IMPACT 2012 part 1

Hoi,

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to attend the IMPACT convention in Uden. While it was a bit of a poser to get there using public transport and me losing my way in a village you could throw a stone across and needing the local voluntary fire-brigade to help me find my way, it was definitely worth it!
First off there were a great deal of nice demo's and retailers. The demo's included a Belgian 6mm WW2 game,

 a WW2 tank-battle game,

 the guys from Militia Brabantia were present too,

 an official Saga and Urban War demo and loads more.

Jan-Willem (Pijlie) and me were there to do a Black Powder Demo. At first we had planned to do an AWI game but the table was a bit smaller then JW had counted on so we settled for a 7YW game in which my Austrians got their first taste of battle. The battle was tensely fought but we had heaps of interest from lookers-on and explained the rules and answered other questions a lot. In the end JW considered his position and threw in the towel, because my Austrian and French coalition forces were putting heavy pressure on his Brits and Prussians thus making his position untenable. Here's a small selection of pictures from our game:

Initial deployment, my Austrian-French Army on this side and the enemy on the far end of the table:

The French reinforcements arrive and my forces surge forward:

The Austrian detachment up close:

The British and Prussians

Battle is joined:

This Impact was also the first time I entered a miniature in a painting competition. Not so much to actually win but to get to know where I stand quality wise. Now I will leave pictures of the model I entered for a separate post later on but I'll tell you that I won the competition... To be completely honest only two entries were done in the historical category, but when I noticed the other entry was a, very well painted, Kabuki models Octavia, I thought I'd bought it because; let's be honest she's just brilliant! But in the end my models base, details and apparently the fact I was able to get a facial impression on the 1:72 model decided my win. Personally I think the chap is positively cross-eyed but hey who am I to disagree with the judges?

More pictures and the second half of my show report will follow soon!

Cheers Sander