Oldhammer Weekend Ireland Nov. 21 2015

Just John

Moderator
I've been chatting to Piers B our most recent Irish member and it turns out he's been organising a bit of an Oldhammer weekend. He has kindly offered to open this up to the wider community and I was thinnkig this might be a chance for us to meet up, chat, trade and play some games.

Now for some details. Unfortunately its set for the same weekend as the oldhammer weekend in Nottingham - Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd August (that's the Bank Holiday weekend) The venue is Kildare which is quite easy to get to from everwhere :) I think a deal can be reached with the local hotel for a group rate but Piers will have to clarify that.

The numbers will dictate the sort of games that can be played. At the moment the plan is just for one large fantasy battle, or fantasy on the Saturday and RT on the Sunday. If the numbers allow a larger venue may be possible but a cover charge will be necessary to cover the cost of rental and tables. This would allow for more games.

Thats as far as we've gotten so far. If you are interested post in this thread and we can go from there.
 
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

That would give me a solid date to aim having a Warhammer 3rd force done by, always a good thing for motivation.

I can't bring experience, but I could bring some newbish exuberance.
I'm probably in :)
 

Piers B

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

The August bank holiday is when we generally hold our club annual big games, usually with a few overseas arrivals. We have a club of 8 here in Kildare with honorary members in Holland and UK who attend dependant on the theme.

So far we have around 8 pencilled in for a large fantasy game, this was to be an Empire, Dwarf and Wood Elf alliance fighting Orcs at one end and a Undead at the other... really its just Good versus Evil!

We have two venue, one more plush than the other, but cheaper.

This year we used a local hotel who gave us the room very cheap as we had people staying in the hotel for the weekend. We ran two large games and one small game in the evening for a WW2 weekend.

We try and offer a good looking set up for games as for us its all about the visuals. This means nice terrain and models. We do enforce a 'painted only' rule for these events as we sometimes submit them into the wargames press as articles, plus its the way we do things... aint painted, it aint playing!

I will post up a couple of pics of previous events, just to give you some ideas of what we have done in the past.
 

Piers B

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Couple of old examples, can post up links to the 2014 galleries and the other events later.

2012 Big Game...

08-JohanBGPics026.jpg


2013 Demo at Bovington...

BGO-Bovvy2013002.jpg


2010 big game...

014-1.jpg
 

Aiteal

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

tempting :)
My biggest worry about the foundry day was transporting my minis
I could just drive to this one however
 

Just John

Moderator
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Lovely tables Piers. I've been meaning to go to Bovington for years but never seem to make it there.
 

Just John

Moderator
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

I'm not sure about the others but it was a very expensive trip last year. I'm not sure its something I can do every year.
 

cheetor

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Just John":e7yxqbuz said:
I'm not sure about the others but it was a very expensive trip last year. I'm not sure its something I can do every year.

Im in two minds about a potential 2015 trip to Foundry, for similar reasons to John. I have yet to decide although it may be hard to resist as plans for events and images of terrain and forces appear as the date gets closer, but right now I dont know.

I do think that having a smaller Irish equivalent on the very same weekend is shooting oneself in the foot to an extent, but I am sure that there are specific reasons as to why that date was chosen. I do think that it is something that might benefit from being reconsidered if possible.

If the events were each on separate dates then I would definitely consider going to both.
 

Mr Saturday

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Same here. It's a shame they are on the same weekend, it'll affect both events negatively IMO.
 

cheetor

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Mr Saturday":3b9dy9rc said:
Same here. It's a shame they are on the same weekend, it'll affect both events negatively IMO.

Yeah. An Irish Oldhammer event would get attendance from a few of us for certain... if it didnt clash with the only other Oldhammer thing on the calendar.

Barring acts-of-God, another simultaneous Oldhammer get together is about the only thing that would stop some of us from attending another.
 

Just John

Moderator
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

As Piers said earlier its more a case that their annual big game weekend is on the August Bank Holiday weekend every year so its just an unfortunate coincidence rather than bad planning.

At the moment for me its a case of one or the other and Foundry will definitely be a case of if I can afford it or not. One good thing is that I've already bought everything from Foundry that I want so that should make it a lot cheaper :grin:

It would be great if we could eventually host an event that some of the foreigners could attend too.
 

cheetor

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Just John":2iojgx0u said:
As Piers said earlier

Hi Piers, those photos are great :)

The event sounds cool, great stuff.


Just John":2iojgx0u said:
its more a case that their annual big game weekend is on the August Bank Holiday weekend every year so its just an unfortunate coincidence rather than bad planning.

Of course. If Piers event had been on this year then it would have been absolutely perfect (from my perspective) as the BOYL event didnt take place on the Irish Bank Holiday. Its just bad luck.

Unfortunately, the nature of the clash inevitably makes it a poor choice as potentially "the" Irish Oldhammer Weekend event, through no fault of anyones from what I can see.

Of course I dont see anyone else volunteering to organise anything big locally either - me included. Additionally, those tables look fantastic and Piers and his group appear to know precisely what they are doing in terms of simply getting things done - a rarity in toy soldier circles in my opinion - so having people like that onside and willing to take it on board is not to be sniffed at.

It appears to me that the very only thing negative about the entire proposal is the date clash, which is a great pity. I would like to be involved in some way in both events (particularly considering that the RT side of things seems to have been omitted in Kildare ;) :lol: ) and as they both have merit but are in direct competition its a bit of a bummer that it cant happen.


Just John":2iojgx0u said:
At the moment for me its a case of one or the other and Foundry will definitely be a case of if I can afford it or not. One good thing is that I've already bought everything from Foundry that I want so that should make it a lot cheaper :grin:

Miniature spend is a factor, but that expense was only a fraction of my costs last time, so the trip to Nottingham next year is not a cert for me regardless of how much more I "need" from Foundry. A weekend in Kildare will cost too. The things that will make my decision will be who is attending each event and what games are taking place at them. It would be fun to meet some of the UK/European guys again, hopefully for a game but even just for a chat.

Tough decisions ahead.
 
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

The event looks really cool but my tendency would be to go to the UK one, given the choice, as it is an opportunity to put names to faces and chat with the other guys in a way the Internet can't provide. The annual Oldhammer club outing is what appeals to me. I didn't find it excessively expensive (and I didn't buy any lead which helped in that regard).
 
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Right so, let's see if we can turn this potential negative into a positive.
How's about we go to Kildare, have some games, have some drinks and put our heads together and make a plan to host another one on another date in addition? That way;

The Kildare group and Forgeworld both keep their regular ones,
We can invite the lads from England over so we all get to see and know each other anyway,
It increases the number of events running so hopefully Oldhammer builds some momentum here,
The organisers of Kildare and Forgeworld events get an event where they just have to show up and chill without the stress of running things,
Maybe the English(and Welsh, and Scots) lads could do the same on a 3rd date and invite us over.

So depending on funding we get between 1-3 events a year, all get to know each other, all get to run an event and get to relax at one we haven't ran.
If you are willing to travel abroad you get up to 3 events, if not (or can't, real life gets pretty real sometimes) you still get 2.
No one gets left out, no-one has to move established dates, no real competition, but potentially more gaming (although more work) for us all?
 

Piers B

Member
Re: Oldhammer Weekend Ireland 2015

Of course, we could just move the date...

I only chose that date as its when we do our annual big game for the club, but that doesnt mean the Oldhammer event has to be then, its just when we had planned to do it when it was just my club doing it, we were utterly unaware of other Oldhammer types in Ireland.

The benefit is that its just a regular date so our club members tend to keep it free each year so any big game is always then, but I think im running two this year so could swop them...

I don't mind moving the date but alot will depend on cost and availability of venue (but I do have access for a less glamorous warehouse venue, but it needs to be warm to play there so summer only!). I also have to consider our members in the UK who are due to attend but they tend to be flexible, and check my Irish boyos aint bothered and I doubt they will be if the opportunity is there to make it a bigger event.


I will make one caveat though that I have learnt after organising big games over the last 5 years, its virtually impossible to get a date to suit all parties and you do have to pick one and go for it.

In this case, as it clashes with the UK event I think its worth considering an alternative.
 
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