A windy drive up north of the border today, to the Albanich show in Dumfries. I am by no means an expert on wargames shows - my personal tally is just York, Scarborough and Phalanx in St Helens - but I think this must be one of the smaller on the circuit. I went along hoping to pick up some terrain and maybe a few bargains, but came out with something else. I suspect this is how many wargamers operate.
Along with a few basic mdf bases, I bought some Highland cattle from warbases to add to my farmyard collection - very useful for those cattle raid scenarios which seem to crop up frequently in dark ages wargaming. I also spotted a couple of bargain Rackham Confrontation orcs and added them to my growing collection of this range. I have no idea as yet what I will do with them, I just like the figures and will get to them one day.
Excitement levels peaked when I found one trader selling the new Claymore Castings crossbowmen. I have been wowed by a picture of them on the Lead Adventure forum and was keen to get hold of them. Unfortunately, there was only one of three packs available, but now that I have seen them in the flesh I will definitely be getting the others. I am a bit picky when it comes historical metals, but these are probably the finest figures in my historical collection - we'll see how good they look when I get them painted. I seem to have picked up the medieval bug lately. The Wars of the Roses retinue I have almost finished for Lion Rampant was partly chosen from the convenience of having a box of Perry miniatures in the house. Now I am actively seeking new figures to start a new retinue, one comprised of the finest figures I can find from the era. It may be historical, more likely I will mix it up a little and just go with the most aesthetically pleasing.
