Fall In: The Games!

Hi all!

Well, it is that time!  Time for the games!

Now... I hate to do this.  I really do.  Honestly.

But man... the games this year really did not live up to my expectations.

Now, maybe I have too high expectations.  Maybe they are unrealistic.  But I was really, really disappointed by the overall quality of the tables of the games.

Now, often the figures were fantastic, but there were SO many tables that were just bits of felt or bits of lichen, and it left me so disappointed.

Someone I was talking to on Saturday night theorized that wargamers have three different "concerns" when it comes to games.  First, there is the competition aspect of it.  Second, there is the fun of game playing.  Finally, there is the spectacle of it all.

And I admit; that last one is HUGE for me... and the terrain is a big part of that!  When I was a kid I ADORED dioramas.  Adored them.  The tiny trees, the tiny fields, the tiny buildings... what wargamer DIDN'T love them... or heck, DOESN'T love them?  I spent hours standing in front of every diorama I could find, drinking in all the tiny goodness!

Unfortunately, I didn't get that feeling a lot this year at Fall In.  There were simply too many games that just didn't look very good.

So I was just left very disappointed by the overall visual quality of the games this year.  I hope next year can be better.  And it doesn't take a lot of money; it just takes some time, some work, and a bit of flock!

ANYWAY; let's get to the show... the games!  As always, please let me know if you recognize some games, or if you ran them yourselves, and want to contribute more info!  I even numbered them this year, for ease of clarification!:)

1) First up, this fantastic table that was up in the main lobby for the whole time!  It was sculpted Styrofoam.  I forget the name of the fellow who made it, but I've seen it before, and I know someone out there knows this artisan!  It hosted a number of games, from Napoleonics...

... to modern!

Now, it was a beautiful table, and I LOVED the woods!  A helpful gamer picked up the end so I could get a good shot of how the woods lay right on top of the trunks.  Looked great, AND very useful!

2) This was an ACW table that was being taken apart... I like the modular nature of it!  Apparently it consisted of three different battlefields all mixed up.  Note the Gordon and Hague miniatures on the bottom right!:)

3) Another nice table, although I missed what the game was:)

4) A big 1812 game, Brits on the left, Americans on the right!

The British were Perry figures and very nice.  Not sure about the makers of the Americans!

Here are some more shots of the Brits; they were very clean, and very nice!

Some more Brits...

And some more!

5) Now, this was another game near the entrance to the main hall... I missed the theatre, but I think it was 1812... but I wanted to make sure to get some photos of the great boats and landing parties!

6) This was a very neat game, ran by a fellow from the Old Glory Shipyard... nothing like 28mm naval combat!

7) A huge pseudo-Space Hulk game, perfect for the kids!  No squares on the tiles (they were using rulers) but it was awful neat how the hulk got revealed piece by piece.

8) A huge game outside of the main hall... I believe it was either 1812 or French and Indian.

Here are some of the troops preparing to enter the table!

9) Okay, I LOVED this table.  A 15mm naval game.  The ships were just beautiful, the figures were simple and pretty... really, I loved this one.  And it looked like fun!

A close up of one of the ships in action.  I liked how the bases were painted like planks!

And another ship, sitting out this fight!

10) Look at all of that fence... must be ACW!:)

11) If I recall correctly this was a Roman Civil War game.  Nice elevation changes, too!

12) Hmm.. Normandy?  Not totally sure, so if anyone can help out...?

13) A neat 28mm Old West game that was doing a great job at getting the next generation involved!

14) This was a monster in one of the side rooms.  No idea what it was... snuck a photo and ran!:)

15) A 28mm Moderns game... if I recall correctly, it was Afghanistan.  You can just make out some NATO troops in the top right of the shot.

16) I just caught this one setting up... no details, sorry!

17) A fun little dungeon crawl that ran over several sessions.  Looked popular and fun!

18) The fields say ACW... the flags, Napoleonic?  I am not sure what this one was, so if anyone can help?

19) Another 28mm Moderns game.  Love seeing two M1A1s on the table... I'm sure they brought the pain.

20) A very clean 10mm ACW game of Antietam (note Bunker Church on the far left of the shot).  The GM used some cheap materials, like the plastic mats and the corduroy, and they were carefully cut and edged, making for a nice clean look!  Simple, affordable, and effective.

Having pretty figures doesn't hurt either, right?:)

21) A skirmish game that I believe was set in the 1812 era, using some very nice Miniature Building Authority terrain!

22) Ahhh!  A 28mm WWII double-blind game.  Loved the use of the projector screen to separate the two tables.  Now, in order to pull this off, you need two identical sets of terrain and armies; not easy!

So here is a shot of the American table... they see a Stug on the road, but that seems to be it...

But here is the German table, where it is clear there is German infantry and a troop carrier hidden among the weeds by the road!

23) Marengo!  A 28mm Napoleonic Carnage and Glory game (more on that later.)

Very pretty table...

... and the figures were beautiful!

Here some Austrian troops move through the countryside towards the sound of the guns.

The French advance across the fields towards the Austrian enemy!

24) Okay, for this one, I caught "Turks" and "Horseflesh."  I know the Brits were there, but I wasn't sure what else.  One thing?  A CRAPTON of figures (and a Best Game of the Show award!)

As I said... crap ton.  Just base that last group, please!:)

25) Okay, I couldn't help it... a sci-fi game.  But come on, it was TIE fighters vs X-Wings!  Dude, who WOULDN'T play that!

And finally a WWII game that clearly put the Miniature Building Authority guys' kids through college!:)

So... those were the games!  Some beautiful ones, for sure... but I hope next year we get even MORE beautiful games!  Thanks to everyone who looked at me with mild annoyance, wondering why some nosey guy was leaning over their shoulder snapping photos with a big obnoxious flash!:D

Fall In: The Vendors!

Hi all!

Well, Fall In 2012 has come and gone!  At first, it was a bit touch and go... I live in the northern New Jersey area, and we got HAMMERED by the storm.  We actually just got back power this afternoon, after seven days of it being out, and a basement that flooded totally out.

But my very kind wife stayed, with our one year old baby, at my parents house while I went to toy soldier convention!  Yay!

So... I'll have three or so posts, and here is the first; the vendors!  Now, I am NOT 100% sure if I have all the names, so please please PLEASE, if you recognize a vendor that I either didn't name or I named incorrectly, please let me know!

Oh, and all of the photos can be enlarged, so if you get stuck in that stupid shadow-box of Blogger (which I tried to disable) just right click on the photos and open in another tab... then you can zoom in and gape to your hearts content!

At the top was, I believe, the Eureka folks.  At least, I think that is who they are... I saw a bunch of figures there, including some GREAT vignettes!  They have a little string quartet set, a harem, a fantastic baker (more on that later) and of course the bears... and a host of other great figures.

Speaking of Eureka, here are some more figures from them, including a few of those sets I spoke of!

Here is just a shot from Chris at the Sash and Saber table... these are a few dioramas.  They've done up a LOT of great 40mm figures, which are just fantastic looking... same footprint as the 28s, but more detail and just some great figures.  Doesn't hurt that Chris is a fellow Duke grad, and we can talk basketball and *gasp* even FOOTBALL together!:)  Great, great miniatures.

 Okay, so the Architects of War table was just insane now; some wonderful stuff, including apparently the sole distributor of Perry miniatures (that made me a touch sad!)  Here are some painted up Perry Austrians.

Here is some wonderful 28mm WWII Japanese stuff...

 And a GREAT Pacific bunker, lurking among the trees.

But I was especially impressed by their extras!  Here is their well, some barrels and supplies, and of course some useful farm animals...

And they also had some GREAT little campsite sets, including one with a makeshift lean-to and then this one, with the guys all hunkered down around the fire.

Now, this might not LOOK like Rick "The Flag Dude"'s normal thing, but... well, I had photos of his flags last time, so I thought I'd take a few of his Big Battalions.  I know that supply is a bit tough with them, but holy cow they are BEAUTIFUL figures.  Again, more on them later:)  Of course, Rick was as lovely a fellow as always, beaten out only by his wife... and I must say, for a dad of a youngster, he looked far more rested than I am!

Curious about his FLAGS?  Uh, just look at every toy soldier I paint.  All his flags.

 Okay; now, I believe this was Evil Bob... although if I am wrong, please correct me!:)  As always a raft of interesting and very nicely painted figures, including this set of fantasy pieces...

 Now, I don't love fantasy, but some of the new detailed plastics GW has put out are just fantastic, especially when painted up nicely!:)

Here is a shot of Sgt Major Miniatures, which had a GREAT selection of historicals and some GREAT Pulp figures... even though Pulp is not my thing, they had some figures I wanted to buy, post haste!  If you've never seen them, give their site a look!

Okay; so these are some buildings by Gettysburg man (and musician) John Mayer, a very nice chap who actually sold a close friend of mine a LARGE Civil War collection... well, John has kept busy making some AMAZING terrain for 10mm ACW, all based on actual houses in his hometown of Gettysburg!  He and his son are currently working for the company Building In Turmoil... give it a look!

They were BEAUTIFUL buildings; just the sight of them made me want to start a 10mm ACW collection!  It doesn't hurt that John is good with a brush... but even look at the railings!  Great stuff.

He even had these fantastic out-buildings!  Really, great stuff.

Okay; THIS is a great product.  I didn't catch the US distributor (maybe Age of Glory?) but these are buildings by 4Ground... precut, PRE-PAINTED fit together buildings.  Absolutely freaking brilliant; if you need buildings but are not a great model maker, this is IT.  

Here are some great miniatures painted by "Old Army" painting service... some very nice stuff!

Here are some figures painted by The Toy Soldier Company... very nice stuff!

Sorry, another fellow who paints some BEAUTIFUL figures, who I didn't catch the name of!  Anyone know this chap?

Some more of his figures.  Really detailed and beautiful... look at that lace!

Here are some figures from Major Objective games... nice stuff, and just as importantly (to me, at least!) a very pretty display!
 

Okay; THE best 50 cent bin in the world.  From Acheson Creations... if you need ANY scenery in resin, ESPECIALLY things like entrenchments or sandbags or gabions or whathaveyou, THIS is the bin you've been waiting for.  They have much more impressive stuff as well:)

As always, Battlefield Terrain Concepts was there... and as always, their stuff was beautiful:)  Doug is a super nice fellow, and his products are always top class.  True, I'd have to sell my kid to afford a couple of the pieces...

... but let me tell you, I was AWFULLY tempted!:D  Just look at this stuff!

Now, unfortunately I did delete a few photos by accident of the new Miniature Building Authority stuff, which KILLS me, because they were GREAT.  So I here is a picture from their website; their new 15mm Americana series is KILLER.  I WILL be buying them, and soon.  Just the most crisp buildings I've ever seen at that scale... and with removable roofs, at that!

So!  I hope that was a good-enough walkthrough of the better displays at the Dealers Hall (I also deleted the overall photo from above... stupid me.)  Coming up next?  The games!