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Joy of Six – visiting the United Kingdom

Last weekend our team had a great pleasure to take part in the Joy of Six convention. We invite you to read the second part of our account from the trip to United Kingdom and our participation at this convention.

The organizer of Joy of Six is Baccus – the world’s most famous miniature maker in 6 mm scale. Despite the fact that we are to a certain extent competition, all companies that appeared at the convention are very positive about cooperation and know that our activities contribute to the promotion of hobby and the scale of 6 mm. I would like to thank Peter, the boss of Baccuss, for the organization of the convention, which has already had a dozen or so editions. Every year attracts more and more exhibitors and viewers, which is a very positive phenomenon.

The convent is held in Sheffield, in the main hall of Hallam University, about 200 meters from the train station. This is undoubtedly an attractive location, right in the center. The organization, signs (at the entrance and then in many places in the corridors), informers (all dressed in yellow, visible from the distance), the pre-convention information (maps with the exact location of each position etc.), and the possibility of eating lunch in one of the halls of University.

If I had to list things that are worth improving, I think that the convention could be longer. It starts at 10.00 (of course, the exhibitors are admitted much earlier), and by 17.00 you have to leave the building. In practice, this means that at 4pm you have to start packing, so it is only 6 hours of the convention itself. This can be a problem mainly for clubs that try to fight big battles. Also from our perspective – travelers “from far away” a two-day convent would be an interesting alternative.

The convention was located in three large halls and a corridor between them. Two rooms and the aforementioned corridor were occupied by exhibitors and clubs, presenting their games, the third room was occupied for lectures. We did not have time to participate in them, but it is always a positive aspect of the convention – it allows you to share your knowledge, experience and discussion on important topics related to wargaming.

Of course, the greatest impression was made by battles. The 6 mm scale is ideal for playing big clashes that look epic. The battle at Poltava made the most impression on us. There were many more big games and many of them we had the “jaw dropped effect” – thousands of miniatures on beautiful battlefields made a stunning impression.

Historical systems dominated, but there was also a bit of fantasy and science fiction.

Our team (Adam from Bolter.pl, Witold and Maciek) set up a stand, the biggest attraction of which was our latest sets of figures produced in 3D printing technology. They aroused great interest, some guests took pictures of them close up to show them to friends “or they will not believe that they are printed miniatures”.

On the second table, we put miniatures for “learn to play” game – a small clash between the two Union and Confederate corps. We had the opportunity to show Gods of War: Lee rules to many people. The game mechanics we talked about, especially those related to the fog of war and command&control, aroused great interest. After finishing work on the second edition of the Polish version of the rulebook, we will start translating it into English.

We were aroused by the offer of many stores, the best impression was made, among others by latex fields, rivers and roads that can be laid on any hillyterrain. The offer of ready hedges or forests was also interesting. In addition, of course, you could buy miniatures in a huge number of historical periods, fantasy and science fiction.

It was already our second visit to the Joy of Six convention and next year we are going to go again. We are very happy that together we can promote and develop a 6 mm scale hobby – the best scale for large battles. Once again, many thanks to the organizers and cordial greetings to all participants, especially those with whom we had the pleasure of meeting.

We invite you to look at the photos from Joy of Six.