Sunday Musings -Warhammer Fest 2023

A little later than usual, and written in a manner most bouncy on a train apparently pulled by Mangler Squids, this edition of the Sunday Musings is both about the Warhammer Convention and how writing 2023 as an actual year is a bizarre experience.

I dislike it intently.

However, the past weekend has been a fairly successful and joyous affair, though with the caveat that there is much to be learnt from it. For me, a convention lives and dies by the conversation and the ability to hold those conversations. A convention with not enough going on means boredom sets in and one that overfills can be an overstimulated affair that can get very uncomfortable very quickly. We managed to keep a good line between with taking in the activities and being able to sit in the Board Game Cafe* discussing My Blobby and his place in popular British Horror

Let us discuss a negative first however, before we talk through a lot of the distractions from the real world that were on offer.

Namely, how the first three hours of the show were a crush at the retail end, with up to two hours queuing being reported to buy the exclusives. With all the fairness in the world, this queue was massively reduced as the first day went on, and did not return to that level again throughout the weekend. The main issue in display here though was that the queue surrounded the shop, which was rammed with people. I can say with no hyperbole that it would have been very easy to leave that store area with a Titan and not be stopped**. There were plenty of staff, but the way it was laid out meant that the store did not have the space to work with such an large an amount of people. I’ve heard of some issues regarding the Kill Team Laser Tag as well, but I’m not informed enough to go into that

However, outside of a need to have more screens around the arena, there was not much I would say had an issue (that I experienced). Talking to people from Cubicle 7 to Slitheryn to Cosplayers was a real joy, and seeing things like Soulbound Character Creation and demo games of 10th Ed 40K have both been very informative and entertaining. The Titan Owners Club was a fantastic area to dip in and out of for sheer energy and laughter as well as some stunning maximum miniatures modelling.

The absolute highlight for me though was the Build and Paint Challenge. Being able to dive into sprues to build anything a twisted mind could conceive created some suitably outlandish and jaw dropping designs, As we sat in the same seats from 8:30am to around 17:30, minus toilet and food breaks, you got to know the people around you and in-jokes inevitably formed. There was a real strong sense of community there, with everyone helping each other out, or finding stuff that “would work for what your doing”. The general feel was a supportive one and I cannot recommend that experience enough.

I made a titan out of pipes.

The cosplayers parade was a wonderfully raucaus affair with much in the way of audience participation. More often than not, a “The Emperor Protects” was met by a “For The Lupercal” in the grim dark pantomime I never knew I wanted.

I’ll not discuss much in the way of the reveal streams here, as the Thousand Seat Capacity (possibly down to around 800) filled up faster than one may expect. However, the fact that a new Harbinger of Decay appeared to be something that got a lot of people talking on the convention floor.

10th Ed 40k is a quick way to play, though in fairness the way it was showed was a stripped down and two turns only in order to get the people through. The queue for 10th Ed sat steadily at around an hour at all times, with multiple comments on the sheer size and speed of the Screamer Killer.

All in all, the weekend was one I really enjoyed, and with a better idea of how it plays out, I have plans for the 2024 event already.

As always, I remain

Adam

• I have plans for a travel sized Heroquest for next year

** I however paid for the small amount of purchases I got as the guilt would cripple me for days