Wednesday 15 May 2013

Milton Keynes Wargames Club - Annual Show - "Campaign" 2013

Last weekend (11th/12th May) was "Campaign", the annual wargames show from the Milton Keynes Wargames Club http://www.mkws.org.uk/  Which is my local club ... (if I ever went to one - because, of course, I'm a confirmed Solo Wargamer!)

The show has been held in Middleton Hall, in 'thecentre:mk', http://www.thecentremk.com/ which is the trade-mark of the city of Milton Keynes shopping centre, (or 'mall' for my American friends!), since 2001.

Some shows / years are better than others; and this year it was "alright", but there were nothing like as many traders as in previous years, and, I thought, not as many participation games...though I might be wrong there.  However, the demo / participation games that were present were very good!  One that was *really* innovative was put on by Peterborough Wargames Club, and involved suspending (models of) an invading force of Napoleonic hydrogen-filled "war" balloons, carrying French troops, across the English Channel and being repelled by British 'Rocketeers', firing huge firework-like rockets at the invaders!

Peterborough used a net suspended across a garden gazebo to hang the balloons onto, moving them a few 'net-squares' at a time, representing their flight towards Britain, and had participants aiming at the French balloons using a really "Heath Robinson" aiming device!  Unfortunately, the photos I took of this game don't do it justice, but I trust you'll appreciate the innovative concept!

So here is just a selection of photos I took on the Saturday.

A view of the Show on Saturday morning.

The pillars holding up Middleton Hall, in the shopping centre are *not* bowed! It must be a parallax problem with my camera!  Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre (now known as " thecentre:mk " was the largest shopping centre in Europe, when it was built in the 1980s
 
Peterborough Wargames Club Napoleonic invasion of England by "war" balloons!
It's a bit difficult to see in this pic, so see further photos below.
The Heath Robinson "Angle of Shoot" device for the rocket propelled British artillery.
Peterborough Club members used expanding / retracting car aerials lined up on those white 'protractors' using the angle participants had set as the trajectory, to represent the "fired" rockets. Simple but effective!

This and the next photo show the ingenious way the Club made the French balloons. The 'balloon' itself is a water tank ball-valve float, and the personnel baskets are literally small, florists baskets suspended beneath the 'balloon' with a central plastic rod and fine string. 'Direction' is by 'rudders' aft of the basket.


In this photo, you can just make out the fine-mesh net suspended across the top of the gazebo.


Tring Wargames Club.
A WWII "mini-game" in 20mm - Arnhem 1944
 
Huntingdon Wargames Club.
WWII in 1/32nd scale (mostly Tamiya models) Stalingrad 1942/43

Another view of the battle for Stalingrad around the railway yard.
Members of the English Civil War re-enactment group "Prince Rupert's Blew Regiment of Foote" from the Sealed Knot Society. (Note: The spelling of "Blew" here is the 17th century spelling)


Another view of the 'Campaign' and the huge Middleton Hall in thecentre:mk Shopping Centre

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