Partizan May 2025

 Well, it's been 3 months since my last post, that hadn't been the plan, but events have conspired to make it so.  Over the years the Partizan shows have gained a justified reputation for showcasing excellence from all aspects of wargaming.  As such it has becoming a very popular show and this year was no exception.  Steve and I arrived about 11am and the hall was very full and remained so well into the afternoon.

Here are photos of a selection of the games, there were 42 demo games and 28 participation games, plus the Lardy zone; so my apologies for those who are not represented.

The League of Extraordinary  Kriegspielers had a 'what if..' game based on Wake Island in the 1920's

  

On a smaller scale, the Ruckusteers had some eye-catching scenery as a backdrop to their Ruckus game

Mr Bill Gaskin had a fictional battle somewhere in 18th century Europe

Ken Riley (aka Yarkshire Gamer) brought his Germantown game to the show

Westbury Gamers brought The Battle of Sagrajas, 1086 set in 11th Century Spain to the show.  

Burton & District Wargames Club put on a Zulu War scenario the Battle of Intombe

  The Bodkins had a War of the Roses game

The Ardhammer Group had a game set in the Franco-Dutch War of 1674

A good day out, with plenty of games to see, inspiration in bucketloads and a chance to meet gaming friends and acquaintances from all over the country.  Even the exchequer didn't suffer too much, a few bases, a book and 11 figures for my War of the Roses collection.

Vapnartak 2025

 Once again the first Sunday in February saw Steve and I have an early start for our annual trip over the Pennines to York for the Vapnartak Show.  The Lance & Longbow was putting on our usual Lion Rampant participation game and this year it featured the Battle of Stamford Bridge, from the Wars of the Roses.  We had run the game  about 8 years ago, but this time we tried it with 'Billhooks' sized units and it gave the players a bit more room for manoeuvre.

The scenario involved a force led by Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont intent on raiding Neville family manors in the region of Stamford Bridge, but finding that John Neville, Marquess of Montague with a large body of retainers was waiting for him.  Historically the affair was over very quickly, with some of Percy's men quitting the field when they saw the size of the Neville force.  To even things up the Percy force does not suffer these losses and also the Nevilles are deemed to be still forming up after deploying across the river.  This gives Egremont a chance to do some damage to the Nevilles before their better quality begins to tell.  Also we introduced some uncertainty by creating a flank force of Raby Nevilles, whose ultimate allegiance is unknown.  They were on poor terms with Montague's branch of the family and once the War of the Roses began they backed Henry VI, whereas Montague backed Richard of York.

Egremont's forces prepare to advance

Montague's men hastening to form up

Montague's right wing attacking the Percy left

The Raby Nevilles joined Montague and caused
mayhem amongst the levy infantry on Egremont's right

We ran the game twice and on each occasion the Raby contingent kept it in the family.  However this did not guarantee success.  You lose if half your units are eliminated, or your C in C is killed.  In both games Egremont was on the verge of defeat but was saved by Montague being killed in melee.

During our lunch break I managed a quick tour around the other games all but one of which were on the 2nd mezzanine floor.  Ken Riley (aka Yarkshire Gamer), had brought along his Siege of Forli Italian Wars game.

The East Leeds Militaria Society had the battle of Tabaruzaka which took place in the Satsuma Rebellion when Samurai rebelled against the Imperial government.  Traditional samurai took on the new Imperial Army which was equipped with modern weapons.

Brompton Bankers had an AWI game, Clash on the Alloway Creek.

Finally there was Sally Forth's game, Midshipman Hornblower and the Pirates which had a very nice walled harbour and town as the scene of the action.

My apologies to Lancaster Wargamers, Harrogate Wargamers and the Westow Academy who all produced very nice games, but a combination of shortage of time and the very bright sunlight which bleached out photos meant I did not any photos for the blog.  That being said they have all featured in video reports on Youtube from 'Storm of Steel' and 'Shakos and Spruces'.

This year the organisers made significant changes to the layout of the show meaning more space is available on the ground floor, greatly improving the flow of visitors.  The organisers stress the trade aspect of the show and indeed the show seemed quite busy, but the number of games on view has declined significantly over the last couple of years, only 14 this year and one of those didn't appear.  This may be replicated at shows elsewhere, I don't attend enough to judge and there are probably several factors at play here: fewer people offering games, organisers facing increased costs and needing more traders to cover expenses, I don't know.  It is just an observation of what may be a trend.

All that being said we had a very good day.  Interaction with the public was high, with plenty of people stopping to ask about the game, rules etc.  We also had a good number of volunteers to actually join in, which is gratifying.  Our thanks to Alan, Jim, John. Jeff and James and to anyone who I have forgotten.  Thanks also to Andy, Si, Steve and Will for their work on the game and the society stand.  As always Dave kept us going with tea and coffee.

"O Brother , where art thou" : a Ruckus scenario and Vapnartak

 For our game last week, Steve set up this scenario from the Ruckus rule book.  Ambrose of Longfield has returned from the continent with news of a plot to depose the king.  The red force is keen to talk to Ambrose so that they can forestall the coup, whereas the blue force is equally keen to find Ambrose to find out what they can do to further their cause to reinstate "the deposed one".  Ambrose is known to have taken refuge in a monastery, but neither side knows what he looks like, except that when fighting abroad he has been injured, losing a finger.

Both camps have sent a force to the monastery tasked with finding Ambrose.  When the forces enter the table they find the monastery grounds and 5 monks placed at random along the centre line.  Bob and I each had 3 leaders and allocated 9 retainers between them.   I commanded the 'red' force led by Sir Arthur, Baron Leyland, with two sub leaders Sir John Lonsdale and Martin Furness,  Bob had the 'blue' force led by Sir William, Baron Ryedale, with Sir Henry Buckrose and Harry Ewecross.

The view from behind the red forces right flank

I had allocated 4 of my 9 retainers to Sir Arthur, as he had the widest command radius, Sir John had 3 and Martin Furness 2, Bob had divided his retainers equally between his three commanders.  At the start of the game, Sir Arthur set off up the road as three of the five monks were within a reasonable distance it.  Furness was on the left and Sir John the centre.  Within a couple of moves Sir Arthur was in long range of the opposing archers, he was of course well protected, but his retainers, who were close to him, were not.  A combination of high dice from Bob and low ones from me quickly reduced Sir Arthur's contingent to a single billman.  Nevertheless, Sir John had contacted one of the monks and discovered it was not Ambrose.  To attempt to sow a bit of confusion he began to bring the monk back to the baseline, hoping to convince the white force that he had Ambrose.

Meanwhile, against the odds, Sir Arthur had actually found Ambrose and was bringing him back to the baseline.  Unfortunately,    Sir William was nearby and moving more quickly attacked Sir John, forcing him back and capturing Ambrose.  By this time Sir Arthur had lost his remaining billman and was wounded; faced by odds of 3 to 1 he had to retire and cede the day to his opponent.

Sir Arthur advances down the road

We ran the game a second time after lunch and once again the white forces prevailed.  This time they discovered Ambrose fairly quickly.  Sir John was close by, but his attempt to 'rescue' Ambrose came to an abrupt end when he was felled in combat with Sir Henry,  This left his retainers 'feckless' and gave Sir John ample time to escort Ambrose back to the white baseline.

Sir John escorting Ambrose to 'safety'

This coming Sunday Steve and I will be at the Vapnartak show at York with a Lion Rampant participation game.  If you are attending, please feel free to stop by and perhaps roll a few dice.

RECON Show 2024 at Pudsey

 Fortunately, the weather was not as severe as anticipated for the trip over the Pennines to Pudsey for our final wargames show of 2024.  Our game was positioned just by the door in the main hall so we were the first game seen as the visitors entered.  Quite a few stopped to ask questions and a few joined in the game.  As usual the show was busy in the morning before quietening down later.  There was a reasonable mix of traders and I was able to obtain the few items on my shopping list. The majority of games were participation and here are some examples.

First a game based on the film "Hot Fuzz" which was just being re-set for another run.

Then a game set during the Battle of Britain

and one based on I think "Space Cadets" with some insects you would rather not meet!

In the upstairs room Ken Riley (aka Yarkshire Gamer) had his Battle of Mentana game which has been at several shows this year.

We ran our game twice with the morning game going down to the wire with both armies on the brink of defeat and resulting in a narrow English victory.  The afternoon game was slightly more in favour of the English but was called a draw.

Thank you to Andy, Simon, Steve and Will for helping with the game.  Also Charles, Jim, John and Oliver for joining us.