Toy Soldiers: TARGE 2011 Wargames Show

Last weekend saw the third and last wargames show that I have managed to attend this year (quite good as recent year it has been a struggle to get the time to attend shows).

TARGE was held at Websters High School in Kirriemuir, a small town just north of Dundee. Over the years I have really enjoyed visiting TARGE and in it’s previous incarnation the original SKELP. The show was originally held in the town hall, and even though it was always a friendly show, the cramped conditions were starting to become annoying. Over the last couple of years TARGE has moved to the new venue (Websters High School), which has proved to be a very good move. Not only does the venue have much more space for tables, traders, the Bring and Buy and even some odd table that visitors could sit at and have a break, but it is also far easier to get parked without having to walk miles now…

Unfortunately, I only managed a fairly quick visit this year, as I had the boys in tow and I don’t wont them to get too bored and be put off. So it was an hour in the morning, retire to the car for a “picnic” and then a further half hour in the afternoon, then head back up the road to Aberdeen.

I felt that the standard of display and participation tables was excellent this year. Everyone made a good effort to put on interesting games and even the simpler ones looked very effective.

Moving on to the photos.

Firstly we have a view of the main hall.

Next up we have a WWII game, based in Sicily. Put together with generic scenic pieces, but all tying together to make a very attractive table.

Here we have a W40K game. I must admit I dread to think how much all this would cost to put together. It is the second show I have seen it at and I am still pretty impressed by it, even though there is not much self made stuff on the table…

The following table, from South East Scotland Wargames Club, entitled Closing the Falaise Gap (WWII Normandy) appealed to me due to the use of artificial fur as long grass. Very effective, and it certainly made  the table stand out.

I must admit that I can’t remember exactly what the next table is. It appears to be somewhere around the 17th century (I think). However, the thing that really attracted me to this table were the excellent terrain boards…

This next ACW table was one of the simpler tables. Fairly flat, using a base sheet instead of boards, but still quite effective. I would be happy to play on this table on a regular basis (even if I am not particularly interested in the ACW period).

Following on with the simplicity theme, this scrubland style board worked really well, with all the colours tying in nicely.

I am definitely not a Napoleonic period fan, however it is difficult not to be impressed by this table from Buchan Wargames Group. Initially looking quite plain (due to the winter scheme), the overall effect was really very good.

Here we have another fairly simple table that rises quite a bit from one end to the other. I get the impression that this board is well used, which account for the lack of fussy detail. The only thing I dislike about this board is the grey colour as it is a bit monotonous. I would probably add a little more variation to the ground colour, if it was my table. Varying the tone particularly along the cliff edges, to bring out the different levels a little more.

Another well done table, this time an ECW game (I think) from the Iron Brigade club(?).

This is the Great Escape game that I have seen at a couple of shows before. Always a good game to see around and I hope I actually manage to participate in it in at sometime in the future…

Finally we have a large table featuring a city display with some kind of early 20th century conflict. Unfortunately I didn’t managed to speak to the guys that were running it to get more details of the game as it certainly looked interesting…

While at TARGE I managed to pick up a few thing that I hadn’t really planned too. Firstly, I was enticed by Figures In Comforts large selection of West Wind’s Secrets of the Third Reich, so I bought the two rule books and a couple of character figures. Now I will have to read through them and decide which forces to put together. I am certainly planning a German force, which will feature a group of figures I have been amassing for several years. Beyond that, I usually like to have a British force, although I do like the look of all the other figures, so I suppose I will have to make a decision at some point…

I also got a pack of West Wind’s Vampire Wars figures from the Bring and Buy, Russian looking military types, that will fit in nicely with either my Steampunk figures or possibly some of the more pulpy figures as well.

Talking of Steampunk I finally managed to get 4A Miniatures Top Hat figure (They had run out when I asked for it at SKELP a few weeks back)!

I am very happy with the way that my Wargames Show calendar has worked out this year. Early on I was at Carronade in Falkirk, where I had a good chat with Craig from Critical Mass Games (which lead to some work coming my way, can’t be bad…). At this end of the year I managed to attend both of the local shows, SKELP and TARGE. Next year I am already hoping to attend Carronade again, and beyond that, well we shall have to see…