UK Games Expo 2009

I went down the Clarendon Suites in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday for my first UK Games Expo. Wow- brilliant event. Boatloads of stalls selling everything imaginable. It was quite eye-opening and also very reassuring to see the support that my favourite hobbies have. All the main gaming areas were covered- RPGs, Miniatures (both fantasy and historicals), CCG/TCGs and Boardgames. In fact the only related gaming aspect not included would be LARP I guess.

On day one I went down with Rich with primarily my miniatures head on. One of my main goals was to get the final models I need for this tournament on 21st June. There were a lot of stalls selling Privateer Press stuff which was really reassuring and the vibe I got was very much one of a growing hobby. The PP stall itself was well manned and getting a lot of people going with starter games. They had a stunning centrepiece board (pictured) with Trollbloods vs Circle Orboros. I had to shop about a bit to get the models I wanted, but I came home with eKreuger, Blackclad Wayfarer, Ravager Whitemane and Ravager Shaman for Circle and Titan Cannoneer and Cataphract Cetrati for my fledgling Skorne force. Some stalls were doing some great deals working out at 20%+ off! Hi to SMG!

For the PP games, the core of the weekend would be the UK Masters for WM/Hordes which were going on in a pair of side rooms. There were some lovely armies on show and we chatted to a few players. Big shoutout to John from the Boosted Damage podcast who chatted a while. It seems eMorghoul was popular for the assassination run! Maybe next year I will enter the Masters!

There were some huge participation areas for all sorts of games especially Esdevium hosting a ton of boardgames, a large DND starter dungeon with a dedicated GM and quite a few places to try CCGs. In the middle of the main thoroughfare was the full size Tardis accompanied by some Daleks and a rather enthusiastic Doctor Who. We also caught site of some other costumed roamers like this guy:

On sunday I went down with John, of Photowalkthrough fame, to mainly check out the boardgames. We had a great time checking out the hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of games on sale from so many vendors. We got to spend some time chatting to a few designers about their games and finding out more. We chatted for a while to Alessio Calvatore (yes, him of GW fame) who was there showing off his game Shuuro. This game looks really good- a mix of chess and wargaming. We also watched a demo of Snow Tails, a wonderful game of husky racing in the vein of Ave Caesar. John picked up both these games. We tried Snow Tales last night and it was great fun. controlling the sled while going too fast is hard! The game I have on my wishlist next is Canal Mania. Not only does it look fun, but one of the towns you can build to is Skipton, my home town in Yorkshire!

For the coming week, my main panic is going to be getting the rest of my Circle guys painted for the Altrincham Altercation. I still have 4 models to paint, which may be a struggle for me in 10 days, especially as I move house at the end of June! Pics to follow as I finish the models!