Monday 11 June 2012

Broadside 2012 - Show Report

Yesterday Posties Rejects descended on the Broadside Wargames show in Sittingbourne. Our demo game kept us quite busy all day with lots of spectators and friends old and new coming to say hello. We were so busy on our table that I didn't get much time to look round the rest of the show which is a pity because it was packed with great games and interesting traders. I did get some photos but in nothing like the numbers I normally take. I'll post pictures from our Demo game later but in the meantime here's a brief pictorial review of the rest of the show.


An excellent display of original equipment from the Zulu war

Operation Deadstick - The Coup de Main at Pegasus Bridge in 6mm - This excellent demo game was awarded Best in Show.

Southend Wargames - The Battle of Benfleet featured some excellent terrain

The show seemed a lot busier this year (I understand visitor numbers were up on last year) although it did tail off significantly after 3pm. Several of the traders said business has been good although a few others were less sure. Certainly it seemed to me that a lot of money was changing hands and once again the gaming community has shown its ability to shrug off 'recession' and 'austerity'.

Romans v's Gauls (I think) - A very impressive looking table
Medway Wargames Society - A Gladiatorial Game that was a hit with younger gamers. The point at which I came in the Gladiator had lost both legs but was still fighting off the lion! 
Skirmish Wargames - A Maori War game featuring a mix of figures including some by Empress and Perry Miniatures as well as soft plastic figures from other manufacturers.

I was impressed by the variety of games on show this year, covering periods such as Ancients, Roman, Middle Ages, Franco Prussian War, Napoleonics, WWI, WWII and modern as well as fantasy and sci-fi. There also seemed to be a lot of non-gamers and their kids wandering around and enjoying what they were seeing which was great.

Medway Wargames Society - Dust Tactics. I'm still like the look of this game but I resisted the temptation to buy the starter box even though it was on offer at the show. 


Milton Hundred Wargames Club - A Rapid Fire game

Rainham (Medway) Wargames Club - Force on Force modern wargaming
'Postie' of Posties Rejects - Battle of Amiens 1918



Although I didn't get to explore the show as much as I normally would have I still enjoyed it a lot. I think this is an event that will grow in years to come and can only go from strength to strength because it really did feel friendly, open and diverse. Well done to the Milton Hundreds for putting on the show and I look forward to coming again next year.

20 comments:

  1. Great post!!! Some excellent pics too! Somehow I missed some of the games you've posted pics of, dunno how I must have walked past them loads of times???

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    1. I totally missed the Alamo game posted on Fran's blog. No idea how (sorry to the guys running it!).

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  2. From Postie " Good morale pass check on a 9+, glad you enjoyed yourself! A great effort by all, and did I offend you and the other as you didn't come back in for a cuppa, or were you all as Knackerd as me an Ray, who sat in the chair with a sigh......"

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    1. I was ready and willing to have a post-show cuppa but everyone else (meaning Fran) wanted dropping off so I assumed that wasn't happening. And yes I'm utterly f****d today! My knee was playing up yesterday (old injury) and today its twice the size it should be!! Worth the pain though because I had a really good time.

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  3. Nice Report Lee. It's hard to see everything when crewing a game. None the less a very good overview. Thank you. I am sure the rejects will get an invite next year. And what a pleasure to meet you all.

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    1. It was a really good day and it seemed to speed past! I this as a group we learned a lot about running a demo game and I expect we'll be a bit more organised next time. Having said that things went smoothly and we did all get time to look round, even if it was only an hour each.

      Looking forward to next years show already!

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    2. Hopefully you'll be comming down with Fran and Ray for some modern war (2009) stuff in the near future.

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  4. Nice report and great pics Lee. It was good to catch up with you guys :)

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  5. Not bad Lee, did you buy anything!

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    1. Cheeky fekker, you know I did....eventually! I didn't go with a shopping list because I expected to be busy with our game. But I did buy a couple of those lasercut MDF buildings to try out. If I like them I'll get some more but I didn't want to buy too many until I tried them for myself.

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  6. Nice report, great pictures.

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    1. Thanks. I didn't take many pictures compared to normal and I forgot to bring my flash diffuser so the quality isn't my best. Leasson learned for next time though, and I'm sure our joint 2nd in the show will encourage us to run another demo at some point in the future.

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  7. Lots of cool tables there, looks like a successful show.

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  8. Nice report.
    Thanks, Big Lee!

    Cheers
    Monty

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  9. Nice pics of the tables. Glad you had fun. Would you do a demo game again?

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    1. I think so...when our backs/knees/feet stop throbbing!

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  10. Hi lee, a great report. As the organisers of the show I would like to thank you and the Posties for supporting us and running such a great game. We would love to hear any feed back, good bad or indifferent, to allow us to keep progressing and keep Broadside current and lively. We have had a few ideas but we also learnt a few things too...we need to make a few tweeks!

    Thanks again for a great report :)

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  11. Great photos.. hopefully I can join up next year and see these events in the flesh!

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  12. Great report on a very nice show

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  13. Good report :-)
    Jason

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