Back from Broadside 2013; Secret Project Revealed

Well folks, today a took a trip out of London heading down to Sittingbourne for Broadside 2013. At least this year I got to Victoria station in plenty of time to grab a coffee after buying my train ticket, have a quick smoke outside, then grab a BK Bacon Double Cheesburger (breakfast!) before getting on the train.

I got there just after 11am and the first person I bumped into was Fran. The rejects' game was right in front of me, so I popped over to say "hi!" to Big Lee and then Henry Hyde magically appeared. Ray was off harassing someone elsewhere whilst avoiding parting with cash (I think he only spent 70p while there - for a cuppa) but came back not long after I got there. After a brief chat with the boys, I took a couple of pics of the game and realised that my camera battery had run low. *headpalm* I'd forgotten to check the battery level last night.

This was taken a while later

With pics taken, it was time for my first tour of the show. I'd barely got halfway round the small hall when David Crook grabbed me. This dodgy dealer had emailed me last night to say that he had some "stuff" to feed my current addiction if I had the readies to pay for it. So, I inspected the merchandise, approved of it and handed over a wedge of notes. (translation - this lovely gentleman had some very nice pirate books which he sold to me for £30).

So, back to the Rejects' table to drop off the books and on with the shopping and looking at games. My first pass around the main hall saw me picking up a few second hand Ospreys, some dice (yup, more dice - their gods demand new toys be purchased regularly to avoid bad luck), some 15mm aliens (and some moisture collectors) from Brigade Models, some Vallejo paints I'm running low on, card sleeves an X-Wing X-Wing expansion pack, and a Gale Force 9 star mat for X-Wing. Early on in this shopping bout I had a chat with Clint and was given a baggie of (very rich as it happens) chocolate fudge he'd made earlier in the week.

That bout of shopping over and done with, I headed back to the Rejects, sorted by backpack out and got ready for an important event. Yes, the revelation of another Secret Project. Some of you may recall all my ribbing of Ray about sandbagging during and after Curt's Challenge. Oh, and the other Secret Project revealed at Salute (a pack of real-life sandbags!). Well, it was time for another Secret Project to be given to him. He was pleased as punch with it and put it on display with all the game info. I'll do a separate post tomorrow with lots of close-up pics of it, but here is a teaser pic for now:

I then did another tour of the traders. This time I picked up another Osprey (from a shelf I'd missed on the first pass), some Gripping Beast metal minis (Viking hero and berserkers) and a KR Multicase X-Wing foam tray set and K-Lite bag. After taking this back to base-camp, I sat down and had lunch and a chat with Ray and the guys.

Lunch over, I did a final tour and parted with a little bit more cash for another book "Midget Ninja & Tactical Laxatives" by Philip Sidnell, which the author signed (he was manning the Pen & Sword stall).

So, the obligatory loot pic (well, the loot that would fit on my painting desk):

Oh, the games. Yes, there were quite a lot of games there. Ones that stood out for me were a Tex-Mex skirmish from 1842, a 10mm ECW game, a Sudan(?) game with great river boats and the invasion of Denmark game which I'd seen a few times before. Oh and the Boyne game and Clint's naval game naturally.