Tag: hammerhead

Categories
wargame shows wargaming

Hammerhead 2023

This years Hammerhead was very busy – the car park was full and early on. This site is no good for public transport being well outside Newark with no bus services to the site. The car park is therefore a good measure of attendance.

Inside the main hall it was extremely busy. Traders were doing lots of business or rather had many visitors. How much was being spent was another matter.

The participation games looked well patronised.

One change was the second hall that held mainly the DBA gamers was not open this year. So the DBA gamers were in the main hall. Much reduced in number post covid19 and perhaps some were grateful for the hubbub around them while others maybe longed for the quieter setting of the second hall. Earnest stuff though!

I spent little – in fact just a set of transfers on the day!

Normally I have a few things in mind but not this time. I was tempted by some paper boys books, see below one of the participation games, while Helion publications on Franco Prussian and Hungary 1848 wars almost made me part with some cash. Osprey have published yet another book about late roman britain – my interest was that it covered Gaul as well – but not enough to make a buy – yet. Some 1/72 plastic kit armoured cars nearly captured me. In the end I was happy just to look.

A few games I did snap all looked fine. I forgot to go back and play the Spanish Civil War game (GB30 a very spanish civil war by Three shirews gaming) or get a pick – it was very lively.

Similarly no pick of Anarchy in North Yorkshire 1138 (GB15) by Red car Iron Beards: Using the versatile Lion Rampant ruleset for a small skirmish. I had a good chat with them – hope they find a new home and grow again.

GA03 Gaslands on show – but I am guessing this product has run a bit low on gas since its spectacular arrival?
It remains an interesting alternative that is easily accessible – Homefront Gamers offered a good set up.
Not much scenery tempts me although I have a soft spot for sunshine buildings – maybe thats a winter thing? TD19 Charlie Foxtrot Models was busy.
GB01 Ice Slaughter – Lake Priepus by Like a Stone Wall Wargames Group I think.
GB17 Edge on Flat Figures don’t seem that tempting.
However – face on I think they are more than impressive. And these are 10mm – much smaller than the original sets. So en masse they look good.
My only purchase! Pendraken TD10 to the rescue………

Hammerhead offers an excellent variety of gaming opportunities. When you add in the trader range it is definitely a show to consider.

For me there was the added social aspect – it is a welcoming show.

Compared to VAP 2023, Hammerhead was clearly well organised on the day. It benefits from being on one level although it perhaps lacks facilities to be much bigger – the second hall only really works on fine days I guess!

The emphasis on participation brings a greater variety of games, it seems to me.

In that sense the two shows being close together on the calendar are complimentary.

Categories
Vienna Treaty Wars wargame rules wargaming

Prelude to Wargames Rules tested II*

Which rules are best for mid 19th century warfare. Of course it helps to know which continent your on because apparently the North America Civil Wars were nothing like those happening in Europe…..

My current preoccupations are with the Italian Wars of Unification that, depending on your viewpoint, ran from 1820-1871 or 1848-1870 or even just 1859-1861!

Whichever timeline you choose the events threw up numerous conflicts across the Italian peninsula.

My previous rules shortlist included

  • Neil Thomas 19th Century European Wars – reviewed here previously
  • Table Top Battles by Mike Smith – reviewed here previously and here
  • Gentlemans War by Howard Whitehouse
  • Practical Wargaming by Charles Wesencraft
  • Piquet by Brent Oman
  • These last three were considered here and here for my Kloster Arens Encounter

I guess I had settled on the Neil Thomas set with Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles offering a solution for larger battles generated by my mythical campaigns.

The thing is I had not actually tested Piquet for this period so that was still an unknown. And so was A Gentlemans War for that matter.

And then at Hammerhead 2022 I played Fire and Fury. It reminded me that this ruleset had caught my eye the odd decade ago (!) only to fade away.

I enjoyed the participation game and to cut a long story short, tracked down a 1990 1st Edition courtesy of Dave Ryan at Caliver Books. It included some photocopy extracts of post publication comments which suggested a lot of improvements! There were a lot of complaints at the time it would seem. Nice touch from Dave Ryan to include these contemporary articles with this ruleset.

With so much negative noise why bother with them though? Well they have continued to be published. And it seems they have been morphed into other era’s. My Hammerhead participation game was for the Renaissance: Perhaps this endurance shows the core mechanics work for lots of gamers.

I thought, just maybe an ACW (American Civil War) ruleset might suit my 19th century European wars in Italy after all.

The Italian Wars of Unification fit between the Crimean Wars and the Franco Prussian War while they also bracket the American Civil Wars.

Next up will be some simple tests of Fire & Fury to start with.

*In 2020 I was all Anglo Saxon and shieldwalls and tested a few rulesets to see which might work for me.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battaglia_di_Curtatone_e_Montanara.jpg

This image is to be found in an excellent Wikipedia page about the Italian Wars of Unification.