Saturday, 23 May 2026

Partizan 2026

From the number of reports on blogs and YouTube, I'm a bit behind the trend in posting, but that's probably due to being one of the few wargamers and bloggers I know who isn't retired and still has to work for a living! 😠😟😞😢

Anyway...last Sunday I went to Partizan (along with every wargamer in the world - or so it felt like until just after lunchtime); it was VERY busy!

I managed  to bump into Andy McMaster of Another slight Diversion (https://blog.belisarius.org.uk/) and had arranged to meet David Barnes of The Ragged Soldier (https://russetcoatcpt.blogspot.com/) who was there with his friend Dave. I was with my mate Shaun - Frozen North Wargames (https://mrc19622002.wordpress.com/) who lives in Hexham way up north....

While I took over 100 photos, a lot were blurry or out of focus - obviously rushing - I've concluded it's best to wait until later when the rush dies down AND concentrate on the games that really appeal - it's almost impossible to photograph everything at Partizan.

So with that in mind, I will post the stand out games for me; if there is interest I will post the rest in another blog post, so without further ado....

Westbury Wargames Minden 1759









Boondock Sayntes Lucknow Indian Mutiny










League Extraordinary Kriegspielers Back of Beyond - The Mad Baron













The star for me - Graham Hilditch Friends of a Military Gentleman SYW with home cast 30mm - sadly a lot of photos were too blurry but fortunatly I grabbed some later when less crowded









14 comments:

  1. Some fantastic games on display

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    1. Neil, indeed there were! The ones pictured were a few that stood out for me personally.
      Neil

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  2. I enjoyed seeing these but missed the accompanying chat.
    Alan Tradgardland

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    1. Alan, I had about 80 photos in total. It did provoke some questions about the nature and size of the show.
      Neil

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  3. You have a discerning eye for detail, Neil. The SYW game is stunning but my eye keeps getting drawn back to the rocky outcroppings in the Mad Baron game. Very nifty modeling.

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  4. Thanks Jonathan. The Mad Baron game had a lot going on apart from the terrain ( the bridge is nice too), buildings and little dioramas, there were two armoured trains, aircraft and ships!
    Neil

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  5. Super looking games, Graham Hilditch has made a superb collection and his games really are top notch, always nice to see and read what folks take out of these shows, living way up north I doubt I will ever make it to one!

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  6. Donnie, the large battalions are very impressive, although I don't think I'd fancy painting them, even if I had the room to deploy them! That's not to mention the casting, assembly (separate arms!) before you even get there!
    Impressive in its own way was Minden with 12 figure battalions, and much more achievable.
    I guess for you, attending a show would mean an extended stay, possibly as part of a holiday? Lot of commitment and expense for toy soldiers! ☺
    Neil

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  7. I must admit I like the 12 figure way to do it and it's one I have looked at and will probably take up, let's you get a lot of units on the table plus the painting of 12 men hopefully stop the wandering off into other projects, that's the theory anyway!!

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    1. Donnie, I was much influenced by WRG 1685 to 1845 rules so most of my C18th are 1:50 scale.
      It allows lots of different uniforms or facings for lots of different units so keeps painting interesting.
      As for taming the butterfly, that's a good trick if you can do it! ☺☺
      Neil

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  8. You've picked some beauts there Neil. Seems we're in the same boat regarding work/WRG 1685-1845. 1:50 certainly made it more affordable to build 'battalions' as a youngster.

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    1. Thanks Chris. I snapped a few other games, some of which were equal to these and some others that had elements of superb work but let down by cloth or clutter.....
      Neil

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  9. Very impressive games, Neil. I particularly love that samurai castle!

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    1. Thanks Dean. There were two, the bigger one was two years worth of work.....
      Neil

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Camping it up....

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