"Best Miniature Wargaming Hotspots around the world?" Topic

Gentlemen (and Ladies), please breakdown your club, group, Hobby Store "hotspots" where you play by city and region.

Give an example of games, scales and rules you use.

Provide association with clubs and conventions.

Let's see how miniature wargaming around the world breaks down on the TMP.

Looks like either my computer slow loading, or the internet gremlins caused an issue with the post, and there was multiple posts made.

My apologies

I'm in the Leeds War games Club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. We meet every Wednesday night and play a variety of different scales, periods and rules (both commercial and home grown). We run the FIASCO show every year at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on the last Sunday in October. We rent a room in what used to be the British Legion in Headingley. A number of members arte also members of other clubs in the area.

NORTHAG – North Atlanta Gamers meet at my home in Buford, GA monthly and also game at other member's places or Meeple Madness hobby store in Flowery Branch, GA on certain Saturdays. Eras are almost anything you can imagine in several different scales. Most often:

10mm ACW
28mm AWI
28mm MAW
WWII in both 6mm and 15mm
15mm Ancients
1/600 ACW Naval
28mm Crimean War
10mm and 15mm Napoleonics
1/300 Aircraft – WWII
Board Games include so many that they are beyond citing here. The Gamers OCS is a more common subject.

Fire & Fury, Blue Skies, Home Brew, Age of Iron, Altar of Freedom, Shako, Spearhead, Blitzkrieg Commander, CDIV Test of Battle,General de Brigade and others.

I am in a club in the Miami area -South-Florida Miniature Gamers (SMG).

We meet monthly with regularly scheduled games at a garage, storage, business turned into our central location.

We associate with HMGS South who run Hurricon, and Recon in the fall and spring every year in Orlando, Florida.

Some of our members go to Rapier in Jacksonville, Florida.

Most of the time we use 28mm, but have used 10mm for ACW, and 15mm and 20mm for WW2. Our next game will be Zulu Wars in 15mm.

Some of the most popular areas for us is AWI, in 28mm, for which we have run Monmouth and Yorktown in conventions.
We have also played Crimean, WW1, Sword and the Flame, ACW, 15mm Napoleonic ship to ship, FIW or SYW, and much more.

One of our local hotspots for miniature gaming is the Adventure Game Store in Davie, Florida, which runs the gambit for miniature games and genres generally on a weekly basis, including Bolt Action, which is pretty popular.

I am sure other members of SMG could add more information…

And ACWBill was our previous president for a very long time, and some of the best convention games we have hosted, was due to his work (like Yorktown, and Monmouth).

I am in a club in the Denver, CO area called the Colorado Military Historians (CMH) founded in 1965

We meet monthly with regularly scheduled games at a local Rec Center and Weekly games at a local store.

Some of our members go to HMGS East's Conventions and our two local conventions ( Gheghis con & Tacticon).

Most of the time we use 28mm, but have used Just about any scale and period.

Some of the most popular areas for us is WW2, WW1 and DBA/DBM, and mant more.

One of our local hotspots for miniature gaming is the Total escape Games in Broomfield and Gamers Haven IN Colorado Springs.

My club, 'the Hut Club', meet in my hut in my back garden.

There are three of us and we play irregularly on Wednesday evenings.

Currently we are playing through the scenarios of Congo using Foundry 28mm figures.

We frequent about ten or a dozen shows a year, anything from our local show to a show about 4 hours drive away. We also go to Crisis in Antwerp, Belgium as it is the best show around for friendliness and good beer.

So far, Miami area, Atlanta area (Buford), Denver, Leeds, and a back garden in Scotland?, for hotspots with Crisis, Hurricon, Recon, Rapier, FIASCO, Gheghis con & Tacticon conventions, with locations from the Rockies to the Southeastern US to Leeds in the UK, to Scotland, and Antwerp in Holland.

TMP diversity…

@SGT

Antwerp is in Belgium not Holland and Holland should really be called the Netherlands. Some folk think that is important.

LOL thanks… too late to edit….

Amsterdam is in the Netherlands

Antwerp is in Belgium, even put in the thread…

@SGT

Good lad, have a beer on me.

I am member of a club in Prague, with a rented club house with a permanent resident member-caretaker, who also happens to be a great painter. There are regular and irregular meetings there, based upon the whim of the club members, and an annual meeting outside of Prague with a Big Game as well as smaller ones, so everyone has something interesting there to play.

But the real action is in my village, where a full 20% of the households are gamers. In other words, there are five houses in my village. However, I do see potential for growth, and if all goes well my village club may well include 40% of all households within the next year or so.

I took a few guys from my club (SESWC) to Prague a good few years ago and we played a few games with the guys in a Prague club in a poorly lit basement.

Most of the guys were ex-pats, an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman and an American. (No jokes please) There were a few Czechs who didn't speak much.

We played a game of Chariot Racing as well as an Ancients game of sorts followed up with a game of Munchkin.

Were you there TJ?

It´s possible Jim, if it was a poorly lit basement in a gameshop then I could very well have been there.
Nowadays we have gone large and rented our own place and even charge (egad!) membership dues!

The Irishman was probably Mark, owner of Orinoco Miniatures, and a damn fine fellow. We have more than enough Englishmen, but I believe we are fresh out of Scotsmen, so the position is open for you. We are fresh out of Americans as well, the closest thing is me, a Texan.

You are certainly welcome to come over again, we are having the big game in September at a guest house near a military museum full of tanks!

The White Rock Gamers, situated just south of Vancouver Canada in White Rock and South Surrey has eleven regular members and three part time. One of our group is Chris Leach, co-author of Shako 2, helped with Armati 2, wrote Battles for Empire and the Napoleonic Scenario book Fields of Glory.

Five members have tables in their homes which we play at every Thursday. One member has a 18 footer we can play two games at one time. One other member has a condominium recreation room which accommodates our big games, the largest Wagram in 28mm with a 36 foot table.

We play mostly 25/28mm games, some 15mm and WW2 in 20mm.
Rule sets played:
Shako 2, Armati 2, Rapid Fire, Battles for Empire 2, Fire and Fury.

There is a Convention every year put on by the Trumpeter Club in Burnaby, B.C. called Trumpeter Salute, which we attend.
We also attend NWHMGS convention Enfilade which is this weekend at Olympia Washington.

I reckon to have the author of the rules in the game takes the wind from the sails of any rules lawyers when you play Shako!

I wish my club played WWII in 20mm, but they have fallen for the siren of 28s.

15 years ago I played regularly with the Anchorage Miniature Gaming Club which used the Spenard Lion's Club building in Anchorage, Alaska
I bet they play every Saturday still….

This pub in Gloucestershire…

TJ- our group knows the rules pretty well, we always have a copy of two at hand. If there is a oddity with a rule we consult Chris.
20mm WW2 gives us a lot of flexibility in game size.

Tennessee ---hands down … Hotspot! and these are just the little get togethers.

I and three or four other faculty members at the university where I teach (the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) host two game nights each semester in our Student Center. Normally between 25 and 50 students (including a number of international students) will attend these events. We start around 7:00 PM and play to about 2:00 AM. The University is located in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

This is all great stuff!!
David Manley, brilliant.

Nashville, nice pictures, and terrain, figures, and players.

Thanks to TJ, Kevin C, Wrgmr1, JimDuncanUK, Wormhole9, ACWBill for posting.

If any of you have links for your gaming clubs, please add the link.

If any of you are in the Miami area where the SMG (South-Florida Miniature Gamers) reside, we'd offer up a invitation and a pint or two, and a game.

Cheers!

I'll see if I can figure out how to add pictures to the posts…

Lone Star Historical Miniatures (LSHM) Club located here in Texas with over 450 members in most major Texas communities. We play just about everything but focus mainly on Historical Miniatures. We were recently highlighted in the April edition of Wargames Illustrated.

We hold many events throughout the year and run a major gaming convention in November in Austin Texas, this will be our 20th year – MillenniumCon

Come check us out if you are ever in Texas and participate in one of our many events, we would love to meet you.

Join us for some great gaming:

Wow!! That is a great post.

I would recommend Canberra Games Society, organisers of the largest Australian convention at Cancon, also a shout out to Kirriemuir Wargamers, Scout hall in the home of J.M.Barrie and Bon Scott. I'm off there tomorrow.

When I moved from Cambridge, in the UK, to Lexington, Kentucky, USA, just over a year ago, to marry a beautiful local girl, I was concerned with finding a local gaming shop, and club, to scratch my gaming itch. I had sold off most of my 30 year collections, just keeping my 28mm WOTR Perry army, Space Hulk, and my home brew 1/72 WW1 aircraft game.
I had no need to worry, Battleforge, in Lexington, is a great game shop. and also. a Gaming club. 7 nights a week, just arrange a game with your mates, rock up, and use the shops tables, terrain, well stocked drinks fridge, and welcoming clientel.
Really, gamers across the pond, are the same as British gamers, and there is a lot going on, Dahn the 'Forge. 'X' wing, flames of war, Sudan, WWI air, Medievil, Bolt Action, 40K AOS, Team Yankee, plus a lot I've forgotten, I feel very lucky to have landed in this Mecca!
Also, I started a figure painting service, and the good folk of Lex have helped me make a real go of it, so kudos, and massive thanks, to them all.
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A great shop, great gaming emporium, run by Mike, and the ever-friendly Tim!

John