Wargame Shows, Edinburgh

Dave Imrie’s The eagle – based on the film… Winner of Best Demo Game

On Saturday 3rd August I went along to Edinburgh College, where SESWC my Edinburgh wargames club were hosting Claymore, their annual wargames show. This is still the largest and most prestigious wargames show north of York. Like most British shows this is a one day event, so the aim is to make the most of it.Charge of the Light Brigade – a really fun participation game…

I ran around picking up stuff I’d pre-ordered (or trying to, as Gripping Beast forgot my pre-order), and then cruised the trade stands, and the bring-and-buy. My purchases included some more 28mm Napoleonic Arthurian and Ancient figures, scenery, rules sets I probably won’t ever use, plus a few little extras like dice and markers.At the bring-and-buy I picked up some nicely painted French Napoleonic infantry – Perry plastics. I didn’t really need them, and they’ll land up costing me money, as my plan was to stop at 12 x 36 figure battalions. Now I’ll have to add another 4 battalion brigade onto that – plus extra cavalry and guns in proportion. Such is the rod we make for our own backs…Kamikaze! Participation game… winner of the Participation category..

Escape from Capua – a participation game inspired by Spartacus the TV series

Frankly buying toys isn’t what these shows are all about. For me the real fun lies in meeting wargame buddies old and new, seeing some of the excellent display games and participation games on offer, and then going out to the pub with my gaming pals to talk wargaming! Here’s a selection of the better games that were there. American War of Independence game

The only sour note of the day was one Scottish-based group (who shall remain nameless), who felt they should have won best demo game, rather than Dave Imrie. They complained, demanded an enquiry, and generally behaved like spoiled brats. They even claimed the judges’ vote was rigged, even though four impartial judges were involved (one of which was me). Then they exported their invented row to other shows and events, kicking up rough there too, to underline the surly childishness of their behaviour.  I believe the collective term for them is “a league of arseholes”. Wild West gunfight