I Have Been To....Skirmish, Sidcup in Kent

A modest haul courtesy of the bring and buy for the Peter Hopkirk title, Dave Lanchester Military Books for the Carlist volume and the Spanish Guerillas from Andy's Models

On a bright and sunny Sunday morning I hopped in the car and made my way to the Skirmish Plastic Soldier fair at Sidcup in Kent. I like this show as it is quite small, easy to get to and gives me a chance to get out for a couple of hours. I had an ulterior motive in that I had some matters to attend to following my recent decision around trimming the collection - business was duly dealt with first of all - which took all of fifteen minutes to tackle so leaving me plenty of time to rummage and chat.

I met up with Big Lee and Postie of the Rejects fame and we discussed matters many and varied  - especially the accuracy of wargames mortars. Wargamers tend to like going over tabletop happenings and the conversation was both amusing and stimulating in equal measure.

I was very restrained as far as spending was concerned - the two books above have been on my 'to get' list for some time - and the only indulgence was the box of 96 Spanish Napoleonic Guerillas. I have a number of ideas for these figures and so it will probably not surprise you when I mention that the Peninsula war does not feature as one of them! As an aside, they are lovely figures and I shall look forward to slapping some paint on them in due course - especially once the ideas I am currently playing with come to fruition.

The Hopkirk title covers the clandestine attempts by the Germans to initiate a Jihad across the Muslim world against the British. Lots of ideas in this and visions of German supported Afghans taking on the British and Indian troops in the Khyber Pass has a certain whimsical charm.

As for the Carlist war well, what can I say? The book is really good and chock full of wargaming 'stuff' - uniforms, maps, orders of battle and much more besides. It is not a speculative purchase - far from it - as I have a few ideas for the period kicking around and have wanted to get a copy for ages.

There was some interesting games on display but sadly I did not take my camera. Clint was there with his Arab Revolt game which looked really good with some very impressive camelry - and it will be even better when the palm trees arrive! There was also the First Battle of Lissa for naval enthusiasts and even a Battle of Britain variant of Memoir 44 using Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale aircraft (not that is something to ponder!).

All in all it was great way to spend a Sunday morning - and just so as I don't forget, a very special hello to those very nice people at Pilum Painting!