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Sunday 4 August 2013

Impressions of Claymore

I had an interesting afternoon at Claymore on Saturday, which is held at Telford Collage in Leith, Edinburgh.  Thanks to South East Scotland Wargames club for hosting the event.  As with other shows I have attended this year I thought I would give it a list of pros and cons, and then my overall impression of the show.  I also have a few photos of the Falkirk Club game which I will put at the end'.

The pros

First of all must be the parking.  It is free, could not be any closer and always seems to have space.

The venue is modern with good light and plenty of space.  In previous years the heat in the Atrium has been oppressive but this year it was just a little warm.

The show had a relaxed feel about it.

I found some bargains on the bring and buy

I got a game, a demo of x - wing that I have been looking to get into.  Thanks to the guys from Chaos of the Warp for that.

I got to meet and chat with a couple of old friends and some people that I had only previously met on internet forums.

The Cons

When I first arrived I got lost trying to find the main hall - a basic map on the programme would have been useful.  The con is that the halls are widely spaced and signage could have been better.

There were fewer traders and games this year, and at times 'relaxed ' looked more like empty.  A couple of traders that I know said takings were down.

With the exception of the chips, which were nice, the catering was pretty basic.

Although I was lucky enough to do well on the bring and buy there was not that much on it and it seemed very quiet.  I experienced one of my pet hates, overhearing some of the guys running it discussing a purchase one of them had made to go onto ebay. 

My conclusions

I was at the show from 12 so can't say what it was like earlier, it may well be that it was busier then.   The length of the list of 'cons' above rather surprised me as I actually really enjoyed my visit and will definitely be back next year. 

The Falkirk Game.

Three was a good turnout of club members in support of a 28mm AWI game based on the action at Monmouth Courthouse in June.  It was awarded a Highly Commended certificate so well done to John, Dax, Marco, Chuck, Barry and Peter for not only running the game but also interacting with the public who showed a fair amount of interest.

The photos

 
General view as the Americans start to advance

 
Close up of the American Centre
 
 
The Church is threatened
 
 
The Defenders Respond
 
 
The British Counterattack
 
 
 
 
 






6 comments:

  1. A good balanced review of the show. Sadly I didn't attend this year but feedback from others is that the show may have been quieter than last year. A sign if the times?

    Cheers, Ross

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    Replies
    1. I am under the impression that numbers through the door were up on last year.

      We'll have to wait until the SESWC committee make an announcement.

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    2. I hope you are right Jim - it was just my impression and as I said I missed the first couple of hours.

      At Carronade we ramped up the advertsing this year and only managed to hold numbers so my fear is that shows in general are suffering from the squeeze on incomes

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    3. Yes numbers at Claymore were up but only slightly.

      I missed Carronade this year due to a very inconvenient 5 week vacation in the States. I must try and not do that next year!

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  2. Good review Dave.

    My trips to Claymore are tightly planned now to stop Lucy from getting too fidgety. From what I saw they looked liked some pretty nice games, including ours. It looked like a good mix of traders as well, although we never did manage to find any Dinosaurs for Lucy to paint.

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