And just like that, Summer was gone… Once again it’s been a busy month for the club and for myself, but it looks like we have all our ducks in a row and it’s a case of marching them to their destinations.
First up will be the SELWG Wargames Show at the Lee Valley Sports Centre on Sunday October 16th, where we will be playing Steve’s “Surfin’ RVN” Vietnam river landing game using the Charlie Don’t Surf rules. Having had our first play through last week it looks like being a fun game, with plenty to look at and some engaging gameplay. We’re just putting the finishing touches to the terrain and it’s ready to roll! The new venue for SELWG (despite being in North London rather than the SE of the name…) is excellent, big and bright, with plenty of parking, and a nice large bring-and-buy area. Let’s hope people catch on quickly that it’s there and it can get back to the popular show it always was before lockdown.
Next up in October will be our AGM on the 22nd, a chance for club members to voice their opinions about club policy, and to have a say in how the club and Broadside are run. Could be a bit of a change in the air as our Treasurer may be stepping down to make way for some new blood on the committee. Need to get the agenda ready early to make sure we don’t miss anything. As a small reward for our members' loyalty and patience we run a gaming session after the meeting, plans are afoot for larger and longer-than-usual wargames than we can fit in on a club night. Expect pictures straight after!
The next couple of shows are in November, and neither are conventional. Uncon (literally the “Unconventional convention”) is a board game show taking place in Sandwich on the Kent coast over two days, and there is a Comics and Gaming Con taking place at Detling Showground which we have a few tables at. All the better to draw new faces to Broadside… More on these next month, suffice to say we may need extra volunteers to man the stands.
As for the club itself it’s been mostly business as usual at Kemsley, with World War 2, Medieval gaming, Vietnam war, and board games still popular. The playtest for Company Commander is going well, the developers are reacting to our players' suggestions as they post them, and it really feels like all their games are making a difference to this project. Hope lots of people get to play it soon, I think it’s a quality product! We have had a few games of Dungeons and Dragons running over the past month, a bit of an experiment, but a successful one. People are enjoying the games and we have had a number of new members sign up because of it! Can’t argue with that. It looked for a while as if the interest in D & D might swamp the club, as so many people seemed to be up for it, but it’s settled at a good level and the balance of games on Tuesday nights is still good and varied.
Guess that’s it for another month, except to say that we already have the flyers for Broadside 2023 so expect to see the advertising operation go into full swing very soon!
Leofwine Wargamerson