TSA Bring&Buy Encore

This weekend there was another "wargaming B&B" organized by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp. As always, there was a good atmosphere, and it was a joy to talk with wargaming friends from other gaming groups you typically run into during these events.

So what was my loot?

Nothing too much this time.

• 2 old Avalon Hill games. Perhaps I might even play them sometime.
• A few old wargaming booklets.
• 2 volumes of the Funcken uniform guides from the 60s - always handy to have around as a painting reference.

As usual, a wargaming Bring & Buy always triggers conversations about the meaning of it all. "Aren't we simply shuffling old stuff around, as a merry-go-round?", "Will anyone ever play this stuff?", "What percentage of wargaming stuff bought is actually being used?" Etc.

But the best conversation I had was about the nature of wargaming rules. The number of rulebooks and supplements, big and small, old and new, simple and complex, ... that were on offer was staggering. So many rulesets that are sold 2nd hand without ever having been used ... These days, I don't bother anymore buying myself into the next "hot new ruleset". The illusion I once had that all rulesets were thoroughly researched and playtested before being published is long gone. I prefer writing my own rules, tuned perfectly to the needs or our own group. After all, aren't all the rulesets ever published not someone's houserules, written up as a booklet, and being offered for sale? And if so, it's much better to write your own ... :-)

TSA Bring&Buy

About two weeks ago (October 15), Tin Soldiers Antwerp organized a 2nd hand event to give wargamers the opportunity to sell their old junk. With the demise of the bigger miniature wargaming cons in Belgium, this type of smallish gaming events is a nice alternative to meet up with old friends and to buy some stuff.

So, what's the loot? 

There's always room for more medieval types in my collection, so I bought a painted set of 5 mounted knights. Unfortunately, one knight lost his arm and shield during the transport back home, we can quickly repair that.

From another wargamer, I bought this nice pair of carts / baggage wagons. These are always a nice addition to any scenario.

I'm an addict of old wargaming books and booklets (although I do have a rather sizable collection already), and I'm always on the lookout for miniature fantasy figures form the 70s and 80s.

Last but not least, a complete set of Vae Victis, issues 1-60, with all the games still unused inside the magazines.

It was a nice event, and so a lot of wargaming junk got moved around. A good quote I heard on the day: "Wargaming stuff moves around all the time, being passed from wargamer to wargamer, in a continuously repeating cycle. Somewhere in the future, the last wargamer standing will have accumulated all our collective wargaming stuff, as a sort of wargaming black hole. And when that wargamer dies, wargaming ceases to exist as a hobby."

TSA "Bring and Sell"

Sadly, as an aftereffect of Brexit, the Belgian wargaming convention scene as we knew it has  more or less collapsed (Crisis gone, Warcon gone, ...). So it's back to small scale club days.

One such event took place yesterday. Tin Soldiers of Antwerp organized a "Bring and Sell" event, an ideal opportunity for everyone to dump their old stuff.

The clubhouse was packed, a lot of people showed up (more pictures here).

This was my wargaming loot (I also picked up some old roleplaying stuff, but that's of less intererst for this blog):

I also met some of the old Belgian wargaming guard (going back to the late 60s or early 70s), which triggered me into making a blog or something about the history of wargaming in Belgium. We'll see.