Marcher 2002

Marcher is held in the Shrewsbury Sixth Form college, that is itself what seems to be an old school building near the centre of town. car parking was easy enough and at only £1 for the day was a bargain. The venue itself did not seem to prepossessing, with the main "hall" being very small, and so display games and trade stands were spread through a miniature maze of corridors and classrooms.

However persevering revealed some little treasures. The one that hit me straight between the eyes was the Siege of Stokesay Castle. I know Stokesay, having first visited it during the early 1970s when the place was owned by a formidable lady of advanced years who carried a large walking stick which was wielded with considerable venom as she told My college lecturer that they knew nothing about history. God bless the woman, she was right of course, but we poor students did not dare say it if we cared about our grades. Still Stokesay was and is a Medieval border fortress built as a manor house as well as a castle. During the Tudor period it was further developed with the addition of fashionable half timbering, and a solar for the pleasure of the noble family.

The wargame illustrated an attack by Parliamentary forces on a small Royalist garrison. The figures were excellently painted, and the terrain was superb. In particular the castle itself seemed perfect in every detail and was immediately recognisable sparking happy memories. This display was in itself worth the trip down from Stockport and Keith Underhill and John Parkes are to be congratulated on their work.

Hidden away in a far classroom was the bring and buy, very small, but crammed with bargains. As usual I was tempted, then tempted again and again, I really must go for counselling about this compulsion to buy! Mind you, maybe I could find a better use for £25 per session....... the new French Indian Wars ranges from Redoubt look interesting.........but I am flying away at a tangent! Tucked in another corner I found Alan and Phil from Lancashire Games (they really get around), luckily without the 70% proof melon that proved so devastating at Reading. Of course that meant I had to buy more Westwind Vampire Wars models.

Along another corridor the DBM 100 competitions were underway. This consisted of 100 point games with armies having 1 general and no sub or allied commanders. The games were fought on 2ft x 2ft tables with deployment concealed by the simple trick of holding up a curtain. Any army from WRG armies books 1 through 4 could be usedIn order to ensure that everything was above board Phil Barker was present as umpire, and all in all everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time. The competition was sponsored by Sanda Games.

In the next room the Selly Oak and District Society (SODS all) presented the 1809 battle of Linz. The rules in use were "In the Grand manner" with a selection of 25mm models moving over TSS Terrain Tiles and Last Valley terrain features. The main hall, or larger room, featured a number of small display games, including a nice Roman Arena from the home club.

Taken all in all I found Marcher a pleasant little show, with plenty of time to chat with a steady stream of friendly gamers. Some of the models on display showed that there is a huge amount of talent in the area that should gain wider recognition and I hope this report goes some way towards that. I recommend this show, which can be seen in a couple of hours leaving the rest of the day to take the family around the attractions of Shrewsbury.

JOS

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