When we arrived it was already heaving with gamers. The venue, the Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotel near the National Exhibition Centre, was big – really big. There was a huge trader’s hall, which was packed to the brim with stores and publishers all pushing their wares and titles. There was a great selection of games and the hall was constantly rammed.
When we got to the Fantasy Flight Games demonstration stand, where they had a few games being shown off, it was already very busy. Of course, my interest was in the Star Wars games they had on offer, all of which I have already played and reviewed, but I wanted to get a feel of what the people taking part thought of the products.
First of all there was the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. It was great to see a mix of ages at this gaming table; the first group I saw were children, no older than eleven or twelve years old, and they were having a great time. The game was in full swing by the time I got there and they seemed to be eager and excited, with lots of questions and energy. I spoke with a couple of people after the demo and the feedback was good – the younger players new to the game were very positive about the game, and the older players were suitably impressed. It seems that the new Star Wars RPG has gone down quite well, and one or two gamers were please to hear that the full rulebook was due out very soon.
Next, I moved on to Star Wars: The Card Game. I came into this towards the end of the game so I missed the actual gameplay, but I do know that the guy I saw playing the game seemed quite impressed, and when we were leaving the venue I saw him with a copy of the game in his bag. Obviously, the game he had played had impressed him enough for him to head back to the trader’s hall and purchase a copy.
Finally, I moved on to the Star Wars: X-Wing™ Miniatures Game. Wow. The Death Star gameboard complete with turbolaser towers was really impressive (sadly, my amateur photography does it no justice) and the whole set of available fighters and starships were arrayed across the table. This attracted a lot of attention not just for the gameplay – which was both funny and exciting as there were a lot of ships on the board with multiple players trying not to fly into each other – but also for the miniatures themselves. The Millennium Falcon model was photographed a few times, I can tell you. The game was quick and fluid and everyone was having a great time, and upon speaking to a couple of guys after the battle was over, one was all for buying it and the other was incredibly impressed by the models. Out of the three games I think the Star Wars Miniatures game was definitely the winner.
It looks like the whole Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars range is going to do very well indeed.
It wasn’t long until I found the source of the crazy costumed people wandering around the venue. https://www.galacticknights.co.uk are ‘a Star Wars and Sci-Fi costuming group that brings together enthusiasts from all over the world who enjoy celebrating the stars and characters of movies, TV, comics and video games.’ The costumes on show were fantastic and full marks to this team for getting the details so spot on. Alongside the Star Wars suits there were, amongst others, some great Doctor Who characters and a 2000AD street Judge, but my favourite was definitely the Sith warrior.
Not only did I meet the great people behind this costume group but I got to have a blast on a range with a pistol, the only requirement being that I wear a clone trooper helmet. After the obligatory ‘I can’t see a thing in this helmet!’ quote, I had four shots at small stand-up cutouts of various Star Wars characters. After a somewhat lacklustre attempt – mainly because I couldn’t see a thing in that helmet, of course – I was presented with a certificate signed by Darth Vader welcoming me to the Galactic Knights. It was great fun, and thank you to the team. They were very welcoming, friendly and gracious to a bumbling guy in a helmet who couldn’t shoot straight.
It was great day out and incredibly good fun, with lots of polite, pleasant people showing of their wares, and fun friendly attendees enjoying what they love most.
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