I have been to....Skirmish in Sidcup, Kent

After the minor hiccup of the Kurz and Allison title it was with some relief that I spent a very enjoyable Sunday morning at the Skirmish Toy Soldier Show in Sidcup, Kent. I really like this show as it is quite small, is easy to get to (around 35 minutes in the car) and can be done and dusted in a morning. It is normally on twice a year but I missed the early 2018 show - I have a feeling it was when the ‘Beast from the East’ was in full fury - so was really keen to get there this time.

It was a low key affair and the trade stands were  definitely down on previous years. If I am honest I wonder how long they will keep this on for as it seemed quite sparsely attended. There were a number of games being run, one of which really caught my eye, as well as a rather nice Bring and Buy.

Of the games the one that really caught my eye was a French versus Berber action set in somewhere in Morocco in 1918. The games was called ‘Action at Sidi Khup’....it took me a little while to work that one out! This was run by Skirmish Wargames and featured some really nice terrain. Sadly I did not take many pictures but trust me, it looked very nice indeed.

The French force had been tasked with repairing a derelict fort to which the Berbers took a dim view.

Fort Soixante Neuf or something similar. Note the legionary washing line....

The bring and buy was pretty busy and quite unusually for me I managed to snag a couple of bargains. I consoled myself that this went some way towards easing my disappointment over the Kurtz and Allison book.

Tomorrow’s War is Osprey’s ‘hard’ Sci-Fi skirmish rule set. This normally retails for £25 I believe - mine cost £6. The Paraguayan War is published by Foundry and is probably very expensive - mine cost me £10 which was pretty darned good in my opinion!

The big news from the show though was that I was able to catch up with three of Posties Rejects - Ray, Big Lee and Postie himself. We discussed matters many and varied, had a laugh and I was honoured to have been asked to attend the Shed of War for a game at some point. There was mention of some kind of strange initiation ceremony but I did not like to dwell on that, at least before lunch in any event...

Bob Cordery was also there and we were able to transact a small amount of business and discuss matters Portable Wargames related. I always enjoy discussing stuff with Bob as it is always a sensible and rewarding conversation. I am quite sure I must drive him bonkers with questions about ‘stuff’ but he always comes back with rational and plausible explanations. I will not go into detail but I have a more rounded and in depth understanding of some of the key Portable Wargame concepts and how these can be used almost as a wargames toolkit.

Thought provoking for sure and exciting with it.

As a result of our transaction I am now the proud owner of some extra sand coloured Heroscape tiles, a couple of Games Workshop gaming mats - one green and one sand - and a box full of metal Spencer Smith ACW figures. The latter will dovetail nicely with the small selection I have and so, aside for the bases and a couple of figures I will need to order the ACW Kurtz and Allison project is now on the runway.

It has been a quite superb day.