I went to Partizan.......

And a cracking show it was too.  The new venue might lack a bit of the soul of Kelham Hall but it is much more convenient and user friendly.  The show seemed much busier and was certainly easier to get around.  A good number of traders covering everything you could want and some excellent games made it a good day.  It was topped off for me with the chance to catch up with a lot of friends, many of whom I hadn't seen for a long time.

Nap time.  Poor old fella

We travelled up on the Saturday morning, myself, Andy, Sleepy Paul(aka Pingu) and Nathan, and visited Wargames Foundry before heading to the Premier Inn in Lincoln.  I spent more than I planned too at Foundry, but could have spent a lot more than I did.  Pingu found it a bit tiring in the back doing nothing so he had a nap.  After visiting Foundry and getting to the hotel we went to the adjacent Mill Lodge for dinner.  I would love to recommend it, but can't.  The "manager" had an attitude that could have curdled milk and made small children cry.  He acted like he didn't want us there.  My stew was tasty enough but the dumpling looked like it had been runover and had the texture of a stale rock cake.  Still, mine was better than Nathans, whose sirloin steak looked, and according to him tasted, more like a cheap ass rump that was 20% gristle.  The hotel itself was good though and the staff were excellent, very friendly and incredibly helpful.

After a pretty good night, I even got to sleep before 3am, we went over to have breakfast at Mill Lodge.  Expectations were not high, but we were pleasantly surprised.  The staff were pleasant and the food was good.  If you can manage a large breakfast, which I can't, then it is well worth it.  So at 9.15am we went off to Newark showground, glad to see the last of Licoln for the day...........Which was a bit premature as it turned out.

The show had some cracking games and, like the idiot I am, I didn't take photos of any of them.  So I have nicked a couple off of various other sites, so thanks to all those who did take some pictures.

A very nice Winter of '79 game was put on, with nice atmospheric bits added.  My favourite was Del-Boy and Rodney of "Trotters Independant Traders" leaving the scene at low speed as the forces of law and order moved in to quiet the rioters.

Steve Jones AWI game was a beauty, as usual from him.  He's a cracking painter and does a decent bit of scenery too.  I hates him I does. ;)




There were other very nice games, but those two caught my eye, so that's why they have appeared here.


 I bought a few bits and pieces, some wagons and an armoured car from Warbases and a couple of scenic bases from somebody else.  Not a vast amount, but the day was more about seeing friends.  It was good to catch up with Ade "Big Nose" Deacon, Gary "Manc Gaz" Amos, Lau and Tricks the Partizan organisers, Big Rich Clarke and various others.  I was surprised to bump into Steve from the Devon Wargames Group there, seems he arranged a Family visit" to cover his trip to the show.  As the day moved along I was suddenly confronted by an agitated Pingu who had lost his wedding ring somewhere.  Despite the condolence and support he received from us, with comments along the lines of "You twat" and "Where did you last have it you numpty?", he couldn't recall when he had last noticed it.  So, a quick call to Premier Inn and a very helpful receptionist told him that they had found it..........back in Lincoln...........which was 15 miles the wrong way.  Then he realised that he had also lost his new, bright green trainers.  No, the hotel didn't have them which worried Pingu.  To make him feel better he rang his long suffering wife to tell her about losing his trainers.  She was quite surprised that he had lost them, as they were in the hallway at home! Anyway, we left Partizan and heading back to Lincoln, full of thankful comments about how lucky Pingu was to have found his ring.  Comments like "I have this feeling of deja vu" and "Oh look, there's that shop again".  Finally we got to the Premier Inn and Pingu went in to collect the one ring. 

My Precious

As GollumPingu left the reception area I took this picture of him.

Nap time again

So, off we heading to sunny Devon.  Along the way several comments were made about the trip, such as "We would have been at Bristol by now, if we hadn't had to go back to Lincoln".  The excitement proved to be too much for Pingu, so he had another nap.  We stopped at the services for a "comfort" break and bumped into Steve Childs, an old friend from Teignmouth.  It's amazing who you bump into when your 200 miles away from home, he lives about 6 miles away from me!



In the end we all got home safely, despite the best efforts of some of the retards on the motorway.  Thanks to the lads for a cracking weekend and thanks to everybody, organisers, crew, traders and gamers, who made Partizan such a success.  We will be back again and I recommend it to anyone who can make the trip.

It has done the trick of raising my spirits, so it was worth it all.  Take care folks, catch you next time