Give them a Broadside

I'm afraid this won't be a picture extravaganza. I looked at the pictures I took and found them wanting. Pop over to Richard's blog for that, or feast your eyes on Big Lee's post on the game designed by him and Ray and hosted on by Postie's Rejects.

I don't think I've seen a war memorial which mentions the Korean War before.

This is more of a personal impression of the show put on in Gillingham by the Milton Hundreds Wargames Club. The show came highly recommended by many South East based bloggers so I was determined to make my first visit. I've been to Gillingham several times - I usually turn east out of the station, but this time I headed west. I was up and out of the house early (for me) and arrived in Gillingham not long after 10:00 and walked the 1/2 mile or so to the Medway Park Sports Centre. I had time for a quick spin round the hall, stopping off to chat to Lee at the Posties Rejects table (deservedly voted Best in Show, against some tough opposition).

Postie's Rejects game of the crossing of the Berezina 1812. A Dunelm sofa throw provided the cloth.

The whole table was fabulous and testament to their hard work. Sorry this is a bit out of focus. The broken ice on the river was great (pieces of perspex, 'sanded' to give that opaque look).

Last port of call on my initial tour of the hall was Brigade Models . They had the 2mm 'Vauban' fortress models I was interested in and described in my previous post as Plan C. To no surprise the parapets were low compared to a 6mm figure, but were otherwise perfect for my purposes. As luck would have it, they had everything that I had for my plan so I made the purchase there and then.

My acquisitions set out on another Dunelm throw! Castell de San Antonio to be used as a citadel. 

More of Brigade's products painted up and on display. I like the fact they had a model of Chatham Anchor Wharf given the proximity to where Broadside was held.

Shortly after I bumped into David-in-Suffolk and spent the rest of the day wandering around the show and chatting to various people. I had originally thought that I would spend a couple of hours at the Royal Engineers Museum next to the park, but it's a good indication of the quality of Broadside and the company that I stayed there until well after 3PM. Short breaks outside for coffee and lunch excepted.

This was another star of the show: Milton Hundreds Wargames Club's Sword Beach. Complete with sand from the actual beach!

Lots of lovely detail like this DD Sherman

I loved these LSTs(?) This one with self-propelled guns - sorry I don't know the name of them. Priests?

Another landing craft with Hobart's Funnies. Brilliant model showing some brilliant innovations.

As well as Lee and Ray, we bumped into Richard (also of Postie's Rejects) and had a nice chat. It was great to meet in person and put a face to the name. As an extra bonus, Richard revealed that the Brigade Models can be readily cut when I said that the curtain walls were just slightly too long for my fortress plan!

Another star feature was Hailsham Wargames Club's Malplaquet, 1709. All Les Higgins exquisite 20mm figures.

It reminded me of Tony "Prometheus in Aspic'''s preference for these models

More Malplaquet! The terrain for this was fabulous.

And yet more!

Another game I was keen to see. The Battle of Maidstone, 1648, by Canterbury and Littlebourne Wargame's Club. Nice terrain. And achievable for the average gamer. I liked the explanation of the scenario - the New Model Army had to achieve a win in a restricted number of moves to win the game. Without this constraint it would be too easy for the NMA player to win, so this made it a more competitive game. The gamers at this table were all young, which is nice to see.

Another lovely looking game was this example from the '45 Jacobite Rebellion. Played with Pendraken figures. Lovely castle centre right. And nice to see use of a baggage train. I couldn't help thinking that the choice of soft drink (top left) was appropriate for this. Irn Bru.

Another personal favourite, the Society of Ancients Gaugamela.

The SOA were using Impetus rules

There were many other great looking games and friendly hosts including the team who put on a pre-Dreadnought battleship game (sorry I didn't remember the club name or take any pictures). I will definitely go again next year. And I'd highly recommend Broadside to anyone, especially in the SE of England.

My train was due at 16:31 so I strolled back up through town and killed a bit of time in a pub that I haven't visited before. I almost turned around when I heard the noise inside - the party had well and truly started early! Actually it was relaxing and I enjoyed the choice of music. Can't go wrong with Boney M.

I was cream crackered by the time I got home and had a quick snooze before a very pleasant barbecue in the garden with the family and the Youngest-of-the-Youngest's beau, who was down from Yarkshire.

So, thanks for all the show participants for putting all the effort in and their friendliness, and to the Milton Hundreds club for putting on the show. And thanks to David for your company again.