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 

​Here'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?" 

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.