Anthrax and rum in Taranaki

... or some things that happened at the 25mm Ancients tournament, New Plymouth, October 20-22

- By Vinnie the Pooh

Which would make your more sick? Anthrax at Eltham or rum at New Plymouth?

Well, the anthrax scare was a disappointment. I was hoping for people in plastic suits, the Post Office wrapped up in a huge plastic bag and agents Mulder and Scully. No joy I am afraid. None of the above were in sight, in fact Eltham looked much as it did last year. So much for the anthrax.

The rum? You had best ask Mike Thorn from the Hutt Valley Club about that, or Mike Campbell and Alan Yaxley who failed miserably in their duty of looking after Mike the Younger. How much younger? During a conversation about wargaming events and punk rock Mike the Younger contributed with, 'I wasn't born then'.

The convention itself was a great success. So much so that I am keen to go back next year and plan to organise a mini-bus for NatCon next year to transport 25mm armies and terrain to Christchurch (more on this as I develop my cunning plan).

A little history. This annual event started about 12 years ago when 15mm took over as the scale of choice and, on that sad day in NZ wargaming, when there were not enough people playing 25mm Ancients to make it a viable competition at NatCon.

Al Mundell and the other boys and girls from New Plymouth stepped in and said, 'there are no regular conventions at Labour Day weekend, so let's have a fun 25mm tournament'. The first was in Al's basement and living room and it has grown ever since.

This year there were 27 people, or 28 depending on whose bookkeeping you believe - it is that formal! Either way, it is the record to date. There were new armies and new people, a good time was had by all, and, no, it isn't held in Al's basement any more.

Special mention must be made of Gordon Pinchin who brought his Gauls all the way from Christchurch. A nine-hour flight! Delay in Christchurch, the plane broke down in Wellington, transfer to a flight to Auckland that eventually connected with a flight to New Plymouth. 10 out of 10 for Gordon, the big, fat, round number for Air NZ, and oh for the return of competition to our skies.

Warlord Duncan Richards won with Macan but still hasn't brought the Elephant Trophy back. It is somewhere in a container on its way back from the United States. Duncan won the tournament before going overseas a few years ago and, thoughtfully, took the trophy with him!

A big thank-you to Al for organising the event yet again.

Those taking part were:

Nick Buckby	New Kingdom Egyptian	Auckland
Michael Butler	Alexandrian Imperial	New Plymouth
Mike Campbell	Nikophorian Byzantine	Hutt Valley
Vincent Cholewa	Early Imperial Roman	Wellington Warlords
Alastair Donald	Spartan	Auckland
Alastair Duncan	Russian and New Kingdom Egyptian	Wellington Warlords
Richard Foster	Romanian Frank and, I think, Yorkist	Auckland
Bryan Fowler	Pyrrhic	Wellington Warlords
Kelly Gay	Late Imperial Roman	Palmerston North
Julian Hanam-Williams	Leidang	New Plymouth
Michael Haycock	Nikophorian Byzantine	Auckland
Heath Hitchcock	Japanese	New Plymouth
Steve Hodgson	Seleucid	Auckland
John Moher	Early Imperial roman	Auckland
Alastair Mundell	Burgundian	New Plymouth
Russell Patton	Teutonic Knights	Feilding
Gordon Pinchin	Gallic	Christchurch
Duncan Richards	Macan	Wellington Warlords
Mark Riddle	Seleucid	Wellington Warlords
Greg Scott	Macedonian Early Successor	Wellington Warlords
Brent Senior Partridge	Middle Assyrian	Hamilton
Marc Stanford	Early Imperial Roman	New Plymouth
Mike Thorn	Dacian	Hutt Valley
Keith Trye	Medieval Portuguese	New Plymouth
Ivan Truong	Lancastrian	Auckland
Wayne Watts	Navarese	Auckland
Alan Yaxley	Henry Tudor	Hutt Valley