Re:Play, Gillingham : two shows in a week!

Yesterday I travelled to the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, which hosted the Re:Play wargaming show organised by the Milton Hundred Wargames Club - and rather a good day it turned out to be. My second wargaming show in seven days  - this must be some sort of record for me! [actually only just, as this time last year I went to The Other Partizan on a Sunday and SELWG the following Sunday, so this weekend beat that record by just 1 day.]

It's not a large show, with about 20 games and 9 traders present, but that's no bad thing, as it means things are much more relaxed than larger shows, with plenty of time to stop and chat to players and traders. The setting was really interesting too, with tables and stands scattered around the main display area of the musuem and some of the side rooms. You can see how it works : 

  

crikey that's an actual V2! and it's big..

Yes, you could play a game with an APC, a Harrier Jump-Jet or a V2 rocket as a backdrop,  The upper mezzanine level gave the views seen above, and also had a small cafeteria area selling hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes etc, which was handy  (finding the stairs to get up there, however, could be a bit tricky given the labyrinthine nature of the lower level!), 

I was able to have  a good look at most of the games, so here are a selection of the pictures I managed to take of them - pretty much in the order I saw them. I tried to show at least some of them 'in their surroundings' among the museum exhibits, as that was part of the fun.

Rainham Wargames Club: 15mm Colonial Sudan 'the Relief Column'

I think they were using The Men Who Would Be Kings rules.
  

Skirmish Wargames: To Fight the Brave Maori (1840s)

It seems the medals in the display behind this game related to the Royal Engineers' part in the Maori Wars, appropriately enough. 

Medway Wargames: What If… - Late/Post War Tank Battle

Deal Wargames: Assault on Le Hamel, June 6th 1944

This was played in 20mm scale ('the one true scale' said a player!) and those DUKWs are the old soft plastic Airfix models, maybe 40 or 50 years old and still hitting the beach!  Rules were Rapid Fire Reloaded.

Maidstone Wargames: Summer of 77 (Battle of Britain)

Real Time Wargames The Relief of Luckpore (Indian Mutiny)

 

 

 

These were 10mm figures from Pendraken, and of  Relief of Luckpore tactical and campaign rules by, of course,  Real Time Wargames themselves.

Society of Ancients Battle of the Hydaspes 326 BC

 

of course there must be elephants!

 

D-Day 15mm by Desmondo’s Shed of War

Milton Hundred's 'Zone' up on the mezzanine

..including 'What a Tanker' participation game

 

The mezzanine level  gave good 'aerial views' - Summer of 77 looked even better from there! 

Star Wars battle: by Dengar Appreciation Society?

I just liked the juxtaposition of the Star Wars machine with the Harrier - both rather anthropomorphic! 

Last but very much not least ( of the games I managed to photograph ) a Wild West game put on at very short notice by my old friend Tony and his son Oliver, who are members of the Milton Hundred club. This used Dead Man's Hand rules  and Tony's fantastic Wild West town layout, which was his 'lockdown project' while self-isolating in 2020. 

The buildings are by 4Ground (which had the advantage of being pre-painted, and looked really good), they have proper interiors with internal walls, stairs etc and each floor or roof  can be lifted off, so characters can be easily moved around inside the buildings. Also the layout is 'modular' in that many of the buildings have the same size 'footprint' - so although  the boardwalks are fixed down in a regular street plan,  the actual buildings can be placed in different arrangements each time. Clver stuff!  

They kindly invited me to join in a game, and how could I refuse?  An hour or more of 'just like the movies' fun ensued, as Tony and I as the bad guys tried to prevent the local lawmen (Oliver, aided by Freddie, an 8-year-old show visitor who rolled some mean dice) from conveying a crucial witness to the sherriff's office.  We managed to kill off the leader of the lawmen's faction, but Oliver's strategy won out as he lured our best guys  into a firefight well away from his objective and sneaked the witness past us while we were looking elsewhere.  All good fun, and the rules were easy to pick up and play, with interesting interactions driven by a deck of cards giving special abilities/events,  but which might be 'trumped' by the other player when used. It took me a while to realise that the 'Wild West movies' feel of the game even extended to this aspect of the rules, as the players were in effect involved in a bar-room poker game as they played their hands of cards.. 

I didn't manage to picture every game -  apologies especially  to South East Essex (SEEMS) who put on their  Action at Bryson’s Crossroads ACW game in 28mm  using Rebels and Patriots - though I realise I had pictured it before at the Broadside show back in June.  Also Milton Hundred's nice Samurai period  game  The Dragon and The Tiger - 4th Battle of Kawanakajima, 1561, and 28mm Cold War - Flank March  (possibly by Full Metal Miniatures, showcasing their vehicles and figures?) seem to have eluded my camera.  I recognised Mike sayce aka 'Subedai' from Salute 'blogger-meet-ups' and chatted briefly in the cafe, he looked to be taking some  pictures and I was hoping he may have put up a report - but it looks like he hasn't actually added to his blog for a while, which is a shame! If you're out there, Mike, show us some pics!

As usual there was a little shopping, though I was being pretty modest - I came away with a copy of Field Marshall Slim's  Defeat into Victory memoir of his Burma campaign from Cuirassier Books, a bag of D10 dice from Brigade Models, and some HaT 20mm Persian Heavy Infantry from 1:72 models.  The book purchase was triggered by my recent reading of  Churchill's Generals (ed. John Keegan?), which sparked an interest in several of said commanders. Should be an interesting read, though it is already behind a biography of Field-Marshall Alexander in the reading queue..

And that was it - a thoroughly pleasant Saturday outing. Many thanks to Milton Hundred club and all the others who put on games and tradestands, it was a good show and I hope it continues in future! 

Next time, I hope to report on some progress with basing my 6mm 'Risorgimento' figures, and maybe some more 7YW painting.  Meanwhile keep well,  everyone  (especially if you were at The Other Partizan, as it seems to have been a bit of a Covid incubator! I have been OK so far, fingers crossed!).