Over recent years, Cavalier has been held at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge ... and it has become a place where quite a few of the wargame bloggers based in the south-east of England have a chance to meet up and have a chat.
This year, work on the nearby A21 meant that there anyone wanting to go to Cavalier had to negotiate their way around a the diversions that had been put in place. In my case, I drove along the M20 to the top of Wrotham Hill, and then used the A227 to go across country to the northern part of Tonbridge. By doing this, I hoped to avoid the worst of the possible hold-ups ... and it seemed to be reasonably successful. The journey took me just over an hour, and by 10.05am I was driving around the car park that serves the Angel Centre and the local branch of Sainsburys, looking for somewhere to park.
This took me a few minutes, and it was just after 10.10am that I was approaching the entrance to the Angel Centre.
There was no queue, and after paying my £5.00 entrance fee, I entered the main hall being used for the show.
Almost immediately I walked into Postie, ...
... Ray Rousell, Big Lee (although, since he has lost so much weight, he really ought to be called Medium Lee!), and David Crook.
We had a bit of a chat (mainly about what we had on our shopping lists), and then David and I went back to the car park to swap so stuff. (I had some excess Del Prado 25/28mm-scale pre-painted Napoleonic figures and 15mm-scale World War II figures and vehicles to pass on to David, and in return received some Del Prado 25/28mm-scale pre-painted Napoleonic cavalry, some 20mm-scale World War II figures and vehicles, and a spare hexed terrain cloth.)
On our return, we had the opportunity to have a chat with Henry Hyde before parting company to look at the various games that were at the show and to buy the stuff on our shopping lists.
Friday Night Firefight: Best of Enemies (28mm-scale Crusades participation game)
Hailsham Wargames Club: Late Romans vs Goths (28mm-scale demonstration game)
Bring on the Bad Guys: Superhero (28mm-scale Modern Pulp/Superhero participation game)
Maidstone Wargames Society: Biggles - The Island at the Top of the World (28mm-scale Fantasy participation game)
Milton Hundred Wargame Club: Der Kampf um den Krug (28mm-scale Napoleonic Skirmish demonstration game)
Deal Wargames Society: “Shall we dance ?” (20mm-scale 1933 Bowradet Rebellion demonstration game)
SEEMS: "The Colonel’s Jammed and the Gatling’s Dead" (28mm-scale Colonial demonstration game)
Cheshunt Wargames Club: "Mosquito Strike Norway" (1/300th-scale Air Combat participation game)
Society of Ancients: Battle of Paratakene (28mm-scale participation game)
Wadhurst Wargamers and role-players: Dungeons and Dragons (28mm-scale Fantasy participation game)
Tonbridge Wargames Club: Fight or Flight (28mm-scale French & Indian Wars participation game)
Crawley Wargames Club: Escape from the Aztecs (28mm-scale Jungle Chase participation game)
Cavalier remains a great local wargame show, and although it seemed a bit less crowded this year, one hopes to see it continue to be part of the wargame scene in south-east England for a long time to come.
This year, work on the nearby A21 meant that there anyone wanting to go to Cavalier had to negotiate their way around a the diversions that had been put in place. In my case, I drove along the M20 to the top of Wrotham Hill, and then used the A227 to go across country to the northern part of Tonbridge. By doing this, I hoped to avoid the worst of the possible hold-ups ... and it seemed to be reasonably successful. The journey took me just over an hour, and by 10.05am I was driving around the car park that serves the Angel Centre and the local branch of Sainsburys, looking for somewhere to park.
This took me a few minutes, and it was just after 10.10am that I was approaching the entrance to the Angel Centre.
There was no queue, and after paying my £5.00 entrance fee, I entered the main hall being used for the show.
Almost immediately I walked into Postie, ...
... Ray Rousell, Big Lee (although, since he has lost so much weight, he really ought to be called Medium Lee!), and David Crook.
We had a bit of a chat (mainly about what we had on our shopping lists), and then David and I went back to the car park to swap so stuff. (I had some excess Del Prado 25/28mm-scale pre-painted Napoleonic figures and 15mm-scale World War II figures and vehicles to pass on to David, and in return received some Del Prado 25/28mm-scale pre-painted Napoleonic cavalry, some 20mm-scale World War II figures and vehicles, and a spare hexed terrain cloth.)
On our return, we had the opportunity to have a chat with Henry Hyde before parting company to look at the various games that were at the show and to buy the stuff on our shopping lists.
Friday Night Firefight: Best of Enemies (28mm-scale Crusades participation game)
Hailsham Wargames Club: Late Romans vs Goths (28mm-scale demonstration game)
Bring on the Bad Guys: Superhero (28mm-scale Modern Pulp/Superhero participation game)
Maidstone Wargames Society: Biggles - The Island at the Top of the World (28mm-scale Fantasy participation game)
Milton Hundred Wargame Club: Der Kampf um den Krug (28mm-scale Napoleonic Skirmish demonstration game)
Deal Wargames Society: “Shall we dance ?” (20mm-scale 1933 Bowradet Rebellion demonstration game)
SEEMS: "The Colonel’s Jammed and the Gatling’s Dead" (28mm-scale Colonial demonstration game)
Cheshunt Wargames Club: "Mosquito Strike Norway" (1/300th-scale Air Combat participation game)
Society of Ancients: Battle of Paratakene (28mm-scale participation game)
Wadhurst Wargamers and role-players: Dungeons and Dragons (28mm-scale Fantasy participation game)
Tonbridge Wargames Club: Fight or Flight (28mm-scale French & Indian Wars participation game)
Crawley Wargames Club: Escape from the Aztecs (28mm-scale Jungle Chase participation game)
Cavalier remains a great local wargame show, and although it seemed a bit less crowded this year, one hopes to see it continue to be part of the wargame scene in south-east England for a long time to come.
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Great post Bob!
ReplyDeleteRay Rousell,
DeleteCheers! It was great to meet you and the rest of the 'Rejects' at what is one of my favourite shows.
All the best,
Bob
Nice pictures a Bob. That Norway game looks wonderful.
ReplyDeletePeter Douglas,
DeleteCheers! It’s the second time I have seen Cheshunt Wargames Club’s game, and it was even more impressive second time around.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThank you greatly for covering the CAVALIER Show so superbly- really very interesting and great to hear you've met up with some Pals too. Alas, we do not seem to have such shows locally- possibly due to lack of venues being available- seems we're very scant with 'Community Halls' and such. Looking forward to hearing more about your Colonial Book. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson,
DeleteIt’s great that Tonbridge Wargames Club is vibrant enough to organise a local show like Cavalier. They are one of the few that is still able to mount a small show in a suitable local venue.
Work on the book continues to make slow progress. I’m presently working on the chapter that deals with running a simple campaign.
All the best,
Bob
Some nice games on show and I loved the Bowredet Rebellion one. Always good to meet up with fellow gamers too and have a chat.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteThe Deal Wargames Society always puts on interesting (and unusual) games, and the Bowredet Rebellion game was no exception.
It was also great to have chats with wargaming friends.
All the best,
Bob
From your post it looks like Participation games are making inroads, a good trend in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteI’ve noticed that the smaller wargame shows tend to have more participation games than the larger shows. I suspect that it is a reflection of the fact that clubs have realised that most visitors don’t have time to spend all day at a show.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for the pics.
ReplyDeleteOne question I have though: Never heard of the Bowredet Rebellion and the pics didn't help me. I even googled it and there is nothing about it.
Can anyone help me out with a bit of background explanation to that game? Thanks.
Joseph Cade,
DeleteI used the spelling supplied by Tonbridge Wargames Club, but you will find information about the rebellion if you search using Boworadet Rebellion as your search term (see here).
All the best,
Bob