Durham Show Report and Pics!

[Leon]

We'd been worrying all week with the amount of rain, but it had brightened up by Thursday, and come Saturday morning, the sun was shining and it was set to be a nice day.  This show is only about 40 minutes up the road for us, so it's nice to have a bit of a lie-in (til 6am!).  

The venue could be a bit hard to find if you're new to the area, down a little side street, but it's easy enough to get to, and has sufficient parking right outside.  The building is a former barracks, and was built in 1865.


Ample parking in what was the former drill area:


And the old parade ground is now a nice bowling green...


...which was actually in use towards the end of the day.  A rare occurance at a wargames show!


There were two halls of traders and games, with a couple of smaller rooms containing a display game and the bring and buy.  The halls aren't the biggest you'll find, but everything fits in and didn't seem as cramped once the show opened.  There were a load of Durham club members about, all recognisable by their purple shirts, and there was a nice relaxed atmosphere to things, which is always a good thing.

Hall 1:


Hall 2 (with a slightly surprised chap collecting his bacon butty!):


We got the stand stretched out along one of the walls, which seemed to make us look bigger?  We were slightly blocking one of the fire exits, but the health and safety people hadn't been invited, so no-one minded!



And a couple of pics of the excellent Vietnam display which Nik's done for us.  I'll have to get them put into a case when I get chance:




The show went well, and there were a good number of people milling about.  We were able to meet Luddite, who popped by for a chat, although he wasn't too keen on getting a picture in the helmet!  It's always nice to be able to put names to faces, especially with Forum members, so good to meet you Luddite!

One huge plus point that I have to make is the food on offer.  We go to so many shows where you get a dry bun with a scrap of fatty bacon, but the grub on offer here was fantastic.  Everything was available from a little bar in the corner of Hall 2, and I had an excellent toasted cheese and bacon panini for lunch.

Unfortunately, the impending England game had an affect, as people started to disappear around 1-2pm, which was a shame, but it was a very good show for Team Pendraken.  We started to get packed away around 3pm, and were on the road by 4pm, having had an excellent day up the road in Durham!  If only the England game had been as impressive...

Cheers Durham Wargames Club, we'll see you next year!

[Leon]

And just the one 'Cat in the Hat' pic from this show, new Forum member 'Tommy Atkins':

[Luddite]

Me in a picklehaub would just confirm too many assumptions 

Glad you had a decent day Leon.

We're a small show but we do try to be perfectly formed...

...and indeed it's a shame that we seem destined to coincide with an England game every year...grr...

Still good to see our team getting into the spirit of sportsmanship by letting the Yanks get a goal just so they don't feel too left out.

[Steve J]

Glad you had a good show. The Vietnam bases look really cool (well done Nik) and must be a great way to show off the minis in their best light, as they are very eye catching.

[nikharwood]

Excellent - glad you had a good show and nice to see the Vietnam stuff too  - although that rotor on the Huey should drop in a touch more than that 

[Leon]

...although that rotor on the Huey should drop in a touch more than that 

Yeah, I didn't want to force it in case it snapped.  It'll be glued in place once I get a display case for it.

[nikharwood]

Coolio 

[Leon]

Coolio 

We got good comments about the displays.  I was showing them to one guy who was considering getting into 10mm, as an example of the look you can get from this scale.  His friend bought some stuff, so we will see if he decides to join Team 10mm!

[nikharwood]

Excellent 

[brothercrow]

Finally got round to joining the Pendraken Forums...I've been reading them for a while, but hadn't got round to signing up.

Thanks for the nice comments about Durham Show - if Leon (and everyone else at Pendraken) don't mind, I'll pop a link on our website to this page. For my sins, I'm webby for the Durham Wargames Group...if you want to put a face to me, I was the one who bought loads of Russian WW2 at the Durham Show.

Since the Leeds show last November, when I made my first 10mm purchase, I've painted mid/late War US; Late/Early War British; Late/Early War German. At present I have about 36 bases of infantry (plus support and command) and between 30 and 50 vehicles for each side...all painted!

Russians are next on the table, followed by Mid War Germans and then the Japanese. Yes, I'm a completist!!!

Here's a couple of links to what we get up to in Durham using Blitzkrieg Commander...all the figures are Pendraken:

Longchamps, Belgium: http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/battle_reports/2010/02/index.asp

Anzio, Italy: http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/battle_reports/2010/01/index.asp

Best wishes,
Graeme,
Durham Wargames Group.

[Leon]

Hi Graeme, good to see you at the show.  A link on your website would be great, the more the merrier!

We've just started a new board for wargames clubs: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?board=25.0, so feel free to put anything you like on there.