Fort Vaux at Barrage

On Sunday James, Matt and myself left Nottingham bound for the sunny(!) delights of Stafford and the Barrage wargames show. In the absence of Scrivs we eschewed the traditional "drive around the outskirts of a small British town looking for a McDonalds" phase of the day and headed straight (via a slight diversion the AA had chosen to keep us ignorant of) to the venue.

We uploaded and assembled in short order, had a traditional wargames show beverage "Ooh look, they've got Cappuccino. Ooh look he's opening an instant cappuccino packet and pouring scalding water on it. Ooh look it looks and tastes nothing like cappuccino" and prepared ourselves for the crowds.

Sadly they never really materialised.
James and I had very fond memories of the show last year (apart from the infamous "tree-gate" incident) it was small but perfectly formed with a good buzz and the organisers were very friendly. All of which was true again this year. Apart from the buzz. Visitors seemed very thin on the ground and I suspect most of the traders struggled to make a profit. We had some good conversations with interested folk and ran five or six demo games, but most of the time at least one of us was free to wander around, and sometimes we left the stand with but a single person in charge.
All of which was a shame, but didn't really spoil what was a very nice day out with James' toys on display again.

Anyway, here's a few snaps.
I didn't take many of Fort Vaux as I've already covered it quite extensively in this post

On the table to one side of us was a very jolly looking Renaissance/Late Medieval game. Featuring Charles the Bold and some Swiss Cheese. I think.
Anyway it looked lovely and made me want to get Lion Rampant out (not a euphamism).

To the other side was a large and lovely looking Seven Years Lace War thingy. They seemed to be using Beneath the Lilly Banners and Donnybrook as rules but it seemed quite slowly paced - which was fine, the chaps themselves were clearly enjoying it.
It looked terrific with lots of attention to detail and a big boat.
I am increasingly feeling drawn to men in Tricornes.

And that was it. Matt spent a bunch of dosh on loads of different stuff - James cleared some stuff on the Bring and Buy stand and my "haul" was a paltry 8 Tiger Miniatures which cost me a princely £4 - a fair price for some not great models that will nicely bulk out my Old Glory Pathans.