Yesterday morning I went to the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, Kent, to attend the first wargame show to be held in the museum, RE-Play2023.
The show had been advertised online by the museum and the Milton Hundred Wargames Club (who helped to organise and support the event), but for some reason it did not seem to attract many attendees. This is a great shame as this was an excellent little show that was well supported by traders and local Kent wargames clubs.
Entrance to the museum (and the wargame show) was £14.00 for adults, £12.00 for Seniors, students, and local adults, £32.00 for families (2 adults + 2 children), and £6.00 for children between 5 and 16. (Children under 6 were allowed in for free.) The tickets are valid for a year, and once you have paid you can revisit as many times as you like. There is a free car park, which is situated amidst the outdoor part of the museum's collection (i.e. a lot of big engineering vehicles!).
I made my way straight into the hall that housed the bulk of the wargames, and the first I came across was Skirmish Wargames, The First LRDG 1916 – 1917, British Empire vs. Turkish Forces at a desert oasis.
One of the participants was Brian Cameron, who I have known for the best part of forty years and who is one of my regular blog readers.
Just across the hall from the Skirmish Wargames game, Posties Rejects (including Postie, BigLee, and Ray Rousell) were staging a refight of the Battle of Inyezane.
Nearby, Real-Time Wargames was putting on The Glittering River, Naval actions from the Russian Civil War in 1/600th scale.
Bernard Ganley (friend of many years) was running the game, and I was able to have a chat with him about the excellent models that were being used.
Also in the main hall was Shepway Wargames Club, Hauhausen '89, Cold War gone Hot, ...
... Maidstone Wargames Society, Dogfight '69, El Salvador vs Honduras, "The Football War", aerial combat, ...
... and Medway Wargames Society, Gladiator arena, Star Wars Shatterpoint skirmish
In one of the side rooms, Milton Hundred Wargames Club ...
... were running a battle between space fleets, ...
... The Battle For Villers Bocage, Rapid Fire WW2, ...
... Blow the gates (which used an interesting mechanism for randomly generating the terrain the petard party had to negotiate to reach the aforesaid gates) ...,
... and Commands and Colors Battlecry, American Civil War, using 6mm figures.
In one of the other side rooms, Fire When Ready UK, Star Wars Legion Grand Army game was taking place, ...
... as well as Tunbridge Wells Wargame Society, What a Tanker! WW2 tank skirmish, ...
... and Rainham Wargames Club, 1/600th scale American Civil War Ironclads.
Above the main hall is a gallery, where several other wargames were taking place. These included Friday Night Fire Fight, Conquest: Last Argument of Kings, large-scale fantasy skirmish, 'Thunder of Hooves' & 'Monsters'.
The museum's cafe is also located on the gallery, and whilst I was there having a quick drink, I was able to meet up with Bernard Ganley (again) and Nigel Drury.
A number of traders were present in the main hall, including The Pit Gaming Shop and KR Multicase, Sheppey Models, plus 'Company Commander' app-driven WW2 wargame Debris of War, Brigade Models, and Cuirassier Books.
I managed to stay for about two hours, by which time my ongoing fatigue problem was beginning to make itself felt so I drove home.
I hope that this small show will not be a one-off, and I will certainly do my best to make sure that any future events are mentioned on my blog. It deserves to be supported by wargames in South-east London, Kent, and the neighbouring counties as it is an excellent venue with lots of potential to become a regular, annual wargaming event.
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It looks like a good show and the fact that the entrance ticket allows your free entry for a year is a big bonus. Good to see you getting out and about too Bob, despite your fatigue etc, which is to be expected. Onwards and upwards as they say!
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteIt was an excellent little show and deserved a higher attendance.
Getting to Gillingham took me about 45 minutes by car … and it was the greatest distance I’ve driven on my own for over three months. When I got home I had a short doze in my armchair before writing my blog post.
All the best,
Bob
I can only agree with Steve J.'s comments. Perhaps you might run a PW game there if the show is held again next year? Best wishes, Arthur
ReplyDeleteArthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteThe same thought had crossed my mind … and I’ve offered to help the museum to ‘spread the word’ about the next RE-Play wargame show.
All the best,
Bob
Hi BOB,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about this excellent show with many varied games- good that you could catch up with Friends too. We don't have many shows here - just two- Canberra (CanCon) and Sydney (Moab) and that is about it yearly- nothing Local...anyway, glad you enjoyed the days outing. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteIt was a great small wargame show … and it’s a pity that you don’t have similar local shows in Australia.
All the best,
Bob
Good to catch up yesterday. It might be worth posting a link to this blog entry on TMP. Might encourage a few more to pencil it in for next year.
ReplyDeleteNigel Drury,
DeleteIt was great to see you too.
I’ll do as you suggest, and post a link on TMP. It might help if they run it again next year.
All the best,
Bob
Excellent post, Bob. The Queen's Gurkha Engineers used to celebrate Ghazni Day on 23 July every year to commemorate breaching the fortress gates. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ghazni
ReplyDeleteRegards, Chris.
Chris Kemp,
DeleteThe museum currently has an exhibition about the Gurkha Sappers. It started in July and ends just before Christmas.
All the best,
Bob
That looked absolutely spectacular, I would have loved to have played any of those games. I love the first LRDP game! Dino fun looked fantastic! RCW riverine :) .. I sound like it really deserved a better turn-out .. just looking at everybody's faces - they were wide with smiles!
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteFunnily enough, I felt that although there were fewer games than I've seen at other shows, the people running them wanted to interact much more with passersby That and the fact that the tables were not in some vast, anonymous sports or exhibition hall made it feel a much friendlier event all round.
The WWI desert game was both great to look at and had some interesting game mechanisms, including a card-driven turn sequence. Each side had the same number of cards as they had unit. At the beginning of a turn, the he cards were shuffled and turned over one at a time. If it was red, that side could activate a unit ... but once activated, that unit could not be activated a second time this turn. I watched a couple of turns, and it certainly made the players think about what order they wanted to do things in.
All the best,
Bob
Great to see you out and about Bob. We all enjoyed the show and will definitely be back for more next year. I mean how many times can you play a game next to a V2 Rocket and a piece of the Berlin wall?
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
DeleteIt was great to see all of Posties Rejects, and I wish that I could have spent more time watching your excellent game and chatting to you. As to the venue … well, it beats ExCel into a cocked hat! It may not be as big, but - as you point out - where else could you wargame surround by such wonderful exhibits.
All the best,
Bob
It was so good to see you out and about Bob. It was a great venue for a wargaming event, reminded me of doing wargames at Bovington Tank Museum many (many!) years ago. The atmosphere was great, it was just a shame about the lack of visitors. I think there's the basis for another, more successful event next year with better publicity to draw in wargamers and the public. I enjoyed playing Chris' Senussi game and a card driven sequence of action (which allows all the units to act but in a random order) is one I've been using a lot over the last few years since playing Howard Whitehouse's A Gentleman's War. As you comment, there's some hard choices to be made about what action to take next. Much better without the 'tiffin' card TFL use.
ReplyDeleteBrian Cameron,
DeleteIt was great to see you too!
I loved the venue, and will certainly go again if they run another wargame show there.
I really like the Senussi game, and had I been fully recovered, I would have loved to have had a go at playing it.
All the best,
Bob
Looks like a great show - I hadn't heard of it at all so the ublicity passed me by.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing that some people will be put off by the high entry cost if you are unlikely to be returning to the museum...
Mike Lewis,
DeleteI think that the museum needs to up its game a bit with regard to publicity … but I’m sure that they will learn from what happened this time around.
When you consider that the cost of entry covers you for a year, it isn’t too bad, although I agree that it might put some people off.
All the best,
Bob
Looks a great little show Bob, and really good to see you were able to get there and see it! I will look out for it next year , all being well.
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteIt was great to be able to go to a wargame show, even though I was very tired by the time I got home.
I hope that they’ll run the show again next year … and if they do, I hope that I see you there.
All the best,
Bob