Partizan 2021

Hello there! After the effects of covid has started to subside and make it safer to hold wargaming conventions again, I visited Partizan in Newark.

I spent part of the afternoon photographing the demonstration games at the show. First impressions that the demo games were of a very high quality, even for Partizan. I wonder if that is down to the lockdown and having more time to prepare?

This game included a nice change to its subject by having a V2 launch site in one corner.

This game had the Russians and Germans sizing up against each other, in 28mm. Both sides included an inordinate number of  Panthers, Tigers and JSII's. The built up area was scratchbuilt and looked impressive.

The game was set up on a cloth game mat and drop on items. It was highly effective. The figure were mostly Bolt Action and also looked good.

With the people running this demo game having the forethought to place subjects around the edge of the table made it much easier to take photos.

I have made some Bolt Action Russians and sold them to a customer in the past. I therefore recognised these figures. There were plenty of infantry on the table.

This figure had a nice touch with the barb wire on the base.

I follow the organiser of this game on twitter. He photographed his car packed to the gunnels on the morning of the show with this game.

The game had many points of interest with a lot of things going on. It was based  on another gaming mat. Again it was effective but the game did appear to be on a snooker table. While contoured terrain does look better aesthetically the problems of storage and weight extend far beyond the game on the day.

I liked the subtle tones on the clothes of these figures.

The wicker fencing came from Rendra and looked very effective.

I am working on gathering mule trains and wagons for the skirmish project I am working on and a feature for WSS on logistics. I am always interested in seeing what other gamers have in the way of carts and wagons. 

I came across a new business which provides a range of  market stalls, furniture, carts and various scenic items. These are printed and are either in resin or plastic. The company is Iron Gate Scenery and their website is here.

It was nice to see some domestic animals on the table as well.

The figures were well painted and presented and were very colourful.

This barn looked very good. The effect of the timber was eye catching and crisp.

I am always partial to some deserty goodness. Although I stick to 20mm this 28mm offering did look loverly.

A number of games had aircraft flying over the board. This Spitfire from the desert air force complemented the game. 

A number of the figure groups were close to the edge of the table so could be easily photographed.

I have not seen the use of lichen for scenery for years, decades even! Here it looked particularly effective.

I recently saw a real one of these in the Tank Museum at Bovington. It is deceptively small and I am surprised one person could get inside one of these, let alone two!

This ruined building reminded me of some illustrations of Fort Capuzzo in the After the Battle publication, 'The Desert, Then and Now'

Lastly the Italians had a number of less well known vehicle and artillery on the table too.

A Dark Ages game showing a Viking raid on Holy Island, Lindisfarne, in 28mm. This had a number of drop on scenic items from Last Valley with a few small carts and vignettes too.

The 'allotment' looked nice and reminded me of the cabbage patch I made for the New Buckenham clubs version of Hougoument for their Waterloo game.

Many well painted figures made for a very good spectacle.

The Newark Irregulars put on a 28mm 'Muskets and Tomahawks' game. A fictitious scenario called 'Fort Isolation'

A rewarding paint job on the Chief!

The flickering light in the house only caught my eye after I had moved on to another table. It was very  effective but I put my nearly missing it down to wanting to get as much photography done as possible!

This offering was by Caliver Books and was a 28mm Napoleonic game. Due to being distracted by the 'Pretty Loits' I did not take any further photos of this game, which is unfortunate as Napoleonics is my favourite period of gaming.

The Bramley Barn Wargames Club appear to be regular attendees at Partizan. This looks like a Indian Mutiny game?

This was one of  the few games that used modular terrain.

The Westbury Wargamers put on a 28mm Middle Eastern Modern Skirmish based on street fighting in  Syria. The group very wisely briefly broached the subject of gaming such a recent war. This was in their handout and was an open and honest way of dealing with the subject.

This game touched on my progress for my 28mm skirmish project. I already have a number of Spanish and French forces painted and it was nice to see many of these figures in this game too. It was based in the Peninsular War using Sharp Practice rules.

Next the winners of the The Adrian Shephard award for best vignette, who put on a Seven Years War game. As one of the members of the New Buckenham Historical Wargames Club might say, 'It was the Revenge of theFluff'.

The rockface in the corner was taken purely for the purpose of comparing to others I have seen over the years as this type of scenery has been represented with various levels of success. 

The game also had people to explain the Clubs motive to providing so many vignettes. Where you normally see a demo game that has the action going on in the centre of the table where both sides meet, they wanted to provide things for the viewer to see around the edge of the table as well.

There were too many vignettes to photograph all of them!

The bread ovens had many points of interest and many close ups are too follow!

Here I was told that the man is proposing to the woman or the goat.

The thatch roof looked good, however I feel it could  have been more grey with age.

Another addition to the cart and wagon collection library.

The buildings were specifically chosen to look more 'German' so that the game got away from the 'English' look of using more generic buildings. I feel this worked really well. 

The master of the house was also welcoming his guests.

The local painter as also busy.

Further entertaining was also going on.

Even the surrounding fields had locals in them gathering the harvest.

A group of gypsies were in ones corner

Finally on to the soldiers! These were painted in a style that had a slightly washed out finished which ideally suited the period. This was long before the era of colour fast dyes and colours faded rapidly.

The number of units on the table did add to the spectacle and the linear tactics of the time was visible.

One thing I did notice was that there were no dice or rule sheets left lying on the table. Something the players intended to do. These things can detrimentally affect taking photographs and you lose some of the spectacle. Also the units status or casualties were recorded by using the grey tombstones shown here. They did not stand out as much as dice or spoil the view.

The bread ovens were made from printed card. Something easily sourced from a model railway shop.

This game was put on by James Morris & Friends and was a 28mm Medieval view of the Battle of Bairen 1097.

Again modular terrain was used and the thee dimensional aspect of the game stood out. While not on the same par as the Shrewsbury game there were still some vignettes to see.

The boats looked impressive and added a nice dimension to the game.

This figure looked particularly good. It showed the fruitlessness of the Crusader plight.

Again another vignette.

This 28mm Franco Prussian War battle was stark with the white baseboard although it was very flat

This was a Seven Years War amphibious operation. Hence the fantastic ships on display. This was certainly a surprise to see! 

It must have taken a very long time to do the rigging but was certainly worth it. The  hull was a wooden construction and obviously a kit.

I remember seeing cut down figures crossing water at a previous show. It may have been the Battle of the Boyne?

The Hull and East Riding Wargames Club put on the Battle of Zama. It was very well presented.

This shepherd was skirting the ravine at the end of the table.

The Iron Brigade provided a twenty four foot long, (24'), Pacific island using 28mm figures. It used a battle mat but the drop on scenery included modular rocky outcrop. I found this a happy medium. It also reduced the volume and space needed to transpost such a big project. Besides needing a lorry to transport it all!

The Grimsby Wargames Society put on a 10mm game called 'Retreat to the Dneiper' Considering the relatively small scale of the models they were very detailed.

This caught my eye. The train, bridge and river looked great.

There was also a 'cinema'!

The 'Bodkins' had a 28mm medieval Battle of Crecy. This game also had may vignettes, hence 'The Return of the Fluff'

This was a lovely figure! Tucked away at the edge of the table with a small convoy of carts.

Well! That felt like a bit of a marathon! I only needed to do this so quickly as I am going to SELWG the following Sunday and need the space on my camera. As I said before the standard of game was even higher than I expect at Partizan.

The internet is awash with pictures of the show but further pictures of the show are available at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Facebook page here.