Claymore 2014

I attended the Claymore show yesterday, during which I managed to exchange lots of bits of paper for bits of metal, plastic and resin.

I did attend Carronade back in May, but it was a bit rushed and the blog post would just have been a list of stuff I bought, so I didn't bother posting. I had a bit more time at Claymore, so figured it was worth putting finger to keyboard.

My brother-in-law and I arrived just before 10 and got in without having to wait in a queue. There was a fancy orange wrist band given out this year. If you stepped outside, this proved you had paid when you tried to get back in. The handout had a list of the halls and traders, but it could have done with a map. Fortunately things were where they usually were, but directions would have been nice.

The show was very well attended, and seemed busier than last year. That said, there were no queues at stands, except the Bring and Buy, which was mobbed. There seemed to be more traders than last year, and it felt like they were running out of places to put them. If their success continues I can see a third hall being required within a year or two.

I bought far more than I had planned or expected to, almost evenly split between scenery and figures. I found a range of SF scenery that I'd never heard of - Spartan Scenics. They're by no means cheap, and some packs seem better value than others, but I expect I will be buying more from them in the coming months.

The ubiquitousness of Bolt Action wasn't quite so bad this time - it had seemed like every second stand at Carronade - so it felt as if there was a wider range of stuff to look at.

There were a lot of display games, and a couple that seemed to be part display game, part shop selling stuff. I managed to avoid taking part in a Lancaster game, although the polite "no thanks" in my head came out rather more rambling and incoherent than intended.

It rained quite a lot. Still, it's Scotland in August, so it's expected. This did keep the temperature down, which was welcome. There were still a few folk who could have done with taking a shower sometime in the past week, but far fewer than in past years.

We called it quits about 13:30. There were still plenty of things I would have been happy to buy, but all my bits of paper now belonged to other people, so it was time to go.

Wappinshaw was cancelled due to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, so that's it for wargame shows in Central Scotland this year. I nearly attended the IPMS show in Glasgow last year, but they'd moved it to a very inconvenient venue so I didn't bother. It's at the same place this year, so I'll probably give it a miss again.