This year was the third time I have made the trip down to the Western Suburbs Wargames Association's (WSWA) open day. As usual, it was worth the drive from Canberra. It was a typical Melbourne autumn day; wet and windy. In fact, every time I have been to the WSWA, it has been wet and windy; perfect wargames weather! These guys organise everything. The open day, "Wargaming For Fun", is held at the Altona Community Centre in Altona Meadows. The venue is excellent, a modern building with plenty of space and good lighting. Refreshments are on sale all day at very reasonable prices. WASA was formed in 1992 with its first meeting held on 7th March 1992. Over 30 people turned up to the first three meetings and the club's membership began to grow. Membership reached fifteen within the first month and 45 within six months. The first "Wargames for Fun" day was held in October 1992 and over 250 people attended, participating in a multitude of games. Club membership went from over 40 to more than 70 in the next four months. The aims of WASA's set out in the club's handbook includes bringing people together to play games in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The open day certainly achieves this goal. The emphasis is on display and participation games. A few of the games presented were: A STARGRUNT II battle between ESU and OU forces (whatever they are!). The game was played in two parts. In the morning three concurrent games were played representing the delay of ESU forces on the three approaches to the Main Defense Position. In the afternoon, the tables used in the morning games were joined together in readiness for the'Big Attack'. This used the forces that survived the morning, plus reserves, for a large- scale assault on the Main Defensive Point. The terrain was superb; in fact the game won best of the show. "Darkest Africa" was a game depicting an incident in H.M. Stanley's three-year trip across Africa during 1874-77. It is a partial re-creation of a skirmish in which Stanley's men came off second best to some angry locals. A participation game in which two players act as leaders of a small group of Askaris (native soldiers) trying to recover some stolen property. Wargames Foundry's Darkest Africa figures, painted by John Baxter were used on terrain made by the talented Wes Palmer. Very pretty. The battle of Guilford Court House was one of the decisive points in the American War of Independence. The game, using a variety of 25mm figures looked great with fines of blue and red clad infantry marching across the board. I didn't see the final outcome, but I saw a number of people obviously enjoying the game; which means the game achieved it's prime goal for the day. A spectacular 15mm Wild West participation game drew plenty of attention. The quality of the terrain and miniatures was excellent. Personally, I never would have thought you could pull this one off in 15mm; but I was proven wrong The game, complete with Indian camp, wild west town and statutory long horn cattle looked great. Other games I spied were 15mm Napoleonics; 25mm HOTT; Warhammer 40K (the cowardly Space Marine player hugging the baseline line trying to blast the friendly Tyranids tourists away); 15 DBM; 25mm WWII; a very attractive 10mm. Malburian battle and a Dinosaur game (this was a battle between Dinosaurs - very cute). I was disappointed that the Star Wars participation game I saw a couple of years ago was not on as I was looking forward to trying to blast 'the Death Star again (having failed twice before). I think the above list of games exemplifies both the day and the club. Great terrain, well painted figures, a willingness to embrace diversity and friendly, engaging, people. As well as the games, a number of trade stalls were present, all appearing to do brisk trade. Milsims had a large range of computer games, terrain and other goodies. Tin Solider made the trek from Sydney and brought a small part of the Old Glory range with them (which means there were figures from just about every historical period). Other dealers covered books, board games and figures large and small. A smorgasbord of goodies. To sum up; the Wargames for Fun open day is more than worth visit, it should be mandatory for all wargamers and wargames clubs. The latter to see how it should be done. WSWA puts on a great show that really targets growing the hobby and a very high standard for the rest, of the clubs to aim for. If you are a Melbourne resident, I sympathise with you and strongly recommend that you attend WSWA for treatment. You can contact Wayne Eaton on (03) 9369 1081 (Ah). If you are visiting Melbourne, get in touch with WSWA and drop by for a look see, it will be worth it. 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