I went along to Warfare today: usually the last show of the year for me.

Warfare takes place at the Rivermead Leisure Centre in Caversham, Reading, and just about takes over the entire centre for the day. There is a huge trader hall, and then an even bigger hall full of competition and demo games. There's also a smaller hall that houses the Bring & Buy, and the rather noxious squash courts which is where some more competition gamers are caged.

It's one of my favourite shows of the year, mainly because (a) it's close to where I live and (b) it's got a huge trader hall and I can shop to my heart's content. The only downside is that it's usually packed, which means that parking, even in the huge Rivermead car park, can be quite problematic.

So what was this year's show like?

Well my overriding impression was that it was quiet, very quiet. I only got bashed by one backpack (a square FoW carrying case, doubtless holding an SS German army with US Para allies) and hardly saw anyone I knew.

There were also some key traders missing. Peter Pig weren't there, which was annoying as I needed a single pack of figures that I'll now have to mail order; and there wasn't really anywhere to buy Battlefront figures either - just a couple of buckets/racks of old, discount figures.

As for Lardy games, the guys from Evesham put on an amazing game of Chain of Command based around one of the key battles of the Bulge which, I think, won best demo game.

So a quiet Warfare this year...which meant, at least, that I didn't spend much money!