Derby Show Report!

[Leon]

The World Championships Show in Derby is a two-day affair, held in the University of Derby.  The venue is one of the best we go to, with lots of space, a glass roof giving good light, and excellent food/drink facilities!



We set off on Friday this year, deciding to set up a day earlier and enjoy a lie-in until 7am on the Saturday morning.  This didn't quite go to plan, as I woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep anyway.  The setup was easy and well-organised, and we were in and out in an hour.  The weather was a bit on the wet side, but not enough to cause any problems.  

We were staying at the Premier Inn up the road, only 5 minutes drive, which was very handy.  The hotel is good, with a Beefeater next door, and an Indian over the road, so is definitely recommended for anyone considering coming to this one next year.  Beware the food menu's in the pub though, as we got given a menu which we couldn't actually order from, then when we were given the correct menu, it had the exact same things we wanted off the first one!

Saturday morning we headed down to the venue and finished off the last few bits on the stand.  It's such a nicer start to the day when you've already set up, and it gives us chance to have a look about before the show opens.

The Main Hall houses most of the traders and the display games, set on various levels within the Atrium.





The Bring and Buy, and another smaller room of traders can be found up the Tower, only a flight of stairs away.  Unfortunately my photo of this bit didn't come out too well, so you'll have to take my word for it!  

With it being in a University, the food hall is well-equipped and is excellent quality, with full breakfasts available on both days, which is a great alternative to the bacon butties we usually have.  The queue on both mornings was testament to the food on offer.



The competitions are held in a separate room, and if there was one negative, it was the location for this.  There was a single door from the food hall, which led down a corridor, outside the back of the venue, and then back in through a second door, to the gym.  It's a tricky route, and one that you'd need to be told about clearly to be able to find this area.  I think maps were given out on entry, but there was no signage.  Apparently the competitions used to be held in the room which now holds the bar, and was moved when they refurbed the place.



Saturday was reasonably busy, I heard from another trader that they had 700 through the door.  We chatted with a load of people, a couple of Forum members (Chad, Eldamarelf) and a guy who lurks about here somewhere, but hasn't registered yet...!  One chap showed us some painted stuff he'd picked up from the Bring and Buy, which was painted by JAD Designs:



We had some of the Dungeon's with us, and one lady came and bought one for her husband.  Unfortunately, at some point of the day, someone pinched the set of rules from the Pack I had out on display.  What they're gonna do with them without a Dungeon I don't know.  The annoying thing is, that if they'd asked, I could have told them they were a free download from the Forum, and therefore didn't need to pinch them.  Dave tried to find the thief (I'll have to charge Pete for that free advertising...):




At the end of the day, we covered everything up and headed back to the hotel.  We'd arranged to meet up with the lads from the Border Reivers club, and we all headed over to the Indian.  Curries were consumed, beer was drank, and unbelievable/disgusting stories shared!  It was a great night, and one of the highlights of our weekend.

Sunday morning was another lie-in til 7am, then back to the venue.  We had learnt from the previous day that the food queue could get a bit long, so we were there before it even opened, and still weren't first!  The Sunday was a much quieter day, with a couple of busy spots, I think where people took a break from the competition games.  Unfortunately, around 3pm, the heavens opened and it looked like packing the van was going to be very interesting:



Luckily the rain eased off, and by the time it came to packing away, it was fine.  We got everything into the van quickly, thanks to our new handy rolly-cage-slidy-rack thing, which I'll get a pic of at Skelp, and headed back up the road to home.

So, here's some pics of the games on offer.

A 10mm BKC game by the guys from the Leeds club:







A VCBW game, set on the banks of the Tyne, by the guys from the Border Reiver club:







A great L-shaped Waterloo game, with a few thousand figures on the table:











Another Naps game:













A 40mm ACW game:







Fontenoy 1745:











A nicely built Fantasy game:













And a couple of other games:










And just the one Cat in the Hat:

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

So what happend to photos of the Kellman hall then ?

IanS

[Leon]

So what happend to photos of the Kellman hall then ?

IanS

Who, what, where!?   

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Hall with the 7th, Impvs and most imprtant MODERN Comp.

[Leon]

Hall with the 7th, Impvs and most imprtant MODERN Comp.

Hmm... I guess that illustrates the point of the lack of signage, as I never knew there was another hall!   

[Aart Brouwer]

Seems like a great venue. And many of the tables look great. You British are really the bee's knees when it comes to wargaming and scenery.

Cheeers,
Aart

[nikharwood]

Some great-looking stuff there - nice pics Leon 

[Steve J]

A nice venue, that's for sure. Great pics as always Leon. I'm always interested to see what is being displayed at all these wargaming events. To be honest, I wonder where people find the time to come up with some of the lovely tables.

[Aart Brouwer]

A nice venue, that's for sure. Great pics as always Leon. I'm always interested to see what is being displayed at all these wargaming events. To be honest, I wonder where people find the time to come up with some of the lovely tables.

My guess is they're either filthy rich, out of work or pensioned off.

Either way I wouldn't dare criticise them for what they do. It looks great. And it beats robbing the local laundromat. 

Cheers,
Aart

[jfariahitech]

I wish I had been there.
So far from Portugal


JF

[Leon]

A nice venue, that's for sure. Great pics as always Leon. I'm always interested to see what is being displayed at all these wargaming events. To be honest, I wonder where people find the time to come up with some of the lovely tables.

Cheers Steve!

I'm hoping to have a laptop at some of the shows next year, so I could upload pics throughout the day.  If people were on the Forum at the same time, they could even request more shots of certain games!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

You got the technology ?

IanS 

[Maenoferren]

booohooooo too far for me to go to any conventions Waaaahhhhhhhhh

[Leon]

You got the technology ?

IanS 

We've got a couple of hamsters and a wheel?   

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

But 'ampsters dont eat coal, and like warm climates... I am goig to 'ave to talk at animal protection ..

IanS