Britcon 12 Aug 24

On Saturday, I went to Britcon, one of the shows most local to me, with my eldest daughter and youngest son. The main focus is on gaming - there seemed to be some Bolt Action and some Chain of Command games, but there were some traders and a few demo games.

Some kind of pirate game, with a suitably dressed pirate.

A Franco-Prussian War game, complete with some nifty conversions of some French Colonial infantry (light blue, by the buildings)

Warlord had a couple of their new games on display

There was a separate room for the Bring and Buy, and then there was a Wargames Illustrated room, with a few really big games set up.

The Boondock Sayntes' latest game (which I had seen at Partizan), a typical India-based epic

Next up was a Revolutionary Wars' game, set in Egypt:

And finally, an 1815 'What if?' game, exploring a potential French flanking move around Nivelles

A few pics of the busy gaming area:

There were a few mini participation-games (I think!), featuring a variety of periods:

We didn't stay very long - it was more a quick shopping trip and scoot around since we were local, and the littlest one wanted some more Romans for his collection. There were perhaps a few more traders here than last time I went, although they didn't necessarily cover an enormous range of wargaming stuff, but I think there would have been some bits which would have interested most gamers at least a little. The Bring-and-Buy was in its own room, and there was actually space to look at stuff, which is a bit of a rarity for me, in that most of the ones I have been to at other shows are more like a rugby scrum. There were plenty of people there but it didn't seem 'too' busy - perhaps one of the areas, a little walkway near the gaming area, with the Rapier painting stand, Gripping Beast? (maybe) and a fantasy trader (I want to say something like Hayland), was a little crowded and dark! On the other hand, it was downstairs on quite a hot day, and some areas in the show felt a bit warm.

The little one duly got his Romans (from Warlord), and some Victrix Gauls to fight them. The eldest one picked up a really big wolf which she liked the look of. I got a French artillery piece and crew, plus some Perry Napoleonic British Light Dragoons. I ummed and aah'd about some other stuff - primarily a few 6mm buildings from The Square - but decided against it for now. I think I am getting worse at shopping, as I get older!! 

One thing did get me wondering - there were a few painted armies for sale, several in the £500-1000 range. Do people actually buy painted armies at shows for that kind of money? Please note, I am not saying that the armies aren't "worth it", more just musing on the activity from the buyer's point-of-view - is this a thing that people do, on spec?

This is the second show I have been to in a couple of months. I went to the Joy of Six in July. It was a good show with lots of nice looking games, but I didn't really feel in the mood, so left early. But there is a good write-up with pictures in the latest Miniature Wargames. I did strongly consider getting the new Napoleonic rules from the Wyre Forest 'Twilight...' stable, but decided against it. For now, at any rate.