All set for Derby

Having done the information packs and packed the game into boxes we are now set for Derby World Wargames show on 1st and 2nd October.

The game isn't huge and should easily fit into the back of Peter's car. Most of it fits into six large vegetable crates which will stack neatly and safely. The table cloths and hills will be used to stop them sliding about in transit. 

The white cloth is not for winter gaming it is the under cloth that goes onto the table first. For some reason I can't lay a cloth onto a bare table without an under cloth - perhaps it is my past career in hospitality. Whatever, using a baize cloth as a play mat always seems to work better with a bit of padding underneath - the white under cloth is a very cheap, fuzzy material.

 Vegetable crates, picked up free from my local supermarket, are ideal for this kind of thing. They are strong, they stack, and they are just the right size in most cases. Only the one containing the church and windmill has anything poking above the rim.

 I've packed all of the troops in their on table commands so that the game can be set up quickly.

The box on the left not only holds a few file boxes containing small applique terrain pieces like walls. It also contains the roads, each in its own envelope with each section labelled in the order it is to be laid out onto the table; this should allow the quite complicated road system to be laid out exactly as per the map in the shortest time. Games don't only require troops and terrain. All manner of gaming gubbins needs to go too: Information packs; dice; cards; morale chips; rules of course; measuring devices; counters and such.

The pile of hill formers is the ugliest and most awkward stack.

Its bulk means that it is best left unboxed. The stack might have to be split up for transport, so each section is labelled by hill and contour (I have a contour by contour crib sheet) so that the hills can be laid out quickly. This blue and pink stack always receives a quizzical look as it enters a venue - but then they all turn green when we throw the cloth over the top.

So, all packed up, hotel and restaurant booked for Saturday night, roll on Saturday. We'll set off at 7 am. Hopefully I'll see you at Derby World's over the weekend, drop by and say hello.