Rampage 09 - Pt 1

Yesterday I went to the Ilford Wargames Group annual show, Rampage. I went with a shopping list of items to buy and questions to ask and came away thoroughly sated in both instances.

The show was held at All Saints School in Dagenham which is very convenient for me as I live only five minutes drive away. The only problem with the venue was the lack of ventilation on one of the hottest days of the year so far. That small gripe aside I thought it was an enjoyable show with a varied selection of games and traders.

I bought my first few items of 15mm scenery (roads and walls) from Quick Reaction Force and some hills from the Bring & Buy stall - a bargain at £3.50 for two. However my main expenditure was on books rather than miniatures. I bought two Osprey reference books - The Panzer Divisions (Men-at-Arms series) and Panzer Crewmen 1939-45 (Warrior Series) - from Lanchester Books. I also found a rare copy of Germany's Panzers in WWII by Jentz & Doyle (Schiffer 2001). Following on from my recent purchase of the Flames of War Rules I picked up the Cobra source book for wargaming the Normandy Breakout.

Having spent a small 'recession-busting' fortune on books and scenery I found myself short of the required funds for the paint and miniatures I had initially set out to buy. Disaster! At first I cursed my over zealous shopping spree until I found to my delight that the trader selling the items I wanted (Tole Haven of Hornchurch) took plastic! I now have the paints I need to get started on my first 15mm German Panzers. Phew!

All in all a very expensive day but a great success. I bought everything I set out to get, discovered a local gaming group and got to play in a participation game - but that's a story for tomorrow. More pictures will be posted over the next few days and I'll get an album together on Picasa as soon possible.