Looking Back ... August ... The Other Partizan, Newark

Continuing our little catch-up .... The Other Partizan has move forward in the calendar to August (so it doesn't really feel that long since Partizan in late May) ...

The event is now in the Exhibition Ground and features an extensive History area in the centre ... you'll find us there, sharing space and personnel with The Battlefields Trust, The Northampton Battlefields Society, The lance & Longbow Society, Naseby Battlefield Project etc. etc.

Just as it should be ...

OK, I know ... you can't hive off the history - wargaming is the history (excepting the other bits) ...

Well, I see it as the future ... the money that shapes wargaming (and the buyers who underpin it) have decided wargaming isn't necessarily historical and so if there is to be history within wargaming, it has to be history-lite or history-sceptic ...

And I think it is right that in that environment wargamers have somewhere to go where they can assume that the history is important - that the history is part of the core purpose of the activity.

Here's some eye candy from the show if you are still with me.

(Northampton Battlefields Society)

Scenes from the Battle of Northampton ...

(Northampton 1460: the Lancastrian position)

(King Henry VI's tent in the compound by Delapre Abbey)

In addition to supporting the good causes, promoting the Society, recruiting members and displaying the most plausible interpretation of Northampton, we were also hosting a new, quick-fire, historical game of the battle ...

The game is played with blocks on a board contoured from the OS map ... cards allow a historical range of options and timings but permit a wide range of plausible outcomes.

(Northampton in flames in the background)

This was the combat debut of the game and it went extremely well - I do hope NBS will be able to produce this game semi-commercially so those of you who aren't able to play it at a show can have a go at home (next outing: Derby) ...

There were one or two other ancient/medieval games notably a splendid 54mm Republican game ...

... and Simon Miller's eye catching 28mm TTS extravaganza ...

... and just a nod to some of the other stuff around ...

Too many 28mm skirmish games, maybe ... too commercialised, maybe - but I still have a soft spot for the Partizan shows and I like their initiatives with the History Zone and Participation Games.

Thanks to the organisers and thanks to the many fellow enthusiasts who stopped by - your support is really appreciated.