Last weekend I trotted off to the Broadside Show in Sittingbourne, my LOCAL show, (reasons for the uppercase will become clearer later). I do like this show because it is like the shows I used to go to as a runtling, the sort you can walk around without getting sideswiped by some overweight, over-tall person of dubious personal hygiene carrying the ubiquitous bergen on their back.
The organisers -the Milton Hundred club- did their usual great job with their distinctive yellow tee-shirts nearly always within LOS if you needed them.
The traders were a mixed bunch but a new one that I was waiting to see was Commission Figurines, the people who produce the 6mm mdf chaps. These are even better in the flesh so to speak and I would have bought some only the three current ranges -Napoleonic, Marian Roman and ACW I already have covered in Irregular. But I was impressed with the 6mm city block ruins and especially the railway line, both soon-to-be-released onto a suspecting wargaming public. The railway line will be great for ACW onwards. Now all I have to do is find out if B&Q make bendy wooden beading that I use for embankments!
The games were also a mixed bag ranging from a Safari style game where a herd of animals had to cross the board while avoiding predators right up to a rather nice Star Wars land game with all the iconic items on show. Others included one based on the film Reign of Fire, a Lego Zombie hunt, Maidstone's impressive, home built ship for the Zeebrugge Raid Game and a rather nice looking 25mm WW II board with some tasty looking buildings and models.
However, my favourite -being a devoted 6mm-ite- was Postie's Rejects WW I action on the Marne. The table was great with rolling hills, loads of trees, hedged lanes and some well painted buildings. The whole thing was set of by Postie's home made observation balloon in the rear of the German positions. (See pic below).
Now the reason for the uppercase local. Left the show in plenty of time to get my bus home -35 minutes on the bus, 5 minutes walk. Simples...in a perfect world. Sittingbourne has roadworks all around the railway station where the bus stops are, or rather used to be. When I saw a bus shoot past by the roadworks warning bells sounded. Checked the area and found the new bus stop layout...and it was my bus that had gone by. To cap it all, it was the last of only three that run on a Sunday. No probs, I'll get the train. Trotted back to the station to find out that there was engineering works all over and that buses were criss-crossing the area to move passengers. Eventually I walked into the house at just after quarter past seven, a nine mile, 40 minute journey under normal circumstances ended up taking me nearly three and a half hours!
Anyway, here are some of the pics I took.
