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The hall (about 11.30am) |
So, despite being in a modicum of pain, I set off Saturday morning with #1 son, his son and a mate who drove us to venue at Stockton ( a mere hour's travel away) to my second Battleground event.
As I didn't have a shopping list I went around all the games first then the traders.
Be aware that this post is very photo-heavy.
Here's my photographs of the event and a few comments :
Stafford and District's Battle of Blenheim was one of my favourite games of the show and I had a very pleasant time talking to the chaps playing it.
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Blenheim in 10mm (Pendraken and Ausburg Figures iirc) |
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Such detail for 10mm figures! |
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Great looking buildings too! |
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A big game ! |
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Another close -up |
Next up, my friend Colin's (of Carry on up the Dale's Blog fame) Battle of Zurich 1799
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Huge table with superbly painted 28mm figures |
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Zurich, probably |
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There were vignettes all over the place... |
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Somewhere on the outskirts of Zurich |
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Ships too on this vast table |
Next up was Durham Wargames Group's Battle of Zyrabulak 1868, again a large table using 28mm figures,
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Large numbers of cavalry |
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Good looking town too |
Battlefield Trust's Battle of Piercebridge 1642, an architectural model, so probably very accurate was more a display than a game, and in a very small scale and I initially thought the white covered waggons were sheep!
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Close-up of the action |
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Overall view |
Redcar Ironbeards War of Germany 1944, a participation game:
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Great looking game - spot the Germans! |
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Superbly painted models too, |
What would a wargames show be without a bit of Napoleonics ?
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DBN, possibly Waterloo (?) |
Brompton Bankers, Battle of the Standards 1138, using 28nmm figures
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Not my period, so I didn't dwell here long. |
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Iacta Alea Ests's WW1 Zeppelin participation game looked interesting:
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These were quite large models for an Air Wargame. |
Border Reiver's Napoleonic Naval Harbour Attack game featured paper (!) ships in very good looking game
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Possibly not the most attractive game, until... |
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...you see the harbour and the ships close-up |
Durham Raiders Napoleonic game
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Looking like a club game and none the worse for that |
The Westerhope gamers put on a WW2 Eastern Front game with their usual panache and banter was not optional - great group of gamers and the argument over whether their shirts are "Commie Red" or "Pink Panthers (Panzers?)" seems to be ongoing:
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Tide of Russian Tanks assaulting German defensive lines |
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I would have needed a high-speed camera not to catch an arm across the table in this game! |
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Great models and who would be a tanker ? |
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The German rear lines |
Tyneside (iirc) Wargames Ancient Galley game
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Busy day at sea... |
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...from every point of view, |
No show in the North would be the same without Mr Wiley's western games
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The man himself |
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The game, with new river ! |
With Mr Wiley's participation game I knew what to expect, but with The Society of 20th Century Wargamers, I didn't. It was a strange looking game centring around a French Foreign Legion Outpost.
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Cards and card holders...dice...hmmm |
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The central piece - very nice |
Prince Bishop wargames Club's "Battle of Byczyna 1588" :
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Good looking game of a battle I've never heard of.. |
Scarborough Games Society put on two games on a single table - that confused me !
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A fantasy game that... |
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...seemed to be involved in a Very British War set-up |
General & Kings put on this rather attractive Battle of the Bulge game
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With my eyesight, 28mm camo works |
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Splendid King Tiger |
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Other end of the table (with an oversized Panther imo) |
Matt Crump put on a participation game of "What a Tanker" and I'm now a convert to this fun game, as is my 5 year old grandson!
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Superb, simple looking terrain, but with many subtle features |
Sunderland's "Malifaux":
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There was no-one around and I haven't a clue -sorry |
Nate Zettle put on this "Blood and Thunder" pirate game, a genre I'm interested in, but the 'special' cards needed really puts me off this system (amongst other things).
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Set-up and figures are good |
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Huge ship (and why not, even if a bit superfluous!) |
Cozzmik Cakes again put on their Cake Wars game:
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I don't know anything about this and didn't ask |
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Where this chap comes into it all is a mystery to me |
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IIRC. this yellow peril thing was a recent purchase, unfinished and not in the game\ |
"Warlords" put on two demonstration games of their products:
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Cruel seas |
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Gangs of Rome |
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Another view of the hall, busy but not too crowded. |
That wasn't all I'm sure, but it's all I have photographs of . I spent a long time talking to two chaps (the Lancaster Cellermen) using wooden pieces in a Krieg Spiel type of game and got so interested in their game that I completely forgot to take photos - sorry guys!
It was a great day, seeing many great games and meeting a lot of old friends.
My loot list is less than poor, it's non-existent. I ate the pie I bought for lunch and my wife ate the peanut brittle I bought her as a present, so no evidence remains !
Thanks for taking the time to visit, I hope there's something here that you find interesting and as ever, your comments are both welcomed and appreciated.