28mm Arab Commander and Standard Bearer

I don't normally do conversions, but after buying the boxes of plastic Arabs and Crusaders I noticed I'd got quite a few extra parts including two mounted Conquest Miniatures Norman Knights. I managed to swap the heads and shields over using a couple of Gripping Beast Arabs, then gave them some cloaks left from the Fireforge Templar Knights boxed sets. Any gaps were filled in using Green Stuff. The banner was made
from paper and the design copied from one I'd found on the internet.

The movement base was made due to the fact that the Gripping Beast 'Crescent and Cross' Rules are due for release very soon, and I wanted the option of using the figures individually. The basing was done using Basetex and some home sourced sand and gravel.

Partizan, Kelham Hall. June 1st 2014

I'd heard nothing about the Partizan show being moved to a Marquee area outside the main building this year, so it was quite a surprise when we arrived. A relief as it turns out, because one thing I remember from previous attendance was having to navigate those small side rooms and needing to keep a can of deodorant handy due to the usual heave of people on what was typically a warm day. It was still pretty hot inside the tented area, but at least you could lift the side flaps up (as some did) or take a dozen steps outside to sit under the shade of a tree. The layout was such that all the traders were placed around the edges of the Marquee with games in the centre. Great stuff!

Not having taken large wads of cash with me this time I made some quick purchases and then decided to spend time photographing some of the excellent demo and participation games. The first one was a real eye-catcher from The Anti-Alchemists called 'Race to the Sea - Decision at Dampf'. A WW1 scenario using the Lardies rules and some beautifully painted 28mm figures that they'd originally done at Salute 2013. You can view the techniques used for building the terrain here on the Lead adventure Forum: http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=61298.0

Next up was a stunning zombie skirmish game themed on the Shaun of the Dead film. A really lovely set-up using a city-scape with some stunning detail. I loved the use of the crashed Matchbox cars!

Also on show was this awesome Imperial Roman game by Simon Miller and Big Red Bat Enterprises. The river and bridge, not to mention the beautiful figures, made this a complete marvel.

Finally a quick mention has to go to the guys from Lincoln Miniature Warfare Society who were running a very engaging DBM game on a few small sections of MDF. Proof once again that you don't need huge amounts of space and terrain to create something fun!