Crusade 2010

Crusade 2010                                  Words and Photographs by Paul Davies Crusade for me, is the first event on the wargames calendar each year, and as probably the only wargames show in Wales, is always worth a visit. Penarth & District Wargames Society presented another good show and ensured that everything ran smoothly throughout the day.

6mm Napoleonic Battle North Gower Gamers created an excellent demonstration game based around the assault on Hougomont using figures by Adler Miniatures and “In the Name of Glory” rules.

Battle of Fort Red Bank The Escape Committee’s game recreated the Hessian assault on Fort Red Bank, during the American War of Independence. Figures were mostly Perry, Old Glory and Foundry. The terrain was a combination of fake fur, trees by Last Valley, together with a scratch built fort and schooner.

Carry on up the Caucasus With figures from the Woodbine Design Company range by Gripping Beast, and Musketeer Miniatures, and terrain by Realistic Miniatures, this game was based on the Turkish counter attack against the Russian in the Caucasus in 1915. Must be honest I’m always a sucker for trains. The one in this game was from the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company range, but unfortunately I think it’s not its no longer available from them.

Faction Wars Cardiff Wargames Club took the opportunity to showcase their new rule set “Faction Wars”, a soon to be released set of sci-fi skirmish game rules. Any set of rules not totally geared to a specific range of figures gets my vote. Guess I’m just too much of a free spirit? There’s a website available for further information: www.factionwars.co.uk

Kill the Liche King Presented by Science Fantasy & Science Fantasy Wargamers (SFSFW) and Castle Gamers, this fantasy game featured figures by Renegade, Crusader and Brigade, and used home grown rules. The centre-piece tower was built by members of the club.

Operation Radetsky – The Hungarian Offensive, 1918. Another WW1 game, this time presented by Rob Broom of Scarab Miniatures, utilised figures from Scarab’s own WW1 range and centred round the repeated Austro-Hungarian assaults on the Italian XIII Corps; very impressive terrain, which was a combination of hex terrain by Kallistra, with craters from Games Workshop. The rules were an amalgam of “The Great War” rules from Warhammer Historical and “Through the Mud and Bullets”.

Samurai Fantasy Battlegroup South used a mix of Dixon and Ral Partha Miniatures and Games Workshop conversions for their fantasy samurai game.

Overall, an enjoyable show, definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area, and I confess considerable relief that this year Crusade and PAW didn’t clash! I know that there are only a limited number of weekends in the year, but it’s always a logistical nightmare when local shows are on the same weekend! For more information regarding next year’s Crusade, which is booked for 29th January, 2011, at the same venue: The Penarth Leisure Centre, Andrews Road, Penarth CF64 2NS, keep an eye on the Penarth and District Wargamers website: http://www.penarthwargames.org