The Other Partizan 2026 : part 1 'Parti-time'

Last Sunday 11th October I was fortunate enough to attend The Other Partizan show at Newark Showground; being one of the largest UK wargame shows,  it's always good to be there and see so many games and gamers under one (sometimes rather cramped) roof.  I started from London about 8:30 (really should have been earlier!) and drove, arriving about  10:45, stayed till the bitter end at 4pm - and still didn't see everything! It is a BIG show.   I was very pleased to meet up Chris aka Nundanket of Horse and Musket Gaming fame, he very nimbly stepped into the shoes of 'the other Dave' in the traditional Waldorf and Stadtler tour a wargames show act,   and we also met the excellent Neil of Aufklarungsabteilung and had a good talk with him - great to introduce these two to each other, and a nice reminder of the ability of this blogging mullarkey to bring people together 'IRL'. 

As usual I took quite a few pictures as we toured around, and as usual I think I'll simply show them in roughly the order I took them. On previous visits to this show I had regretted reaching the Participation games area too late in the day, so this time I suggested starting there - to be quite honest, I'm not sure that was a good decision this time, as I managed to miss the 'best in show' game! I'll give some thoughts about the show in general at the end of the next post, so in the meantime let's get on.. 

First up, Big On Strategy group's  18th Century Canada game Turkey Hunt : 28mm figures I think, and using One Hour Skirmish Wargames rules. I think I played one of their games ( A Robin Hood convoy ambush ) at a show a while back, and can verify they are a really friendly bunch of guys ( I think the lady here had stepped up as a 'participant' ).  The focus of some first-class  wargamers pointing here was of course, the Turkey.: 

 Mr Nick Hindley's 6mm Six Day War game looked interesting, especially when you read his information leaflet (below) - I really liked that he was clearly happy to take 'input',  suggestions, advice etc from anyone who had relevant knowledge.  Also as Chris pointed out, the combatants in 1967  had a pretty polyglot mix of equipment from cutting-edge 'modern' (1967)  to WW2 survivors, including former Axis and Allied kit in the same armies (I think Chris has a pic of a couple of the armies in his report of the show)   

 

KB Club's  Cold War armoured action using  Manoeuvre Group rules, with the first of many rather effective terrain  backdrops seen during the day.   

 Wings of Glory Aerodrome Forum presented WW1 Air Combat, with appropriate headgear, and just look at the numbers of rather nice models available,  The Fokker DVII was the best fighter of the period,  but also had the coolest colour schemes too, I thought! 

   

Footsore Miniatures 28mm Roman skirmish using Gangs of Rome rules, and a rather nice town layout: 

 Bearfoot Miniatures showed a rather nice-looking Bolt Action  game in 28mm scale,  Assault on Brecourt Manor Narrative Scenario  based on the exploits of Easy Company, of Band of Brothers fame - though I seem to have only managed to photograph the German side, with just a few of Easy Co. visible in the distance !  A very professional-looking information board, too. 

 

 The Warregame group presented their 28mm pike and shot period game The Siege of the Ile de Re 1627 : 

 

Great Escape Games  put on a 28mm WW2 Eastern Front game with No Easy Ground rules: a smart-looking and compact table, and that brewed-up Panzer looked suitably gruesome. Has someone got two versions of every tank model, one 'active' and one 'destroyed'?   Or maybe it's just a wreck from an earlier fight..

 

A lot of interest was attracted by Blocks of Glory with their game: Lego-like figures in units with the idea that all information about the unit's status, strength etc is built into the unit block ( there seem to even be extending 'arms' giving their firing range! ),  as shown by the display board relating the Visual Integrated Battle Engine.   Interesting idea - though somehow it  all looked a bit daunting to me! I guess you pick it up quite quickly once playing..

 

I'm not good on sci-fi, but this looked nice : it might be Lets Xcape with  The Epsilon Enigma in 15mm scale - but if I'm wrong, do let me know! 

 AKI  Models and Minis  showed One Hour in Maguaga - War of 1812 in 28mm,  using Neil Thomas One Hour Wargames rules.  I can't recall seeing those rules being used at a show before, but of course they would do fine for a participation game for beginners.

 

The host 'AKI' has an Instagram page where he expresses disappointment in his own work and doesn't think this was good enough - I'll admit I thought it looked fine, but maybe he has higher standards than me! 

All Hell Let Loose  bought their 6mm game The Battle of Mons, 23rd August 1914  with their own All Hell Let Loose: Great War rules. 

Once we get later than mid-19th Century in Europe, it seems the armies get considerably bigger up to including WW1,  and  6mm looks like a very good option for the resulting large battles.  Using 2mm scale buildings seems quite a good dodge, though Mons urban area  seems to have taken on a hint of Barcelona in this case, I thought the use of perspex sheeting to represent flooded areas was clever. 
 Figures were from  Baccus, and  Turner Miniatures (3D printed).   

 This looks like a 28mm Vikings game - just not sure quite which one! I think it's Chesterfield Open Gaming Society's 28mm Dark Ages Pillage and Plunder game:

Next, Ecorcheurs  with their Somerset at the First St Albans, 1455   28mm Wars of the Roses game; nice town terrain  

 In contrast to the Mons game above, another approach to WW1 is to focus in much more closely on a small part of a big battle -  game designer David Stone's  WW1 skirmish with his  Zero Hour rules being a nice case in point : 

Caseshot Publishing usually put together a really good-looking game, and this time was no exception - this is Key to Kaiserslautern, Battle for the Schänzel, 1794.  Prominently displayed was Garry Davd Wills'  Throwing Thunderbolts book, a guide to the French Revolutionary Wars which seems to be pretty well-respected, and the game was described as 'a brand new Throwing Thunderbolts scenario'

 

I really should have taken a picture from the side of the table - those hills at the back are made up of many layers of the hex terrain,  these guys must be Kallistra's best customer! 

 Grantham Strategy Club brought  Undaunted Air War Pacific  which seemed to be an adaptation of the Undaunted Battle of Britain  board game :  

 

Burton and District Wargamers showed their 'Modern Chain of Command'  game Tactics, Techniques and Procedures  with an African look to the terrain - 1990s Somalia? 
 

I did like the helicopter with troops sat on the skids - hang on tight, guys! 

And that's what I saw of the 'Participation Zone' - though I'll admit to not being interested in sci-fi and fantasy, so I've probably missed all of those! Even so, the 'Parti Zone' probably had as many games as an average-sized wargames show, so plenty to see!

I think I'll take a break before going on to the 'Demo Zone' , where the really big beasts were - though I'm aware that this has taken nearly a week to produce and there are plenty of other reports out there! Meanwhile and as usual,  Ray's  Don't Throw a One   and Big Lee's Miniature Adventures  blogs have superb (and very extensive) coverage of the event.  So for now, I'll leave it there, and hope to post again in a few days time.  I hope this first selection of games has been interesting anyway; meanwhile keep well, everyone.

 

Fnurban #44: The Maggiore Marshal's Monument, Martyred Partizans - and The Other Partizan

Another two weeks gone and precious little hobby time - mainly due to a pleasant holiday! We enjoyed a week's gentle guided walking by Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy courtesy of HF Holidays, and had a thoroughly nice time. Of course history is everywhere, and there were a  couple of points of Military History interest to be seen, in the shape of  a marshal's grand monument, and a local priest, martyred in revenge for partizans actions. 

First the marshal : we stayed in the small town of Pallanza on Lake Maggiore,  and you couldn't help but notice the rather massive monument built on the lakeside there : 

 and a closer view: 

 The distinguishing features were the splendid figures surrounding the memorial, depicting (probably twice life-size, (so that's 2/1 or about 3.3m scale?)  the various arms  of what was clearly the Italian army of the First World War; I think twelve sculptures in all. Here are four of them:

 and another three - I was interested by the middle chap, is he perhaps holding some sort of fascist symbol? I've done no research, I'm sure someone will enlighten me..

 

I got some close-ups: I particularly liked the airman with his bomb

and this chap, who in common with several others seems to be wrapped up against the chilly mountain conditions the Italians were often fighting in 

 All very interesting, and I initially took it to be a rather grand monument to the fallen of Pallanza, 1915-1918. But no - in the middle of the monument is a large marble tomb, and the whole thing turns out to be the mausoleum of  one Luigi Cadorna, a son of the town

 

Cadorna in 1917 (this image from Wikipedia) 

 

I did not recognise the name, but of course it was easily found on-line. Cadorna was Chief of Staff of the Italian army from 1914 to his dismissal after the disastrous defeat of Caporetto in November 1917, and he remains a controversial character.  He commanded the Italian army on the Italian front, and led his troops in highly attritional warfare in the Eastern Alps and on the Isonzo river ( Caporetto is also known as the twelfth battle of the Isonzo ) .  It seems he made gains, but at great cost, and his lack of effective defences contributed to the eventual defeat.  He also had a policy of iron discipline and heavy punishments for his own troops, including executions of officers whose units had fled, and even rumours of 'decimation' punishment of errant units ( his Wikipedia entry is worth a look ).  I was interested to see that the monument was erected in 1932, so he must have been 'acceptable' to Mussolini's regime,  but presumably not himself a fascist, or the monument would presumably not have survived 1945.  I couldn't help noting the irony of this massive monument to just one man, and very close by the much more modest town War Memorial, presumably commemorating some of those local men who 'he did for..with his plan of attack' 

 On our final day we left the lake shores and headed up into the nearby mountains, along the Anzasca valley towards Monte Rosa (4,700m).  Here in the village of Calasca Castiglione is memorialised the local parish priest, Father Guiseppe Rossi, who was brutally murdered by Fascist soldiers in February 1945, in reprisals for actions by the local partizan Ravenna Black Brigade. It seems that the mountain valleys in this area were the scene of fierce fighting between partizan bands and fascist forces right up to the end of the war, as the allied armies took  two gruelling years to fight their way up the length of Italy, and the Nazis occupied the North and installed puppet fascist governments after the dismissal of Mussolini and Italian surrender in 1943.  Father Rossi has been beatified as a Christian  martyr  in 2024, and presumably may eventually be recognised as a saint. 

 Here's a view of the village, giving an idea of the country : 

You can easily see how this would be good partizan country (and only a few miles up the valley, albeit requiring a very stiff climb at the end, is Switzerland). There are a series of information panels about the events - I don't read Italian, but the pictures are evocative and I'm sure they can be translated if you're interested. I assume that's the 'Black Brigade' in some of the pictures. 

 

 

It all makes for sobering thoughts, as to what Italians went through in the years 1943-1945 as their country was fought over, homes destroyed and friends and families wiped out - perhaps made more poignant by the beauty of the countryside around.  

Finally, in a rather grinding change of gears, 'speaking of partizans'...  I can report that I am planning to go The Other Partizan at Newark showground tomorrow, Sunday 12th October.   Hoping to get there mid-morning, and looking forward to meeting a few friends (at least Neil of Aufklarungsabteilungblog and Chris 'Nundanket' of Horse and Musket Gaming fame  - and I expect we'll spot Postie's Rejects too!) .  Let's hope the show is as good as ever, and if you know me, hope we can bump into each other and chat. I have had no time to research possible shopping lists, which is perhaps just as well(!), will just turn up and see what there is to see. As a result, next post here will most likely be a report on what I saw at the show. Until then, keep well everyone.