Sheffield Triples 2016

Another week another show.  Saturday saw Steve, John and I head over the Pennines to Sheffield for this year's Triples.  We were putting on the Deepdale game for the Lance & Longbow Society and were delighted to find that we could park just outside the venue rather than across the road in the overflow car park.

Everything was set up by 9.30 so I wandered around a few of the other games

2nd Quatre Bras by Chesterfield Old Boys

General view of the table

The Prussians advance

Massed French cavalry

A big game with masses of 25mm troops, plenty to inspire the gamer.

Next to us were the Brompton Bankers with their Romans v British game using the Eagles Rampant rules.

Roman cavalry

The British await the attack

The Grimsby group put on a naval game, the 4 Days Battle from the Second Dutch War.  A large collection of 1/1200 models showed the action at a scale of 1 model for each participating ship.

The Glory Boys put on Rolica in 6mm

The detail on the figures belied the small scale

We managed to run through our game twice, with victory going to the Earl's forces on each occasion. However, in the second game, the rebels did manage to kill the sheriff, who was leading the Earl's men.  He was killed, along with his entire unit of knights when they rode into a 'storm of arrows' from two units of rebel archers.  Throughout the day visitors stopped to look at the game and ask questions about the scenario, rules and figures.  Some joined in, taking one of the commands.  For us this was the main aim of the day, promoting the hobby and the medieval period in particular.

Overall, the event seemed a good bit quieter and there were gaps where traders had not turned up. Even some of the games tables were empty, though they may have been used on the Sunday. Something is not right. The organisers will need to reassess how they put on the show, or it could fail, which would be a pity as I have been going to it for 15 years.