Grand Day Out

Martin is trying to arrange a trip to Smoggycon after the club missed going as a group to any of the earlier ones...

OK folks, its time to consider the annual club outing. We like to go to a big games show as a club at least once a year. Usually we go to St Helens for "Phalanx", as its the only real games show in the North west, but we have been known to go to Sheffield for "Triples", as its the biggest show in the north. For a variety of reasons we've missed both this year, and the suggestion is that we go to Smoggycon in Middlesbrough on 23rd November.


Now I've not done this show, but I'm told its very good, and also quite large. Some members I know are going to go down there in private cars, but we do have the option to hire a small minibus, 8-13 people (although I wouldnt want to take more than ten. Its a long haul and these things can get cramped. Besides we will have stuff to take down there - and probably much more to bring back!) The club can pay for the rental of the van, but we will have to ask for petrol money. Its £2.50 entrance to the show, but children, wives, girlfriends and trophy WAGS get in free.

I did ask Smoggycon if we could put a game on. This has the advantage of getting our name known and it also means we can get in free, but unfortunately they have told me they have run out of space. However, we are on the list for next year.

For those of you who have never been to a show, basically they are run by local clubs and involve several large rooms filled with goodies. Around the edges there are a variety of traders selling you everything from 40K to Dinowars, dice through to terrain, boxes through to beanbags. Some of it can be painted and second hand too, so you might get a bargain. One area will be fenced off as a flea market (bring and buy stall) where you can pick up more bargains or get rid of anything you dont want for ££££ (which you will then spend on other things in the show. You might not plan this, but it will happen anyway).

In the centre of the room will be a series of games, put on by local clubs. They come in two flavours - demo games, which are basically large set piece specials with superb scenary and painting and people explaining to you what happened, or participation games, which are usually smaller and more basic but which you can actively join in with. They can be anything from sinking aircraft carriers to attacking the death star to recreating skirmishes from historical films.

Sometimes shows will have charity appeals (British Legion is very popular) and they may have reenactors too. Sometimes they do a bit of reenacting, but usually they are just recruiting/explaining. Most shows have catering facilities, but they are usually very expensive and/or poor quality, so I would advise bringing food along.

Kick off is at 10AM and people will start to pack up at about 4PM. We will have to leave very early to get there for a reasonable start, as in we need to leave Barrow by 8AM at the latest (yes there really is such a time on a Saturday) If you are interested, I need to collect your names asap and also a pick up point and a phone number so we can contact you to wake you up.

You can find out a bit about smoggycon at: http://www.smoggycon.co.uk/index.html