The Other Partizan 2026 : part 2 'Demo Zone'

Having looked at the 'Participation Zone'  at The Other Partizan show the other Sunday, let's move on to the 'Demo Zone' - the increasingly large 'demonstration' games which dominate the show. I have a confession to make up front, though - the show was so large that I missed some of the more spectacular games (including the 'best in show' it seems ) - I just ran out of time. For future visits to Newark,  I think I need to (a) turn up earlier and (b) have a plan of exactly which games to look out for!    As usual, I'll show what I saw, more or less in the order I saw it. 

First off, a game from The Boondock Sayntes group - who in the past have often presented very large and very detailed towns and fortresses etc. This time they kept it more simple with their A Very Midgard Third Panipat 1761  - 18th Century Indian setting in 28mm scale. It's interesting how Midgard rules have been adapted for several periods outside their nominal range, in this case they clearly allow for the inclusion of some fantastic mythical beings like the one in the foreground of the first picture! 

This game was actually part of the 'Lardy Zone'  of games associated with TwoFatLardies : I think Midgard is probably published by them?  

 

Next, a rather lovely 28mm WW2 game :  Sicily 1943,  A Stroll in the Sun presented by Barely Legal Wargamers,  I think using  Rapid Fire Reloaded rules. The terrain was superb, I thought. 

 I particularly liked the column of British transport snaking its way down the switchback road, just like some of the classic photos that were taken at the time 

                                             

 .. including the Bren carrier sporting a yellow parasol. I do worry that it might attract a lot of 'incoming', however! 

                

Right next door, another really nicely-presented WW2 game, this time in 20mm scale : The Iron Brigade group with their Juno Beach, June 1944 :

 

  

 

                                            

 

A good feature of this game was the scenic backdrop, cleverly using b&w photos of the real thing.  Not sure of the rules being used, but a gentleman sitting next to the table was perusing a copy of Rapid Fire Reloaded, so  I can make a good guess! These two games next to each other were a highlight of the show for me. 

Next up, the League of Augsburg's  Churchill's Challenge :The Battle of Malplaquet 1709,  a 28mm War of Spanish Succession game demonstrating their Beneath The Lily Banners rules in their new 4th Edition. Certainly a very large game: I think I could only get around to one end of the very long table!  

 I do like a good Horse and Musket game, that's probably the influence of Charles Grant, Young and Lawford coming out..

And it so happens, the next one was also using  Beneath the Lily Banners - this time Derby Wargames Society's  Battle of Reading, 1688, in 28mm scale.   A very nice table, with a good rendition of a 17th Century 'BUA'

I'll allow the Derby Society to give more details: 

They also had a friendly member of the society doing 'meet and greet'; we had a good chat about the transitional formations and tactics of the late 17th Century and the appeal of the colourful uniforms - we even got onto the subject of how the transition from full-brimmed hats to tricornes!  Lots of rather lovely figures on display too, and always good to see a windmill on the table

 

I really like the look of this period, with the colourful uniforms and the retention of some pikes, a sort of mid-point between 'Pike and Shot' and 'Horse and Musket'. But I have to admit that  tempting as it is, it would probably be a period too far for me - it will have to remain a 'when the lottery comes up' fantasy for me.

Now we move 200 years forward and thousands of miles west - to the Battle of the Little Big Horn, presented by The Bunker group in 28mm and based on the vintage Waddingtons board game. 

 

 

I'm told that the boardgame was being used to 'drive' the large figures game - figures were moved on the table to reflect the moves in the board game. Interesting idea..   

  

George Custer soon to meet his maker - not sure if that's Foundry, Perrys, Warlord etc? 

Next, back to WW2 in North Africa - Fieldcraft UK's  28mm  Operation Exporter 1941, Vichy French in North Africa.   Topcial for me, as I've recently seen the two De Gaulle films at the cinema - which I thoroughly recommend, by the way.

 The Yarkshire Gamer brought a large 28mm Franco-Prussian War game,  The Battle of Loigny-Poupry 1870 . I'll admit I hadn't heard of that battle, though I'm far from an expert. Lovely figures, an impressively large setup, though the buildings look a bit unfinished, perhaps? Maybe the painting/building schedule got a bit tight.. Not sure what rules were being used. 

 

Bramley Barn Wargames club put on a 28mm  Second Anglo-Sikh War game, The Battle of Suraj Khund.from 1848.  The rules were Black Powder with some modifications for the Sikh Wars, and the scenario taken from Andy Copestake and James Main's book  Khalsa.  An interesting period, with the Sikhs having a 'modernised' army with quality regular units trained by many European advisors.  

And then it turned out there was another Little Big Horn game - this time by the Gentlemen Pensioners, also  in 28mm,  called Bugles to the West: the Battle of the Little Big Horn. 

the Forest Outlaws staged a French Foreign Legion 28mm game, March or Die : based on events in Algieria in 1900 and 1903,  using modified Bolt Action  3rd Edition, figures by Old Glory, Wargames Foundry and Artizan Designs

 

Forest Outlaws second game was in conjunction with Kallistra ( who presumably provided both hex terrain and figures ),   set in the Imjin War between Japan,  Korea and China  1592-1598,  and using 12mm figures and Kallistra's Hordes and Heroes Medieval rules, which are free to download ( oh goodie, another set of ancients rules to possibly try..). 

 I am a fan of Kallistra's Hexon terrain system and this showed it off well, and the 12mm figures allowed for deep and weighty-looking units to fit into the hexes, so the whole thing looked good. . 

 Sticking with Japan, Skirmish Wargames presented a 54mm Samurai skirmish game, Death in the Land of Cherry Blossom, 'an alternative version of feudal Japan', set in a snowy landscape (which plays hell with the camera's exposure system). The 54mm figures are really nice, and how about that cannon? 

Steve's Painting Shed (Steve Jones) mounted a 28mm American War of Independence game depicting  Eutaw Springs 1781.  I don't know what rules were used but there were many lovely figures, he's clearly not wasting his time in that painting shed. 

 

 Have I said I like a good horse and musket game? Here is the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers 28mm Seven Years War game of The Battle of  Minden, 1759: spectacular stuff. No idea what rules, I'm afraid!

 

 

Next, some Napoleonic Naval action from Like a Stonewall with their Battle of Posa de Sante Isobel, 1808 - French vs. Spanish, I think,  and using The Full Nelson rules (which I think were written by members of this group? ). Everyone remarked on the nice seascape battle mat: I asked, and I think they said this was pretty cheap and came from Temu.  

 

John Kersey of 1/72 Wargames can usually be relied upon to put on an unusual, interesting (and reasonably-sized) game. This time was no exception, and the only problem was that I reached his table too late! The game was effectively finished, but the table and troops still looked good. This was a 1/72 scale game The Crossing of the Yeltsina 1919, set in an imaginary 'Kislavian Civil War' which clearly owed a lot to the Russian Civil War, and John said was 'inspired by an episode in the movie Dr. Zhivago'.   I particularly liked the painted backdrops, which I gather were done by John's wife, who is something of an artist - she did a very nice job! 

 

Gothenburg Gamers  presented  Alytus, 22nd June 1941 - day one of Barbarossa. Lots of German and Sovier armour, of course, and lots of 'brewing up' - 20mm scale, but I didn't catch what rules were used. 

   

 Back to Horse and Musket ( or is it Pike and Shot?)  next, with another very reliable host - Simon Miller of  Big Red Bat Cave, this time with his 28mm Franco-Dutch war  Seneffe 1674 using his new Lust For Glory ruleset - which he told us had actually been published (in digital form) just two days before the show!  I think Simon's Rules can be a bit 'Marmite' - some love them some not so keen - but he is fantastic at just talking to fellow gamers, always happy to chat and explain,  and treats everyone as if he's known them for years - one of the good guys to have at your show.  

     

 The Bodkins group brought us 28mm Ancients action with Aut Vincere Aut Mori,  'inspired by battles on the Medway and Thames during the Roman invasion of Britannia in AD41',  using Hail Caesar! rules. .  

 

 1st Corps put on a rather splendid 28mm WW2 game BEF Counter attack at Arras 1940 - great to see the charge of the Matildas (  Marks I and II )  across the teddy-bear fur terrain! Taking a wild guess, I'd hazard that this was with Chain of Command, using the Blitzkrieg 1940 supplement - since they sell it on their website..

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 An intriguing game of Rorke's Drift 1879  was put on by Mogsymakes, in 28mm but with an interesting mix of figures - it looked like all the Zulus were Paperboys paper flats, and all the British were solid figures.  Not sure why, but maybe it simply allowed masses of Zulus without endless painting? 

 

By now we were getting to the far end of the room, and I admit I was flagging - and time was running out! Probably the largest table of the day was Old Pikeys 20mm WW2  Iwo Jima game.Very impressive, but by the time we arrived they were packing things away!  I can give you an idea of the size of the 'beach',  and also show the kamikaze attack vignette that everyone noticed. For a better impression, see other bloggers - Ray's Don't Throw a One being a good bet. 

Another whopper of a game next door - Shrewsbury Wargames Society's 28mm 100 Years War siege game. That castle was impressive, but no time to enquire as to rules etc. 

 

'And Finally' -  Chesterfield Old Boys, with a good 28mm WW2 Easter Front game The Church.  A huge wave of Soviet troops and armour - including horse-drawn vehicles and lend-lease Bren carriers - rolled towards German defenders. 

Phew! That was all I had time for - by 3:30pm a lot of games and trade stands were starting to be packed-up.  There were quite a few games I just didn't get to, and my worst omission was not seeing the Battle of Hastings game in '1 to 1' figure ratio with thousands of Paperboys flats - which of course was awarded 'best in show'.  I can't understand how I failed to see that!   

Another major omission was the 'Societies Zone', which included such people as the Battlefields Trust, Society of Ancients and Northants Battlefields Society. These were all situated in the entrance gazebo - with the result that I saw them on my way in to the show, but thought 'better get inside first, must come back to this area later...'  and guess what? Yep, I never made it back - or not until after 3:30, anyway, by which time most of the stands had packed up.  Which was a shame, especially with regard to the  Northants  guys, as one of their features was Chris Kemp demonstrating his Not Quite Mechanised rules - I recently bought these, have read (OK, skimmed!) them and fancied having a go, to get a bit of guidance from the author.  And Graham 'Trebian' is always good to talk to - see his account of the show on his Wargaming for Grown-Ups blog.  I'm not sure that gazebo is really a good idea - it seems a bit of a second-best option and it's a shame the societies were relegated to it. 

I did a little  light shopping - well, really only one thing, though I hadn't gone with any kind of shopping list in mind, so it didn't matter that I ran out of time for most traders too!.  At Caliver Books stand I found  Keith Flint's Honours of War Scenario Book One - The Seven Years War  by Dinos Antoniadis,  and was glad to buy it, it looks pretty good, just the thing for my burgeoning 18th Century collection..

Many thanks, of course, to the show organisers and everyone from clubs, societies and traders who were part of it all - it was a good day,  even if I didn't see everything!  I think I need to think a bit harder about my approach to this show in future - I fully intend to go again, but I need to be a bit more focussed on what interests me, and spend time on a careful selection of games, societies and traders.   

And finally, a big thank-you to Chris 'Nundanket'  and Neil  'Aufklarungsabteilung'  for their company and always interesting talk - great to see both of you! Here's a gratuitous 'selfie' we took ( this was sooo out of character for me, I should add! ) - l to r Neil, me, Chris. 

Three musketeers/amigos/stooges/witches..?

 

We also met the Posties' Rejects away team of Ray, Lee and Postie - and of course I heartily  recommend you take a look at Ray's Don't Throw a One  and Big Lee's Miniature Adventures blog posts, which have many, many more and better photos than I took! 

If you've made it this far, thanks to you too, and I hope it's been interesting and enjoyable. This blog post has, to be honest, taken up all my hobby time for this week, so I don't have any other progress to report!   And on Saturday coming I'm off to another show -  RE:Play, at the Royal Engineers Museum at Gillingham, Kent.  That is a much smaller show than Partizan, so I am pretty sure to see all the games and trade stands - and in a very interesting venue! So it should be fun, and I hope to report back on that next week. 

..and the next show..

 Until then keep well, everyone.