October's edition of Wargames Illustrated contained a bumper 4-page review of Britcon 2022, so for those of you who may have missed it here's a peek at the positive coverage. We're just finalising details with the venue for 2023 (when we will agains be in Nottingham on the 2nd weekend on August) and hope to be able to publish full details shortly.
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The BHGS "Teams" event returns to North London over the 1st & 2nd of October in our first ever collaboration with the SELWG club, in which the BHGS will be hosting a series of competitions over the weekend alongside the long-running SELWG wargames trade show.
The following periods will be being played over the weekend:
The Lee Valley centre is a big, bright and well ventilated space with easy transport links (including a free shuttle bus from the closest station, Meridian Water) and plenty of free onsite parking. If you've not been before the SELWG show has lots of vendors selling everything you’d want for the hobby, lots of participation and demonstration games from different gaming clubs from around the country and, of course, the famous SELWG bring and buy stall! Your chance to play!
As well as a host of traders (including a number of first-time exhibitors anywhere on the wargames circuit) this year's Britcon also features a host of participation games as well, so you can not only splash some cash, you can also roll some dice (or flip cards.. etc etc) during your visit to Nottingham's newest wargames show. This year for your playing pleasure we have the following games on offer: Not only do Great Escape Games sell loads of cool cowboy-themed stuff, they are also the publishers of the wildly popular Dead Man's Hand Wild West narrative skirmish game too - and this weekend you can try your hand at gunslinging at the DMH Demo Table right in front of their stand. Dead Man's Hand has been successfully delivering truly cinematic-style fast and furious gameplay ever since its' release, so if you've not managed to have a go at restoring law and order to a tabletop Old West then pop along to the Great Escape stand and make sure to have a go this weekend! In her Majesty's Name has undoubtedly been the most popular set of Victorian Science Fiction and Steampunk narrative skirmish wargames rules ever since its first appearance over a decade ago, and with a lavish and comprehensive 2nd Edition now out in the wild we're delighted to be playing host to a huge and spectacular game of IHMN courtesy of the Chesterfield Open Gaming Society. If you fancy stepping into the world of H.G Wells, Jules Verne, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for a while during your visit to Britcon, this is the (fabulous) table to look out for - we've even been told that one of the authors will be in attendance to (steam-powered) walk you through an introduction to the game system. Kore Gaming are using Britcon to give a first outing to their all-new 15mm Sci- Fi Skirmish game, and will be demo'ing it on their stand at the show all weekend. Expect loads of opportunities to get their fantastic 15mm Sci-Fi figures and models on table - including an absolutely HUGE quad-rotor aircraft model that apparently has to be seen to be believed! You'll have to visit Mark on the Kore Gaming stand to find out more - but it’s a fair bet that there will be "pew-pew" noises a-plenty as part of their demo game no doubt! DAK Attack is a new WW2 skirmish game from author Brendan Wheatley, covering the derring-do and gung-ho actions of the Long Range Desert Group (aka The SAS!) in North Africa. The DAK Attack rules have just been very positively reviewed in the latest edition of Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy Magazine and with Brendan himself running demos Britcon is a great opportunity to dip your toe in the water (well, probably "sand") with these new highly enjoyable and card driven game. Brendan will be running a rolling series of 30-ish-minute demos throughout the entire weekend, with the system supporting as many as half a dozen players at any one time - so with the weather set to be hot it’s the perfect opportunity to sit down and fit a bit of SAS-style action into your visit to Britcon this year The Wings of Glory Aerodrome are a regular and much-loved feature on the UK wargames show circuit, and this weekend in Nottingham will be bringing a veritable hangar-full of gaming systems to Britcon for you to get stuck into. Wings of Glory is the definitive super-easy-to-pick-up WW1 air combat game, and if you're one of the very few gamers who have never played it yourself you'll certainly have seen other gamers hurling their Spads, Albatrosses and Camels around the tabletop skies and having a whale of a time - so whether you’re an ace or a novice why not pop along and ask to join in a round or two of ludicrously colourful air to air combat? As well as allowing you to be the Red Baron, the core Wings of Glory system has also been extended to cover WW2 air combat, and tweaked even further to take your into the world of Napoleonic Naval gamins, all using the same simple movement and firing system of the original WW1 game - and all three systems will be available to play and try at Britcon this year. The Pit are now to all intents and purposes "Mantic (when at a show)" and as part of that awesome responsibility Matt and the gang will be demo’ing Mantic’s Kings of War Armada fantasy naval game at Britcon this year. Kings of War Armada shares a lot of its' gaming DNA with Warlord Games' Black Seas, making it very easy to learn and play - but in porting (see what we did there..?) the setting over into Mantic's Kings of War universe means the opportunities for generating loads of very different fleets, all with their own unique feel and playstyle, are hugely expanded. Fancy trying your hand at bellowing out "RAMMING SPEED CAPTAIN!" in Orcish? The Pit stand and KoW Armada demo needs to be on your Britcon agenda! Kings of War Armada is very easy to learn and play, even with the optional rules. The current 2 forces feel unique in their playstyle and the included fleets in the starter-set provide some great games. There are 10 scenarios included in the rulebook for those looking for more than just knocking fleets together. For those looking for a fantasy ship game, the scope for expansion with Armada is huge with Mantic’s Kings of War setting. You will also be able to play Armada as the Kingdoms of Men with the correct scale ships you may already have when the rules are published. Armada doesn’t have a huge amount of rules detail in terms of ships taking damage to specific sections, as the combat system is streamlined for easy and quickness of play. It does have a lot of flexibility in force building with the optional upgrades, and that can only expand as more factions become available and the game grows. Warlord Games need no introduction - and especially so at a show running in their home town of Nottingham. The Warlord rules portfolio covers some of the most popular and well known titles in the industry, and they will be demo'ing a number of them on their stand at Britcon this year (just in case you haven't already tried them). The systems they'll bring depends on which staff are available on the day, but we're pretty confident you will be able to try your hand at Bolt Action, Black Seas and perhaps even their new 200AD Celtic-themed skirmish game Slaine As well as this diverse mix of miniatures games, Britcon will also feature a dedicated Board Game & Roleplay Room, hosted by the Nottingham Board and Wargames Group. Located in Lecture Theatre 8 (on the right hand side of the main competitions area) the room will be set up for you to come along and use the space to play your own games, or to borrow games from the extensive library of popular titles all provided by Gary and his team. There will also be opportunities to take part in game-testing, with some as-yet unpublished titles on the tabletop, all of which are keen to get your feedback as playtesters over the weekend of Britcon 2022 FREE ENTRY - 12th & 13th August, NottinghamHere's a quick heads-up about the Britcon Trade Show this year, including a load of special offers and show deals from some of our traders who'll be at the show this year in Nottingham. First up, our overall show sponsors those lovely people at Forged in Battle will be bringing their comprehensive range of War & Empire 15mm Ancients to the show this year. The War & Empire range of traditional miniatures have been making all the running in the 15mm Ancients world since their succesful Kickstarter campaigns a few years back. Cast in high quality pewter these great miniatures will be available at Britcon on a special show-only offer of Buy 5 blisters and get a FREE pack (lowest priced pack is the free pack) The Assault Group are first-timers at Britcon, and Pete is running a 10% discount offer on any pre-orders through their website for ‘post-free’ collection at the show – a great chance to get your hands on some of their really highly regarded 28mm figures for Medieval, Renaissance, WW2 and many other eras as well – just mark your web order for show collection at Britcon when ordering. Warpaint Figures will be launching their all-new Naval Terrain System to Britcon, which is especially good for games like Black Seas and Mantic’s Armada. The full range will be available to see and buy on their stand, and can also be pre-ordered post-free using Warpaint’s Britcon shipping code ‘COLLECT BRITCON’. They will also have limited number of Jungle Terrain, Desert Terrain and Naval Terrain combo packs available on the day too, all at around a 20% discount, first come first served. Sheppey Models are a first-time Britcon exhibitor, and just in time for the show Shaun has started stocking the FireForge range of 28mm plastic kit and resin-cast historical figures - he's also working on adding Flames of War to his roster as well, so fingers crossed he'll have some WW2 goodies ready and waiting for you by the time Britcon comes around as well. Britcon regulars The Pit will be running their now-traditional show offer of 20% off the RRP of any item they carry with a starting price of £10 and up. Matt and his team of eager minions are also now the official Mantic “show reps” for pretty much all of the UK expo circuit, and so will be demo’ing Mantic’s Kings of War Armada at the show as well as bringing loads of Mantic goodies to Britcon this year. They can even take orders onsite for anything they don’t have with them and ship it to you after the show post-free. Mantic Points collectors can even pick up some special points-only miniatures on site at the show. We also have a number of brand-new traders this year, including many doing their first ever shows - so do make sure to go over and show them some love (and money!) and play your part in supporting the future of our hobby if you can. The new companies include : Voidscar Miniatures who will be showcasing an all-new 1/100th Sci-Fi ranges at the show - here's a photo Barnaby sent us to give you a little taster of the sort of models you can expect to see on his stand! Disdain Studio will be showing their 3-D printed designs at Britcon, including a positive menagerie-full of animals - Prehistoric, "real" and fantastical. Just browsing their website we found these 28mm elephants, which look like they'd be great for Ancients if you added in a couple of suitable crew! Arved himself will also be there on his stand all weekend to help you answer that age-old wargamers question : "Why don't I really need an new army all riding into battle atop Giant Sloths?" Maz at Winterdyne Commission Modelling is another Nottingham-based designer who uses his skills to produce a high quality range of 3d printed terrain and accessories. He's done design work for companies like Mantic, Anvil Industries, Spiral Arm Studio's and Modiphus in the past, so getting some of his work on your table could be just what you need to deliver a significant upgrade to your on-table scatter or medieval/fantasy townscape collections. Tiger Miniatures will be bringing their new range of '' Dragon and Peacock wars'' figures to Britcon this year, along with our other ranges.
Dragon and Peacock is the Qing Chinese invasion of Burma in 1765, and the Qing Dynasty also took part in the Opium wars with Britain and the Boxer Rebellions amongst other interesting-to-game conflicts - so we're sure they will have plenty of uses in your collection too. Colour Forge / The War Hub will be running a “buy 5, get the 6th can for free” offer at Britcon on their new set of "compatible with other ranges" paints - and will be bringing stocks of their latest release, Convict Orange - perfectly colour-matched to GW’s Trollslayer Orange. Christopher Morris Books are a specialist bookseller from Derbyshire who will be stocking around 500 titles on their stand, including an extensive range of Osprey books including all the latest titles as well as a large selection of wargaming books. All titles are discounted by at least 20% and the Osprey Campaign Series, which are usually £14-99 each, will be £12-99 each or £10 each if you buy two or more. The Wings of War Aerodrome team will be running three parallel participation games on the show floor both days over the weekend, a Napoleonic Naval game, a WW1 aerial game and a WW2 (Battle of Britain) game, so if you have a bit of free time and fancy shoving some aircraft, or ships around, make tracks for their tables and they'll be happy for you to join in Gripping Beast are sponsoring a couple of events at this years' Britcon, and so are able to offer post-free "click and collect" ordering via their website, allowing you to shop their entire ranges and collect your purchases post-free from Martin at the Swordpoint gaming tables on Saturday and Sunday. Instant Armies will again be attending Britcon, which they tell us is one of their favourite shows of the year. This year they have 28mm figures both painted and unpainted from various manufacturers, and for the 15mm historical gamers their stand will have literally thousands of 15mm figures again painted and unpainted. Dave Lanchester is also back this year, and will have 100's of 2nd hand Osprey books on sale, all priced from just £5 and some at 5 for £20. Kore Gaming will be demo'ing their new 15mm Sci-Fi game at Britcon, as well as showing off their range of suitable vehicles in 15mm (& 28mm). They've also recently picked up the rights to produce the White Dragon range of highly detailed modern-era polyurethane minis and models, and will have them on their stand at the show. ABC Brushes will be with us for the first time in Nottingham, and if you've not seen them on the circuit before make sure to visit their stand for their fantastically well priced multi-pack brush deals. They specialise in getting hold of stocks of cosmetic-flaw-on-the-handle-type only factory seconds and discontinued lines, giving you incredible value for money for some top-draw brushes. Finally, if you fancy some post-free Too Fat Lardies goodies, just select "Britcon Collection" on the TFL website and then do your best to somehow find the inconspicuous, shy, quiet and retiring Rich and the rest of the TFL team at some point during Lard Workshop (our first ever collaboration with the Too Fat Lardies team) running in the Old Chemistry Theatre next to the show floor, and they will then be happy to personally and graciously press any advance-purchased TFL goodies directly into your eager and no doubt sweaty hands (on Saturday only). Britcon also has a well stocked Bring & Buy - Britcon is great for a Bring and Buy, as our players arrive by car (generally) and will definitely be there to the end of the weekend giving maximum time for their stuff to be seen, and bought by you. All in all this year we have nearly 40 traders, demo and participation games, and another 20-or-so eye-candy-tastic games going on at Lard Workshop on Saturday as well. There are more on all our traders (not just those listed here) and links to all of their websites on the BHGS website Britcon Trade Show Page ** SPECIAL NOTICES ** We do still have space for more players to register across almost all of our gaming periods - the full list of signed-up players is now on an "unconnected" page on our website which you can only reach with this direct link. If you therefore notice that one of your mates who thinks they've entered isn't actually on this list, give them a nudge to sign up asap!edit. Britcon '22, in our new home in the centre of Nottingham is now so close you can almost taste its paintwater (is that a thing?) - and we're delighted to be able to report that the entire event is absolutely flying, in terms of both players and traders who have signed up already too! As of today we have;
To achive this we need to ensure as many gamers as possible from the wider Nottingham area get to hear about the Britcon Trade Show - and then come along and enjoy a wargaming day (or two) out in the very heart of the Lead Belt. So, we'd be really grateful if you too were able to lend a hand by helping promote the show as well. With that in mind;
Of course we also still have plenty of space in our new venue for many more gamers, so if you and your gaming buddies haven't signed up as yet please feel free check out what events are happening on the Britcon pages on our website too! We hope you can be a part of this year's Britcon gaming community, and we look forward to seeing you at the show in a few weeks time. The BHGS Britcon Team The BHGS website now carries updated rankings for both FoG Renaissance and L'Art de la Guerre, covering all of the events in each ruleset since the effective lifting of lockdown restrictions in July of last year.
Paddy Bray currently sits proudly atop the 27-player-high Renaissance rankings, with York's Paul Dawson claiming top spot on the (presumably somewhat more precarious) 177-player ADLG ladder. The full results from this year's Roll Call are now in, and have been published on the BHGS website along with a collection of dynamic and action-packed photos from the event held in Cranfield earlier this month. Congratulations to all of our many podium-placers, all of whom went home with a functional and attractive BHGS engraved pint or half-pint glass trophy from this year's event. The full set of results is available on the BHGS website After Roll Call, The BHGS Challenge will again return to the UK's biggest gaming event, UK Games Expo at the NEC in Birmingham over the weekend of 4th & 5th June, with separate 15mm and 25mm events across both the ADLG and DBMM rulesets already on offer.
Britcon bookings are absolutely flying out of the door right now, with over 220 participants and a record number of new traders already signed up to play or exhibit in Nottingham over the weekend of 12-14th August - including our first ever Too Fat Lardies Games Day - "Lard Workshop" ! Further ahead still, you can also now book your places for the BHGS Teams running for the first time alongside the much-loved SELWG show at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in North London over the weekend of 15/16th October. BHGS Teams@SELWG, BHGS Challenge@UKGE '22 and "Lard Workshop"@Britcon all now taking bookings3/3/2022 With the 2022 event circuit now in full swing The BHGS are pleased to be able announce that all 4 of the events making up our 2022 schedule are now available for booking. This year's BHGS Teams event will take place a couple of weeks later than last year's edition, as we are moving dates (but not venue) to run for the first time alongside the much-loved SELWG show at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in North London over the weekend of 15/16th October. Our partnership with the SELWG club also means that all BHGS Teams competitors will now benefit from free entry to the SELWG show, one of the UK's leading and longest-running wargaming events, on the Sunday of the competitions. So far we have 3-player team events for ADLG, DBMM, 2-player team events for FoGAM and Mortem et Gloriam, as well as a couple of "singles" events for the DBM and TTS! rulesets confirmed for the BHGS Teams and available to book on our website. The BHGS Challenge will again return to the UK's biggest gaming event, UK Games Expo at the NEC in Birmingham over the weekend of 4th & 5th June, with separate 15mm and 25mm events across both the ADLG and DBMM rulesets already on offer. Finally, Britcon over the weekend of 12-14th August in Nottingham will now be playing host to our first ever Too Fat Lardies Games Day - "Lard Workshop" ! The main day of organised Lardy gaming will be on Saturday 13th August with up to 24 games capable of hosting 80+ players, with the hall also available on Saturday for friendly or pick-up games. Saturday will feature two games, one in the morning (approx. 9.30-12.30pm) and one in the afternoon (approx. 2-5pm) with a break in the middle of the day for lunch, discussion, shopping the traders and enjoying a beer at the subsidised student bar!
Everything for the games will be provided by the game host (figures, terrain, tactical advice etc.). There is no need to have any knowledge of the rules even if this is your first ever game. In fact this a great time to try new rules and periods (and now scales with 2mm Strength and Honour) that you have never played before. Britcon this year will also host a record-breaking 20 (yes twenty!) other events this year:
The Britcon Trade Show is already proving popular with the wargames trade too, with almost 20 traders including a host of new faces already signed up to attend - full details are on the Britcon Website. If you or any of your gaming buddies are "in the trade" and may be interested in exhibiting, or perhaps your club or group would like to stage a demo game at the show please get in touch soon as space is limited After a 2-year hiatus, and a bit of additional delay to wait and see if any new restrictions on events in England might have been introduced over the festive period, Roll Call is celebrating being back in its usual timeslot and regular Holywell School venue in Cranfield over the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd 2022.
Roll Call this year will feature the following competitions, all running as 2-day events:
Details and booking information for all periods is now available on the BHGS Website As you will no doubt be aware space at the Holywell School is finite and so the competitons at Roll Call regularly sell out, meaning we need to set initial targets & limits for each period, and juggle them a little as bookings come in to try and ensure that all of our periods have the opportunity to achieve viable minimum numbers. If by the time you come to book, your preferred period is showing as sold out don't panic ! This year we've set up a booking option for "Waitlist" tickets where you can request a "free" ticket for the "Waitlist" for your chosen period or ruleset, allowing us to contact you as and when further tickets become available. In prior years we have been able to offer tickets to everyone who has put their name down for the Waitlist, and (for obvious reasons) it seems highly likely that some early-bookers will end up unable to attend this year too, so we hope to again be in a position to offer places to everyone who wishes to attend. The Covid Stuff: We are currently working on the assumption that there will be no additional social distancing requirements compared to previous editions of Roll Call, however if any new regulations are imposed between now and April which impact how the event can be staged players will be required to comply with them as a condition of entry, or will be offered a refund if they do not wish to participate. If Roll Call cannot be safely or legally staged at all we will refund everyone (again!) and look to return in 2023. We look forward to seeing you at Roll Call 2022 The BHGS Roll Call team Dave & Jer Well... A couple of weeks ago we were confidently planning to put Roll Call tickets on sale on the BHGS website before Christmas, however... given the current uncertainty over Omnicron etc our plan is now to hold off on releasing Roll Call tickets for a little while longer until things (hopefully) become clearer in regard to any potential restrictions that may or may not be in effect going into the early part of 2022.
Our team of umpires have however been busy updating the period details on the BHGS website Roll Call pages so we are all set to go for the weekend of 2nd & 3rd of April 2022, so as soon as we get the green light we'll be full steam ahead again - but after the last 2 years, better safe than sorry for now at least! We've also confirmed with the organisers of UK Games Expo that The BHGS Challenge will be back at UKGE at the NEC Birmingham over the weekend of 4th and 5th June next year, with our usual suite of competions at the UK's biggest gaming festival. Tickets should be available towards the end of January via the UKGE website, but those of you planning on attending may want to start thinking about booking accommodation as the show is always a huge draw for the UK gaming community, and so the best hotel deals are worth hunting for even now. Finally, we have new dates, but the same (-ish) location for the BHGS Teams event next Autumn, as this event will now be running alongside the SELWG wargames trade show in the Lee Valley Leisure Centre over the weekend of 15th & 16th October. Tickets will be available via the BHGS website, again early in the new year. |
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