carronade Charitable donation of £411.84

This year we decided to support a charity as part of the show.  One of our members works for Shelter and he gave us the attached information on a project they are running

Shelter is running a three year project to provide a Housing Support Service in Partenrship with Scottish Verterans Residences and also provide support to Scottish Veterans Residences to help them improve the housing advice provided to ex-service men and women.

The main aim of the work is to support tenants in the Scottish Veterans' Residence at Whitefoord House in Edinburgh to successfully re-settle into permanent accommodation and also to imrove their resilience, living and coping skills and to avoid future episodes of Housing Crisis/Homelessness. We would also assist veterans to access the residence where appliciable to help stabilse their lives with a longerterm goal of independent living. Many of the ex-service personnel we help have been out of the service for 20+ years and only started to suffer health or mental problems later in life. These grousp of ex-service personnel are not well recognised or catered for and while some help was available it was scant and patchy and not aimed at providing longer term stability in their lives. Shelter feels that the cornerstone of stability is a home to call your own and that remains our overarching aim.

This work is funded entirely by donations so every penny helps and thanks for giving this work your consideration for support.

A total of £137.28 was raised mainly from the members of clubs who were putting on games with some contributions from members of the public as well.  The Falkirk Club have matched this on a 2 for 1 basis, hence the total donation was £411.84 to this very good cause.

Personal Impressions of Carronade

First off I must declare an interest – I am on the organising committee so may not be totally unbiased.

Having been involved since the start back in 2006 this was rather a strange event for me.  I had caught a dose of the lurgey on the preceding Wednesday and things were not much better by the Friday when we get in to the venue to set the halls up and welcome the first traders.  I had some stuff to drop off which I managed to do but then felt rather guilty at leaving when I then left the guys to it. 

Old friends Mark from Under the Bed and Graham from Graham's Wuerkshoppe always set up on the Friday and then come over to our house stay.  A night out at a local hostelry is the tradition and although it was maintained I was on tap water all night which was not so good for the morale!

The next day I dragged my sorry arse along to the show, once again later than usual.  One of my jobs is to do the rota for club members.  I had left it very late and although I had posted it on the club forum no one had seen it.  Cue fumbling attempts to retrieve the list via my blackberry.

The show then opened and we were absolutely mobbed.  Only one of the three people I had planned to be on the door was actually there but another volunteer stepped forward and I also took a place and helped out.  There were 300 in by the end of the first hour and I felt my spirits start to rise.

Having handed over door duties I then went for my first proper look around the show.  It really did seem to be buzzing by that point.  We had a record number of traders (42) and games on (39).  Well over half the games were public participation and most of them had attracted a good selection of players which is great and once again adds to the atmosphere.

I picked up a copy of Check your 6 which I have been promising myself for a while and also made some purchases at the flea market.  We helped pioneer flea markets (where the seller rents a table and sells his stuff himself) and it has been a great success over the years.  It is interesting to see that more and more shows are adopting this approach over the traditional bring and buy.  From our perspective it is much easier to organise and means we do not have to worry about that perennial problem of theft.  For the seller it is cheaper (we only charge £2 an hour) and they have the freedom to display their wares and manage their prices as they wish.  The great advantage for the public is the ability to haggle!  Another benefit is that as table hire is by the hour the offerings are refreshed a number of times.

It is always good to have a chat to wargames chums and although the organisational side can make that a little difficult I did manage to speak to a few people.  Brian (see post on Washington Wargames Club) had made it up for the first time and enjoyed the experience.  He stayed the night  to make a weekend of it.

I decided that it was to be kill or cure and purchased Scotch Pie and chips from admittedly rather basic catering facilities.  I took them upstairs to give Gary a spell on the flea market desk.  In three quarters of an hour a sold one table so it was not overtaxing.  I left not cured but at least still alive!

I had planned to play a couple of games and the Lechars kamikazie set up together with Kirriemuir’s charge of the light brigade both caught my eye.  I passed however and in fact bailed out before close of play at 4pm

Overall impressions?

Like I said at the start I am obviously biased but I do honestly believe that for a show of it’s size it is very difficult to beat.  What really makes it for me is the games put on by the clubs.  They are always of a high standard and generate a lot of interest.  It is great to see so many people taking part in the participation games.

Of course without the traders we would not have a show and we are very grateful to their support over the years.  The flea market and the painting competition both add an extra dimension to the show.

Any areas for improvement?  I would be grateful for any comments to that effect as we are always looking for new ideas.  The catering is pretty basic (although acceptable) but that comes with the hall.  We are starting to reach the limits of what we can do in the space but I don’t think there are any better venues in the area.

Anyway another great show – thanks to all the lads from the club who make it so but most importantly thanks to the public for turning up.

A few photos

 

The main sports hall.  There is another slightly smaller hall that also has the canteen in it

 

View from the stairs of the passage between the two main downstairs halls

 

The flea market

 

The painting competition

 

The other upstairs hall - we may be able to make more use of this

 

 

More traditional eye candy here http://ironmammoth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/carronade-2013-wargames-show-report.html here http://balkandave.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/carronade-13.html and here http://wappinshaw.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-falkirk-show-carronade-was-held.html

 

The organisation for the 2014 show starts next week!



Carronade 11th May Falkirk

I have just realised that I have been lax in promoting the club show on my blog so here goes.  Follow the link for lots more details
http://www.falkirkwargamesclub.org.uk/Carronade%202013/Carronade_2013.html

A few highlights

More traders than ever before - we have 40 this year

30 games listed, many of them participation, with one or too more to confirm

A painting competition

A flea market to unload your unwanted wargaming goodies/ find a bargain

So if you can put 11th May into your diary and come along to see us

Update

A quick round up of my wargaming activity since my last post

5 games of Impetus, including 3 at our Impetus Tournament ‘Antonine’s Folly’  My Parthians did OK, finishing 5^th out of 10.  A lot of fun was had by all who took part.

The Renaissance equivalent of Impetus is Baroque (or will be when it’s published) and I have had a couple of ECW games of the free version, Basic Baroque.  Enough to whet my appetite – I will definitely buy the full version when it comes out, hopefully later this year,  

I have also had a game using the Great War rules for the immediate post WWI period with my Freikorps taking on some dastardly Soviet types.  This was very much an trial game, but worked well enough for a first attempt.

Most recently I have had a couple of games of Hail Ceasar, the second being Cimollia II, the next in my plan to refight the battles of the Peloponnesian Wars.  I got absolutely stuffed – the combat results can be (and were) pretty brutal with my entire centre disappearing after the first melee phase.

My only other game was at Carronade, a participation games entitled ‘A Needle in an ocean of Haystacks’ put on by the inimitable Blues Bears (I always want to call them the Blues Brothers for some reason).  My Wellington went out on a patrol over the North Atlantic looking for the proverbial needle in a Haystack and……. saw absolutely no enemy activity whatsoever.  Very realistic but not the most exciting game I am afraid!

Carronade itself was another great event.  I help organise it so don’t get a chance to see as much as I would like, it’s a very busy day.  It is a big commitment to put on a decent sized show for a relatively small club like ours but the result is always worth the effort and this year was no exception.  We had record numbers through the door, lots of entries for the painting competition and the flea market was very well utilised.  Thanks to all the traders and to the clubs who put on some fantastic games. 

As far as the blog goes the plan is to get regular postings going again, hopefully with some photos! 

Carronade 5th May 2012 - web page now available

If you remember I said I would post a link when we had a web page up so here it is

http://www.falkirkwargamesclub.org.uk/Carronade%202012/Carronade_2012.html

Please check back regularly - as traders and clubs confirm attendance it will be updated.

I look forward to seeing many of you there on the day

Carronade 5th May 2012

I am surprised that I did not include a successful Carronade show in my master plan – perhaps it’s because it is more a Falkirk Club objective than a personal one.

My involvement is getting the flyers printed (done), the magazine advertising sorted (must do soon) and generally giving those involved in the running of it a gentle prompt from time to time to make sure we are on track.  Experience shows that the next four months will go in a flash!

We normally get 30+ traders and 30+ games and have been really pleased at the positive feedback we have had in the 5 or so years it has been going

Once the show page on the club website is up and running I’ll post a link on the blog