2015 is the fifth year that the Milton Hundred Wargames Club has staged the BROADSIDE wargames show, and yesterday I travelled to Sittingbourne to attend it.
The show was held at the Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne, Kent ...
... in a large sports hall ...
... and an adjoining small room. (The latter was where the flea market was located.)
Besides a reasonable number of traders, there were quite a few local wargames clubs and groups represented at the show.
The Society of Ancients was using some of the best painted figures I have seen for a long time in their wargame entitled 'Troy'.
Deal Wargames Club produced an excellent game based on the final scenes of 'Saving Private Ryan'.
Rainham Wargames Club's wargame was set during the French and Indian Wars.
Gravesend Gamers Guild had an interesting steam/fantasy game in progress on their stand.
Skirmish Group staged an interesting battle from a very obscure conflict.
This battle saw the forces of Mexico fighting Yucatan separatists ...
... who were supported by a gunboat and sailors from the Republic of Texas's Navy!
Southend Wargames Club staged a very interesting Napoleonic battle that featured a Spanish town and fortress ...
... being attacked by a French naval squadron and landing force. A Royal Navy flotilla (led by Sir Thomas Cochrane) had come to the aid of the Spanish ...
... and were engaging them at close quarters at the point when I stopped to watch the wargame.
The ships were all laser-cut wooden models, and show the level of detail that this new method of producing models can achieve.
Shepway Wargames Club was running a very interesting colonial wargame entitled 'The Heart of Darkness' about the destruction of the Arab settlements in the Congo Free State.
I understand that this particular game won the Game of the Show award.
Posties Rejects' wargame was all about the Border Reivers ...
... and used Posties' own rules. (He can be seen below holding them!)
Big Lee was also there to help out run the game ...
... as was Ray, although he wasn't at the table when I was taking my photographs.
Maidstone Wargames Society's game featured James Bond being pursued down a ski slope by members of SPECTRE!
Medway Wargames Society's fantasy game featured what looked like a submarine in one corner of the tabletop.
South East Essex Military Society had a 'Star Wars' game in progress when I visited them, and it seemed to feature examples of just about every space vehicle used in the films!
Friday Night Fire Fight Club was running a game using the 'Hail Caesar!' rules.
Herne Bay Wargamers ran a game using the 'Lion Rampant' rules published by Osprey.
Medway Gaming Society's game was entitled 'Batman' ... and it was rumoured to feature a working searchlight that projected the Batman symbol.
Crawley Wargames Club used some very nice models and terrain in their 'Imperial Skies' game.
Crush The Kaiser Wargaming was also at the show demonstrating their WW1 rules.
I always enjoy going to BROADSIDE ... but I yet again I make the plea for all clubs staging wargames at shows to make it clear who they are and what they are doing. Some of the clubs at BROADSIDE were very good at this ... but some of the others could easily have been anonymous had it not been for the map of the main hall that was handed out at the entrance.
The show was held at the Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne, Kent ...
... in a large sports hall ...
... and an adjoining small room. (The latter was where the flea market was located.)
Besides a reasonable number of traders, there were quite a few local wargames clubs and groups represented at the show.
The Society of Ancients was using some of the best painted figures I have seen for a long time in their wargame entitled 'Troy'.
Deal Wargames Club produced an excellent game based on the final scenes of 'Saving Private Ryan'.
Rainham Wargames Club's wargame was set during the French and Indian Wars.
Gravesend Gamers Guild had an interesting steam/fantasy game in progress on their stand.
Skirmish Group staged an interesting battle from a very obscure conflict.
This battle saw the forces of Mexico fighting Yucatan separatists ...
... who were supported by a gunboat and sailors from the Republic of Texas's Navy!
Southend Wargames Club staged a very interesting Napoleonic battle that featured a Spanish town and fortress ...
... being attacked by a French naval squadron and landing force. A Royal Navy flotilla (led by Sir Thomas Cochrane) had come to the aid of the Spanish ...
... and were engaging them at close quarters at the point when I stopped to watch the wargame.
The ships were all laser-cut wooden models, and show the level of detail that this new method of producing models can achieve.
Shepway Wargames Club was running a very interesting colonial wargame entitled 'The Heart of Darkness' about the destruction of the Arab settlements in the Congo Free State.
I understand that this particular game won the Game of the Show award.
Posties Rejects' wargame was all about the Border Reivers ...
... and used Posties' own rules. (He can be seen below holding them!)
Big Lee was also there to help out run the game ...
... as was Ray, although he wasn't at the table when I was taking my photographs.
Maidstone Wargames Society's game featured James Bond being pursued down a ski slope by members of SPECTRE!
Medway Wargames Society's fantasy game featured what looked like a submarine in one corner of the tabletop.
South East Essex Military Society had a 'Star Wars' game in progress when I visited them, and it seemed to feature examples of just about every space vehicle used in the films!
Friday Night Fire Fight Club was running a game using the 'Hail Caesar!' rules.
Herne Bay Wargamers ran a game using the 'Lion Rampant' rules published by Osprey.
Medway Gaming Society's game was entitled 'Batman' ... and it was rumoured to feature a working searchlight that projected the Batman symbol.
Crawley Wargames Club used some very nice models and terrain in their 'Imperial Skies' game.
Crush The Kaiser Wargaming was also at the show demonstrating their WW1 rules.
I always enjoy going to BROADSIDE ... but I yet again I make the plea for all clubs staging wargames at shows to make it clear who they are and what they are doing. Some of the clubs at BROADSIDE were very good at this ... but some of the others could easily have been anonymous had it not been for the map of the main hall that was handed out at the entrance.
Cool pic Bob!!!
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks! I am pleased that you enjoyed them.
All the best,
Bob
Great photo's Bob. We had a great day with our Demo, but I did think overall that the show seemed a little quiet. Maybe I was too focused on our little corner of the hall but visitor numbers did seem a little down on previous years.
ReplyDeleteLee Hadley,
ReplyDeleteI am pleased that you enjoyed looking at my photographs of the show. I was very impressed by the game staged by Posties Rejects. Great terrain, very nice figures ... and home-brewed rules that fit on two sides of A4 paper. What's not to like?
Your comment about numbers is interesting. My impression was that it felt less crowded than on previous years, but when I talked to the people taking entry fees they said that they had had over two hundred visitors by the time I arrived at 11.30am, and that this was about what they expected.
All the best,
Bob