Vapnartak 2026

Hello There! I spent a few hours at the above show. Instead of religiously photographing everything I took my time to enjoy the show and talk to a few gamers. 

This first game was one of two AWI games that were on display. The Brompton Bankers were very forthcoming and tried to get my partner involved. They were very approachable and light hearted.

They were using the Osprey AWI rules Rebels and Patriots.

The game was based on a flat battle mat with drop on terrain. While it was a participation game it was a pleasant breath of fresh air to have such an approachable group at a show.

There were some nice painted figures on the table.

Part of the game included a bridge and river in the scenario.

Next was the Yarkshire Gamers display of the Battle of Germanstown. Both the AWI games used 28mm figures. Of particular note was that half of the figures were from a gamer who had passed away and this was a memorial game to him. 

Again the figures were well painted.

Here was one corner of the game where some marshes were represented.

Judge Chew's House was well represented here. 

There were also a number of small vignettes as well.

Next up was a pulp alley game. This was of particular interest as the club I attend have a project to put on a Roman colosseum game in the near future. They have an arena already.

This also had some spectators and some sun shades as well.

The game from the east Leeds Militaria Society was in a very small scale, but looked very good indeed. It was an amphibious game with what appeared to be 1/1200th ships. It represented the Battle of Hakudate in 1869.

The buildings were well detailed,

As were the ships and harbour.

The fortress of Goryōkaku, headquarters of the rebel army.

This game got my attention as I recently played a 'Cold War Gone Hot' at the club recently

I like the ASDA complete with a tiny car park, like most ASDAs!

Overall a very enjoyable show with plenty of gamers who were very approachable and happy to talk to you.

I have seen a few blog posts since saying that the show left them underwhelmed. I felt that the foot fall was the same as usual, although you will have to speak to the show organisers for a more accurate account.

The show face book page had a few trader call offs and some of these were at the last minute, but the show organisers did fill some of these positions.

There were some spaces but this made the show a little less crowded and easier to get around.

The Other Partizan, 12th October 2025, Loot!

Hello There! I brief post today, to show the 'spoils of war' from The Other Partizan wargames show.

First, a group of books from David Lanchester Books. I have bought items from David for many years and he is always approachable, reliable and helpful.

Here are a couple of additions to the osprey campaign series, further reference material for the Normandy campaign vehicles, (a somewhat misleading title as half of the book included German subjects as well as British and Canadian.

The Desert Airforce is a little present subject in my library so hopefully this shall fill a gap. 

Further vehicle for the desert and NW Europe along with another of Beckers conversions for Normandy and not too clear here, a pack of Indian infantry for the desert, again from early war miniatures.

Empress models had some pantile topped walls for sale, here in resin, and some metal window frames, which I felt would come in handy for some building construction that I have planned.

I had also bought some latex flexible roads for the desert and Europe. The Dry Ground is a suitable colour to either fill some of the joints in the cobble roads for Normandy or for the covering of the desert road, for the desert. I am planning to crush some Cotswold Buff Chippings, to mix with this to add a more rocky texture.

Finally, for the Aegean plans, I spotted these on the Andy Grubb stand. At first I thought they were Britannia models, but it turns out that Andy bought out the 20mm portion of  Grand Manner. That included the above which are a German armed trawler and a German minesweeper.

Ill Gotten gains From Brecon Books

 Hello There! Here are the book I managed to find in Brecon Books.

These were a welcome addition to my Napoleonic library

A couple of basic additions to the American civil war

I do not have anything on the air war in Normandy. also the Le Paradis book caught my eye as I had an uncle who was at Dunkirk and knew some of those executed at Le Paradis.

The Zulu Rising book would be useful as I have little on the Colonial period. The Ancient Armies is full of illustrations from Angus McBride

These cheaply filled a few gaps in my Campaign collection.

As did these.

Overall a very worthwhile visit. Search for 'Brecon Books' on the internet and they will come up.

Battle of Gloucester Point 3rd October 1781

Hello There! I have managed a visit to my local wargames club and played a great game of AWI. This game was put on by Chris and was thoroughly enjoyable. 

The table was not massive and the game was a good way of showing gamers that you do not need to have a massive game with loads of figure to have an enjoyable and challenging game.

The scenario was a foraging party of British were retiring back to their lines and were discovered by a Franco American force which had almost caught them up. the wagons were under guard and a mixed Loyalist cavalry and British infantry force was hurrying the forage back to their lines.

The cavalry also comprised of a small unit of 17th Light Dragoons.

The baggage train was an eclectic mix and something that I would like to add to my own collection.

The British lines also had an artillery position which during the actual battle took no part in the action and so for the purposes of the game was 'Fluff' However during our refight the artillery played a prominent part.

The initial engagement consisted of a cavalry battle when the French Lazuns Legion caught up with Banastre Tarletons Loyalists. This ended when after a number of melee rounds, which saw the Loyalists pushed back, Tarleton was wounded and the French took the entire unit prisoner as they surrendered.

As the baggage train moved off the table the two Virginia Battalions moved to the centre of the table t engage the British. They put up a good attack, considering they were militia but eventually broke leaving the wagons to escape off the board.

The rules used were a club set which were modified from the Bruce Quarrie Napoleonic rules from the 1980's. These were written when some of the club members attended the Coltishall Cowards Wargames Club in the 1990's. 

Further photos of te game are on the Club Facebook page here.