Bring out your Lead 2023

Last weekend we were in Nottinghamshire for Bring Out Your Lead 2023! And that gave me the opportunity to cross two items from my bucket list, visiting BOYL and visiting Foundry, as we never had the chance to do the later, not even in our initial Lead Belt trip in 2010. Brief warning - this article covers about 90 images.

What is Bring Out Your Lead?

Bring Out Your Lead (affectionately and unfortunately known as 'BOYL') is a celebration of all things Oldhammer; old games, old miniatures, old ... well, people too! We get together once a year to put on amazing narrative games surrounded by these old rules and miniatures - just like the pictures of the games we stared at in those various gaming magazines all those years ago before there was an internet. 

And, whilst it gets harder to bring any more definition to BOYL, you can rest assured: Bring Out Your Lead is NOT A TOURNAMENT! 

Wargames Foundry is kind enough to provide a venue for this event, the Carriage Court Stoke Hall, so we put on proper boots due to the weather and went from Nottingham towards Newark.

It will be the last time that BOYL happens at Stoke Hall, as the venue was sold by the family Ansell, but will most likely be held at the new location in 2024. This meant, that beside gaming, we would have the chance to browse the vast range of historic and fictional miniatures.

But especially have a good look at all the cabinets with a lot of old miniatures, partially former Citadel from the late 80s and early 90s. With some more recent additions as guest displays. I was certainly amazed by the buildings and constructions for backdrops, that we have seen in earlier White Dwarfs.

The vintage miniatures shown covered - among others - the early editions of Blood Bowl, Rogue Trader and a lot of Realm of Chaos.

And beside the regular available ranges, we had the chance to see some iconic conversions, that were shown in some of the 'Eavy Metal articles.

As well as some former Bring Out Your Lead event miniatures, the one in the middle is a sci-fi variant of an unreleased Nuln Spearmen.

BOYL holds its own small painting competition, where we had the chance to see some amazing miniatures. The first picture shows the 2023 event miniature, an astropath on a hovering seat. And among the entries we would see some familiar faces, for example a Squat mercenary painted by Louise of Rogue Hobbies.

But Foundry is not only home to classic Citadel miniatures, but covers a huge range of historical miniatures, some sculpted by the Perry twins, before they started their own project. The heroes in the last picture are from the ex-Citadel Warriors and Warlords set - the former Blandford Warriors set.

But let's move on from the miniatures in cabinets, to miniatures on tables. Within the venue and in a large tent in the inner court yard, were multiple tables setup. From open games for participation to private games.

One of the first tables, that caught my eye was this beautiful setup of Warhammer 40k second edition. A battle between Space Orks and the Ultramarines. Of course, with Goblin Green bases, well-made terrain, worthy of this battle. This was quite overwhelming nostalgia for me.

While we had to postpone our excitement on the Epic re-release Legions Imperialis, a few people played the original Space Marine from the 90s on a large table, Imperial vs. Ork forces. Just amazing to look at.

This small setup was very special as well, covering the Jousting Game "Full Tilt" from White Dwarf #215 (UK), November 1997. I remember this game very well, as it was among the first card board additions in the German White Dwarf #23. And I was a bit surprised, when I saw Eric from Eric's Hobby Workshop (who came across the pond for this event), but it was clear that he looked at this setup, as he did two videos on Full Tilt.

A centrepiece, as a huge participation game, was Helsreach. This is a table hosted by Curtis Fell of Ramshackle Games, and is an annual event from my understanding. Impressive terrain setup, lots of players, and some familiar faces. Among the participants were Pablo from TheStillTower, Louise / Rogue Hobbies and John Blanche.

I have to be honest; I was a bit "overwhelmed". As not only was the overall experience of retro-gaming quite impressive, but so many people, who were strongly involved in this hobby, shaped and influenced the look and feel of these games, that have been a part of my life for more than 25 years. It was interesting to see Kev Adams (Goblinmaster) do custom sculpts for charity, right there, and I even had the chance to have a quick chat with Gary Morley (recently on Painting Phase), who sculpted the majority of the late 90s Blood Bowl range - my first tabletop miniatures game ever. Later that day Trish Carden of HarrowHyrst came by as well, love her miniatures, have quite a few in my collection.

Beyond that, I was surprised that there were quite a few content creators there, as this is a rather small event without "novelties" or "exciting previews". Expect some coverage by Rob / The Honest Wargamer, Louise / Rogue Hobbies and Eric's Hobby Workshop in the next few days.

I enjoyed the visit and it moved a few project ideas up in my schedule, as well as the need to talk to a few people here, to see if we can arrange a local Oldhammer event.