Britcon 2024

Last year, I made my first visit to Britcon Gaming Day and enjoyed the weekend, so this August, I returned to Nottingham. Like last year, I attended the Two Fat Lardies workshop, where there were there was a wide variety of participation games, from a pirate raid to 1968 Vietnam.  I choose to play a naval action and a battle from the Trojan War.

Spanish Breakout

My first game was a Napoleonic naval engagement using Charley Walker's new version of Kiss Me Hardy rules. The original game's mechanics have been streamlined by using some ideas from What a Cowboy, but maintain the feeling that you are in command of great sailing ships of the era. My command was the British inshore squadron, which included a 3rd Rate and a frigate, the Gibberish. My partner had the larger ships that had come to reinforce the inshore ships to prevent the Spanish breakout. Whilst the British had the advantage of better crews, the Spanish admirals had size on their side. One ship had 118 guns! As the British would find out, these monsters could absorb a lot of damage.

In the early moves, I thought we had the Spanish, with their advance squadron, trapped between the British larger ships and the shoreline. Whilst my inshore squadron managed to get some close broadside off. Even the Gibberish managed to land a few blows without getting blown out of the water by the larger ships.

However, after the first run, the British ship found it hard to turn in the narrow confines of the bay, especially with the wind against them. Therefore, the Spanish made it to open waters, although they were severely damaged.

Before the Walls of Troy

My afternoon game, run by James Morris, used the Midgard rules, hopefully to be published later this year, in a fight between the Amazons and the Greeks. The game started with a duel between two champions, which the Amazons lost. This immediately led to a full-blown conflict between the Greeks and the Amazon. This time, I was the Amason queen Penthesilla, daughter of Ares, who commanded the right flank.

However, this was a battle when the dice god Hermes was firmly on the side of the Greeks. In the opening move, a rabble of Greek skirmishers managed to kill one of the Amazon champions. The ravens soon picked over her body as she threw successive ones ( a raven on these dice) to save herself from the Greek arrows. When the second Amazon champion fell on the left, things began to look bad. However, the Amazons fought bravely and launched a counterattack that nearly killed Achilles 'of the winged feet', but once again, Hermes came to the Greek's aid, and Achilles managed to escape almost certain death.

On the right, my Amazon was slowly being pushed back by the Greek's superior close combat skills, although Penthesilla managed to kill one of the Greek champions in single combat. Despite the glimpse of success, the day would be with the Greeks.

In both these games, the scenery and the miniatures were beautiful, as you will see from the photos. More importantly, the games were full of banter and laughter. Win or lose, you had a great game and a story to tell.

The Traders and Other Games

Elsewhere in the Hall, numerous trade stands were similar to the ones at last year's show. A floor plan for this area would have helped, although an earlier e-mail gave you the basic outline. Beyond the trade stand were the competition games with ranks of the tables. Those who follow this blog will know that this type of gaming is not my thing. However, numerous games were displayed, and the whole place buzzed.

Wrap Up

The day was rounded off by a few pints and a curry. During this evening session, my discussions involved the push and shove in pre-gun powder warfare, how wargame rules have changed since the 70s and the wonders of French cheeses—an enjoyable evening.

More Projects

I have come back with some great ideas for new projects: dark dwarves and sea witches will invade Romano-Britian. Will Arthur save the day? Playing Charley‘s revised version of Kiss Me Hardy has ‘forced’ me to invest in some 1:700 ships because they look fantastic. James’ bloody Trojan escapade has led me to explore my ‘pile of lead’, and I have found some Greek chariots. It looks like Troy might be coming to East Anglia.

Final Thanks

Overall behind-the-scenes? Thanks to Don Avis, despite commanding a Greek wing, for his spreadsheet wizardry and good humour. Also, the Britcon organisers for their fantastic attention to detail and speedy service.