Monday 5 July 2010

Phalanx 2010

Even thought I haven't had much chance to get any hobby stuff done recently, I was lucky enough for a good friend Tolcrothlogan to take me up to Phalanx 2010 at St Helens a week or so ago. It's was my first time at a wargames show, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the show, there weren't enough games going on for my liking but the amount of traders made up for it. There was loads of terrain on sale, so plenty of eye candy and inspiration for my future projects.

My two regrets were that I didn't take my proper camera, so I had to use my mobile to take pics and I didn't take a notebook, so I never got to write down what the games were or who made the various bits of scenery. So, sorry about the quality of the pics, but here's the eye candy.

First off, we've got some Secrets of the Third Reich pics, I just love the spider tank in the background.


Next up, we have a pretty huge sci-fi game which I think is AT43 but don't quote me on that. I just loved the table, especially the large complex.



This was the first time I'd come across hex terrain. When I saw it on a trade stand in pieces, I wasn't that impressed, but laid out, it looked pretty good, the hex's seemed to blend away.



This was a huge historical battle, shame it was let down by table. Considering the amount of really good terrain available at the show, I was surprised they couldn't turn out a better table.


Whereas this game was the exact opposite, a really small table with some cracking terrain on it. Simple but really effective.


This one just blew my socks off. I think it was a flames of war game but in all honesty, I didn't really notice the models, just soaked up the table.




Some of the trade stands now, first off we've got some resin dark age forts by Grand Manor. These were so juicy, they almost made me want to play fantasy ..... almost :-)



Some simple scifi building next, to only one's at the show in truth. I get the feeling that non GW'ers arn't really into their futuristic gaming.


Some simple terrain pieces next, these would be so easy to make up, I almost picked up a couple of their terrain bags myself.


Another set of simple terrain from TheScene, dead easy to do, but really really effective. All their stuff is handmade and unique, so kudos to them.


Next up, we have a collection of 12mm buildings. Not much good for 40k, but quite inspirational. In the right scale, they'd make one hell of a 40k cityfight table.





Finally, I spotted some dungeon scenery and it sparked my interest for Heroquest, I just love dungeon delving.


Overall, a cracking day out, I'm looking forward to heading to some more shows in the future but next time I'll remember the camera and notepad.

6 comments:

Pietia said...

The huge sci-fi game is not AT-43. It is new game in 15mm scale from Critical Mass Games

CanolliCrusader said...

wow cool pics, that hex terrain is really snazzy! I never even heard of it before but looks very customizable, gotta look into it.

thanks for the pics man!

Blitzspear said...

Great pics Colonel, i wish there were more of these events around the country and better advertised.

MIK said...

Looks like a good time, thanks for the lowdown...

oni said...

Looks pretty cool. For some reason I always enjoy well done terrain and scenery a little more than well done models.

Even the most ornate model will look bad if placed on a battlefield that looks like crap, but a mediocre model placed onto an outstanding battlefield will look even better.

Col. Corbane said...

@Pietia - I wasn't sure mate but thanks for the answer, I must check them out.

@CanolliCrusader - No worries mate, must admit, I was pretty impressed with the hex stuff as well.

@Blitzspear - From what I've found mate, there's tons, they're just really poorly advertised which is a really shame as I had a great day.

@Gyro - It was mate, can't wait for the next.

@Oni - Totally agree mate, there's nothing between than a good army on a good table. I think that's one of the reasons I like wargaming so much, for the spectacle.