Cotswold Wargames Day 2023

A gloriously sunny and crisp Atumnal morning on Sunday saw me take my annual trip to the Cotswold Wargames Day, held at Northleach community centre. Stopping at Cirencester to pick up Chris Gregg, we arrived before 9.00am having had a nice catch up chat in the car. Many games were already well on the way to being set up, but I had plenty of time to sort our game our before Dave arrived, which was nice.

The show is very relaxed in nature, with many familiar faces from previous years and good to see new ones too. Having had a good chat and wander, I set everything up and then realised that I needed to expand the width of the game, which was easily done, with the gaming area in the end being about 5' x 2 1/2'.

What I like about this show is that you see all the games being played in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, rather like a club night but without, dare I say it,  competition style gamers spoiling the show. Everyone is happy to chat, explain what is going on, what rules are being used etc. Even though it is a small event, many of the games could quite easily have graced the recent Partizan show.

Anyway, enough waffle from me and onto the photos. Sadly I lost the e-mail outlining who was running which game and what battle etc, but I hope this won't detract from your enjoyment. So without further ado:

An Indian Mutiny game that one 'Best Game' or the 'Stuart Asquith Trophy', something akin to that and well deserved too.

Elephants and bullock carts doing the heavy lifting. Nice!

Loved this camel train and very useful to see for my more modest offering, which I've yet to paint.

Again more inspiration for a possible General mounted on an elephant for my 18th Indian force.

The fort was very eye catching and with lots of little vignettes too.

Sadly no idea if this 3D printed, resin cast or something else.

Stu Surridge's lovely Operation Exporter game, using Bolt Action rules.

You can't beat a bit of early Western desert action between the Italians and the Commonwealth forces.

Lovely terrain and plenty of people were playing all day, which showed how popular it was.

South American Wars of Liberation in 20mm. A very clever set up as it was a night attack, and so a black cloth was placed over everything, forces then deployed, with it removed to reveal the actual terrain etc. A simple but effective way of simulating the disorientation of night operations.

Lots of lovely figures.

An ACW game using Sharpe Practice II. It shows that plenty of action and eye candy can be fitted onto a normal 6' x 4' table.

Confederate troops.

The Union troops.

Good old lichen being used:)!

Peninsular War in 28mm. Sadly no other info than that, but it was a participation game.

A wonderful custom terrain set up that one the 'Most Innovative Game'?

So many lovely details and vignettes to see, that I chose it as the deserved winner of 'Best Vignette or Terrain Piece', with the prize being kindly proved by Leon at Pendraken. 

It's one of those games that you could have spent a long time admiring all the details, like many others on the day.

Crimean War in 28mm. Again sadly no idea on the scenario, but plenty of gamers played it all day.

Russians by the look of it and very nice too.

Another early war Western Desert game, in 10mm and using BKCIV rules, put on by Paul James.

Seeing all this lovely armour reminds me that this is on my list to game at some point in the future.

Finally some shots and action from our game, with a bit of introductory fluff, which plenty of people enjoyed:

1^st Rhawand War

India 1755

After the failure of the '45, Bonnie Prince Charlie and chums have been a bit of a problem for the French King, Louis XV. With the growing competition for the lucrative trade with India, Louis sees an ideal opportunity to send the Bonnie Wee Laddie overseas and out of his whig.

Rumours have been circulating there that a certain Ranald McDonald has been making a lot of money for the Honourable East India Company by brewing up the local rhubard to make a rather potent concoction, know locally as Urn-Brew.

Seeing a chance to make re-ingratiate himself with Louis XV, Bonnie Prince Charlie plans a daring attack on the McDonald factory, ably supported by his loyal Highlanders, some French regulars and their Indian allies.

Unfortunately for him, the HEIC have got wind of the attack and are waiting and ready to receive him, fortified no doubt by a few drams of Urn-Brew...

The HEIC deployed for battle.

Tribal light infantry and elephant support.

The HEIC factory with its famous Mughal arch...

Heavy Indain artillery defends the factory.

Another elephant.

HEIC troops and Sepoys.

The 'Hand of God' (ie Dave) pointing out his planned troops to move.

Ship's crew, aka Pirates', with some neat 3D printed ships in the background.

The confused battle develops on the HEIC right flank.

Elephants and Zumburak Camels cause problems for the HEIC.

Tribal infantry in the rocks with heavy cavalry on the flank.

Probably over half-way, with stalemate on the HEIC left flank, but doing well in the Right and in the Centre.

The HEIC have the slight ascendency.

The Franco-Jacobites were hampered by having lots of Dithering Commanders, with the Highlanders being commanded by one of them and they never saw action.

Post Show Thoughts

The day flew by and sadly it was time to pack away and head home. As always such a great day out with friends and a chance to meet new gamers. It really doesn't feel like a show, more like a bunch of chums getting together for a days gaming. What's not too like?

For our game it was the first chance we had to have a proper playtest and we learnt a lot from it, which we will incorporate into an updated list. Dave has put together some ideas for Army Lists, which I need to peruse once a few real life things are out of the way. It is certainly a fun and colourful period to game, but sadly one without much info as it all seems to focus on the Wellesley chap and his battles. Still there is fun doing some research and trying to get a feel for the period gamed.

As mentioned earlier, all the games were being played and everyone was happy to stop and have a chat about their game, the terrain, figures etc. Sadly this is often not the case at the bigger shows and maybe this is something that the organisers could encourage those putting on the games to do? I know it takes effort having done it in the past, but it makes for a more pleasurable experience for the visiting punter IMHO.

I loved the variety of games on offer, as there was lots to enjoy and to gain inspiration from. Sadly a few people had to drop out at the last minute, but we still had 8 very nice games to enjoy. I think the most the centre can hold is 11 games, by using a side room, but having enverything in one place was rather nice.

Finally a big thankyou to everyone who came to make it such a great day, and of course to Keith and Jane for all their hard work in getting this organised! Time to start thinking of what to put on next year...