Warlord Games Open Day 2014

So me, the family and a couple of guys from Titan Games decided to have a trip to Nottingham to see what was going on at Warlord Games 'open day' yesterday...as you can see it was rather popular...

Editors Note - As with most of my event coverage posts this one is VERY picture heavy...

Though the pictures above are only of the one room...there was another room but I failed to take a picture of that one as a whole though I do have some pictures of the demo tables and exhibition games that it contained...speaking of demonstration areas...they had a few...well, more than a few in fact...

Though there were also a few others that I either forgot to take pictures of or that came out too blurry to be usable (sorry about that if I missed you out). There was also a painting competition (not many entries when I arrived...

There were some interesting other demonstrations as well...

Amongst the many demoers were Alessio Cavatore who was demonstrating his Loka game as well as pleasantly chatting to any-one who decided to say hello...even tolerating the slightly annoying bloggers, lol. Though it would be impossible for me to cover everything that was going on there were a few things that caught my eye especially though I'm afraid that none of them were of the more traditional military variety which is more an indication of my gaming preferences than any reflection on the quality of those other game systems.

As many of you who read my blog regularly are aware I'm a big fan of Steampunk games and related gubbins so the stand belonging to Sarissa Precision was of particular interest as it contained some excellent vehicles that fit my needs well and additionally had some perfect buildings for use with my Gremlins as 'Swamp Huts' (perhaps a home for Zoraida as well) amongst the other more traditional buildings.

An honourable mention must also go to the gentlemen from Arcane Scenery and Models who was selling the above product range for leaving the open day and going to his factory unit in order to fetch me a kit for a model from their display that they didn't have on the shelf...

I also managed to get a look at some of the Mantic Games Mars Attacks Miniatures Game bits and pieces. In fact I took so many pictures that they'll get a post of their own later but here are some pictures of the box, some models and a few samples from the rulebook just to keep you going.

The Game.

Models.

Rulebook.

I also got a sneak peak at the somewhat elusive 'Beyond the Gates of Antares' game that despite a few false starts looks to be shaping up into a decent looking sci-fi miniatures game. I've had a look at the 'Alpha' rules and they seem a solid enough start for the playtesters to get their teeth into. Here's a quick look at some of the models and the playtest rulebook. The models were ones purchased by Titan Games at the open day that I took some pictures of this afternoon...

Models.

 Rulebook.

Bear in mind that this is an 'Alpha' copy so expect significant changes...

I also bought a copy of the rulebook for the 'In Her Majesty's Name' Steampunk Skirmish Game to peruse...

..as well as finally getting around to purchasing the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game starter set. After some discussion the rather helpful person on the stand took pity on my self inflicted plight of already having the rulebook and the two sets included in it and offered to swap the two sets in it for two different ones though there was little he could do about the extra rulebook...

...fortunately I managed to convince Martin of Titan Games that he desperately wanted to play the game as well and so he took it off my hands. A sneak look at an upcoming ABC Warriors model that will be usable with the game system was the deciding factor for him but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of it...but just knowing that they're coming is very nice to know...

All in all it was a very enjoyable and well organised day though a few more entrants in the painting competition would have been nice as I think the same three people won most of the prizes, lol. There was a great deal going on on the day and there is undoubtedly much of interest that I've missed but all I can really do is talk about the things that were of interest to me personally and hopefully the rest will be covered by the many other people wandering around taking pictures as well.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.