Carronade 2010 was held yesterday and Dale, Scott and myself set off from Wigan at 4am for the 3 3/4 hour drive up to Scotland. Scott being a fortitudinous maniac had only been home from Wigan Wargames club half an hour when I picked him up!!
The journey was “interesting” as I seemed to spend most of it slipping in and out of counciousness. I have no idea how Dale stayed awake whilst driving. Thankfully my body clock kicked in about 7am and after a huge cup of coffee at the Motorway services I was good to go for the day.
We arrived at Carronade about 8:30am to be greeted by a gang of Falkirk Wargamers, who amazingly had the car unpacked and in the hall for us in about 5 minutes
By 9:30am we where set up and had a quick wonder round the show, though getting some breakfast was now the most important thing on everyones mind.
One of the 5 halls being used at the Graeme High School.
Dale (left) and myself pose on the stand after setup.
The left side of the Kyushu Bay board setup for the days carnage (and it was!).
Only having half the board ment we had a more dense concentration of forces for the games, (9 each side).
By 10:30am the show was well underway and Scott and I where then busy all day taking people through the Crtical Mass rules and getting them playing the game. We ran 3 full games throughout the day, all of which where very close and costly Protolene victories, though i really put that down to consistantly awful dice roles by the ARC fleet players, and the almighty power of the PDS on the Protolene Walkers (though this is being ironed out in the next beta).
My observations aside, everyone seemed to enjoy the games and stuck it through to the end, leaving the table without complaint and an enthusiasm for our ideas.
A big thanks to the Falkirk District Wargamers for the show, and all the friendly Scots who came and played Critical Mass, c u next year, Craig.