Yes, it’s true. I am now free of the weight I put on my shoulder over several years of buying the finest MDF buildings in the land and then never painting them, I am happy to announce that today at Partisan, I finally managed to sell the remaining items. Two of them went to a member of the Ultramodern Discord (probably as a contrast from his Favela bundle) while the big box of modular compound pieces has found a home with Peterborough Wargames Club. I hope they have a great time with a wonderfully designed set (and am also glad I’m not going to be painting all of it).
As I’ve said before, my reason for getting rid of my MDF was not because it’s bad or anything wrong with it. It’s just I’ve reached the stage where I much prefer the detail and texture 3D printed buildings can provide, much more than trying to get the same thing with flat MDF. It served its time, and now I shall refill those boxes with Urban Scatter’s MENA collection – I might even have space for some of the larger pieces.
I have kept one of my MDF houses though – you may have spotted it on my desk during my PAINT-REPs. This single-room house from Sarissa’s colonial range is the one MDF building I finished, spending all the time to get it textured and painted up. It has a place in my sentimental heart and so it will be the lone survivor, forever living on as a handy backdrop to what I’ve been painting.
As for the show itself, I did a terrible job of covering it; I arrived late, spent most of my time talking to people or selling MDF and then headed off at the end having not taken a single picture. Luckily, WSS and co were in full effect if you want to see what’s going on, and it is well worth taking a look – even as someone with a rather focused interest in wargaming, there were still some very impressive gaming tables around. In fact, the Dastardly Regular Opponent himself ended up playing two games (assisted by his sprog) and had a thoroughly good day.
I on the other hand, did manage to chat to a selection of people at the show. This included Westbury Wargamers, Spectre (although he was there on his day off rolling dice), Flank March, Empress and Under Fire. I also managed a quick chat to the Lardmeister himself as I picked up my Chain of Command v2 order including a little chat about Chain of Command for Ultramodern – it seems like this is very much not a thing they are interested in persuing at this time and was more than happy to see what those enthusiastic about the period would do with it.
As for my overall thoughts, I feel that Partisan continues to be the best and biggest Historical wargaming show in the UK (especially if you combine it with Other Partisan later in the year). Its rather central location means that you get to see groups from the vast majority of the country coming together, including traders that you might not see in person at other shows on the circuit. This also feels much more like an old-school wargames show, with the mix of display and participation tables on the floor and the traders who were there. In fact, one positive of Partisan for me is that it’s quiet enough to actually chat to people, while Salute can end up being a rush to get around everything. It’s also a pretty good layout – although missing the outer circuit so beloved by speed walkers such as myself, the split between trader and game locations is well done to allow plenty of room for browsing. There was also a set of food trucks outside, meaning you could enjoy the Newark sunshine in between picking up the latest stuff
My only negative comment was the distinct lack of Ultramodern games there. Perhaps this is something to fix in the next year or so? After all, I have gained plenty of space for terrain…
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