On Sunday, Steve and I ventured over the Pennines to the Partizan show at Newark. It was c11am when we arrived and it was plain from the number of vehicles already parked that many other wargamers had converged on the venue. Once inside we saw that the organisers had again produced a show with a high standard of games on display and also provided a wide range of traders. What follows are photos of a selection of games; it concentrates on my main areas of interest but games from other periods which were worthy of inclusion.
First, a showstopper of a game which my photos do not really do justice to, the game the late Ian Smith would have brought to Partizan, put on by his friends as a tribute to him. A YouTube can be found here
Close by was this Great Northern Wars game by the Derby Wargames Society, which portrayed the Battle of the River Pruth, a significant defeat for the Russian army led by Peter the Great.
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| Views of the Russian camp |
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| The Ottoman forces |
Barry Hilton had three mini 17th century naval games set in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and I was particularly taken by the lovely model of the Medway. Unfortunately the roof lights reflected off the varnished river.
The Immortals put on the battle of Morlaix, 1342 which used a new type of table matting based on a material usually used for lining hanging baskets. It gave a distinctive texture to the display, also distinctive was the basing of the archers .
Simon Miller put on a game based on the Battle of Roundway Down and used an inclined table.
Steve Jones put on The Battle of Freeman's Farm from the AWI.
One of the great features of the Partizan show is the Participation Zone where visitors can try out all sorts of games. Steve and I tried "Never mind the Boathooks" which is a version of the popular "Never mind the Billhooks" rules for medieval naval warfare, produced by Andy Callan. The rules give a fun game with plenty of incident.
An inspiring day with the added attraction of meeting up with friends from all over the country. There were many other games on offer and I am sure that you can find large numbers of photos on other blog reports.
