Some pics from the show and thoughts in general can be found on my Blog:

https://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.com/2019/09/colours-2019-show-report.html

Thanks for sharing, Steve. 

Cheers - Phil

Good summary there Steve. As usual I was well and truly clobbered by the Koreans - the game moved deliberately slowly so that we could talk to people when they came to have a look. Unlike last year nobody wanted to give it a go, and to be honest the FoG family of rules are not amongst my favourites as I think they are still over-complex.

It's tricky getting a set of rules that work for a wargames show. In this month's WS&S magazine, there is a small piece at the back on this very topic and the author uses the 'Rampant' game engine, as it is quick, easy to pick up, so perfect for a show. Bloody Big Battles worked in a similar way for us recently, as the mechanics are elegantly simple, so quick to pick up etc.

I haven't made the effort since 2015 and I agree it seemed quieter than previous years.  Overall a bit disappointing I thought and I left empty handed.  I seem to remember that Colours was a two-day show once upon a time.  Is the hobby contracting I wonder?   

Aye, used to be over two days.

Quote from: John Cook on 09 September 2019, 11:56:18 AM
I haven't made the effort since 2015 and I agree it seemed quieter than previous years.  Overall a bit disappointing I thought and I left empty handed.  I seem to remember that Colours was a two-day show once upon a time.  Is the hobby contracting I wonder?   

I think 'our' end of it is but the Games Workshop etc people will inherit the earth.

After the show had a break of a year due to change of organisers, it went down to a one day show, mainly due to costs etc. IIRC most traders made a loss on the Sunday or broke even at best. Sunday was always quieter in fact the best day to visit the show and see the games on offer. Next year I won't arrive as doors open as I will avoid the rush and have a more pleasant experience.

It definitely seemed quieter in the afternoon this year, our takings were the lowest in about 8 years which isn't great.  I don't know if the change of date affected attendance numbers, but the queue at 10am looked promising.

The sad thing is that with Colours moving into the Border Reiver slot, we were only able to take a small back-up stand to Gateshead, meaning we lost a chunk of money there as well.

 

That's more than a bit of a pain. 

Cheers - Phil