Cold Wars 2012

Due to a cheerleading competition in Hershey PA tomorrow and Sunday that will be an overnight trip for the family, the extent of my involvement in the Cold Wars convention in Lancaster this year was limited to a day of shopping and visiting with friends today. This was disappointing for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that with the move of Historicon from the Philadelphia area to Fredericksburg Virginia this year, this will be my last show until Fall In in November.

On the way out to the show I made the obligatory slight detour to get a couple of geocaches, and arrived at the venue by about 11:00am. I had no particular plans for the day other than to buy a few things and to wander around. There are enough people I have met at these shows over the years that there are always familiar faces to run into, and I knew Leo would be there. In a way it's kind of a strange thing, but I think I enjoy just wandering around and soaking it all it rather than to actually play in a game, although I do that on occasion as well. I like just browsing and finding things that inspire me to get back to painting, or terrain making, or whatever area of interest is rekindled (or kindled) by something I see.

I did go into this show with a few specific things that I wanted to pick up, and for the most part I stuck to that plan. Things that I wanted (and bought) were:

• A couple of European village building from Miniature Building Authority, and a ruined wall section to expand on the wall set that I have been accumulating over the past few years. These guys are really nice, and make the most beautiful buildings, which are pre-painted and ready to go right out of the box. I still have visions of running a game someday in the not-too-distant future of a medieval siege assault on a town. [See attached pictures of the MBA buildings I purchased]
• A few more bags of Old Glory 25mm figures - Ottoman foot spearmen and archers, Ottoman akincji light cavalry, Seven Years War Prussian heavy artillery, and one bag of medieval french crossbowmen.
• The new edition of Chris Parker's Day of Battle rules, which have been published by On Military Matters. I have become detached from what Chris was doing with this edition of his rules, so I am anxious to read through it and give it a go.
• The pleasant surprise of the show was three units of French 15mm Napoleonic dragoons, professionally painted and reasonably priced. My pickiness generally prevents me from finding anything I like at a reasonable enough price at the flea market, but today I got lucky. And you can never have too many dragoons...

As usual, I have come home inspired to paint, and have cleared everything but a few units of partially painted Ottoman medievals off the painting table. I will sneak some time in with them, and will post pictures soon.