The Tournament Pack for the Official Gripping Beast UK Saga Grand Melee tournament is now available to download from the BHGS Britcon website.

This year the event will feature four ages of Saga mixed together as warbands from Invasions, Vikings, Crusades and Chivalry battle against each other.

The event will be held at the BHGS Britcon Show taking place in the city of Leicester on the 8th and 9th of August 2026. It will be the 11th UK Grand Melee and we look forward to new and veteran players taking part in this epic battle of warlords!

Tickets for the Grand Melee are already on sale on our website so make sure to secure yur place asap !

The Tournament Organiser (TO) for the event is Joe Messenger. If you have any questions about the rules pack, please get in touch via email: mrjsmessenger@yahoo.co.uk

We are delighted to confirm that Lard Workshop is returning to Britcon in 2026, bringing this "Official” Lardy Games Day to Leicester for the first time. Lard Workshop 2026 will feature TFL dignitaries Richard Clarke, Nick Skinner and Sidney Roundwood running games and organized on their behalf by Don Avis.

As before, the event will take place as part of the Britcon Show over its traditional weekend of 7th- 9th August with Lard Workshop taking place on Saturday 8th August from 9.30am. 

Currently 14 great games are already lined up covering all the big Lardy favourites including Chain of Command, Sharp Practice, Infamy Infamy, Midgard and General D’Armee2 amongst others, and we expect to have around 50 spots available for gamers - and in previous years the event has sold out with a reserve list established for any late cancellations

One of the most pleasing aspects of the three previous Lard Workshops has been the number of “new to Lard” gamers. All you need to do is turn up and play some of the fantastic games from the Too Fat Lardies stable, with everything provided by the Games Masters from figures, terrain, rules, dice, and tape measures (plus tactical advice).  You just need to bring a fun attitude – many attendees use these days to “try before you buy” and learn the rules from the experts, who in many cases are the Rules Authors themselves!

 There will be two sessions, morning and afternoon, and nearer the date you will be asked to supply your three preferences as to which game or rules system you would like to play. In the last three Workshops, everyone has got two of their three preferences (but of course this isn’t guaranteed!).

To read more about Lard Workshop 2026, and perhaps even sign up, visit the BHGS website Lard Workshop page. In the meantime, here are some images from some of the great eye-candy games from last time we hosted Lard Workshop on Nottingham in 2024:

With January now (finally..!) behind us, and with the sight of early daffodils prompting the discerning wargamer to ponder "hmm.. yellow-flowered grass tufts might look good for my next army?” .. this inexorable changing of the seasons can surely only mean one thing...

Now is the ideal time to sign up for Britcon 2026!

Yes, the BHGS event calendar is up and running for 2026 with Britcon tickets now on sale.

This year Britcon returns to our new venue at De Montfort University in the UK's "Curry Capital" of Leicester, and also to our traditional ‘second weekend in August’ slot of the 7th-8th August. 

We've pretty much got the full roster of events all sorted for Britcon this year, with the following periods and competitions for this year all now open for bookings.
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• Bolt Action 28mm - 2-day event - The Official Warlord Games Bolt Action GT 
• Saga - The Official Gripping Beast UK Grand Melee  - 1 and 2-day options available
• Barons War - 28mm - Saturday Singles, Sunday Doubles, all bookable together or separately as one-day events​​
• L'Art de la Guerre 15mm 6-games 3-day event Fri/Sat/Sun
• L'Art de la Guerre 25mm 5-games 3-day event Sat/Sun 
• Mortem et Gloriam 15mm 5-games 3-day event Fri/Sat/Sun
• Renatio et Gloriam 15mm 5-games 3-day event Fri/Sat/Sun 
• DBMM 15mm, 2-day event 4-games Sat/Sun
• Epic Armageddon 3-day event 6-games Fri/Sat/Sun 
• Field of Glory: Ancients & Medieval V3.0 15mm, 3-day event 6-games Fri/Sat/Sun 15mm
• DBA  1 or 2 day event options available, multiple themes
• Emperor of The Battlefield 15mm Napoleonic 2 day Sat/Sun
• To The Strongest!​​ - 2 days Sat/Sun

Click on the links to see details of the themes for all of these events and start planning your gaming (and curry-eating!) at Britcon's new home in Leicester for the highlight of the wargaming summer.

This year at Britcon we have also managed to secure a (rather limited) number of onsite Student Rooms in the accommodation block right next to the venue which can be booked as an “extra” in addition to any gaming ticket. These rooms are all singles and are grouped in “flats” of 6-8 rooms, with each flat sharing a kitchen, toilets and showers. We’ll aim to group players from the same club or gaming period together in each “flat” when we send the final rooming list to the Uni. 

Book your Britcon Competition Place Now!

We've now reached the milestone of having over 40 companies on the exhibitor list for the 2025 Britcon Wargames Trade Show, which will be taking place in the heart of Leicester over the weekend of 23/24 August.

That includes over a dozen first-time Britcon exhibitors, and a host of the "big names" from the wargames circuit as well !

The current list is as follows:

• 7th City Games
• ABC Brushes
• Athena Miniatures Ltd
• Baueda Miniatures
• Beowulf Miniatures NEW
• Brickskreig NEW
• Chris Morris Books
• Chronopia NEW
• Craft Lighting/AES Liquid NEW
• Dave Thomas
• Disain Studios
• Dominic Quliter (Solo Trader) NEW
• Eagle Figures NEW
• FforFreddie Terra Firma
• Forged in Battle
• Hit & Crit NEW
• Instant Armies & Veteran Mins
• Ironclad Minis
• IGS Minis (Irongate Scenery)
• Karsten Gould (Solo Trader) NEW
• KR Multicase
• M&C Model Painting
• Mammoth Miniatures NEW
• Model Army (Baueda) NEW
• Pandyman Games
• Patriot Games NEW
• Pemberleys Scenics NEW
• Perry Miniatures (Dave Thomas)
• Sarissa Precision
• Shaun Fairclough 2nd Hand Models NEW
• Sheppey Models
• SSAFA NEW
• Surprised Stare Games
• The Madman's Workshop NEW
• The Pit
• The Square
• Three Decks Dockyard NEW
• Uhrwerk Spiele
• Wargames Atlantic
• Warlord Games
• Warpaint Figures
• Westwind

You can currently book a FREE advance ticket to attend the show via our website.

We look forward to seeing you at Leicester's biggest ever wargames event this August 23rd & 24th !