A Busy Summer ...

Ancients on the Move is back

... well, after a few shows, a new home hub and a new laptop (after the last one literally melted down on the desk ... we're talking *puddle of plastic* time ... ) ... The Shows Team blog is up and running again (well, it is if you are reading this) ...

After Partizan, we went up to St Helens for Phalanx - then in July, our main events were the Battle of Northampton anniversary and the Conference of Wargamers.

I missed out on Britcon, but August now sees Partizan at the Newark exhibition complex and the Bosworth Festival.  Partizan's place on the first weekend of September has been taken by the Hereward show in Peterborough (the end of summer is all changed now) ...

Great to get back up to St Helens for one of our favourite local shows ... and a get together of old chums for a big battle on the Sunday ... 

The game for the show was Martin Charlesworth's Dirty DBA challenge ... a stripped down, anyone can play version of the iconic Barker game - ideal for beginners and veterans alike (as long as nobody tries too hard).  This was its usual success and recruited another little group of newcomers into ancients.

(A DBA challenge ... horse archers try to hold off advancing legionaries ... ) 

The show is a good mix of Societies, traders, demo games and 'have a go' Participation Games ... It has an excellent and well-supported Bring & Buy, priced to sell (and I always manage to find a few things that someone else doesn't want but seem like long lost treasure to me) ...

(the Lance & Longbow Society at Phalanx 2016)

(Phalanx 2016: one of the many impressive demo games)

Well, that colonial game was very much on message - we were off in the Sudan for our big game the next day ... sort of 'off topic' for the Shows North blog but a cracking Sunday nonetheless ...

Northampton & Bosworth ...

Anniversary events ... I wasn't able to put on any ancient and medieval games at CoW as this year it coincided with the 1460 anniversary down the road ...

(Northampton 1460 at Delapre Abbey)

This year was particularly important as the event began with a special President's Award, presented by veteran pollster and broadcaster Sir Robert Worcester on behalf of the Battlefields Trust to Mike Ingram and the Northampton Battlefields Society for our outstanding work on battlefield preservation and interpretation.

(Sir Robert Worcester at Northampton Battlefield)

We took along the wargame model ...

(Northampton 1460 ... the battle reconstructed)

... undoubtedly helps visitors understand the battle in the context of the landscape as it was in 1460 ... before visiting it on the anniversary walk ...

(Northampton 2016 ... anniversary battlefield walk commemorating the fallen of 1460)

Meanwhile ...

(CoW 2016 ... a favourite game in the bar)

At Bosworth we helped at the Battlefields Trust stand - and interpreted the battle with our now familiar 54mm collection ...

(with The Battlefields Trust at Bosworth 2016)

(Phil Steele's Bosworth battlefield model)

On the home front ...

Over the Summer we were also working on some DBA scenarios and a new packageable version of the Northampton battle (inspired, indeed, by W1815) ....

Scene's from Graham's Reconquista project ...

However, we could only do the Saturday at Bosworth because we were booked on the Sunday for the newly migrated The Other Partizan and the new N1460 game's show debut ...

I'll feature that one in a post of its own (next) ...