Also known as West Midlands Military Show (WMMS), the event is held at Aldersley Leisure Centre, Wolverhampton, UK.
The last time that I went to the show was in 2020, just a fortnight before the national lockdowns for Covid. For reasons of Covid controls, it could not go ahead in 2021 and then in 2022, it looked like the show would not be returning to the circuit.
In 2023, it triumphed and returned. I really wanted to go as a gesture of support, but life had other plans, but here I am at the 2024 event.
Prior to going, I had some reservations as we planned to book accommodation and despite the advert saying there would be 30+ traders and 35 display / participation games, by the 1st March, the show website was only showing 15 traders. The list was updated on the 10th to show 20.
The point I am making is not that the advert is wrong (though it is), but rather that when Iast visited in 2020, I recorded 38 traders, so something is changing.
I say this against a background of the bigger shows (York, Partisan I & II and Hammerhead) showing good growth - so are we seeing a consolidation of the bigger shows and a decline of what we might think of as the mid-size show?
Anyway, once I got to the show, I noted that in the intro on the show leaflet, the organisers bemoaned the fact that it was proving difficult to maintain the traditional trader base and the comments were made against the background that this show sits in a good sized catchment area.
I have always thought of Alumwell as being very close in nature to the Phalanx show (in the north west), both are similar size, using the main hall of a leisure centre, so it will be interesting to see how this year plays out, with Phalanx in June and whether trends are starting to appear.
Anyway, I think this year, I may skip the bigger shows and throw a bit of support behind the mid sized show. Hopefully, money spent there, together with a more determined footfall, will encourage the trade base. The rally cry needs to be ‘support your medium sized shows or you will lose them!’
I digress. I normally attend this show alone, but this year, Mrs. Wargamer was bribed into making the journey with the offer of a short break that included visiting the lovely town of Shrewsbury the next day - an excellent plan as it turns out, as Shrewsbury has two model shops and a Warhammer store! :-).
The early Sunday Morning drive was as pleasurable as driving gets these days and even though we arrived at 9.30, there were few parking spaces left - a good sign of footfall perhaps.
It is just a fiver per adult to get in (bargain) and I noted on my show leaflet that 19 traders were listed, together with 22 game tables, 10 modelling clubs and 3 Living History groups.
For refreshments, as soon as you walk into the building, there is a Costa Coffee service and seating.
The show is held in a sports hall, with traders around the edge and the middle filled with gaming tables.
Regardless of my above comments, there were enough traders for my needs and the games were all just lovely. So hoorah to those traders who made the journey and to all the gamers that took the time to invest in presenting lovely games and tables for the benefit of the punters.
The following is just a selection of table scenes that caught my eye, I’m sorry that I didn’t make the effort to be able to credit the games to clubs and individuals and this is not a full run through of all the tables, but no doubt over the next few days, YouTubers, who can do a better job than I can, will be uploading their videos.
The last photo is for Keith!
The Haul.
Before attending the show, I noted to myself that this is going to be a funny old year for me. Last year I concluded a big clear out and streamlining of subjects and so entered this year not needing much and being determined to clear the lead / plastic mountain, rather than buying much new stuff - making me (this year) exactly the sort of person that undermines show viability! but there we are.
I have a small 1809 project going which requires one French allied unit in the order-of-battle and the thought of just using my Warlord Games stock of French infantry and painting a unit up as the Swiss did appeal, but with the recent release of the Perry plastic Duchy of Warsaw infantry figures, with their red breasted tunics, they were now a definite possible on my list - so I wanted to see them. Outside of that, nothing was on the shopping list …. last famous words!
Shock / Horror, traders ambushed me from all directions :-)
Firstly, I did get the Duchy of Warsaw infantry (from Dave Thomas, who has a ton of Perry stuff) I was with Mrs. Wargamer and while paying, I picked up a scenario booklet from his table and flicked through it - it was just lovely and as I have been preparing my own rules to knock out a Print on Demand copy for myself - I said to Mrs. Wargamer, “look, this is how it should be done. Isn’t it absolutely tasty gorgeous”.
Anyway we went our separate ways as Mrs. Wargamer disappeared for coffee, only to return minutes later having bought the said scenario book for me as a gift, I am delighted, because it really is absolutely tasty gorgeous and I must remember in the future to drop more hints about what I like :-)
Edit - oops nearly forgot, the booklet is Let’s Fight Leipzig - Wargaming the Battle of the Nations by Steve Shann.
My actual first stop was at Last Valley, a terrain maker, you have to get to Andy quickly because he sells out early. Anyway, I just wanted roadside hedgerow, but he said he had sold out at Hammerhead a couple of weeks ago (that might tell it’s own tale in terms of show dominance). Anyway, I consoled myself with a small field (9”x12”), a medium field (12”x15”), another section of road to match what I already have and 6 lots of 12” lengths of ACW snake fencing, which I will add some tufts to.
Ironclad Miniatures do nice resin terrain and at first I thought I wanted a 20mm trench system, but on prolonged browsing changed my mind and instead bought a Russian barn, some fencing and a large defensive entrenchment formed of a bank of earth, with gabions and stakes, it really is an attractive piece. I already have it’s smaller sister.
Early War Miniatures (EWM - being sold on the Battlezone Miniatures table) do rather nice resin vehicles in 20mm, plus they are unbased, so they match what I have. I love their big lumbering T-35 and T-28’s and kept picking them up, but I am trying to firm up a 1943 force, so instead I went all sensible and got a BA-64 armoured car, a German heavy Steyr car with 3 occupants and a Soviet horse drawn cart with supplies, which should make a nice narrative piece.
For more east front reinforcements, I picked up from 2 separate dealers (sorry, can’t remember your names) four boxes of 1/72 Zvezda ‘Art of Tactic’ models, two being Soviet motor cycle combos (which I have not seen before), a 122mm howitzer and a 76mm snub nosed infantry gun (like the German 75mm version). I also got a die cast JSII for an amazing £3.50 and since I have one in a plastic kit to make up that has a thousand million parts (well some anyway), then the die cast pre-paint was a no brainer.
I did a bits and bobs re-stock with Pendraken. A dropper bottle of Vallejo ‘off white’ (those 1809 Austrians like a lot of it!), a large pot of Vallejo earth texture and a variety of MDF bases, including some 80mm x 80mm to replace the ones I have been making cornfields with.
Athena Miniatures have some really lovely crisp metal figures and a nic Wars of the Roses range. There was a really nice model of Marguerite d’Anjou on a horse, being guided by a footman, this will make a useful base for my Wars of Roses games. There is a storyline ready and waiting for her.
The trader had some arrow shafts on the front of his stall which he kindly allowed me to handle. One was the bodkin point type. I was amazed how smooth and machined looking the shafts were and I asked if they were lathed. He said hand done with a plane type device in the traditional way and that a blacksmith could produce a bodkin head in 15 minutes. He said attaching the goose feathers was the most laborious part.
It made me realise that considering these things went into the air in their thousands, the financial investment in longbow archers must have been huge.
The bring and buy was fairly easy to get into a browsing position (these things can be like rugby scrums), but nothing took my fancy.
So considering I didn’t need anything, I came away with a few carrier bags of goodies and obviously the inspiration to paint 8 hours a day forever!
With a decent shopping splurge today, I might only do one other show this year, happily diverting funds to the smaller shows, in the spirit of use them or lose them.
Of the shows I visit, it is fair to say that for the most part, each has their own character. I just love the Alumwell show, it is hard to put my finger on it, all shows have a friendly, family feel, but this show just seems to ooze it.
Weaving between the game tables, I really enjoyed the quality of the games and everyone running them was helpful and friendly. They are also good for an idea or two. In an ACW game, the artillery was based as a pair of guns on a single base, with a limber parked across their backs. I’m guessing the base size was around 4” square, but it look more functional than having guns based separately, giving more of a diorama look, you could simply do something more with a base like that.
I didn’t really have a favourite game, I would be hard pushed to choose one, but since I am amidst an 1809 project, I did like the villages in the napoleonic game, represented by the lovely Conflix buildings - of which, I have some, the two trains in the ACW game looked the part and the castle that had the bolt shooter on the turret was a modelling delight.
I think that partly because I genuinely attended thinking I would not buy much …. and then surprisingly enjoyed some retail therapy! combined with the great enthusiasm of the gamers, modellers and living history groups, that I actually enjoyed this show more than any other that I have been to in the past couple of years.
It was very obvious that the crew at each game table had pushed the boat out to do something special for the public event.
Thanks to all the traders who gave up their day and made the show.
Overall, I hugely enjoyed my visit and would just like to thank everyone involved, traders, gamers, modellers, living history groups and the organisers, for giving up their day and putting the time and effort needed into getting these things to work and to look and feel good. See you next year.
EDIT - today we popped into Shrewsbury and I visited the two model shops. One is mainly a rail model shop and I got some foliage and grasses from there. The other is called Think Tank, a good old fashioned model shop, getting rarer these days. They sold lots of kit and support. Here I got extra Zvezda models, tufts and a Renedra building for the 1066 project - all good.
It was also nice to see that the local castle had 4 boxes of Perry Miniatures for sale and a display with 6 historically based units painted up.
Resource Section.
My sister webspace ‘COMMANDERS’ showcases the various figure and boardgame systems that I am enjoying and gives a flavour of where current projects are up to. Link.
