Britcon : The Historical Wargaming Convention!
The UK's Biggest Historical Wargames Convention, at the edge of the Lead Belt
The UK's Biggest Historical Wargames Convention, at the edge of the Lead Belt
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Britcon 2025 is moving to Leicester !
Britcon will have a new home in the East Midlands from 2025 onwards - Leicester DeMontfort University's "The Venue@DMU" building on the edge of Leicester City centre, with the 2025 edition running over the weekend of 22-24 August.
The Venue@DMU started life as a Spitfire factory (which is actually quite cool really for a historical gaming venue), then served as a sports hall for many years and more recently has been totally refurbished as modern, dedicated event space, which those of you who play of some of the GW rulesets may know as it has already played host to some of the very large "GT" events for those systems.
The hall is a flat floored single space, with full catering & kitchen facilities (of course that includes "a bar"!), allowing us to have everything and everyone together on one level. We also have the option of expanding and accommodating even more gamers into the immediately adjacent QEII Leisure Centre in the coming years
The Venue@DMU started life as a Spitfire factory (which is actually quite cool really for a historical gaming venue), then served as a sports hall for many years and more recently has been totally refurbished as modern, dedicated event space, which those of you who play of some of the GW rulesets may know as it has already played host to some of the very large "GT" events for those systems.
The hall is a flat floored single space, with full catering & kitchen facilities (of course that includes "a bar"!), allowing us to have everything and everyone together on one level. We also have the option of expanding and accommodating even more gamers into the immediately adjacent QEII Leisure Centre in the coming years
Quick Links:
Like Nottingham, Leicester is also centrally located in the East Midlands near to the M1 and other major roads - very much "on the edge" of the Lead Belt if not actually in it - and the venue is just a short walk into the heart of Leicester city centre with its nightlife and many restaurants, and also only around 20 minutes walk from the main station.
Quick Links:
The Britcon Story:
Britcon encompasses three days of competition, social and organised play together with a two-day trade show, and in 2025 will run over the Friday-Sunday of the weekend of 22-24h August, before returning in 2026 to its longstanding "2nd weekend in August" date in the UK wargaming calendar.
The venue at Leicester DeMontfort's "The Venue" sits on the edge of Leicester City Centre, and by being a former Spitfire factory located only steps from the Richard III visitor centre (and also the car park where his remains were recently found!) as well as near to some of the best Indian restautants in the UK firmly ticks all of the "ideal venue a historical wargames convention" boxes
"The Venue@DMU" is also a modern, well lit and well ventilated space allowing us to stage all of the main competition events together on a single floor as opening up opportunities for expansion into more non-competition gaming as well as a large trade show floor as well.
The venue is well served by multiple transport links from across the UK and beyond. The 3-day format of the event has always been attractive to international players, with Leicester being on the mainline from the St Pancras Eurostar Terminus and having both direct coach and rail/bus (via Long Eaton) connections to nearby East Midlands Airport.
Britcon now welcomes competitors in over 20 different historical competitions and rulesets, with a number of "flagship" tournaments headed by the official Warlord Games Bolt Action GT and the Gripping Beast Saga Grand Melee.
Weekend participants have the opportunity to stay nearby at a range of hotels and apartments, some of whom offer special rates for attendees. This allows our gaming period to run over a variety of different timelines and formats across either a full the "Friday night + 8-8 gaming Saturday + more games on Sunday" timeline, or more traditional 1 and 2 day events and formats. In 2025 accommodation wil need to be booked by competitors directly with each establishment - the BHGS are not able to offer accommodation with your gaming event ticket (although we hope to do so in 2026).
This year the Britcon Trade Show will again run from 10-4 on Saturday and 10-2 on Sunday. The 2024 show featured over 30 traders and demo games including companies such as Warlord Games, Forged in Battle, Perry Miniatures, The Assault Group, Too Fat Lardies, The Pit and many others. We will again be running a ‘Startup Trader’ Zone showcasing small independent vendors who are new to market - expect to see a lot of 3D printing going on!
We will also be working with a number of local wargaming clubs to support the event, and there will - of course - also be a Bring and Buy at the weekend tradeshow
We look forward to seeing you in Leicester in 2025!
Quick Links:
- Competitions & Events on offer
- Britcon Trade Show Exhibitor List
- Directions & Venue
- Book tickets for Britcon Competitions
- Book tickets for FREE Entry to the Britcon Trade Show
The Britcon Story:
Britcon encompasses three days of competition, social and organised play together with a two-day trade show, and in 2025 will run over the Friday-Sunday of the weekend of 22-24h August, before returning in 2026 to its longstanding "2nd weekend in August" date in the UK wargaming calendar.
The venue at Leicester DeMontfort's "The Venue" sits on the edge of Leicester City Centre, and by being a former Spitfire factory located only steps from the Richard III visitor centre (and also the car park where his remains were recently found!) as well as near to some of the best Indian restautants in the UK firmly ticks all of the "ideal venue a historical wargames convention" boxes
"The Venue@DMU" is also a modern, well lit and well ventilated space allowing us to stage all of the main competition events together on a single floor as opening up opportunities for expansion into more non-competition gaming as well as a large trade show floor as well.
The venue is well served by multiple transport links from across the UK and beyond. The 3-day format of the event has always been attractive to international players, with Leicester being on the mainline from the St Pancras Eurostar Terminus and having both direct coach and rail/bus (via Long Eaton) connections to nearby East Midlands Airport.
Britcon now welcomes competitors in over 20 different historical competitions and rulesets, with a number of "flagship" tournaments headed by the official Warlord Games Bolt Action GT and the Gripping Beast Saga Grand Melee.
Weekend participants have the opportunity to stay nearby at a range of hotels and apartments, some of whom offer special rates for attendees. This allows our gaming period to run over a variety of different timelines and formats across either a full the "Friday night + 8-8 gaming Saturday + more games on Sunday" timeline, or more traditional 1 and 2 day events and formats. In 2025 accommodation wil need to be booked by competitors directly with each establishment - the BHGS are not able to offer accommodation with your gaming event ticket (although we hope to do so in 2026).
This year the Britcon Trade Show will again run from 10-4 on Saturday and 10-2 on Sunday. The 2024 show featured over 30 traders and demo games including companies such as Warlord Games, Forged in Battle, Perry Miniatures, The Assault Group, Too Fat Lardies, The Pit and many others. We will again be running a ‘Startup Trader’ Zone showcasing small independent vendors who are new to market - expect to see a lot of 3D printing going on!
We will also be working with a number of local wargaming clubs to support the event, and there will - of course - also be a Bring and Buy at the weekend tradeshow
We look forward to seeing you in Leicester in 2025!
To book a gaming ticket go to the Britcon Booking Page
Here's a gallery of photos from previous editions:
Here's a review of the 2022 show from the Retro Attic Man Cave YouTube Channel
And another from Storm of Steel, focusing mainly on the Lard Workshop games
Britcon is sponsored by Forged in Battle
Britcon ....
- ... is the UK's biggest residential multi-period, multi-ruleset historical wargames competition
- ... has events covering over twenty different rulesets and periods for you to take part in
- ... offers onsite student-priced accommodation and an onsite bar all priced at discounted "university" rates
- ... includes Leicester's only current wargames tradeshow
- ...takes place over the weekend of 22-24th August 2025
As well as competitions you are welcome to come along and visit the Britcon Trade Show at the weekend
(I already know I'm going - just take me to the booking form!)
What's happening this year?
- Periods being played
- Venue and nearby accommodation
- The Britcon Trade Show - trader details
- Britcon Bring & Buy
What else to look out for...?
- Free Food ! OK, not quite... this year all player entry fees include "grab bag" packed lunches (sandwich, crisps, a drink and some fruit) for Saturday and Sunday, maximising your time at the gaming table / trade show / bar and cutting out the need to queue for food when you could be rolling (or buying) dice !
- The Britcon Fiver - we will hand back £5 per player (for all of the 2-day periods) in the form of the very popular "£5 off any £10 purchase with any trader" deal.
(I've read enough - sounds brilliant - take me to the booking form now!)