And It Cost You 4 Figures! Or, How I spent under £100 At Partizan And Came Away Pleased With The Show But Pissed Off!

 Well, we had a pleasant day at Partizan today, well in terms of the show anyway. It was great to see Tim Gow and John Armatys, together with young Andrew Bishop, with their Hostage Rescue take on Cluedo.

Shaun from the bunker had his excellent 20mm War Of The Worlds display game going full throttle, but we still got a quick chat (always a pleasure).

Trade seemed brisk, and Dave Thomas was beating customers off with sticks as they swarmed the D.T Megastore down in it's usual corner pitch. They were so busy that even Phil was working!

The general standard of display games was good, but not of the standard Partizan used to offer, many were about on par with my own table, but nothing really shone. The gimmick of gamers standing around in mess dress has worn itself out now. 

There was a simple but very eye catching Hastings game, where the sheer 'wall' of troops atop the hill really drew the eye. There was a nice ECW skirmish, two different games involving Ottomans and as I say, they were all good, but that spark , that elite whiff was absent - as was the whiff of unwashed gamers, so I guess it balanced out.

I'd gone with the usual mid 4-figure sum in cash about my person, and was drawn to a trade stand ostensibly being operated as an estate clearance for a fellow gamer of those manning the stall. On it wereseveral boxes of superbly painted 28mm Westphalian and Russian Napoleonics, and there was a very nice Marlburian collection.

I aske the price and was given the per diem figures, and indicated that I was seriously interested in the lot, being told that they'd need to grab a calculator and work it out.

No problem, and I stood there waiting patiently for the numbers. As I stood there, they then proceeded to sell parts of the cavalry off, so I started to walk away because money was changing hands. One of the gents then asked what was up, and I indicated again, that I was wishing to buy the very figures in toto that his colleague was selling. 

I also intended to buy the Marlburians, but no fucking way, no way at all was I going to buy what was left over after that little piss take. I suppose you could think I was cutting off my nose to spite my face, and perhaps I was, but look, if someone offers me a 4-figure sum in cash (and they were a cash only operation) and someone else offers me a couple of hundred quid, I'm going to take the former. 

So I walked away in something of a pissed off mood, and at 1PM when we left, 85% of those figures were still sitting there, as were the Marlburians. 

All in all a good day, with the memsahib once again soending more than I at a show, my can of spray paint and bottle of decal fixative being dwarfed by her paintbrush spend, alone.

If you know the guys getting rid of those models, put them in touch with me if they still have the Marlburians. From their accents they can't be too far away from my location, probably from Lancashire.

We had the obligatory ice creams and returned home via the bank where I redeposited my funds.

Apart from Del and Rodney's antics, it was a good show.

Speaking of shows, the Steel Warriors show is not as some posited, being organised by Sheffield Wargames Society, but it is being run by two of those responsible for Triples during it's final terminal spiral.

The venue is one which they decided against previously for the Triples show, and as I see it there are the same issues of communication, or more importantly lack of same, which led to the sad demise of one of the greates t shows in the country. With the aging demographic and moreover the swing in what is expected of a show (for the worse in my personal opinion) I can see this private venture being quite a high risk. 

I'd happily promote this show until I was blue in the face and moreover offer my hand, but I don't think it would be accepted in good grace. And I think the expectations of the organisers may be a little over-ambitious as I discussed with someone today.

Sheffield deserves more than Chillcon, but it will only get tmore if more is done to facilitate it.

I hope I am wrong, truy I do, because I grew up having some of the best shows, including the Triples show, on my doorstep, and those days were the best.