"Wargame Conventions In The UK" Topic

What is the largest military miniatures wargame convention in the UK, how many people attend it, when is it held and where?

Not quite the same as American Conventions salute.co.uk/mainframe.htm but the largest show in the UK I belive.

x42

That should be Salute not the Warlords (they run it) but all the links should be there to get the information you want.

x42

Triples is pretty big as well, last for two days rather than one. Maybe not the same people count as Salute though.

The next big show in the UK is in Derby over the weekend of 4th/5th October then Warfare in Reading which is on the 22nd/23rd November.

In my opinion the biggest show in the country is Salute held in the Excel Centre in London.

Not sure of numbers attending but if you contact the organisers I'm sure they will tell you.

Roland

Warfare at Reading is big as well but over two days

Salute is the biggest (and one of most expensive)

Warfare is the best in my opinion, very relaxed, open and cheap, and almost as many traders as Salute

Al
(though I am biased – as my club show – LOL)

Big AL right and you get back 1/2 your car parking money to from Rivermead on the day over 70 traders so far this year booked up

And loads of demo/participation games

Such as the SOTR 1949 one I will be running with a 100 Zombie horde – LOL

Al

In terms of paying customers I think that Salute is clearly out in front.

Next would be UK Games Expo, Colours, Triples and Warfare which are all two-day events.

Phil

forge-games.co.uk

The Sheffield "Triples" must be the biggest in the North of England although the range of traders at "Vapnartak" in York is pretty good..

As much as I love the hobby and am a sucker for shows, I don't think I'd want to travel to London. (How many troops could I buy for the rail fare?)

Thank you one and all! Salute appears to be the big one, with favorable comments about Warfare. Living here in Richmond, Virginia I can only dream. Wouldn't it be great…

The beer's better in the north of England!

Tumble, I played a game with Tim from California at Salute this year, and Richmond is only like half as far. ;-)
See you next year.

Just reflecting on Tumbleweed's most recent post, I'm wondering whast he sees a convention as.

While there may be some excellent demo games at a UK convention, by and large they are little more than market places for the hobby. compensating for (or may be explaining) the lack of gaming shops in the UK and offering an element of comparison shopping not really possible on the net.

For gaming one has to look for something like BritCon, currently held in Manchester, which offers four days gaming and a small retail show for two days.

(I amaware that this is now likely to provoke a list of shows in the UK where there is a non-demo gaming element)

N.B, BritCon's in the north of England where the beer is better.

"(I amaware that this is now likely to provoke a list of shows in the UK where there is a non-demo gaming element)"

There are usually some participation games at shows as well, but you are quite right the emphasis is usually on shopping, looking at the eye candy and catching up with friends.

Most of the Scottish shows are about 50/50 between demo and participation

As a resident of the west coast of Canada, I'm envious of all the conventions in Great Britain!

Warfare has lots of demo and participation games
link

Jeremy Sutcliffe:
Based on your comments, it appears that the big games at Salute are mainly put on to promote the traders' wares. Here in the land of the dollar bill I would have thought we were the crass ones, but I have to say that the vast majority of games at Historicon and Cold Wars appear to be genuine attempts to have fun. Our traders sometimes host spectacles, but even then the attendees are invited to play.

"We're running a large convention in Manchester, presently in its second year. This year we're introducing wargaming in a large way to the mix. We've got MAWS, Mailed Fist and Marple Marauders deeply involved in the event and are keen to invite more regional and local clubs to join in the fun.

We're particularly keen to have participation games – more on that below.

As a mixed show, we've done our best to ensure that each genre of gaming is catered for properly by having a games manager for it – a wargames manager, Card Manager etc. – I'm the overall manager and the minis manager. Wendy Cooper at Westwind Productions is our wargames manager. I'm following this through though because I met with you at Games Day

What we're about:

1) Gaming – all kinds of gaming – wargames, miniatures games, boardgames, card games, LAN Party gaming and roleplaying

2) Providing a great location for large tournaments to take place

3) Introducing a new generation of gamers to the hobby (hence the desire for participation games).

We've got a floor space of 22,000 sq ft, 13000 in the main hall and the rest in surrounding space. We've got about 38 exhibitors, as mentioned above, 1400 chairs set out for gaming and 450 or so tables to game at. It's designed to be a great place to come if you're a keen gamer, a new gamer or just curious. We're widely advertising the event via newspaper articles, competitions in newspapers, radio interviews and a massive flyer and poster campaign nearer the time. Our target is to have about 3500 attend the show over the weekend.

Our traders include some greats, such as Westwind Productions with their Secrets of the Third Reich, Stafford Road Games, Kerr and King, War Glue, Terrain Warehouse, Wargamer Illustrated, Games Workshop and Figures on Comfort.

We have tournaments in Flames of War (60 seats), the first ever SoTR (12 seats), Hordes and Warmachines (32 seats), Field of Glory (24 seats), Warhammer 40k (60 seats), Bloodbowl (32 seats), DnD Miniatures (36 seats), Battletech (24 seats) and loads more.

Why not try out the brand new Doctor Who Roleplaying game, run by the famous Doctor Who author, Steve Lyons?

If you're interested in joining as a club you can email wargames AT Gamecon dot co uk or visit the website at gamecon.co.uk

Just a taster of what's going on – I hope you're interested!"

hi all
manchester area wargames society will be holding a bootcamp for those interested in learning about field of glory rule set.everyone is welcome to the bootcamp which will be held at our club at emlyn hall,emlyn sreet,walkden on the 9th nov.entry is £3.00 GBP only,bring your army or we will supply one for you.start time is 10am.to book or for general enquries please e-mail paulreid28@hotmail.com or tel 01204 481609……please book as soon as possable and notify me if you need a army spaces are going fast.
regards
paul
manchester area wargames society
future bootcamps will be flames of war…secrets of the third reich 1949…bloodbowl..and a few more

H,, I dunno

the north of England where the beer is better

see you can't trust everything he says.

Hmm I dunno

the north of England where the beer is better

see you can't trust everything he says.

<<Warfare is the best in my opinion, very relaxed, open and cheap, and almost as many traders as Salute.>>

As a simple punter with no allegiance to either club, I would agree, and add SELWG and Colours to the "better than Salute" list. Salute is almost obligatory, but becoming a bit of a chore/"supermarket sweep" – and an expensive one at that, with a 100+ mile round car trip (as opposed to direct trains to Kensington/Olympia), and an entry fee of £7.00 GBP or £8.00 GBP and £12.00 GBP car parking at the end of it.

<<Based on your comments, it appears that the big games at Salute are mainly put on to promote the traders' wares. >>

Sadly, they are mostly demo games – which, in many cases, can mean not much going on most of the time – rather than participation games which would really help to sell the rules/figures/terrain whatever. Does anyone else think that demo games are just a bit of narcicism – "Look at MY lovely toys!" and that priority should be given to games that people can join in? Wargaming is not really a "spectator sport", except for the authenticity Nazis and gaiter-button counters.

Demo games give a false impression of the hobby.

A lot of work goes into a good demo game but we all know that an actual gamimg table never quite looks as good.

It's almost, but not quite a "fur coat and no knickers" approach to attracting new gamers.

On the whole I'd agree with you but see nothing wrong with demo games, I like seeing them to get inspiration and new ideas.
However, There are a few demo games I've seen from clubs who present the same game at various shows around the country where NOTHING happens….One particular club springs to mind – they beautifully present a game, when engaged in conversation have all the right answers on the period subject,it all looks fantastic, but return a couple of hours later and not a single figure will have moved or dice been thrown. Wierd. And they do this continuously throughout the year with the same game, at show after show- I find this really odd.
I was amused though when this club didn't win the best in show game at Salute this year, and made a couple of sniffy comments about John's 1/35th game which did win. John's Market Garden was very much a game into the bargain-in fact that really was John's prime object- to have it work as a game…Perhaps the judges take this into account?
I have an interest here, being a player in John's game. However I can also say that go for a game with John in his shed, and its exactly the same as his demo games, same level of presentation- quite normal for him to produce one-off figures or terrain just for a "normal" game.

I ran demo games this year at Salute along with Thomas – it was great fun. I think more companies should try to do it, has to be the best way to sell stuff – get people to try it! :-) Thanks to Doug at EM4 I got the best of both worlds – some new toys, playing games, getting other people to play games. Demo/show games look great, and can inspire you to a new period etc, but surely there should be more games for people to join in with at Salute. Even Frothers let people join in their game – I think some kid won it. Table looked great, and despite the bad rep they seem to get, it was well done and people enjoyed themselves. If they can do it, surely others and certain companies can – I think even GW did so!

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not against big demo games per se.

A lot of effort goes in, they look superb and they must bring together club members who work on them.

However I always reckon the best ones are those where a member of the public has been drawn into the game and is having a go.

The downside has to be that, if we seduce the newcomer into the hobby through demo games, by and large the reality of caming is not as spectacular.