A quincentenary triumph

“It is deeply satisfying to win a prize in front of a lot of people.” - E.B. White

I have been to the Derby Worlds wargaming show in Donnington and very good it was too. It's a spacious venue with easy access and parking and was very busy throughout the weekend without ever being crowded. The catering facilities were adequate and cheap, although the coffee was no great shakes. We were celebrating the 500th anniversary of Marignano with James' very nice Italian Wars figures; and we won.

Your bloggist's crotch is the one on the right

That is to say that James won the prize for best demonstration game as voted for by the attending public. The skill and effort are clearly his and he thoroughly deserves the credit. My own role was limited to meeting, greeting and general bonhomie; and despite having to interact with me the punters still voted for the game. Congratulations to him for the game, and to them for their forbearance.

One visitor to the table early on Sunday was an extremely good looking young woman who appeared very taken with what she saw of Renaissance warfare in miniature. She didn't get to experience my personal charm offensive on behalf of the game as at the time I was on the phone to an even better looking young woman. However James did speak to the father of her boyfriend, who explained that his son had only revealed his shameful obsession (that would be the wargaming) to his girlfriend on the previous evening, and then only reluctantly and under parental pressure. And now here she was, apparently enjoying herself at a wargames show. Sadly I lost sight of her at that point, but I think that we can assume that she continued to be just as entranced as she walked round the show, and got the chance to see the mass of wargamers gathered there in all their rotund and bearded glory. "Yes," she would have thought "this is exactly what I want my boyfriend to look like in thirty years time; who wouldn't want to grow old with one of these?"

By the way, many thanks for the photo above to the excellent Will's Wargaming Blog For reasons that are all too well known I wasn't able to take any myself.