I Have Been To.....Cavalier, Tonbridge

A selection of welcome retail therapy - there is some more!

Firstly, apologies for the late post - I started typing this up yesterday but the day just seemed to disappear!

For us folk 'down south', Cavalier at Tonbridge is the first wargames of the year and is a welcome way to banish the winter blues. This was the first time I had been to this show at its new venue and was pleasantly surprised by the relatively easy journey I had to get there.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends old and new and I was lucky enough to hook up with Bob Cordery of  Wargaming Miscellany fame (his blog also features some very nice pictures of the games at the event) as well as assorted members of Postie's Rejects - with whom cordial greetings and much banter was exchanged concerning work and why having a 14ft table was a good idea when keeping Fran and Ray apart....;-) Big Lee was also in evidence and we shared a chat about matters WW2 desert and project related - very informative, especially as we seem to have a similar outlook on 'stuff that we don't use!'

Bob and I had some trading to deal with and so I now have sufficient 20mm Gernan and Russian WW2 infantry to really kick start my Middle Eastern project - and probably explains the main bulk of my shopping list as seen above. Two boxes of Plastic Soldier Company Pzr 3s, a box of Pzr 4s, a box of the new PAK 38 50mm AT guns and a box of Russian T70s and a rounded off with a couple of boxes of Hat Renault FT17s armed with the 37mm gun. Some other bits and pieces were acquired - some of which will remain under wraps for the time being.

I also spoke to Dave Ryan of Caliver Books - Minifigs Ships fame and was delighted to receive a box full of Minifigs warships which will be more than sufficient to tackle the Rusland and Fezian navies in proper pre dreadnought plumage in due course - that means that the 1:2400th models can instead be painted grey to fit in with the WW1 ships due to arrive next week. Many thanks Dave, much appreciated.

My stop at the Plastic Soldier Company stall coincided by the visit of Henry Hyde of Battlegames fame - I was amused that he rather drily observed that 20mm was 'the one true scale' just as I picked up my boxes of German armour....;-) This gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling of righteousness, almost like that of a crusading zealot!

I must confess that whilst I took my camera I did not take a single picture the entire time I was there and not only that, I also did not really spend much time looking at the games put on aside from SEEMS Very French Civil War run using Bolt Action (and my time there was certainly brief enough!).

Cavalier Ticket number 001 - I was the first person to but a ticket on the door - a notable first in my opinion!

It was a great day out and to be honest I was just happy enough being immersed in matters gaming related and spending time among fellow enthusiasts (and spending some money of course!).

The only downside was a rather unpleasant incident in the Bring and Buy which I only found out about this morning. Best read the following link for details - Don't Throw a One!

I hope the perpetrator of this crime (because that is exactly what it is!) is caught, named and shamed because quite frankly, stealing (in any form) from a fellow enthusiast is certainly way beyond the pale.