Doing Recon

 Hi all,

It's busy, busy, busy here at the Dark Tower atop Fackham Hall, but this morning the memsahib and your correspondent shot up the M1 like a greased mouse in the vicinity of Richard Gere.

Why? I hear you say...

Well, it was the wonderful old school convention which is Recon at Pudsey Civic Hall on the outer limits of Leeds.

Now, it's not a massive event, but it is a traditional show, with a lack of Hipsters, cup cakes and all that guff. What's more it has a bring and buy on which I always find something interesting. 

I've been an attendee of Recon since the 80s where you could see the great Ghengis Benson verbally abusing his opponents in the competitions, and where I was once carried away by two burly blokes whilst a third held my wallet after at the tender age of 16, I set my mind to buying a 25mm Gallia castle. In fact I was remeniscing over that with one of thoe burly chaps this very morning as the memsahib sat there shaking her head in disbelief.

The catering is great and the entrance fee equally so. For £7.50 I got in, had a fine sausage sandwich and a cup of tea.

It was busier than last year, and the trade stands were back in strength, so that the bring and buy was back in an upstairs room, where it was doing some brisk trade.

By ten past ten, the hall was filling nicely:

The Christmas decorations and really friendly atmosphere make this a smashing end to a gaming year for us. I am not a gregarious beast by nature, being a hard bitten and grizzled old bastard, but we found ourselves in animated and enjoyable conversation with a stranger about ECW reenactment and wargaming in general as we took a coffee break.

Ken Reilly of Yarkshire Gamer fame was there with his sublime renaissance display, fending off fans who were trying to tear off a piece of his pluderhosen or have him bless their firstborn.

If you go to Recon with the right outlook, the show will repay you with a good day out.

Thanks to the organisers for another great little show.