9th - 11th August, Kulmbach, Bavaria

This trip grew out of my acquisition of a large number of flats from the early years of ancient wargaming ... a collection of Deryck Guyler and Tony Bath ancients plus Phil Barker's Romans.

My early interest was sparked by seeing the Guyler collection on Blue Peter as a youngster and then the Trimsos game in Don Featherstone's book - so being asked to give a home to some of those figures has been a great opportunity ...

But all enthusiasts know that collections are never complete and refurbishment always means going shopping...

... and, for flats, the Kulmbach show is the pace to go.  

For those that don't know it, the Zinnfiguren Borse (Tin Figure Market) takes place every two years, and although it covers all sizes and styles of model soldier it famously specialises in the traditional German style flat figure.

It shares Kulmbach with two other appropriate specialities ... the brewery and the Plassenburg Zinnfiguren Museum.   On my first day in Kulmbach I explored and acclimatised to the show: on day two I made the trip up to the Plassenburg (which overlooks the show) and discovered the best museum in the world, ever ...

At the show, while some figures are displayed in dioramas like these excellent Rangers, most are racked up on picture boards like the beautiful 'Battle of Issus' figures from Cortum ...

This is one of the ranges I went out to see.   There are literally hundreds of these boards to browse, plus cardboard sheets piled up and stacks (honestly, stacks) of trays to shuffle.    It seemed impossible to see everything (which is what I usually try to do at a show) ...

Everything seemed available in ample supply, and although a lot of the figures come in sets, everything was available singly as required.

The price seemed to vary by, at most, 20% either side of 1E for foot, 2E for mounted (so about the same as round figures, give or take) ...

Way above the town (the toy soldier show is in the big white-roofed structure just below half way on the right of the picture) ... sits the Plassenburg, where I spent the afternoon of Day 2.

(Don't despair - there's a bus up the hill and it only takes 5 minutes)

My first impression of the Plassenburg Museum was that it was very busy.  I guess lots of people are in town for the soldier show, and build a visit into the trip.

There are 4 floors of toy soldiers here, all historical, the core 2 floors being the age of Frederick the Great and the age of  Napoleon.   But here are some inspiring ancients ..

(Priests carrying a ceremonial barge in ancient Egypt)

(Aztecs and Conquistadors)

A couple of relief dioramas (part of a series on Hannibal's crossing of the Alps)

Of course, Kulmbach is but a few kilometers from Bayreuth ... so, although the Museum is otherwise mercifully free of fantasy, there is room for characters from the Niebelungenleid ... here, Rudiger ...

I will report more on the Museum elsewhere, but suffice to say here that anyone who loves military figures should put it on their list of places to visit at least once.   You might as well make it an odd-numbered year and the second weekend in August (that way you can take in a unique toy soldier show too)

Meanwhile I was back down the road to finish my shopping ...

This was one of my better efforts: ignore the Egyptian boat (that beauty will decorate the river on my 'Lords of the Nile' DBA board) ... mostly, this little haul will finish the oddments in my Plataea collection.  The guys lying down are for casualty markers, of course.

Verdict:

The Plassenburg Museum is magical and a must for any serious enthusiast.

The Zinnfiguren Borse was essential for me as I had gaps to fill in a flats collection.   If you are not (yet?) a flats enthusiast, there is still plenty of good stuff, especially non-UK figures ... Mirliton, those Spanish guys, the rarer plastic and resin 20mm sets 

Of course, it is just shopping, and lacks the ambience of a UK show and all the lush attractions of set out wargames and participation games.   I think without the Plassenburg up the road it would be a  bit soulless (a vision of the future maybe for the cranks who want to turn UK shows over to the trade stands) - in this case the mix works and I will surely be back.

A closer look at the Plassenburg

Reading - Rivermead 22nd-23rd November

Warfare 2008The Society of Ancients pitch at Warfare followed a pattern now familiar for shows in the south of England - A Sabin/Cruttenden 28mm historical battle fought as a participation game on the Saturday, changing over to a different game offered on the Sunday. This year was exceptional in that both games were published 'alternative' games, both being run for the Society by their authors (SoA members, of course, as you'd expect ... but seldom are we fortunate enough to get both helping the show team over the course of the same weekend).

On Saturday, Philip Sabin ran a Lost Battles Issus game. This looked superb and attracted many a compliment. It is also an excellent battle to put on using Lost Battles - huge, and difficult to balance using 'old fashioned' table top systems, it can easily be fought to a conclusion with beginners at the helm, twice in a normal show day. The handicap scoring system enables a fair game to follow the historical script but with plenty of chances to win and change history on both sides. Lost Battles has an interesting way of factoring in the effects of linear features which seems uniquely effective at capturing the essence of these typically Persian battles across the banks of a river. Whilst making the defensive position work challenges the Persian player, Alexander has an absolutely crucial role to play in making the Macedonian army tick ...As well as chatting to a good number of interested spectators and visitors, I was fortunate enough to take a limited part in the second of the day's encounters, and the battle rattled through with its usual smoothness. I really do recommend this system for refighting historical battles of the Classical and Hellenistic period. I believe the paperback is now available.
(Alexander has an absolutely crucial role to play in making the Macedonian army tick ...)

On the Sunday, Neil Thomas helped us run a participation game of his Ancient and Medieval WarfareNeil's 8 unit battle system and elegant combat mechanism is an increasingly popular option for fast playing and relatively simple ancient battles. These rules have been quite well covered in Slingshot, and have been the basis for the beautifully presented participation games recently from the Graham D Evans stable (Derby, Milton Keynes etc.) ...However, this year's Warfare was the first time I have been able to watch the system played through by the author, rather than as interpreted and put on by my local Northamptonshire club mates. There is quite a fascinating difference (particularly issues such as wheeling, lining up, flank attacks and such like) ... The good news is that both versions of the game work because both are attempting to get to the same overall effect (and this certainly demonstrates the strength of the underlying mechanisms ...).Looking around the show, as well as the massed of tournament categories, there was an above average selection of display and participation games. The Lance and Longbow Society were offering a Wars of the Roses game based upon RFCM's Bloody Barons from Peter Pig ...Meanwhile, just along from from the Society's pitch, a Roman invasion scenario was nicely depicted with 28mm figures (and prominently dressed with the reconstructed Legionary gear) ...
The 'hugely impressive terrain' prize must have gone to the vast 28mm Soviets in Mongolia game (1938, I guess) featuring that currently popular fluffy way of doing long grass - 'fake fur' I think it is made from - which done as well as this, does indeed look very good (and quite Mongolian, I think - I recall there wasn't much to hide behind except dried up river banks and tall grass!) ... Good figures and vehicles too (and - authentically - bi-plane fighters with rocket armament ...)...And another worthy mention goes to the (sadly static) 54mm plastics display .. very inspiring and good to see so many big but inexpensive figures in a simple but effective presentation.


(54mm plastic Napoleonics - click on the picture for a larger version)

I was able to do some good shopping at this show, too.

See you next year? Thanks to everyone for giving us so much to do.