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Recon at the double

Recon Wargames show – 2 years on

After a two year break I attended Recon in Pudsey (between Leeds and Bradford), run by the Wakefield Wargamers. In between I have managed to visit just one other wargames show – Fiasco (last month).

The show was using the same main hall plus first floor, although I think the HOTT competition was not in a separate room
With free parking and bar with hot food plus good road access and Pudsey rail station nearby – the Pudsey Civic Hall works well for a wargames show

Recon is what I guess people would regard as a regional show. This type of show is essential for the hobby to function. This year despite all the problems with COVID and an Autumn show congested calendar, the show was fine. Numbers were probably down – not a surprise, there were plenty of games available to play and a variety of traders. The bring and buy was a lot quieter and that is the indicator that tells you footfall was lower than in previous years.

Durham war gamers put on a large 28mm Vikings and Saxons game – visually attractive with longships beached up.

KB Club showed off smaller scale 1/144 modern warfare on hex plus a sci fi starships game.

6mm was on show with James Mitchell’s Sudan game.

The Lance & Longbow Society put on a 28mm Italian Wars game.

I had some good buys at the bring and buy as well as Dave Lanchester books. More on that at the end.

The other traders were a good mix selling figures, scenery, paints, brushes and rulesets as you would expect. I picked up Anarchy by Chris Peers published by Pen & Sword from “The Little Corporal”. Given, I was tempted there by Wargaming for Grown Ups Spanish Civil War rules – it was a surprise purchase!

Iron Gate Scenery had a good display as did Baccus 6mm and Eagle Miniatures 28mm.

I bought an FT17 by Hat from a trader who it appears was a late arrival so I cannot name them! They were between tables 20 (MaideinUK 3D printer) and 21 (Blastwall – mainly scenic).

A bit battered by they were on my list – I lean towards pre 1939 tankettes rather than 1944 behemoths.

My other purchases were all books

At the bring and buy – two bargains – The ECW Helion book looked brand new and was half the list price, while you don’t see much on the Spanish Amercian War – a current and unexpected interest in ironclads drove this purchase
I am always after old rule books to see what ideas I can reap (lefthand from the bring and buy at 50p – righthand from Dave Lanchester Books – excellent condition veteran copy). Both these might have irrelevant core rules nowadays yet they do have a lot of ideas on the peripheries like logistics and communications.
My current WW2 flavour is french armies and this double pack I picked up from Dave Lanchester Books.
Little Corporal provided the “Anarchy” while this “Vichy” number came from Dave Lanchester Books
A definite coffee table book as they say.

This last book was a pure indulgence. Having really enjoyed Ironclads I could not resist this book which deals with south amercian wars in the late 19th century. The paintings are fascinating and all the more interesting for being watercolours. Again Dave Lanchester Books was the supplier.

This South American war is one of those crossover wars where old and new technology combined for a moment and then continued on their respective journey.

A very good day out so put it in your diary for 2022.

lorenzoseventh's avatar

By lorenzoseventh

Wargaming in an erratic style

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