Legionary 2010

Legionary 2010                          Words and Photographs by Paul Davies Saturday May 1st, at the Exeter Corn Exchange was the date and venue for Legionary 2010, hosted by Rygas Roughnecks and the Exmouth Wargames Society who offered a selection of games and were supported by several dedicated and supportive traders.

I make no secret of it; although the large wargames’ shows have a lot to offer, the smaller shows have a charm of their own; time to wander and chat with old friends, browse the trade stalls and ‘Bring ‘n’ Buys’ without getting jostled aside, and even the opportunity to play a few games, and in that respect, Legionary 2010, like PAW before it, ‘ticked all the boxes’.

Ambush Alley: Operation Ginger A 20mm scale modern participation game was presented by The Escape Committee, and was based around the rescue of a young Cornet in the Household Cavalry whose Spartan APC had broken down in an Afghan village. With vehicles and buildings from S & S Models, and using the popular Ambush Alley rules this game was well patronised throughout the day.

For more information on the Escape Committee contact Shaun Matthews at: plugspanner@hotmail.com For information on S & S Models, go to their website: http://www.sandsmodels.com

Lake Okeechobee 1838: US-Seminole Wars Richard Gillingham created another masterpiece for this 28mm game. Everything about the game was designed for easy portability. For example, the trees, which were originally intended for use with model railways, featured separate ‘roots’, and trunks and branches. Richard fixed the ‘roots’ to the terrain pieces and the tree trunks complete with rubberised horsehair foliage flocked with coloured sawdust, simply plugged in to place.

The individual ‘islands’ were built from polystyrene, covered with newspaper, which was then brushed over with pva followed by texturing using model railway track ballast. Incidentally this complete game; figures and terrain will be for sale at the end of the 2010 wargames ‘season’. If you’re interested, contact Richard via: richard.gillingham@btopenworld.com

Schrage Musik This unusual WW2 game created by John Whitehead of Tus a’n Orelwen (The Men from the West), portrayed the frustration of using early airborne radar, primarily at night. With aircraft models supplied by Raiden Miniatures and mounted on a mix of stands using aerials, and rare earth magnets, together with black painted table tennis balls representing possible ‘contacts’, this was a very different looking game indeed, but the concept seemed to work well.

For more information contact John Whitehead on 01872-552120 or via e-mail: pen-gwyn@supanet.com

PBI WW2 Devon Wargames Group presented a ‘very busy’ table 15mm WW2 table using scratch built terrain and the PBI rules published by Peter Pig. For more information about the Devon Wargames Group, take a look at their ‘blog’: http://devonwargames.blogspot.com

Space Vixens from Mars Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you simply can’t ignore Gary Mitchell’s creations. With a range of characters and spaceships, rules and comic books, all created in their own parallel universe by the fertile imagination of Gary, Space Vixens is a complete package. All the more amazing when you appreciate that it’s virtually all the work of one person!

For more information about Space Vixens take a look at Gary’s website: http://homepages.tesco.net/mitchellsmith/gazsv.html

US-Mexican War Brett Andrews and the Exmouth Imperial Wargamers presented their 28mm American v Mexicans game. Figures by Foundry; Rules used were Battles of Eagles.

Venla 1703 Danny O’Hara and the Cornwall Miniature Wargames Association put on a 28mm scale battle based around the attack by French forces led by Marshall Boufflers against a supply column moving to support the Allied siege of Venlo. Realising that he’d fallen into a trap; Boufflers detached a cavalry force commanded by Marshall Tallard to cover the French withdrawal. Figures used were Front Rank and the rules were “Beneath the Lily Banner”.

Warhammer 40K And finally, Pax Exterminatus Wargames Club, based in Pax Exterminatus is my own Wargames club based in Willand in sunny(!) Devon put on a popular 40K game.

So, a small event, compared to some, but perhaps all the more enjoyable as a result. And from a personal point of view I picked up some real bargains on their Bring ‘n’ Buy! For more information about Legionary, contact: http://www.rygasroughnecks.com Or take a look at the Exmouth Wargames Society’s ‘blog’ at: http://exmouthwargames.blogspot.com